The Darris
Senior Member
I saw this thread pop up this evening and decided, after having removed SSW from my template a few months ago, to pull it up and play around with it. Like the rest of the SSO series, it isn't totally consistent across the sections in terms of articulations. Something that the SSO series really struggles with compared to the Studio Series. With that said, there are some very lovely sounding patches in here worth the purchase.
The low woodwinds for instance. The Bass Clarinet sounds wonderful. I love it. It's super warm and very heavy. AIR is a wonderful hall for capturing a beefy low end. The Contrabass Clarinet is just as warm and less harsh than you'd expect. That makes it a nice alternative to other options on the market. There are key noises in it that can be a bit annoying but in reality, that's just how that instrument is in exposed contexts. The Bassoon patches are less exciting. They are a bit more harsh sounding in the Legatos for my tastes. I prefer a warmer sound, like the ones in the original Berlin Woodwinds. However, SSW's Bassoon are okay. They sound like bassoons so that's good.
The Mid reeds like the Oboes, Cor Anglais, and Clarinets are the weakest in my opinion. They just don't sound right to me but hey, that's just my taste. The functionality is good for what they have but again, the inconsistencies of recorded articulations really limit the possibilities with these instruments.
The flutes are lovely. They captured the warmth you tend to like in those instruments but also captures some of the more overblown articulations which give them some depth beyond basic orchestral writing.
I just started to add the Brass back into my template. Mainly because I was missing that distant, warm sound on this last project I worked on. I prefer the sound of CineBrass and Berlin Brass (especially BBR's shorts). But, sometimes you really need that overly warm brass sound. Spitfire's low brass delivers here. The Legato instruments are hit and miss. I really like the Solo Trumpet but without the vibrato. I think they went a little too extreme with it's vibrato but that Non-vib version is great. Awesome for that lonely soldier on the battlefield moment. The one great aspect to the Brass library is the different section sizes. They do sound drastically different which gives you options. But, again, inconsistent articulations are what hold this library back. We still don't have a solo Trombone Legato patch yet.
As for the Symphonic Strings, there is just too much content to really focus on. I've not found any golden patches for me. I was using Chamber Strings forever as my main library and then when I got this one, I replaced Chamber Strings entirely and I wasn't happy. The content is comparable but I feel like it was executed better with Chamber Strings. It could just be the section sizes at SSS is a huge string band compared to Chamber Strings. The little nuances and details of each section are far less audible which is a characteristic I like is samples. It feels more realistic to me when that's the case and SSS just doesn't do that for me.
Having compared Symphonic Strings to Studio Strings, I definitely prefer Symphonic Strings as the content is more manageable (when compared to Pro version) and the samples are more accurately cut and edited versus my experiences with Studio Strings (v1.0). I don't know what updates have been done to Studio Strings since I removed it entirely from my hard drive but I didn't care for what it had to offer in comparison to Symphonic Strings.
I don't know if my thoughts are useful but there they are. Forgive my long winded opinions. I've been printing STEMS all day and this is a cathartic way for my to unwind for the night.
Cheers,
Chris
The low woodwinds for instance. The Bass Clarinet sounds wonderful. I love it. It's super warm and very heavy. AIR is a wonderful hall for capturing a beefy low end. The Contrabass Clarinet is just as warm and less harsh than you'd expect. That makes it a nice alternative to other options on the market. There are key noises in it that can be a bit annoying but in reality, that's just how that instrument is in exposed contexts. The Bassoon patches are less exciting. They are a bit more harsh sounding in the Legatos for my tastes. I prefer a warmer sound, like the ones in the original Berlin Woodwinds. However, SSW's Bassoon are okay. They sound like bassoons so that's good.
The Mid reeds like the Oboes, Cor Anglais, and Clarinets are the weakest in my opinion. They just don't sound right to me but hey, that's just my taste. The functionality is good for what they have but again, the inconsistencies of recorded articulations really limit the possibilities with these instruments.
The flutes are lovely. They captured the warmth you tend to like in those instruments but also captures some of the more overblown articulations which give them some depth beyond basic orchestral writing.
I just started to add the Brass back into my template. Mainly because I was missing that distant, warm sound on this last project I worked on. I prefer the sound of CineBrass and Berlin Brass (especially BBR's shorts). But, sometimes you really need that overly warm brass sound. Spitfire's low brass delivers here. The Legato instruments are hit and miss. I really like the Solo Trumpet but without the vibrato. I think they went a little too extreme with it's vibrato but that Non-vib version is great. Awesome for that lonely soldier on the battlefield moment. The one great aspect to the Brass library is the different section sizes. They do sound drastically different which gives you options. But, again, inconsistent articulations are what hold this library back. We still don't have a solo Trombone Legato patch yet.
As for the Symphonic Strings, there is just too much content to really focus on. I've not found any golden patches for me. I was using Chamber Strings forever as my main library and then when I got this one, I replaced Chamber Strings entirely and I wasn't happy. The content is comparable but I feel like it was executed better with Chamber Strings. It could just be the section sizes at SSS is a huge string band compared to Chamber Strings. The little nuances and details of each section are far less audible which is a characteristic I like is samples. It feels more realistic to me when that's the case and SSS just doesn't do that for me.
Having compared Symphonic Strings to Studio Strings, I definitely prefer Symphonic Strings as the content is more manageable (when compared to Pro version) and the samples are more accurately cut and edited versus my experiences with Studio Strings (v1.0). I don't know what updates have been done to Studio Strings since I removed it entirely from my hard drive but I didn't care for what it had to offer in comparison to Symphonic Strings.
I don't know if my thoughts are useful but there they are. Forgive my long winded opinions. I've been printing STEMS all day and this is a cathartic way for my to unwind for the night.
Cheers,
Chris