Spitfire make some great libraries, no doubt, but they're certainly not alone in that. I own some great libraries from several companies, all of which I enjoy and appreciate. However, Spitfire do, to me at least, seem somehow different from the rest. It's a company that is so open and transparent, I feel like I know them personally, and support what they're doing, though I've never met any of them. To illustrate, ask yourself these questions about your favorite developers - I've answered below in relation to Spitfire, and could answer SOME questions positively for most companies, but I wouldn't be able to answer ALL questions for any other company:
- how many companies could you name the co-founders for? (Christian, Paul)
- how many could you name the sound engineer? (Jake Jackson)
- how many could you name the lead musicians for? (Oliver, Homay)
- how many could you name >1 support desk person for? (Ben, Jack)
- how many do you know that used to take charity donations, and now just pay it themselves?
- how many have free instrument giveaways, and you could genuinely produce decent music using only these instruments? (LABS)
- how many have produced libraries in collaboration with numerous artists you genuinely admire outside of samples (Eric Whitacre, Hans Zimmer, Olafur Arnolds)
- how many have developed a separate community-based sample library, that is made freely available to the public? (PianoBook)
- how many have a whole series of videos, with insights into studies, artists, and techniques? (Creative Cribs, 1-1 Interviews, Quick Tips)
- how many developers are active composers as well as sample developers? (Paul, Christian)
- how many have interesting competitions in which they give away their products (Apex; Christmas tombola)
- how many developers do you know who gave away their Mac to someone on Twitter (Christian)
- how many developers show you ways to develop music that could entirely negate their own company's profits? (Modular Mondays)
- how many have developed a separate vlog, only semi-related to the main company, and is not about selling more products, but mainly about supporting composers, and the issues they face? (Christian)
- how many developers arrange an impromptu meetup, go for a nice walk and a chat, film it so everyone can feel some level of participation, and then he pays for the beers in the pub? (Christian)
- how many could you answer positively for ALL of the above? (Me... just 1 - Spitfire!)