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POLL: What are your favourite string libraries?

Which of these string libraries are you really happy with?


  • Total voters
    542
  • Poll closed .

Vik

Vi-k
NB - the libraries marked with an asterisk have been added to the poll after the voting started (April 6th 2017 or later).

This poll doesn't take into consideration the number of users who use each library, so a library with a low percentage could still be seen as perfect by all it's users (but have few users, eg. due to the price).

The poll you are looking at now is about which libraries you really like - there's another poll here - about which string libraries you own (independent of whether you are happy wth them or not):
https://vi-control.net/community/th...urrently-own-not-solo-string-libraries.60592/



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Which of these string libraries do you both own and are really happy with?

(The list should be complete as of March 9th 2017, but I can add more libraries to the poll later)

Some suggestions:

If you have eg both Sable and Spitfire Chamber Strings (SCS), but use SCS, please vote for SCS - and not both of them. The same goes for Mural/Spitfire Symphonic Strings and other similar situations.

If you own one or several of eg. the 8dio Adagio instruments, vote for that library if you are happy with it even if you don't own the complete library. The same goes for other similar situations.


(I'll make a separate poll for solo strings/quartets.)

8dio Adagietto
8dio Adagio
8dio Agitato
8dio Anthology
8dio Century Strings
8dio Century Strings
8dio Majestica
Aria Sounds London Symphonic Strings
Audiobro LA Scoring Strings (LASS)
Audiobro Legato Sordino Strings
Cinematic Strings 2
Cinematic Studio Strings
Cinematique Instruments Ensemblia
Cinesamples CineStrings
Cinesamples CineStrings Pro (not released yet)
East West Hollywood Strings
East West Symphonic Orchestra
Frozen Plain Arctic Strings
Garritan Personal Orchestra
IK Multimedia: Miroslav Philharmonik
IK Multimedia: Miroslav Philharmonik 2
Impact Soundworks Rhapsody Orchestral Colours
Kirk Hunter Chamber Strings
Kirk Hunter Concert Strings
Kirk Hunter Diamond Symphony Orchestra
Kirk Hunter Pop Rock Strings
Kirk Hunter Spotlight Strings
Light and Sound Chamber strings
Musical Sampling Soaring Strings
Native Instrument Symphonic Series with Audiobro
Native Instruments Action Strings
Native Instruments Emotive Strings
Native Instruments Session Strings
Orchestral Tools Berlin Strings
Orchestral Tools Metropolis Ark
Orchestral Tools Orchestral String Runs
Orchestral Tools Symphonic Sphere
Peter Siedlaczek String Essentials as part of BestService Complete Orchestral Collection
Project SAM Orchestral Essentials
Project SAM Orchestral Essentials 2
Project SAM Symphobia
Project SAM Symphobia 2
Project SAM Symphobia 3: Lumina
Project SAM Symphobia Series
Project SAM Symphonic Colors Orchestrator
Sampletank 3 Alleged Strings
Sonivox Orchestral Companion Strings
Sonokinetic Capriccio
Sonokinetic Da Capo
Sonokinetic Grosso
Sonokinetic Maximo
Sonokinetic Sotto
Sonokinetic Tutti
Sonokinetic Vivace
Soundiron/Native Instruments Chamber Strings (not released yet)
Spitfire "Bernard Herrman” (not released yet)
Spitfire Albion
Spitfire Chamber Strings
Spitfire Contemporary Strings
Spitfire Evo Grid
Spitfire Mural
Spitfire Sable
Spitfire Sacconi
Spitfire Symphonic Strings
Strezov Cornucopia String Ensembles
Versilian Studios VSCO 2
VSL Appassionata Strings
VSL Chamber Strings
VSL Dimension Strings
VSL Orchestral Strings
VSL Special Edition
Zilhouette Strings by Cinematique Instruments

NRY means "not released yet" - as of March 9, 2017.
 
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I think Albions should be listed as 5 different libraries not 1
I agree, but thought about that too late. So consider Albion's current 38% to be an average of 7-8% each.
Or: Aren't there actually 6 Albions (including Albion ONE and Albion 1)?
 
I should probably also mention that it's possible to change your votes later if you want, so don't be afraid of casting your votes.
 
Lass gets such a bad name but I like it. Has a very harsh biting tone that's great for getting through on a mix. Also their solo strings are nice too. I like the spiccatos patches for an up close dry sound when needed. Not always the right library but in certain situations.
 
Hollywood Strings. I remember when I first bought Albion One in 2015 I used it so much that I practically forgot about HS. However, when it came down to final mock up HS unfailingly showed up time and again. That's why I sketch with Albion (and LOVE it), but do the final with EW (though I should mention I often layer the two during the final stages).
 
