I had a very intensive research about all available orchestral libraries during present Black Friday. It was really exhausting cause I tried to collect all the pros and cons and guess what...I ended up to using my ears only. The array of different opinions just left me in the blind spot and I could not decide.
My point of view is that the tone perception depends on the user and it is very different from person to person. I know, this is nothing new
I saw a lot of opinions raving about CSS while some say they are too dark and do not cut through (not to mention most of the people say the legato is the best in the market while some say they hate it because it is burdening the workflow).
The same with Berlin Strings. Some say it has tone nailed to the optimal point while some say it is more on the higher side and does not have enough lows.
Century Strings, the same history, though it is relatively new library actually I still prefer Adagio and Agitato over it cause for me it is too harsh and the legato is not that flexible. But then again in lot of compositions it will fit perfectly.
I heard mockups for Berlin Strings, Hollywood Strings, CSS, Century that sounded marvelous and I heard also bad ones. So you have to analyze each option very carefully and do not bring conclusion on one opinion or example (or even several ones).
Also it is different if you analyze the tone solely from the library or in context. Sometimes the strings do not sound right out of the box alone and may seem they lack some of the frequencies but then it occurs when you combine it with other sections it suddenly becomes very attractive.
That is why I always try to look for comprehensive libraries cause then you are actually able to fully judge whether the tone is right or not. Taking that in mind I have BHCT and to me it is the best tonewise library of all time. The tone placement for each "section" is brilliant. Again, this is my opinion only not ultimate general judgement for all.
Now I am about to get Hollywood Orchestra cause for me it is gorgeous library in terms of the sound, flexibility and I don't care many say it is rubbish. It actually sounds marvelous to me even after all these years. Compared to other libraries I think many of them still have much to do.
I also think upcoming CSW will be a milestone for many of us cause it will complete the line and I am convinced we will have an excellent choice for new complete orchestral library (well almost but the percussion is the least problematic library to blend). Please check demos from Alex where he used all of the available libaries. My jaw is still not in the place it supposed to be.
At the end, this is nothing inventive here but really, you have to trust your feelings and your gut cause it is really matter of preference and a lot of people here already mentioned this many times. Sadly (or not) there is no library to rule them all. I think it is also good that they are different cause we have different options for different uses and also sometimes it is refreshing to do something with another library than to use the same all the time.
Concluding, my opinion is that everybody here is right about their choice
Back to the topic: Venice Strings: tonewise my new favourite future buy