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All in one libraries under $400. Best choices 2019.

Best all in one under €400

  • Total voters
    170
Vashi said:
Yes please.
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CINESYMPHONY LITE

On the surface this package only contains Strings, Brass, Woodwinds, Pizzicato, Timpani, and Percussion as full sections. In reality though, all ensemble patches contain both long and short articulations, as well as the individual sections fully separable into their own patches if you wish. The full set therefore includes longs, shorts and pizzicato for violins, violas, celli, contrabasses. Longs and shorts for flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons. Longs and shorts for trumpets, horns, trombones, and tuba. As well as Timpani and Percussion (which also includes tubular bells and glockenspiel with around 1 octave each). The out-of the-box sound is pleasingly realistic, and i find all patches very playable and responsive in terms of dynamics, both over velocity and modulation. What's missing from the package to be a "full" lite / sketching orchestra are solo instruments, tonal percussion like marimba and xylophone, choir and potentially harp and piano. The library also does not contain any legato patches, though the regular sustain patches still sound the most expressive out of the three libraries to my ears.


SPITFIRE ORIGINALS

So far this collection consists of Epic Strings and Epic Brass & Woodwinds (With percussion and potentially more on the horizon). The strings part contain more articulations than the standard Long, Short and Pizz, in the form of Slow, ConSord, Ostinato, as well as long and short Octaves, but the library is full sections only with no option to split them up into separate sections like CineSymphony. Also no legato patches. The brass and woodwinds contain the standard longs and shorts for the full ensembles only. The sound is very reverberant (Air-sounding) and does indeed strike me as very impressive while listened to at first. In use though, I find the patches less playable and harder to use than CineSymphony. The shorts feel a bit too slow to play fast lines, and the loud notes (especially with brass) never go as loud as I would wish. The overall sound feels very soft and airy, which could be great if that's what you're after, but is hard to ever get close, loud, snappy or clear (even with the highest velocities and close mics turned on). Overall i feel this collection could be a good addition as flavour for particular situations, but that it would be harder to work with as a foundation.


NUCLEUS

In terms of completeness. Nucleus is the clear winner of the three. It contains all sections as full and individual, and all of the standard articulations that are usually found in starter libraries. The string sections add tremolo articulations over the other two libraries and the wind section adds trills. There's also a number of combo-patches, as well as legato articulations for the most important melodic instruments / sections. Also included is Choir, Percussion, a Drum kit, and some SFX drones and pad like sounds, as well as Marimba, Glockenspiel, and Xylophone alongside the Timpani. Overall the sound is much more modern and hyped than the other two libraries, which could be good or bad depending on if you like that sound or want a more classic tone. While Nucleus does sound impressive it also has an air of synthetic-ness in that it sometimes sound a bit TOO polished to my ears. I can't really tell if it's a lack of dynamic layers, loops that are too short, or just an overall "too perfect" sound, but It's overall playability and character doesn't fool me in the same way as the others do. Where this library really shines for me is in the solo-instruments, The flute and oboe are truly inspiring to play. The trumpet and french horn works very well in an arrangements, and while the violin and cello does feel weaker than the other I still suspect they could be used to add details to a mix without exposing themselves too much.


CONCLUSION

I already owned CineSymphony Lite and wanted to "upgrade" to either Nucleus or Berlin Inspire. I ended up buying Nucleus as well as the Spitfire Originals (since they were so cheap) and while I am in retrospect still interested in the Berlin Inspire package, I do feel that the combo of Cine + Nucleus gives me what I was after. I do prefer the core sounds (the actual full and separate sections) from Cine Symphony over Nucleus since they feel more responsive to play and a have a more realisic sound, but the additions from Nucleus Solo Instruments, Legato Patches and Tonal Percussion does feel very complementary. All three libraries still miss Piano and Harp so for the moment I'm using the beautiful LABS Soft Piano, as well as the EtherealWinds Harp 2.

If you're after completeness, Nucleus is the clear choice, but in my hands CineSymphony still wins in terms of playability and sound. I also feel that the two complete each other well in terms of content, and by offering two different sounds that still seem to combine quite well. The Originals libraries are a bit of a different thing, but that should be expected with their low price. If i would have started from scratch I would probably have chosen Berlin Inspire today, if I was looking for ONE library only, simply because it seem to cover ALL of the stuff I want (even including Piano and Harp) in a single package (with a beautiful sound) though I obviously can't comment on it's playability since I don't own it. The combination of Cine + Nucleus that I ended up with works well, but in reality the two of them together is almost the price of something like BBCSO, so for the money I ended up spending in total, that would probably have been an even better choice.


All subjective thoughts from a hobbyist though. :)
 
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I am trying to find comparison between these in the list as well as quality.
I tried looking on line for a chart that would have these, but it seems that Google doesn't understand what I am trying to find.

1. - Palette Symphonic Sketcpad
2. - Spitfire BBCSO-Core & Discover
3. - Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra
4. - Nucleus
5. - Jaeger

Red Room: Did a comparison chart but failed to include Spitfire Discover & others from the list above.

