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Orchestral Tools up to 63% off - which one

Now back to the decision-making. I only own BWW that I got on BF and Time Macro - why didn't they do a $1,000 takes it all deal?

I don't need Sphere or the pianos. I probably don't need string runs - I have SonoKinetic's ostinado strings. I'm sure I have runs somewhere. I do have 8Dio's Caged that covers some of the Ark 3 stuff. And I recently picked up VS's Smart Orchestra for pretty cheap as I bought the SE 1 bundle in a prior sale. So I may not need Inspire. Well, I don't NEED any of it. But I see why people like the Arks.

Okay, more videos....
Let me know what your consensus is...I'm leaning towards Ark bundle, but we'll see. I like some of the softer demos of both Arks and Inspire. hmm...seems to good a deal to pass up on :3
 
Let me know what your consensus is...I'm leaning towards Ark bundle, but we'll see. I like some of the softer demos of both Arks and Inspire. hmm...seems to good a deal to pass up on :3
I'm moving towards all 3 Arks. Inspire sounds great, but I have enough to cover this between HWO, VS Smart Orchestra, and Albion 1 & 5. I also have the Project Sams. I have way too much stuff.
 
I'm moving towards all 3 Arks. Inspire sounds great, but I have enough to cover this between HWO, VS Smart Orchestra, and Albion 1 & 5. I also have the Project Sams. I have way too much stuff.
Thanks :3

I have TIME MACRO, and NI's Symphony series. Probably could get something out of both inspire and Arks, but I'm getting the sense Arks have more versatility and Dynamics. Plus those choirs...unf...


Idk about Ark 3 though.

Thanks for your input. Cheers.
 
I think Inspire might be good if you need a laptop orchestra for traveling. Kind of why I bought the VS SE and then the Smart Orchestra. My laptop was freezing with HWO. But the VS SE worked great. Otherwise I think the Arks are more useful.

I was watching Daniel James Ark 3 and he was doing amazing things with almost no work. Of course, that was Daniel James. :)
 
Seriously and without a hint of melodrama, this is a portent of the VI-apocalypse. Many people predicted it, well, now it's shifting gradually from prediction to reality. All of those "we don't like sales, our high prices assure high quality & exclusivity" promises just can't hold up anymore against all the competition that entered the market in the last 3 years. Just like EastWest a sampling generation ago, being forced into cutthroat sales for the Hollywood lineup by competition from Spitfire and OT.

And what about the new developers? I don't know how many more orchestral libraries can actually get off the ground. People won't invest in full orchestras - especially the winds and percussion - unless they already like and own the strings and brass... it's dumb but it's the reality... and the competition to sell strings and brass right now is vicious as hell. I'm worried for SoundIron's new orchestra (Hyperion) and Performance Samples (Con Moto). I think Wallbank's orchestra (Cinematic Studio) will still sell because it's designed and priced with a sort of built-in assumption of the apocalypse that's unfolding, and he hooked a lot of customers with the strings.

The message is loud and clear though. The days of selling a single orchestral department (especially strings or brass) for $500+, or single instruments for the equivalent add-it-up price, are over forever. Kind of amazing considering Hollywood Brass debuted not 8 years ago at $800.

I completely agree.

Its a niche market to begin with. If you only focus on pros making the price too high, you can't really make that much profit. So you'd have to also target amateurs/hobbyists too.

Unless of course, you go be-spoke and set a price tag of thousands.
(I've read Spitfire did a bespoke series and had a really expensive price tag and had to be payed upfront, before they went in to development. Apologies in advance if I got something/facts wrong though)
 
Just like EastWest a sampling generation ago, being forced into cutthroat sales for the Hollywood lineup by competition from Spitfire and OT.
If EastWest is a harbinger, down the line we'd eventually be looking at Orchestral Tools Cloud and Spitfire Creative Cloud. Which would put these prices in perspective.

Here's something else that crossed my mind: Time Macro premiered with an intro price tag that seemed notably cheaper than OTs preceding libraries, to me at least. I wonder if it was a trial balloon of sorts, or if maybe the sales went up in a way that encouraged them to change their pricing strategy.
 
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Here's something else that crossed my mind: Time Macro premiered with an intro price tag that seemed notably cheaper than OTs preceding libraries, to me at least. I wonder if it was a trial balloon of sorts, or if maybe the sales went up in a way that encouraged them to change their pricing strategy.
You know I hadn't thought about that, but it makes a lot of sense considering Time Macro is a smaller, more focused library. I couldn't even begin to speculate what's next in the 'Time' series, but there's a 95% chance I'll be getting it if the price is in line with the first one!
 
