Spitfire Strings Comparison - Legatos (Spitfire Studio Strings)
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- A comparison between 4 different strings libraries from Spitfire Audio.
In this example, I am using "Rue's Farewell" by James Newton Howard to showcase the legatos in these libraries.
• Rue's Farewell
Check out Strings Comparison for Short Articulations
• Spitfire Strings Compa...
Out of the Box
0:00 Spitfire Studio Strings (Professional)
1:33 Spitfire Solo Strings
3:06 Spitfire Chamber Strings
4:39 Spitfire Symphonic Strings
Mixed (Reverbs and EQ)
6:12 Spitfire Studio Strings (Professional)
7:46 Spitfire Solo Strings
9:19 Spitfire Chamber Strings
10:52 Spitfire Symphonic Strings
Download the Logic Session here
gumroad.com/l/GNnVc
/ victorkws
www.victorkongmusic.com
In these comparisons. Studio sounds the most emotionally powerful to me.
Agreed! They sound really detailed and have a lot of clarity. Also kind of intimate as well. They really suit this piece at least!
Then we don’t need to buy the other studio
Maybe SSS with Close mic would sound similar to Studio Strings.
It suits best this kind of emotional intimate kind of music I think
chamber strings for me
These are excellent Victor! Thanks so much for sharing! :)
That was a wonderful comparison. Thank you for putting it together and sharing with everyone. :)
Please do more, this is great! Best orchestral library comparison video I have seen.
Amazing work man! What great use of expression and good composition as well.
Beautiful! Thanks!
wow, really great to have such video, thank you for comparison! I really enjoy the music!
This helps perfectly for deciding, which one to use!
I love my Studio Strings Professional. Spitfire Audio makes great products! Great demo btw. Well done! 👍 👌
Thank you so much for this. Very helpful!👍🏼
to me they are all high quality and really good. only difference is how each library has its own unique feeling and sound
THANKS SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS!!!
Beautiful Piece of music. This is perfect
Your video helped me decide on Spitfire Chamber strings, and I am so happy I did. I use it so much!
Great to hear!
What makes you decide chamber ?
@@Renaxelo I obviously can't answer for @Willem, but Chamber Strings is my choice too. I love the room sound of Air Lyndhurst. Some find it to be too wet, but it is pretty magical to my ears. Bumping up the close mic and lowering the tree mic can get as dry of a sound as I would want. Chamber Strings also has detail and intimacy that is lost in a larger orchestra like Symphonic Strings. You can always layer a second copy (transposed up and pitch shifted down a step, or transposed down and pitch shifted up a step) to get a "bigger" sound, but you can't really do the opposite and make a large ensemble sound like a smaller one. Spitfire even has an option in Chamber Strings (and almost all of their other libraries, too) to do this automatically.
And the flautandos in Chamber Strings are hauntingly beautiful. I can load up the ensemble flautando patch and just get lost in it for hours. The flautandos in Symphonic Strings are also quite nice, just not nearly as inspiring as those in Chamber Strings for me. I don't own Studio Strings to compare to, though listening to the demos and walkthroughs, it's not for me.
It's on sale for $524 right now (25% off) until Dec. 1st, and it will put you above the $349 threshold to get Aperture Orchestra for free (only available this weekend, it will never go for sale as a regular library). The Christmas sale is usually better for individual items, with almost everything going for 40% off. And there's a chance that it will be included in a special bundle during that sale with some other products for a heavy discount. Like this past spring, there was a sale bundle with Symphonic Strings, Symphonic Brass, Symphonic Woodwinds, Masse, and Harp for $898 (60% off). I don't think it's been included in any of the special bundles for this year's sales, so it may be due for inclusion in the next one. There's no guarantee that it will be, of course.
@@Justin.Franks Thanks for teaching me the transposition trick
@@800pieds Sure thing! It's an easy thing to do with Spitfire libraries, since it is a built-in option to nearly every library they sell. It's also pretty easy to do with any Kontakt library, even if it doesn't have a similar built-in layering option. Just load an instrument twice into the Kontakt instance for a track, and then, for one of them, set the "tuning" knob to -2 (towards the top right of the instrument's interface, it's a standard control included in all Kontakt instruments), and the library's "transpose" option to +2, or the reverse ("tuning" to +2 and "transpose" to -2).