I'm a hobbyist so my expectations and budget are low. I probably have more than enough. I was messing around with a Nu Disco throw away project and for some reason GPO really worked with this.
 
Since going all in on Spitfire Audio, I basically only use their products, but I still reach for Soaring Strings if I really want to go for that John Williams sound.
 
If you would be so kind, please tell us about your love of Core.
I like how it sounds in the default setting, I use this library for various TV and film music mock up and combine with real string recording, it yields very good result.

Also, the dynamic range of this string library is just phenomenal, the xfade of dynamic is very smooth along with the vibrato control.
 
I swear this forum is getting like "Groundhog Day."


I own a bunch on this list and a bunch that are not. I like them all and am happy with them all. A better question is which ones are you not happy with? Then I would say "None!"

I am with Jay on Groundhog Day. This which is best topic keeps repeating itself until it is like Hades or at least the river Styx. Make it stop please!

I will say that a little known string library is my favorite. You can't even get it anymore. This guy Hans Weber, in Mishicot, Wisconsin made a library in 2009 with string cheese, the finest mozzarella in the land. He stretched the strings out until they made a tone and plucked them with a guitar pick and bowed them with a violin bow and beat them with a bratwurst. He even did a legato by immersing them in sauerkraut whilst bowing......very smooth. As bonus patches, he did pads by recording cheese curds being fried at The Yankem Inn and pitched them properly in Kontakt. Best string sounds in my collection.
 
Make it stop please!
Re. repetetive threads about the same topic - I simply think that having an "all about string libraries" thread with a large poll makes more sense than other long threads about the same topic. There are 70-80 string libraries out there, and especially for noobs who want a general overview of which libraries that are generally seen as good/useful, this is easier in long thread with a poll than in a long thread without a poll. With the latter, it becomes more difficult to get an overview as the thread becomes very long - but in a thread with a poll, the poll will provide a simple overview; one which becomes more useful as the thread becomes longer.

And I don't see a poll like a competition, but more as a general thread for comparing the options we have... not to declare a winner, and certainly not a loser - but to help us all find out what it is about the libraries we prefer that makes us keep wanting to use them; what the strengths of each of the libraries are.
 
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I don't see a poll like a competition, but more as a general thread for comparing the options we have... not to declare a winner, and certainly not a loser - but to help us all find out what it is about the libraries we prefer that makes us keep wanting to use them; what the strengths of each of the libraries are.

I agree, but anyone who has been doing this for a while (experienced users like Jay)[and I assume that you would value their opinion above all], will tell you there is no list of best. If they are good, as most of them are, the statistics will be skewed by opinion and that chart will look scattered, like all random statistics charts do. Do a poll with a list of people's favorite i7 Intel chips. Graph the results of that one against this one and I can tell you, they will both look the same. I know what your goal is, and it is noble, but it won't give you what you want. Best thing is to listen to as many tracks as your can with what you are considering buying, and if they offer a free trial, try it for free, and then make your decision. Sometimes you will be happy and sometimes you will be sad. I have libraries, some expensive, where I followed my own advice and now they are no longer on my system. But many others on this forum love those libraries. You can't go by reviews or polls. You have to play them yourself and see if they work for you. Take the top best sellers, Spitfire, EastWest, Berlin, Cinesamples, VSL, etc. There are people who love some of them and people who hate some of them. All love at least one of them. But the people who love 2 of them have different opinions about libraries than the people that love 4 of them. Start varying how many of the top ones do people like, and then add in the other really good ones like Chris Hein and Sonokinetic and etc., then make sense out of your statistics. You can't. Any politician will tell you to be careful of polls. In the USA, they sometimes poll about flag burning. When asked "Are you for or against the right to burn an American flag?" 80% of people will say that they are against burning the flag. But if you ask them "How important is it to you?" only 50% will say important. But then if they asked "If a candidate for President does not say whether they are for or against flag burning (they dodge the question), how likely will that make you vote go against that candidate?" Then it drops to like 9% really make flag burning a major issue.

So, what's your favorite string library poll? Good luck at making sense out of these numbers. Of course why is in the posts, not in the check boxes. Buy as many of the libraries as you think that you like and can afford. Keep the ones you really like and take the ones that you don't like as losses. No matter how long it takes, that is what will happen to you. No poll can change that. You will waste some money along the way and also you will think "best money I ever spent" along the way. And which ones you say that about will be totally different than mine or anyone else on this forum. Regarding cars in the 1960s, in the USA, it was Chevy-Ford-Chrysler and more brands. In the world of oboists, it was and still is Loree-Gordet-Hiniker and more brands. Which one(s) should you get? The one(s) that you like and can afford. Then have a blast creating awesome music with them.
 
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