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REVIEW: BBCSO Professional by Spitfire Audio

From a students perspective (since it is marketed for students and education) thats a pretty steep amount of cash to drop on a library thats supposed to be revolutionary, only to be slightly let down by some
parts of it like the inconsistencies and any technical issues that may be experienced by some as well(as I had when I was on pc but not since switching back to Mac).

I still love it and is what I use for 98% of everything I do, but I was definitely a bit disappointed initially when I found a handful of things that stuck out to me that I didn't like about it.

My teacher and I both use BBCSO, and we got it at about the same time. I had a bunch of complaints at first and he practically had none, other than an issue with the shorts in the strings.
That made me think that the problem might not be the library so much as my inexperience so I didn't give up on it right away and kept using it.

The more I've used it the more I've gotten used to it and found work arounds and realized some of those things that bothered me when playing through the patches for the first time don't stick out in a full composition, except for the phasing with the
sul tasto strings, is that just what sul tasto strings do though? I'm not really sure.

Anyways, I do think BBCSO is great and still worth it in the end but it is a hefty price tag for a student which isn't going to be the all you need or perfect library after all(at least as of this moment, before the big upcoming update which maybe could change that?)
not to mention the potential issues on the technical side which could be a major bummer for us students that do experience them, and I don't mean just the ones with less powerful rigs.
 
Anyone know anything about the update? Heard there is about 35 gigs of new material

The 35 gigs is only for Pro (due to mic positions).

Comparing the Instrument list that was accessible (by accident?) last week with the current one, the new content is:

- Extended Legato for Oboe, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Cor Anglais, Horn, Trumpet and Tenor Trombone
- Muted Articulations (Long, Staccatissimo, Marcato) for Solo and Ensemble Horns, Trumpets, Tenor & Bass Trombones
and new instrument: Cimbasso (Long, Staccatissimo, Marcato, Long Cuivre, Long Sfz)
 
I hope that all legatos were updated. Especially the notorious solo horn. In the new demo the legatos definitely sound different and great.

Finally the missing performance (extended) legatos for the woodwinds... Great! Now we have a complete package.
 
When you listem to Blaney´s demos... every library sounds great... He is the one, who understands Spitfire in the best way...Great new demo... So let the update come...
 
Yeah they are provocative for sure. I just think that they often undermine the time and care a reviewer went to the trouble of writing the article in the first place.
It’s the irony of debating a product, even as some compelling music is being made with it. I have heard some compelling things from you as well, if I might say so.

But it is also late November/December at VI-Control, which if memory serves, has historically become fire/flame season around here. It’s the time when past experiences, good and bad, compete and collide in the context of talking about what others might consider investing in at preset. And where there is an ember still aglow...

Black Friday may be a culprit, as it makes what is already out there seem new again for those with wish lists to discuss. Hence, the timing of the review is what stuck out for me, like someone arriving late to a party. At this point, its announcement here risks inflaming more than it informs, though the target audience is not forum members, I would guess; we already have a 10,000 + thread on this, not to mention posted mockups showing its effectiveness to both greater and lesser degrees.
 
It’s the irony of debating a product, even as some compelling music is being made with it. I have heard some compelling things from you as well, if I might say so.

But it is also late November/December at VI-Control, which if memory serves, has historically become fire/flame season around here. It’s the time when past experiences, good and bad, compete and collide in the context of talking about what others might consider investing in at preset. And where there is an ember still aglow...

Black Friday may be a culprit, as it makes what is already out there seem new again for those with wish lists to discuss. Hence, the timing of the review is what stuck out for me, like someone arriving late to a party. At this point, its announcement here risks inflaming more than it informs, though the target audience is not forum members, I would guess; we already have a 10,000 + thread on this, not to mention posted mockups showing its effectiveness to both greater and lesser degrees.
I don't really have a dog in this race anyhow. I mostly use StaffPad these days. But I do enjoy BBC for what I write and will leave it at that.

My wish is that SFA will make a deal with DWH to port over their complete Abbey Road modular system down the line.... that would be a dream come true!

sorry, back to our regularly scheduled program now in progress. ;)
 
It brings to mind the last time I watched a Daniel James video - about eight years ago. He was covering a product I had also bought, and I was curious as to how others were using it. What he “did with it” bore no resemblance to the library as I knew it. None. We might as well have been talking about two different libraries, in fact.

Which library was that? and lol 8 years ago...things have changed a bit since then...I am thinking not in any direction you would like though 😂

-DJ
 
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