So I just listened to Chris Sui's run through of Inspire 2 and though it sounds beautiful, I definitely don't need it. I think I will get the 2 Arks and think about the 3rd for a little bit. There are more articulations and options.

To me, Inspire is limited, which makes sense. If I didn't already have similar stuff and stuff that covers more, I would get it. The strings are lovely as are the winds. But I think the combinations would annoy me after a while, as they aren't what I would combine. I have that problem with other combination libraries.
 
This sale inspired me to fiddle around some with Inspire. Some thoughts/questions as I consider purchasing an Ark or two:

The hall sound is really over the top. I imagine different mics in Ark would alleviate that, but still retaining quite a bit of it in the close mics, a la Spitfire?

Don't love the legatos. Maybe that has to do with the lack of definition from the mics. I think someone posted some legato samples from Ark the other day which didn't really blow me away either.
 
The hall sound is really over the top. I imagine different mics in Ark would alleviate that, but still retaining quite a bit of it in the close mics, a la Spitfire?
The lack of mic flexibility is the biggest downside in the Inspires. But it's a plus if you're like me and you just don't want to think about that sometimes.

Don't love the legatos. Maybe that has to do with the lack of definition from the mics. I think someone posted some legato samples from Ark the other day which didn't really blow me away either.
Legatos from which instrument in which Ark?
 
Don't love the legatos. Maybe that has to do with the lack of definition from the mics. I think someone posted some legato samples from Ark the other day which didn't really blow me away either.

Could you point out where I could listen to those examples?
I don't have any kind of library of this type. (All-in-one type of library like Arks and Albions)
So I'm somewhat interested in this.

I've been watching the walkthroughs and the high strings don't sound convincing, but the low strings are really good. I like that grumpy sound. (same with the "dig shorts" featured in Spitfires strings. But Arks also have it in the sustains too)
But when I want that grumpy low strings sustain sound, I would want a good portamento/legato/slur sound with it.

EDITED: When I said "high strings" don't sound convincing, I was watching the Ark1 walk through. But the high strings in Ark2 sound beautiful.
 
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Well the one thing we have learnt is that there are no sacred cows in this industry.

What surprises me about Orchestral Tools is not that they have changed their sale policy, but that they have done so in such a dramatic fashion, with such deep discounts and with one offer after another so quickly.

I was simply gobsmacked when the whole Berlin Series went on such a deep discount. Now this.

For some reason I think this sale, more than any other, will change the way I make purchasing decisions in the future.

I'm glad I'm not a developer.....

(Oh, and if you don't have the Arks, buy them. Especially I & II.)
 
Do you ever do sales?
We believe in providing a stable value to our customers so we do not participate in blanket sale frenzies on our line-up. If you purchase an Orchestral Tools collection, you can be sure to have a stable value. We will not slash prices by 50% every few weeks, essentially punishing our loyal users for trusting us with a new collection.
To reward bravery when purchasing a recently released collection, we always have Introductory Pricing for all new collections. From time to time we will have special deals on specific collections or lines, often as some sort of "Theme".
Sometimes, we will also have Pre-Order Pricing in effect until a new collection is released. This serves as an additional thank you for users that trust us to deliver a great product on time.

These pre-order/intro deals are the best price you will get on an Orchestral Tools collection for a good while after release.

What about Promotions?
We very, very rarely do bigger promotions on some of our more niche collections. These usually do not apply to the core Berlin Series, though.

What about Loyalty Discounts?
We generally have "indirect" loyalty discounts by means of pre-order/intro pricing. If you receive a special discount via email, please note that these discounts must be used during purchase and may be subject to an expiry date (for example until the pre-order ends). It is not possible to apply discounts in retrospect. Read https://www.helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/hd_voucher_guidelines.html (Voucher Guidelines) for details.

What about discounts or bundles?
Similar to our very cautious use of sales, we are not a big fan of discounts. They punish loyal users and decrease their investment.
We do, however, of course have https://www.helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/hd_educational_discounts.html (EDU Discounts) for everyone who qualifies as well as provisions for https://www.helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/hd_additional_licenses.html (Additional Licenses).
All available bundles are listed on our website. If you have any questions, https://www.helpdesk.orchestraltools.com/hd_getting_help.html (contact us).
 
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