IK/SR VI HOT BUY - GROUP BUY on eSoundz!!! SampleTank Instruments for $99 + more!

[Xenobt]

Just stepped thru the Miroslav bonus set, and WOW! This could have been a full add-on library in the tradition of Squids Tron Extras! (And still could be...)

There are some excellent new performance articulations, and VERY nice variations on things in Miroslav. The new pizz strings sound GREAT across the board! It's too late for a review tonight, but lets just say that the clarinets ALONE would have been a great bonus.

Some things aren't looped, but most samples are several seconds long, and they've been sampled at the same length/tempo so you get real note-off detail that's very nice on chords... I'd like looped versions, but I love what's here too!
Thanks Squids, did I mention WOW?!

KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt

[osidenick]

I upgraded to the full version of Miroslav in the group buy, and I'm taking my time deciding which bonuses to get. I've got Piano Collection 2 and World Instrument Collection, so two more to go.
I've narrowed it down to Symphony Strings 2, Vintage Keys Collection, and Cinematik Collection for the last 2 choices. Here are my questions:
1) I realize I have a ton of strings with Miroslav (and now the Miroslav Bonus). Anyone out there with Miroslav and Symphony Strings that can shed some light on what SS offers you that you can't get from Miroslav?
2) The Piano Collection has some great patches for D6 Clav, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, and an EP. Plus, I've got the SampleMoog and SampleTank patches that come with the free SampleTank. So how much will I add by getting the Vintage Keys Collection?
3) I read through a lot of the thread from last year's group buy. It seemed like a lot of people liked Cinematik, although one poster said they didn't need it because they had Alchemy. So I downloaded the free Alchemy Player, which has some interesting sounds. Anyone with some insight in how Cinematik and Alchemy Player compare and contrast?

So, which of the three choices do I already have covered the best? Any help is appreciated.
The Group Buy (my first) and this thread have been great experiences.

osidenick (here and at esoundz)

[torgo]

Glad to hear you've enjoyed the group buy experience - it's the best way to get great deals on computer music software.

On your final two selections: if you're happy with the EPs that you already have, I'd pass on Vintage Keys and take the other sets instead.




What I've posted about Vintage Keys before: it basically comes down to three monster sized parent samples of electric pianos - a CP70, a Rhodes, and a Wurlitzer. There are also some Mellotron strings and choir sounds, a pair of Hammond B3 sounds, and some other assorted vintage synth stuff.

The catch is that the organ sounds are pretty common (like the one in SampleTank Free, for example, and there are plenty of good freeware organ instruments out there), and SampleTank Free also has some 'Tron strings and choir, plus synth sounds from SampleMoog. The other assorted stuff isn't all that special anyway.

So the decision on it boils down to those three huge electric pianos, which take up half the file space of the full set. If you want the biggest, most detailed CP70 you can get (out of tune on the lower end of the keyboard - just like the real thing), then Vintage Keys is for you.

But if you're happy with the EPs you already have, there's not much point in getting more of the same stuff. For most people, a little electric piano goes a long, long way.





Symphony Strings 2 is a fine set, and for anyone who doesn't have Miroslav, it would be a good substitute. It doesn't have as much articulation as Miroslav, but the sounds are high quality.

As for what you might get with Symphony Strings 2 that isn't in Miroslav, I really can't think of anything. It's just yet another collection of solo and ensemble strings. (If you're wondering why SR would even bother with it, it came out long before they acquired the rights to the Miroslav library.) It's still violins, cellos, etc, but the specific parent samples are different recordings.

The main question for anyone who already has Miroslav is whether you'd really want yet another set of orchestral strings. You might get more use out of something completely different, like maybe a guitar or drum set. But if you want even more strings to expand your orchestral library even more, then Symphony Strings 2 would certainly be a good choice.





Cinematik is one of the toughest to describe and review. It was the most popular set in last year's huge group buy, but you could read through that entire thread and still not get a good understanding of what Cinematik really is.

The background on it is that it's meant to be a teaser of SR's "Cinema Sessions" line of sound libraries for Infinite Player. I think of it more as a "best of" than a simple teaser.

The drawback of the full Cinema Sessions line is that the vast majority of sounds are either pure effects or effect-laden. You'll hear a lush strings sound, but two seconds into it you get hit with some kind of spaceship noise. It ends up being a fun toy, but unless you do film/video work on a regular basis, it will mainly just sit unused on your hard drive.

