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Heavyocity Master Sessions or Saga?

5Lives

Senior Member
Given the Heavyocity sale, I’m looking at Master Sessions Suite. Having been intrigued by Saga before though, wondering how they compare as they seem fairly similar? I have CinePerc and HZP, but both MS and Saga are sounding like something that could complement those two.

Cheers!
 
I have both, but am very much lacking in my percussion skills/experience so take anything I say with a grain of salt. Master sessions and Saga are very different. Heavyocity's MS include a number of loops and heavily processed drum sounds but not much organic sounding percussion, cymbals, rolls etc. For my taste it didn't fit what I was looking for. Probably would be really good for more hybrid and epic styles than the orchestral feel that I like. If I was good at writing percussion sequences, then I think Saga would be even more useful to me. It has a lot of articulations and sounds very organic to start with (and can be processed as well). If you already have HZ and Cineperc (which I don't have), then I'm not sure how much you need more orchestral percussion. Saga might have some unique articulations or sounds like the Silos, MW controllable rolls, variety of metal percussion sounds, etc.

Unless you are trying to get into more hybrid music and looking for more hybrid/processed loops, I'm not sure how much MS will benefit you. Saga sounds good and will add some unique articulations, but may also have a bit of overlap with the libraries you already have. Hope that is a little helpful. There are many who love MS and Saga and have used them more than me who will likely have much better feedback and recommendations (especially if they have HZ and Cineperc). Blessings
 
Like Owen said, they're quite different.

Saga has a much more natural and organic sound. It's huge drum ensembles that go beyond the standard orchestral percussion arsenal, but since it's a sound that's still not too over the top and doesn't sound very processed, I feel it's less boxed into a hybrid and trailer sound, and as such a better fit for myself.

With Master Sessions, you get the very typical Heavyocity sound. I don't find it too far removed from the organic patches in Damage. It's really well recorded and expertly done, but it's a very tight, very hard hitting and processed sounding type of thing, which lends itself more to modern and hybrid music and perhaps a bit less so for pieces that are more on the traditional orchestra side of things, but require an extra punch.

So it mostly depends on what type of music you intend to write the most.
 
Thank you both! Can you modify Saga to fit more of the hybrid sound via processing? Sounds like easier to that way than MS to organic.
 
...With Master Sessions, you get the very typical Heavyocity sound. I don't find it too far removed from the organic patches in Damage. It's really well recorded and expertly done, but it's a very tight, very hard hitting and processed sounding type of thing, which lends itself more to modern and hybrid music and perhaps a bit less so for pieces that are more on the traditional orchestra side of things, but require an extra punch...
Somewhat related, I'm considering at least the Metal & Ethnic Ensembles. I held off during the last sale feeling I had these covered to some degree with Damage. Master Suite sounds like a more comprehensive collection compared to Damage, but I could use some insight.

How much duplication do think there is between the MS & Damage?
 
Thank you both! Can you modify Saga to fit more of the hybrid sound via processing? Sounds like easier to that way than MS to organic.
Yes you can! And yes i see this more on this direction. Saga is very versatile, and it blends well with HZP. It is less "boom in the face" as master session but has a cool room effect which sound realistic. And it's suits well for orchestral type of thing, but non classical, much more modern. Rolls are quite good and easy too use.
 
Somewhat related, I'm considering at least the Metal & Ethnic Ensembles. I held off during the last sale feeling I had these covered to some degree with Damage. Master Suite sounds like a more comprehensive collection compared to Damage, but I could use some insight.

How much duplication do think there is between the MS & Damage?
I bought the metal and wood ensembles last year. I already had Damage for some time. While they sound good, I find them mostly redundant owning Damage. Lots of cool loop content if your into that...
 
I bought the metal and wood ensembles last year. I already had Damage for some time. While they sound good, I find them mostly redundant owning Damage. Lots of cool loop content if your into that...
Loops are cool & useful to some degree, but I'm more into the kits.

Thanks for your input!
 
Somewhat related, I'm considering at least the Metal & Ethnic Ensembles. I held off during the last sale feeling I had these covered to some degree with Damage. Master Suite sounds like a more comprehensive collection compared to Damage, but I could use some insight.

How much duplication do think there is between the MS & Damage?
I don't have Damage so I can't really compare MS ensemble drums to it. From what I hear it sounds like Damage has a lot more variety in the types of styles that you can use its loops for and that it also includes quite a bit of Epic sound design stuff. I also only have MS Ensemble Drums and not the whole Master Suite (MS Woods, MS Metals, or MS Ethnic libraries). I'd be interested to see what those libraries sound like. I think I would really like them if they were more organic than I find the Drum Ensemble to be. If you get the whole master suite that might offer you more variety outside of Damage, but I don't know if MS Drum Ensemble is worth it if you already have Damage. Overall, I think Saga can fit a lot of percussion needs (especially orchestral and organic) and sounds very good. MS and Saga are so different though that I don't think you can't really compare them.
 
I don't have Damage so I can't really compare MS ensemble drums to it. From what I hear it sounds like Damage has a lot more variety in the types of styles that you can use its loops for and that it also includes quite a bit of Epic sound design stuff. I also only have MS Ensemble Drums and not the whole Master Suite (MS Woods, MS Metals, or MS Ethnic libraries). I'd be interested to see what those libraries sound like. I think I would really like them if they were more organic than I find the Drum Ensemble to be. If you get the whole master suite that might offer you more variety outside of Damage, but I don't know if MS Drum Ensemble is worth it if you already have Damage. Overall, I think Saga can fit a lot of percussion needs (especially orchestral and organic) and sounds very good. MS and Saga are so different though that I don't think you can't really compare them.
I've only listened to Heavyocity's demos of MS Suite & compared them to Damage. I haven't used the loops in Damage much, but yeah, I get the impression that the kits in Damage are a bit of each MS Suite collection and probably enough for my needs.

I'll poke around for some Youtube play throughs and make a final decision.
 
OT so sorry if that’s annoying, but you can currently get Apocalypse full for $133 from soundiron, if that’s a possible consideration vs Saga, for example. Apocalypse Elements is $66.
 
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