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So, do I really need Albion One given what I already have?

ScarletJerry

Senior Member
This board has always given me great advice. I am looking to buy Albion One because I want to purchase a library that will allow me to create somewhat realistic sounding soundtrack/instrumental music relatively quickly. Here is what I already have:

Full Orchestra Ensemble Patches
Cinesymphony Lite
Symohobia 2

Full Orchestra Individual Instruments
BBCSO Core

String Ensembles
CSS
Vista
Soaring Strings
Spitfire Originals Intimate and Epic Strings
Symphobia 2
Adagio

Brass Ensembles
8Dio Century
Spitfire Originals Epic Brass and Woodwinds

Woodwind Ensembles
none

Solo Instruments
I have enough variety of the usual suspects (8Dio Claire WW, 8Dio Century Brass, Joshua Bell, Tina Guo, Spitfire Solo Strings, instruments in BBCSO etc.)

So, I'm looking for a library with legato ensembles (hence no Abby Road One, although I love the sound of the swells!).

What I like about Albion One - Demos sound great, love the octave patches - different than what I already have.
What makes me concerned - People saying that it's an old library or the strings sound synthy (I don't really hear that in the demos and I have plenty of other string libraries).

So...what should I do? I am also an educator, so I can get Albion One for 40% off this month, hence my sense of urgency.

Scarlet Jerry
 
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I wouldn't worry too much about the EDU discount as next month with BF you'll likely see just as good if not better prices.

I don't have A1 but have several of the ones you own and what put me off A1 is that it's good at lots of things but not really great at anything, unlike say, Soaring Strings and Vista, which are limited but great at what they do. But if you like the sounds you're hearing...sounds like it will work for you.

No woodwinds? I'd maybe remedy that next?
 
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I would say you don't need Aone, although for epicky stuff it sounds really good, so if that's the sound you want it's a good lib.
About the strings, I'd say that the shorts can be used alone, but I always layer the longs with other libs (Tundra at the very least) because to me it sounds better that way.
The perc is also good, and you could get nice results with the brass and woodwinds (not perfect when completely exposed, but in context), but I'm not sure it would really speed up your process.
Anyway, I don't really do epic mystic, so YMMV.
 
IMHO (taken as an opinion) I wish I'd not purchased Albion One. I've used them I think twice. Nothing special that I could not do with another lib. I have a similar arsenal of Libs like you and many. Again, IMHO - and it's only a subjective opinion.
 
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Red Room Audio Palette is now on sale for 70% off (something like $270 for all four libs). The four libs are an orchestral sketchpad, melodics for soaring lines, runs and FX - about 80GB in total. But maybe you'd just want Palette Melodics and that's only $59 for 23 recorded combination and solo patches - most have legato, many are in 8va. I believe each has about 10 articulations for 3 mic positions, 3 dyn. layers and up to 7 RR. If you're interested, you'll need to use coupon code PAL70 on their site - one day left before the deal ends.

Edit: Oh, and I agree that BHCT is an interesting alternative to Albion One. (I have Palette, Albion One and BHCT.)

Edit 2: Reading again what you already have (even 8Dio Claire Woodwinds and the woodwinds in BBC SO), I don't think you really need anything more.
 
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I don't think you need Albion ONE. Your setup is already pretty much fine and ONE in particular wouldn't provide anything substantial, and most certainly not with better quality. I personally do think the library sounds weirdly overprocessed.

If you're looking for octave patches, there's cheaper ways of getting those, even factoring in the EDU discount - with MUCH better tone than what ONE has to offer. I'm thinking of the BBO packs (Lyra and Musca), which sound incredibly good and would give you WAY more useful articulations and features. For the low strings, another option would be the Wolfenstein Low Strings from Metropolis Ark 1, which can be bought on their own. Again a sound that's more lively and realistic than ONE.
 
If you're looking for octave patches, there's cheaper ways of getting those, even factoring in the EDU discount - with MUCH better tone than what ONE has to offer. I'm thinking of the BBO packs (Lyra and Musca), which sound incredibly good and would give you WAY more useful articulations and features. For the low strings, another option would be the Wolfenstein Low Strings from Metropolis Ark 1, which can be bought on their own. Again a sound that's more lively and realistic than ONE.
Excellent recommendations, and the low strings in MA2 are amazing as well.