Cinematik Collection still has some of those effects or effect-laden sounds (including four of the first five in the set, so it's easy to get a bad first impression). But most of the set actually is useful for "regular" music. SR did a fine job of collecting as many purely musical sounds out of Cinema Sessions as they could for Cinematik.

It's probably at its best as a collection of pads - string ensembles, brass, vocal/choir, and synth pads. There are a few solo instruments, such as a flute and an English horn, but most of the best sounds are ensembles or pads.

Many of these sounds will have a different "feel" than the ones in other sets like Miroslav or Symphony Strings. They were intended for film scoring, so many of them have lush ambiance or reverb built into the parent samples. If you play sounds like "Boat Call" (a staccato strings sound loaded with reverb), you can't help but feel that you're hearing "movie style" strings.

One other note: you'll probably find that some of the sounds could use some quick tweaks, but they're pretty easy to do.

For example, some of the strings sounds like "Outside In Inside Out" or "Dramatica Strings" sound odd when you let go of notes. They'll make a sound almost like a sucking noise, sort of like the intake of an accordion. That's no big deal - all they need is a little longer release time. Just click the ENV1 button and turn the Release up to something like 1.1s, and they'll sound great.

Likewise, you might find you want to turn up the attack time on sounds like "Bubba Lead" or "Exploration".



I don't have Alchemy, so I can't help you on that one.

[osidenick]

Torgo,
I'm amazed at how much time and effort you put into your replies. It is much appreciated.
I believe you have swayed me to give Cinematik a try. It is definitely the one I am most curious about. I might even branch out and take a look at the Acoustic Drums or Bass Collection. I've never gotten too in depth with these sounds, and have always relied on the stock sounds in Logic. Ultrabeat has a ton of drum sounds that can be individually tweaked, but I've never really tried it out much. If I'm looking for more interesting sounds that I clearly don't have, maybe I'll even check out the HipHop Collection (even though it's not really my style).

Thanks again, Torgo!

osidenick (here and at esoundz)

[Xenobt]

Agreed, osidenick! If torgo hadn't jumped in by today, I was gonna take a whack at it. Here's my take...

I find that the strings in SS2 are a more produced, record/soundtrack type, whereas Miroslav is a warmer, more classical recording sound. And as T mentioned, there are lots of articulations in MPO that make using it with scores MUCH easier. (In fact, there's a bunch of good examples of them in the EXCELLENT bonus library for this GB.)
There are some lovely sections in Symphony Strings 2, and they have a gloss on top that helps them sit nicely in the mix.

About Cinematik, I've scored several things with it and its big brother Cinema Sessions over the last year, and I find it's best to write with it and add other elements around it, rather than try to fit it to something I was working on.
It's got some of the nicest full orchestra patches outside MPO in the whole ST library, with various brass, string and woodwind blends. Most synth sounds are VERY Roland D series, and several of the wind/brass ensembles are really sweet. But it won't make a full orchestra on its own.

Also, if you play a patch and hear nothing, push up your mod wheel. A few patches have their filter mapped to it, and for some reason, they start in the sub sonic range. Some have MW in their name, some don't! I've run across it a few times in other ST libraries too...

It sounds like you're well set in the electronic drum dept., but Hip Hop Instruments still has some really BIG sounds in it, even without its excellent Roland kits. It wasn't my style either, but I find myself in its folders often when I need SOMETHING cool. There are huge basses and leads of all types, the Clean Piano is my favorite of all ST pianos, and I've joked it should be Hip Pop Instruments, since there's so much modern synth stuff in here.

KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt

[osidenick]

Thank you both for the input. Just got through going through all the presets in Cinematik. Very happy with the choice. At one point in my decision making it was the one that I was going to leave out, so I'm glad I took my time, and you both swayed me towards getting it. Now, I'm going to give the Hip Hop Instruments a try. At this point, I think I'm better off going for a wider variety, instead of adding slightly different flavors of sounds I already have.

When all I had was Miroslav Classik, I found myself doing a lot of tweaking of the sounds. Now, with all the presets I've got, I'm doing a lot of "preset surfing" instead tweaking. When the time comes to put stuff in a song, I'm sure I'll do both. It sure is nice to have so many tools at your disposal (even if it's a little overwhelming at times). I think I'll be making combis of similar sounds that I like, as an easy way to quickly test out 16 different options ( I love this about SampleTank ).

Thanks again,
osidenick (here and at esoundz)

[sauli]

Miroslav Outtakes is EXCELLENT!

Squids - You really should contact IK and ask convince them to release this as Xpansion Tank product or something. There were couple of instruments I'd never use, but for most part it was a gem.

[Squids]

Miroslav Outtakes is EXCELLENT!