These sound incredible thanks so much for doing this! Would you mind sharing how you mixed these?
Great song choice for the example!
So beautiful!!!!
outstanding work
would also love to hear comparisons between Spitfire and other sample library manufacturers
The studio and symphonic strings are the best out of the 4, but the studio strings gave more emotion. Studio strings it is. Thanks for this.
amazing video mate thanks so much
Thank you! This was the comparison I was looking for. Just bought Studio Strings (core version) and my initial thoughts are that I'm very happy with what I hear. I personally was concerned about the lack of natural hall reverb because I generally prefer epic sounds but it's such an easy fix with even a stock reverb plugin - at least to my ears. So now I have the added benefit of maintaining the clarity and "forwardness" often required for cinematic and modern compositions as well as the reverb tail. Probably not as much "air" as Chamber Strings but for my use that's not a major concern.
Studio strings with seventh heaven sounds so epic, if you want more articulations and bigger section you could buy the pro version you’ll get a discount or wait until the next 40% discount and you’ll get it for 150$ like I did:P really worth it in my opinion:)
Very helpful video - thank you Victor. The comments are helpful too - they tell me that 'best' is subjective, dependent on context and subject to personal taste. :) Looks like it's time for an update that includes Spitfire's BBCSO - more work for you! ;)
It's interesting to see everyone's opinions. Variety is the spice of life! I like symphonic strings the most. I just purchased the symphonic orchestra.
They're all different tools for different jobs. Depends on what mood I'm trying to create.
True
Important to note that a big difference between these libraries is that the smaller ensembles (like Chamber Strings) tend to have many more intricate articulations that can be used to draw out really detailed, intimate performances. These aren't being used in this video, which just uses the "performance legato" articulation throughout.
I like the high end of the solo strings and the silky low end of the symphonic strings
Chamber or Solo for me, love those detailed textures
I was surprised at how much I loved the raw Studio strings
very good programming, congratulations!!
Well done! This is such a great piece to use for comparison. Any chance you could provide a midi version too? I only have Cubase and I would like to see how Appassionata fares with this piece.
So interesting thank you! I love the gentle vibratos of the solo strings. This was such a lesson is how to dial in the mod wheel, thank you for such understated and elegant dynamics. Can you talk more about the mixing process? What adjustments did you make? Also great to see you using the C1 and T1 mics on Studio strings - after testing all possible combos I also found that to have the best sound, so I'm pleased to see I'm not alone in that!
'gentle vibrato's'? :D the vibrato is at times so present that it sounds like a tremolo plugin. Not very subtle.
The piece overall is well done. That's not what I'm saying.
Love this ❤️❤️
thank you so much!
I prefer Symphonic Strings. It adds that extra "wide landscape" atmosphäre to this beautiful piece of music.
This is the sound which makes my emotions soar.
I love this piece. Symphonic Strings sounds best for this piece. Solo Strings sounds the worst to me because there is too much vibrato for me and not enough variation in the vibrato, which is more noticeable on solo. It would be great if companies like Spitfire could somehow develop an automation setting that varies the vibrato tastefully, to improve the out-of-the-box sound and for when you don't have time to program the vibrato variations. Until then the vibrato should at least be very subtle by default.
Can you please tell me the name of this piece..its amazing
@@dsenzmusic6491 Rue's Farewell
There is a preset within solo called progressive....this adds some variation to the vibrato, otherwise you have to automate the vibrato while playing or after the recording.
You *can* adjust the instensity of the vibrato, but then again, these are solo strings, so they work better when they are used as solo players. I agree with you, Symphonic fits this piece better.
What do you do to program vibrato variations manually, is there a certain plugin that can achieve this?
Very interested how the close mics of BBCSO would do against studio strings now
Reading the comments proves that one's opinion is always the best if the quality of the product is class A. My favorite is still SCS, no matter how many times I play the vid. Thanks for this really useful comparison.
Spitfire Audio makes some fantastic libraries. Might have to pick up a few of these when they go on sale this summer.