VSL still requires dongle such as Steinberg key, which for me is well worth it but puts some off. Ilok is coming but when is not so clear :)
 
This board has always given me great advice. I am looking to buy Albion One because I want to purchase a library that will allow me to create somewhat realistic sounding soundtrack/instrumental music relatively quickly. Here is what I already have:

Full Orchestra Ensemble Patches
Cinesymphony Lite
Symohobia 2

Full Orchestra Individual Instruments
BBCSO Core

String Ensembles
CSS
Vista
Soaring Strings
Spitfire Originals Intimate and Epic Strings
Symphobia 2
Adagio

Brass Ensembles
8Dio Century
Spitfire Originals Epic Brass and Woodwinds

Woodwind Ensembles
none

Solo Instruments
I have enough variety of the usual suspects (8Dio Claire WW, 8Dio Century Brass, Joshua Bell, Tina Guo, Spitfire Solo Strings, instruments in BBCSO etc.)

So, I'm looking for a library with legato ensembles (hence no Abby Road One, although I love the sound of the swells!).

What I like about Albion One - Demos sound great, love the octave patches - different than what I already have.
What makes me concerned - People saying that it's an old library or the strings sound synthy (I don't really hear that in the demos and I have plenty of other string libraries).

So...what should I do? I am also an educator, so I can get Albion One for 40% off this month, hence my sense of urgency.

Scarlet Jerry
From what you already have, you don’t really need it. If you want to go towards a modern „epic“-trailer-sound, it’s still a great choice! I love the octave-patches and the spiccato. The percussion and brass is good too and you get plenty eDNA-sound-design-stuff. It really is an awesome all in one package for epic scoring, if that’s what you want.
 
Red Room Audio Palette is now on sale for 70% off (something like $270 for all four libs). The four libs are an orchestral sketchpad, melodics for soaring lines, runs and FX - about 80GB in total. But maybe you'd just want Palette Melodics and that's only $59 for 23 recorded combination and solo patches - most have legato, many are in 8va. I believe each has about 10 articulations for 3 mic positions, 3 dyn. layers and up to 7 RR. If you're interested, you'll need to use coupon code PAL70 on their site - one day left before the deal ends.
Many thanks for this. Just picked up Palette Runs & Arps for £45. 😁
 
Some good advice in this thread. A mixed bag, but certainly makes me think about options. Albion One is still on the table...
 
Albion One does allow you to write a full orchestra track fast, but it comes at the expense of detail. But you have the libraries to fill that in as needed. I might go back and reconsider AROOF even without the legatos. You can use your legatos from your other libraries if you need them, and the legatos in Albion One are serviceable but aside from maybe the low strings, the legatos are not the strong suit of the library. Albion One is also calibrated from mf to ff, whereas AROOF has a good soft end, and just deeper sampling throughout.
 
Looking at your libraries, have you checked out the Bernard Herrman toolkit? It's not at all as niche as some say, it's very deep and broad and complements and adds character to other libraries.
+1. Awesome package. Since getting it earlier this year I’m a total “ensemble patch” convert. BHCT will likely end up very high on my personal “instrument of the year” chart.
 
+1. Awesome package. Since getting it earlier this year I’m a total “ensemble patch” convert. BHCT will likely end up very high on my personal “instrument of the year” chart.
Is it good for general purpose writing? It seems very niche.
 
Is it good for general purpose writing? It seems very niche.
It's a massive library - nearly 150GB - chock full of great stuff. If you use it by itself it can sound like his work which some might not consider to be the 'in thing', but I use 1 or a couple of patches on most things with other libraries to add character, it's pretty dry so you can blend it pretty well with 7th HEaven/Valhalla Room etc.

But check out the demos and walkthrough of course as it's not for everyone. Oliver's in-acion video is great:

 
Thanks everyone. Based on what I’ve read and heard, I may dip my toes onto Abby Road One by getting Grand Brass and one of the winds packages (sparkling or wondrous). I can get these two for $60 with my edu discount, and that will let me sample the sound of Abby Road One (with legatos). I already have legendary low strings, so that will give me some string, brass, and woodwind samples To supplement what I already have. That should satisfy my GAS craving for now! I’ll put Albion One on hold, and start to use more of what I already have. That was perhaps the best advice!

Scarlet Jerry
 
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