Squids - You really should contact IK and ask convince them to release this as Xpansion Tank product or something. There were couple of instruments I'd never use, but for most part it was a gem.

We are going to continue to offer it just for people that buy Miroslav Philharmonik from esoundz for now. Maybe later it will be officially released or some of the material will (the less quirky stuff).

Edit: Actually we just attached it to Miroslav Philharmonik and Total Workstation 2 so if you buy any of those (or even if you bought them in the past from esoundz) you get the Miroslav Outtakes for free! There's no way to buy the library so the only way to get it is through it being bundled with one of these two. I bet some people who bought Miroslav Philharmonik or Total Workstation 2 from esoundz are pretty happy right now! You never know what sort of rewards come now or later on - at least in terms of SOUNDZ - when it comes to www.esoundz.com Something to think about when you buy.

Speaking of, we are releasing a new drum library in the Studiophonik series this week and it will be FREE to all people who joined the previous Studiophonik Prelude Group Buy and only $50 (intro price) to everyone else. It's really nice! Almost done with it.

[DarkStar]

Edit: Actually we just attached it to Miroslav Philharmonik and Total Workstation 2 so if you buy any of those (or even if you bought them in the past from esoundz) you get the Miroslav Outtakes for free! There's no way to buy the library so the only way to get it is through it being bundled with one of these two. I bet some people who bought Miroslav Philharmonik or Total Workstation 2 from esoundz are pretty happy right now! You never know what sort of rewards come now or later on - at least in terms of SOUNDZ - when it comes to www.esoundz.com Something to think about when you buy.

It sure is - I got MP on 01/03/2008 in the Miroslav Orchestra SampleTank Group Buy so I'm looking forward to the Outtakes

[Squids]

Edit: Actually we just attached it to Miroslav Philharmonik and Total Workstation 2 so if you buy any of those (or even if you bought them in the past from esoundz) you get the Miroslav Outtakes for free! There's no way to buy the library so the only way to get it is through it being bundled with one of these two. I bet some people who bought Miroslav Philharmonik or Total Workstation 2 from esoundz are pretty happy right now! You never know what sort of rewards come now or later on - at least in terms of SOUNDZ - when it comes to www.esoundz.com Something to think about when you buy.

It sure is - I got MP on 01/03/2008 in the Miroslav Orchestra SampleTank Group Buy so I'm looking forward to the Outtakes

Enjoy! See, no one ever said you don't get something good for free. Although I gotta say it's people like you DarkStar that deserve it for all your help in the community and that good feeling inspires us to do things like this. So a big thank you to you and other eSoundzers who participate in our company forum and marketplace posts.

[Chester Desmond]

Good to see another successful GB. Makes me a little sad that I had most of the libraries in this one...the esoundz GBs are always so exciting!

It sure is - I got MP on 01/03/2008 in the Miroslav Orchestra SampleTank Group Buy so I'm looking forward to the Outtakes

Sweet, I was in that GB too! Should I contact Allen to see if I qualify?

[Squids]

Good to see another successful GB. Makes me a little sad that I had most of the libraries in this one...the esoundz GBs are always so exciting!

It sure is - I got MP on 01/03/2008 in the Miroslav Orchestra SampleTank Group Buy so I'm looking forward to the Outtakes

Sweet, I was in that GB too! Should I contact Allen to see if I qualify?

Sure but it might be in your member's area already.

[Chester Desmond]

Don't see it in there, so that might mean I don't qualify. I remember now that that GB was the one where I got the Miroslav library to use with ST engine so I technically didn't buy the Miro VST at that time, just all the sounds.

[Squids]

Don't see it in there, so that might mean I don't qualify. I remember now that that GB was the one where I got the Miroslav library to use with ST engine so I technically didn't buy the Miro VST at that time, just all the sounds.

Well, there's something we're going to announce tomorrow that will include them as a bonus and otherwise you can ask Allen for it. If you've bought a lot of IK products from esoundz he'll probably just give it to you.

[torgo]

Looking forward to tomorrow's announcement and the new Studiophonik product. I don't own that line yet, but I have a feeling that's about to change...



Side note for everyone who picked up the "Wild Card" library from last year's big XpansionTank group buy: the Studiophonik preview Guitars library still doesn't list the individual sounds or have any real details, but they've revised the page for the Drums and now list the sounds. The Bass library already had the sound list.

The great news is that the sounds from the Free Sounds page and the teaser set in the Wild Card library aren't the same names as the ones listed on the product pages. They don't appear to be duplicates.