And....just like that, Spitfire put them all on sale until May 31, 2022. I bought their Spitfire Symphonic Orchestra Pro (which includes Symphonic Strings Pro). I also bought Chamber Strings Pro, and Solo Strings.
Studio Strings sounds really nice here because the size of orchestra seems about right for this composition and the pace is slow. However in terms of the flow and movement of the notes, I prefer Chamber Strings. Studio Strings struggles with a fast piece as the legatos are too sluggish. They all sound nice though and it was great to hear them together. Thanks for taking the time to do the video.
Hello Victor, love your videos! COuld you please do a tutorial on how you set up a project like this?
This is great! So which one do you like the best? I really love the silky smoothness of the Symphonic Strings
I like combining chamber with symphonic strings. So I could get the definition from chamber and the lushness from symphonic. I have used this combination in my mockups. Like this czcams.com/video/nrtPVQXTsHE/video.html
This is a class A stuff.
The music sounds just like the real life playing.
> buy solo strings
> load two violins (pretend that theyre 1st & 2nd violins), a viola, cello and bass
> compose
> when done, duplicate the 1st violin four times, 2nd violin x3, viola x3, bass x3
> boom now you have chamber strings
Well, you have three violins in solo strings. And then you can use the trick that Spitfire itself told to people about how to make Chamber to sound bigger.
It always helps to know which library was used to create the original performance. Unless it was played 4 times, this is not a totally fair comparison. But the Studio Strings do sound nicest...maybe they were used for the creation.
I initially performed it with Studio Strings. I then copied the midi notes and re-performed it with new modulations and expressions!
thank you
Beautiful demo!!! Thoughts on Virtuoso,1st desk, progressive & why do you chose 1st desk on solo strings?
Interesting video.
That is probably the best programming I've heard!
Could you do a tutorial it? Would really love that!
Yeah would be great
You can download Victor's logic file from his Gumroad (see description)
Studio Strings is just gorgeous out of the box. Clearly the best of the bunch.
Good job dude! Did you orchestrate the parts a bit different from the original version or did you add anything different? Anyway do you think that studio strings is a bit harder to mix due to being much drier than the other libraries? I would like to buy it and the lower price compared to chamber strings is tempting me, but missing on the room tone, sound and ambience would bother me
Yea, I think you'll need more time to blend with other libraries. But I only set it up once in the template and just tweak accordingly to different genre. My example only used close and tree mics, they included a lot more mic positions you can play around.
“Rue’s Farewell”
by James Newton Howard,
performed on 4 string libraries?!
Not only do these libraries
make this piece sound so beautiful,
but also very emotional too...
😢😢😢😢😥😥😥😥😭😭😭😭
From the choices of:
Spitfire Studio Strings
0:01 and 6:13
Spitfire Solo Strings
1:34 and 7:47
Spitfire Chamber Strings
3:07 and 9:20
and let’s not forget...
Spitfire Symphonic Strings
4:40 and 10:52
But a song could be written so beautifully like this with virtual instruments .
❤👍😀❤👍
I actually really like solo strings in this - I suppose you can control when the vibrato comes in as well as the sensitivity?
This is a good comparison - though as has been said, it would be good to know if you’d played this in with one library or another - otherwise it becomes more of a test that shows how well a library can do something made for another. I’d have liked to hear portamento used a bit more. I’m feeling like the legato concept needs adjusting when note transitions have that everything-goes-away kind of feeling. There’s a lot of that in these.
Thank you for your hard work.
Hi Richard! I initially performed it with Studio Strings. I then copied the midi notes and re-performed it with new modulations and expressions!
many people choose symphonic or chamber because of reverberation. I still believe in studio strings because it gives a lot of possibilities in the mix
But short articulations of studio is really bad
@@Hehhhhhhhavvvv I'm not agree. U can mix them with other, even cheap libraries - and it giving more realistic to them. It is more easy to mix, when U have dry shorts
@@bartmuz I prefer to use symphonic strings bro .
Lovely music.
It depends on how it's applied. I think if the song was a more rustic or colonial type setting or story, maybe solo or chamber string would be better.
CHAMBER STRINGS sounds awfully special! Coming in a very ROMANTIC second (and, for the ultimate swell, could be in 1st Place)...SYMPHONIC STRINGS.