Also, what do you guys think about the orchestral instruments in IK Multimedia & Native Instruments.
I own Kontakt the regular version. And was window shopping around the net and seen the
IK Multimedia Total 5 Max that includes lots of stuff including orchestral instruments.

Total Studio 4, the ultimate collection of authentic sounds and gear

Total Studio 4 music production software bundles provide a range of top guitar, mixing & mastering, virtual instruments, effects, and presets, giving you all the tools needed for your music projects.
www.ikmultimedia.com www.ikmultimedia.com

But dont know if its junk or not. So just curiously asking the crowd, for some advice please.
thanks.
 
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Even though this thread is a few years old, there are some good options out there now when on sale.

  • HO Opus Diamond for less that €400 at JRRShop.
  • Steinberg Iconica Opus on sales (a little bit over €400 limit)
  • BBC SO Core (under the limit) or Pro just over it on 40% sale
 
Sorry, I tried to stay on topic, other forums ridiculed me to posting a new post.
So I found one here that was closets to what I am trying to find out and replied to it.

Also, I tried to go on JRRShop, for some reason my ISP wont let me go there. its weird.
Anyways, If I get BBCSO-Core, is it better than the others I posted on the list?
Thanks.
 
GGaca said:
Nucleus also on sale for 299$ (2 days left i believe).
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And that's why I was asking which one is better in terms of having overall things.
Palette Symphonic Sketcpad is going for $149 right now.
Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra is going for $149 right now.
Or am I covered with BBCSO-Core?

I also don't want people to hear my music and the sounds end up sounding like tonka toys.
(if you know what I mean).
 
RPFNYC said:
And that's why I was asking which one is better in terms of having overall things.
Palette Symphonic Sketcpad is going for $149 right now.
Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra is going for $149 right now.
Or am I covered with BBCSO-Core?

I also don't want people to hear my music and the sounds end up sounding like tonka toys.
(if you know what I mean).
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BBCSO iCore is easily the best of these 3.
 
In my opinion the best libraries all-in-one at the moment are Nucleus and BBCSO Core (HO Opus Diamond could be also tempting if it's available for less that €400).
But take my opinion with a grain of salt - i'm not an expert and i own only Nucleus from this list.
 
RPFNYC said:
Also, I tried to go on JRRShop, for some reason my ISP wont let me go there. its weird.
Anyways, If I get BBCSO-Core, is it better than the others I posted on the list?
Click to expand...
EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus is similar price at audiodelux.com as well. You need to login and add the item to your cart to get the lower price (discount is auto applied)

www.audiodeluxe.com

EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition

Lowest Price Ever! Video of Composing with Hollywood Orchestrator Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition is the highly anticipated expansion to Hollywood Orchestra, the best-selling and most awarded orchestral virtual instrument ever produced. It includes brand new pristine recordings, reimagined...
www.audiodeluxe.com www.audiodeluxe.com

RPFNYC said:
Sorry, I tried to stay on topic, other forums ridiculed me to posting a new post.
So I found one here that was closets to what I am trying to find out and replied to it.
Click to expand...
No need to apologise, we are all very easy going here. Sometimes 14 year old threads come back alive, sometimes we have multi threads on the same subject happending (though they do get merged), and every thread always go off topic at some point :emoji_grinning:
 
GGaca said:
In my opinion the best libraries all-in-one at the moment are Nucleus and BBCSO Core (HO Opus Diamond could be also tempting if it's available for less that €400).
But take my opinion with a grain of salt - i'm not an expert and i own only Nucleus from this list.
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Of those 3 I would definitely take HO Opus Diamond first. Multiple 3rd party stores are selling if for less than €400, though it depends on any sales tax that is applied.
 
I second that either BBCSO, Nucleus, or HOOPUS would be three of the best options today! Palette and Amadeus being less popular options these days. BBCSO sounds classical, Nucleus sounds modern, and HOOPUS sounds like Hollywood. BBCSO and Nucleus are both around 450 at regular price and around 200-250 at sale price. HOOPUS is around 995 at regular price, and around 400-500 at sale price. :)
 
Markrs said:
Of those 3 I would definitely take HO Opus Diamond first. Multiple 3rd party stores are selling if for less than €400, though it depends on any sales tax that is applied.
Click to expand...
mybadmemory said:
I second that either BBCSO, Nucleus, or HOOPUS would be three of the best options today! Palette and Amadeus being less popular options these days. BBCSO sounds classical, Nucleus sounds modern, and HOOPUS sounds like Hollywood. BBCSO and Nucleus are both around 450 at regular price and around 200-250 at sale price. HOOPUS is around 995 at regular price, and around 400-500 at sale price. :)
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I am going to have to wait for HOOPUS. Its running for $499,
Unless its cheaper in other places. I didn't look because I'm a dumb dumb lol.
This is why I was also considering Palette Symphonic Orchestra.

I just purchased BBCSO-Core. Got it for $240 just now, because I had Spitfire Discover they gave me discount.
 
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