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Big Soniccouture sale at NI

castalia said:
It says I'm not qualified, but it let me add it to the cart and go on until the very last step (payment). I'm obviously not buying it, just wanted to know if it's a bug
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Did you tried, changing it to Update?
 
Can anyone chime in on All Saints Chior Vs Spitfire EWC ? I have EWC so trying to ascertain if All Saints brings anything different to the table (as i’m a sucker for choirs lol )
 
I've now gone through Threnody Strings, Celeste, Ondes, Canterbury Suitcase, Broken Wurli, All Saints Choir and All Saints Organ.
  • Threnody Strings is a bit shrill sometimes and seems rather limited compared to string libraries I own, but ought to pair well with Thrill and other aleatoric libraries. $30 loss.
  • All Saints Choir seems severely outdated and the legato is quirky for the male sections. Apparently the selling point was the space it was recorded in, and this doesn't really add much more than a good IR would have, imo. Hardly worth the $30 I allotted for it, but it's useable. No Loss. The retail price is a complete scam, imo.
  • Ondes reminds me of one of the Attic patches. Sounds fine for what I would associate that instrument for. No loss.
  • Celeste I compared directly to Sonokinetic's Celesta and I find Soniccouture's offering superior in clarity and character. Celeste is nearer to the listener and more intimate. They each have their uses. No loss.
  • All the keyboards listed above are great and will get good use. No Loss.
$87 loss out of $540 so far. Up to the final four now to reach a final verdict. The 18 I went through are satisfactory but overall, I feel an impending dread that I won't be getting my money's worth out of this bundle. Only time will tell.
 
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zwhita said:
I've now gone through Threnody Strings, Celeste, Ondes, Canterbury Suitcase, Broken Wurli, All Saints Choir and All Saints Organ.
  • Threnody Strings is a bit shrill sometimes and seems rather limited compared to string libraries I own, but ought to pair well with Thrill and other aleatoric libraries. $30 loss.
  • All Saints Choir seems severely outdated and the legato is quirky for the male sections. Apparently the selling point was the space it was recorded in, and this doesn't really add much more than a good IR would have, imo. Hardly worth the $30 I allotted for it, but it's useable. No Loss. The retail price is a complete scam, imo.
  • Ondes reminds me of one of the Attic patches. Sounds fine for what I would associate that instrument for. No loss.
  • Celeste I compared directly to Sonokinetic's Celesta and I find Soniccouture's offering superior in clarity and character. Celeste is nearer to the listener and more intimate. They each have their uses. No loss.
  • All the keyboards listed above are great and will get good use. No Loss.
$87 loss out of $540 so far. Up to the final four now to reach a final verdict. The 18 I went through are satisfactory but overall, I feel an impending dread that I won't be getting my money's worth out of this bundle. Only time will tell.
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Watching your “mini-reviews” with great interest! I don’t qualify for the update/upgrade, but was just thinking of buying the 2 All Saints libraries. A plus from you for the Organ, but a big minus for the choir! :eek: I’ll have to do more research. 🧐
 
gamma-ut said:
I'm not sure I'd put a lot of faith in "reviews" posted maybe less than a day after acquisition, especially of >10 sample libraries, which are not typically things that do well straight outta the box.
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True, although in all honesty they aren’t presented as reviews. I do appreciate the short form “first impressions” very much - it is always an interesting read. But I also agree very much with your assessment ;)
 
Leslie Fuller said:
Watching your “mini-reviews” with great interest! I don’t qualify for the update/upgrade, but was just thinking of buying the 2 All Saints libraries. A plus from you for the Organ, but a big minus for the choir! :eek: I’ll have to do more research. 🧐
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The choir is lovely - the legatos aren't bad considering what's out there. Here are the 1st 4 measures of O Magnum. Just a rough draft I threw together. Close mics on A syllable

View attachment O Magnum Mysterium - Morten Lauridsen (Take 1 Sample All Saints).mp3
 
gamma-ut said:
I'm not sure I'd put a lot of faith in "reviews" posted maybe less than a day after acquisition, especially of >10 sample libraries, which are not typically things that do well straight outta the box.
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Absolutely these are only first impressions. Choir libraries typically take some work and commitment to get good results, but the conundrum then becomes are you willing to dedicate your time to something that initially left a bad impression?