Solo strings make me wanna cry🥺😢😭this is just magnificent. Which audio interface are you using to handle them? Because I know strings kill a lot.
fancy O you don’t need an audio interface, just a good cpu when it comes to sample libraries 16g minimum (I have 8 and I have a hard time ahhh)
@@ClicStudio What kind of value is 16g for a cpu, i guess you are talking about memory and 16gb. but ya there is no need for an interface in this case
@@misiowaskocha 16 is just enough to do well, I upgraded to 32gb recently
What sound would be best to have that Disney lush sliding strings sound in the old movies or anime’s
I would probably pick Studio strings for a film production. But if I was writing an actual symphonic piece unrelated to film, the sonic character of the SSS is just too perfect for it. Would maybe want to tweak the legato nature a bit on it as some connections weren't as realistic as one might want out of the gate.
Honestly Studio Strings sounds the best to me. Symphonic strings is very nice but a little synthy at times, and chamber sounds good just not my style. Studio strings is a good in between.
agreed
do we have same ears? lol
spitfire studio woodwinds & brasses please! :)
studio woodwinds are too wet... spitfire brass is good
I think solo strings could have been better presented of you played more with the vibrato modulation, because the vibrato sounds way too much present in my opinion and makes the sound a bit unrealistic when not applied correctly, anyway superb job I love the chamber strings and studio version, amazing work:)
Nice video! Could you show us how you achieve the "mixed" version? That sounds much natural than "out of box".
Hi YannZhu! I'm glad you liked it! All I did with the mixed version are a little eq and delay that I learn from this Masterclass with Alan Meyerson video. @lnw4
@@VictorKongMusic Phenomenal! Thank you!
Solo Strings have a nice vibrato, studio strings don't seem to have vibrato, although the GUI shows there is.
midiland Yea I don’t feel the vibrato enough in studio strings
The vibrato effect isn't as noticeable in an ensemble as it is with solo strings. With an ensemble, the vibrato all blurs together to make kind of a chorus effect.
Vibrato of the Solo Strings conquers me. Chamber Strings have a smooth vibrato. Studio Strings is the "cleanest". Symphonic Strings is also "clean". However, it has a less strident timbre than Studio Strings. My point of view
Helltix Something that triggered me was that exaggerated (for my taste) use of vibrato in the string solo
@@alejandrom.4680 It's not programmed correctly. You have dynamic fading between 4 vibrato intensities and no vibrato. This sounds like max vibrato all the time.
0:35 0:54
3:42 4:00
6:47 9:54
7:06 10:13
I have the studio strings and love them, but the legatos are hard to use for anything that requires fast note changes. The negative attack is intense.
very helpful comparison of dry and wet. What reverb did you use for the Studios strings? The onboard convolution?
I use Altiverb for the ER and Lexicon for the tail!
@@VictorKongMusic thank you for your time and answers
Maybe a silly question, but how do you approach only applying the Lexicon to just the tail? Are you just using automation to fade between the two reverbs?
@@VictorKongMusic what do you use from altiverb and what lexicon, would you be more specific please really love how you dressed the strings
how do you change the adsr?
hey people! any tips on creating more natural dynamic? are the automations below the midi strictly velocity automations? is there anything else that works good to give strings more of a realistic character like your sitting next to the player in a room - maybe mixing/mastering tips? thank you and have a nice day!
Watch composing Academy mix master video
I wish I'd found this video last week when the sale was on!
I was originally going to go for the BBC core orchestra, but the string section sounded too big for what I need. I write chamber music on guitar (synth) for guitar.
They all sound good, but for different things. The choice was too much for me to make up my mind in a week! Ideally, I would like to demo each for myself.
On hearing this, Studio strings aren't much better than what I have already, symphonic is way to big a sound and solo strings sound great in the Spitfire demo, but (slightly) phasey and unrealistic here. I almost bought the excellent 8dio solo strings, but they only work with the full version of Kontakt (which I refuse to buy).
I'll go for the chamber strings when the next sale comes around (or we get to gig again and I can earn).
WELL ITS ON AGAIN FOR A FEW MORE DAYS, BETTER GET ON IT
@@khrimsun8687 Aye, I'd been waiting. Funnily enough I went for Studio strings in January. If you turn off the vibrato then they don't phase and sound excellent! I've just bought the rest of the studio collection (Woodwind and Brass). It's perfect for my wee projects! Cheers
you think the 8 studio solo strings are better than these solo strings?
@@khrimsun8687 No, They were just cheaper (way cheaper).
symphonic strings sounds the most realistic and very well mixed. But Studio Strings has better textures
my chamber strings are very queit. what i doing wrong? (ofcourse stted max volume and still quiet
What’s with the vibrato of solo strings? Did you maxed it up all the way down?
Would you be able to provide a MIDI as Download option? I downloaded the LogicX file but I use Cubase so am not able to open it up for obvious reasons. Stupid me...
I'm also very interested in the MIDI version. I would like to put Hans Zimmer strings and BBC Symphony Orchestra to the test.
would you recommend SCS or SSS as first purchase? i have the feeling SCS can be used in a variety of styles and symphonic blends very well. For this piece in particular symphonic is perfect but chamber sounds great too.
really depends of your need. For me, I only use SSS for orchestra genre, but with SCS, I basically layer it with every genre I do.
@@VictorKongMusic yeah sss for big orchestra sounds awesome. Did you ever try the olafur chamber string? Also a cuoriosity, how look did it take to program the strings and perfect them? Your work is outstanding and that is the result i’m aiming for.
chamber strings is the go to
I will be buying solo stings
When they have another sell
They are on sale now! :-)
To me it’s either studio strings or Symphonic strings.
This piece was full of Studio Ghibli vibe! Crazy!
Hi Victor, I see that your Studio Strings is the professional version. I wonder if it is strongly recommended to get that version, or is the standard version good enough? Thank you! :)
a123386 I have both and I can say, each one is so beautiful. But the professional version sound a little bit more “professional” because it the extra mics. With a little tweaks, I sound almost as good as the chamber or symphonic strings
@@robertsmorra4132 Hello Robert, thank you for your reply. Does that mean if you buy the professional version, you wouldn't need to buy chamber and/or symphonic anymore?
a123386 I think it depends on what you going for. The symphonic strings are huge and very lush as well as the chamber strings but these are kind of more detailed in their sound. Studio strings is kind of in between. I mean you have also a symphonic string section and a chamber section. You can combine both. Plus you have a dry sound which makes it very versatile. When you are going for a symphonic arrangement, I would prefer the symphonic strings. But all in all I think the studio strings are perfect if you can’t afford chamber and symphonic strings
PianobyRobert I actually have Symphonic Strings, so I’m considering which one to buy as a layer - Chamber or Studio. Which one would you recommend?
a123386 I would prefer the Spitfire Studio Strings because it‘s much more versatile. You have the option to use divisi to have much more Control over your Music. But chamber strings is an A+ as well 😄 but I would go with the Studio Strings.
muy epico
Do you mind sharing the project file? Would be very helpful to understand how everything is glued together with expression/dynamics etc. Very lovely cue!
Thank you! The project file link is available in the description box.
Victor Kong Fantastic! Forgot to check..! Thanks a lot:)
How to make separate track like this??
Okay, do the comparison again but with fast legato music!
nando.audio most of them hardly do any good woth fast legato, you should check out either Cinematic Studio Strings or performance sample libraries for good and fast legato:)
With louder passages, it would have highlighted one of Studio Strings' biggest flaws - legato transitions were only recorded at one dynamic (usually mp/mf) so, when your dynamics move towards ff, the transitions are too quiet and don't blend well with the loudest sustains. Molto Vibrato is probably omitted for this reason, and can only be accessed on the regular sustains articulation.
I really don't like the Studio Series at all, unless you need the extra instruments or extended playing techniques.
Hey Lous, what plug in would you suggest?
I'm looking to buy something that is realistic on every level of playing. Has dynamics, vibrato and lots of articulations.
@@hartburnproductions4570 Currently I have Spitfire Studio Strings Professional, EastWest Hollywood Strings Diamond, and CineStrings Core; I couldn't speak for the other Spitfire libraries.