I say $87 loss, but then I thought about this for a while and I think a better choice of words is in order. It's $87 more than I would have liked to pay but will accept it in good graces knowing how good a developer Soniccouture is. One always hopes for a home run straight out of the gate, but given time I think I could warm up to most of what is contained in this bundle.
 
Marsen said:
Did you tried, changing it to Update?
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No, just tried Upgrade out of curiosity. I own many SC libraries and prefer to pick some individual instrument. Just found a bit confusing that NI let you go on, and this add up to the useless list they published yesterday in the upgrade section.
 
zwhita said:
I've gone through ten of the libraries I didn't actually do any research on so here is my assessment:

  • Grand Marimba, Vibraphone and Tingklik all sound good, but it seems to me you could get equal or better quality with mallet libraries now using physical modeling and some additional processing. These just add a tad more realism in the transients, I suppose, and it's nice that Vibraphone has the motor like CinePerc, so they will get minimal use. $30 loss.
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SonicCouture Grand Marimba and Vibraphone are the absolute best you can find. Maybe not necessary in an orchestral setting, but if you have an exposed part they are well worth the (full) price.

Now, @soniccouture, we need a Grand Xylophone! :)
 
  • NyckelHarpas sounds terribly fake and the legato isn't interesting. $9 loss.
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This comment threw me a bit for a loop, because I purchased the library yesterday and really enjoyed what I heard when I did a quick play-through. The sound design patches were a nice surprise -- and I'm not sure I agree that it sounds "terribly fake". When using modulation and legato, I really liked what I heard. Layering a legato patch with a sustain patch also sounded pretty decent (IMHO). I guess this is just another example of how subjective the world of music and sample libraries are for each of us.
 
castalia said:
SonicCouture Grand Marimba and Vibraphone are the absolute best you can find. Maybe not necessary in an orchestral setting, but if you have an exposed part they are well worth the (full) price.
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This is encouraging! I have some experience using Chromaphone, and I was hopeful these particular products could give a more open and natural tone and character. My first impression did not leave me hopeful, but I will certainly not give up on them!

pranic said:
This comment threw me a bit for a loop, because I purchased the library yesterday and really enjoyed what I heard when I did a quick play-through.
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It's frustrating that we rarely get to demo these products before purchase, and please consider I did mention the first batch I commented on were libraries I had no prior experience with. Perhaps I was expecting something closer to Solo string libraries I already own, but with a more 'folky' leaning. My comment was merely my immediate reaction, and I did not continue to try and coax a better result, so please take my ramblings with a healthy dose of incredulity, in regards to any purchasing decision.
 
zwhita said:
It's frustrating that we rarely get to demo these products before purchase, and please consider I did mention the first batch I commented on were libraries I had no prior experience with. My comment was merely my immediate reaction, and I did not continue to try and coax a better result, so please take my ramblings with a healthy dose of incredulity, in regards to any purchasing decision.
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Hi there @zwhita -- I completely agree that not being able to demo instruments before purchase is one of the most frustrating aspects of sample libraries. I can't tell you how many I've purchased and then been disappointed with. That said, I think my only salient point was just to say that we're (as a community) all over the place with our impressions of each library. It's more curious to me than anything, but some people *really* like sushi but don't like pickles. Some like both. Others like pickles but not fish. Some people like none. It's always interesting to hear others' opinions, and I appreciate your insights. I ended up ruminating about the full bundle, but ultimately told myself that the only gap in my wish list was a nyckelharpas and would likely layer pretty nicely with the Folklorica textures, too.
 
I do kinda like the shorts. Think I'll pass on that particular one. I freely admit I knew some items wouldn't click with me, so purchasing the bundle without hearing demos of every item is an undeniable risk.
 
pranic said:
This comment threw me a bit for a loop, because I purchased the library yesterday and really enjoyed what I heard when I did a quick play-through. The sound design patches were a nice surprise -- and I'm not sure I agree that it sounds "terribly fake". When using modulation and legato, I really liked what I heard. Layering a legato patch with a sustain patch also sounded pretty decent (IMHO). I guess this is just another example of how subjective the world of music and sample libraries are for each of us.
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I had no idea what this instrument was until yesterday. I can play with this its fun.
 
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