For the libraries I own, Hollywood Strings Diamond and CineStrings Core are pretty similar (three vibrato layers; up to five dynamic layers) and covers the essentials incredibly well. CineStrings has better consistency across the board, but Hollywood Strings has three different legato transitions. However, the sections sizes are about double what they are for Studio Strings (Professional) so it's a thicker, less intimate sound overall.
For Spitfire, I think you need to be looking at either Symphonic Strings or Chamber Strings. The fact that you get legatos on real con sordino, sul tasto, and sul G patches seems pretty great; also they were modular libraries before being consolidated into what they are now, so the articulation variety is massive.
Best sounding strings I've heard overall is still Cinematic Studio Strings; I think it's capable of the most expression. If you want an encyclopaedic library of articulations, possibly Berlin Strings would be the best package to get.
@@louis-marlowe thanks so much for that information.
So in sum, if I'm looking for the most real sounding strings with "Tru legato" etc. And good dynamic layers; you would recommend cine strings.
But if I wanted spitfire audio stuff only; you would recommend going to the symphonic and chamber series?
Also, what do you think of the BBC orchestra coming out? I was thinking of that as well...
@@hartburnproductions4570 Spitfire's BBCSO looks enticing, and they'll do a follow up video looking at legato specifically.
It's hard for me to totally recommend (as I don't have it yet) but the best sounding string library has to be Cinematic Studio Strings - there's an arguably even better solo strings package that sits alongside it too. I'll hopefully be getting both really soon!
@@louis-marlowe its crazy tho that cine strings is literally half the price of Symphony strings of spitfire...
There's gotta be something missing lol.
Newbie question: do people use Legato besides the 1st violin too?
I just got Studio Strings (core) and I already own Cinematic Solo Studio Strings (CSSS different company) so won’t need the Spitfire version. I’m using the solos as first chair a lot, and they really compliment the sections and make them stand out even more when needed. It helps a lot that they both have performance legato, and despite being made with different companies, they go together really well, possibly giving a slightly different sound to other composers. I’m very happy.
To answer your question though, I use legato celli most of all, but it depends how you use things.
It's beautiful! Could someone please explain what "out of the box" means?
If I am correct, it means that it is how the sample library sounds by itself with no added external (not included in the library) effects such as EQ or compression.
@@alistairrazak6751 Yes that sounds correct, thank you! :)
👍
Studio strings gave me goosebumps so yeah my body chose
studio strings sounds so much better than I expected it to that I might just buy it since I'm looking for a new string library.
What do you recommend for movies and tv show scores?
also for something like this: /watch?v=TGhxY8EYoJc
Spitfire great company
Hello everybody I love the rich sound of the the Symphonic Strings .
Studio pro: 30 violons petite piece
Symphonic : 60 violons Air Studio.
300e de difference.
praticamente uguale
I personally loved the chamber and solo. The others were a little too wet for my taste.
Is this chamber strings they're demoing a professional or standard version?
Professional
@@VictorKongMusic Chamber Strings is standard, Studio Strings is professional, by the looks of it.
@@JamesTaylorMain Both of them look identical. Professional has extra mic positions.
Obviously "Solo strings" while sounds good itself doesn't fit much this orchestration. "Chamber" is good, but you expect more wide sound from such piece. So, basically we have Studio and Symphonic as winners for this piece.
*Chamber's Forever ...*
Yeah i guess it's one of my fav's, judging from this
Comparison
Hi Капитан, I I am actually still deciding which library to pick - Studio or Chamber. But in this demo, Chamber's vibrato was set too high, so it "distorted" my ability to fully judge the sound quality. Could you please let me know why you find chamber better? I have already got symphonic, and it sounds lush, but I will need another library to layer over it because it sounds too "spread", as in diluted. So if I am composing a piece in 9-8 time signature, around 63 to 86 bpm, and with some instances of consecutively repeated eighth notes, would it sound good on chamber? Your help will be highly appreciated. Thank you Капитан!
Studio Strings THE BEST
It would be interesting to hear BBC Symphony alongside these. Symphonic strings seems a bit too big and chamber strings has way too much vibrato for my taste