I just bought this library for $88 on sale, and it includes, with an additional $8 download fee, the entire Adagio legacy library. This really is an amazing deal, for a truly amazing sounding library. I have seen negative videos about Anthology and can't for the life of my understand why anyone would be disappointed by this library. It has become an instant favorite.
I love the sound of the divisi and ensemble legatos, especially the portas, but I have some issues with this library. One thing is that there are panning issues in some of the instruments, most noticeable in the solo instruments and especially the viola. The legato sample is panned very left whereas the sustain is more central, which makes a very jumpy around and unrealistic sound. The solos also have no portamento which is a big gap for nice expressive solo parts. Furthermore, the knobs in this are very unresponsive. I guess they aren't aware that you can press shift to have finer control over knobs. On a 1080p monitor, it is not possible for me to rotate a knob from bottom to top without having to move my cursor down the screen for a second scroll. Also the vibrato knob doesn't actually do anything. You need to use the CC in order to actually control the vibrato, which had me confused for a while. Overall I feel this is not worth the non-sale price, and barely worth it if you can get it on sale. I don't think it is a worthwhile upgrade if you already have all the Agitato, as the UI is different but not necessarily better, and the best parts of Anthology are basically in Agitato. What's usable of the solo strings isn't better than what I already had with Session Strings Pro. I feel like I would have been better off getting something like Spitfire Symphonic Strings.
Hey hurey thanks for the comment. I can see how the knob adjustment could bother some users now that you mention it but I tend to program my cc's with an external controller so I didn't really think about it. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
8Dio's licensing information, found on their website states "you may use this product on up to two (2) separate computers, which computers shall be owned and used by you exclusively". That's a deal breaker for me! I got the impression it probably meant two machines simultaneously, but my impression was wrong. It means two unique machines and that's it! You install this on a third machine, for any reason and you're going to need to buy it again to do so! Even though 8Dio products require NI's Kontakt sample player, there is no comparison between both company's license agreements. Native Instrument's practical terms do not have a hard limit on the number of machines you can use, just the number of simultaneous installs, etc and even that is 50% more than 8Dio's total machine limit. The Anthology product sounds decent, but no way am I going to spend that type of money on a limit of two machines. Any 8Dio product stopped being a consideration once I saw that disclaimer! A total of 2 machines is a ridiculous limit.
Hello everybody, thanks for the beautiful review. i was attracted by a 148 bucks offer, and i purchased them. i can't afford the more or less 300 for the cinesamples. To me Cinesamples looks much more "real" for the single instruments (cello, for example, is stunning according to the demos) but in the same time i hope my choice on 8dio was correct. If somebody has some hints to give me regarding this choice would be appreciated!
Why on earth would you talk about the mic options but not demo them?! What a missed opportunity. The point of a video is for us to hear what it sounds like. I really would have liked to have heard the close mic in solo.
I hate the sound of this library, and I can’t decide if I think they are just synth-sounding or I hate the room or both. I’m shocked that people think this sounds good. Compared to BBCSO or Abbey Road or even the series from Native Instruments, I wouldn’t use this to score a Halmark movie of the week. What am I missing?
I got Anthology and Adagio for $58 bux. 100 Gigs of samples. Is it older? Yeah. Is it perfect? Nope. I think it’s pretty nice - I don’t use the effects or the mix mic - I use channel strip EQ and reverbs (as the reviewer mentioned 6 years ago). I don’t do classical or movie music, I do pop rock so it sounds good on a lot of stuff. I’m pretty sure if you buy it now a days you can buy the older Adagio violins, violas, cello, and bass libraries for $8 dollars as a cross grade. Lol no brainer with many solo articulations that do sound different. It was kind of my introduction string library and for $58 bux no regrets.
Currently this is a freebie during the 10 anniversary at 8dio when you spend 98€ or more!
I just bought this library for $88 on sale, and it includes, with an additional $8 download fee, the entire Adagio legacy library. This really is an amazing deal, for a truly amazing sounding library. I have seen negative videos about Anthology and can't for the life of my understand why anyone would be disappointed by this library. It has become an instant favorite.
Thanks for sharing!
I love the sound of the divisi and ensemble legatos, especially the portas, but I have some issues with this library.
One thing is that there are panning issues in some of the instruments, most noticeable in the solo instruments and especially the viola. The legato sample is panned very left whereas the sustain is more central, which makes a very jumpy around and unrealistic sound. The solos also have no portamento which is a big gap for nice expressive solo parts.
Furthermore, the knobs in this are very unresponsive. I guess they aren't aware that you can press shift to have finer control over knobs. On a 1080p monitor, it is not possible for me to rotate a knob from bottom to top without having to move my cursor down the screen for a second scroll. Also the vibrato knob doesn't actually do anything. You need to use the CC in order to actually control the vibrato, which had me confused for a while.
Overall I feel this is not worth the non-sale price, and barely worth it if you can get it on sale. I don't think it is a worthwhile upgrade if you already have all the Agitato, as the UI is different but not necessarily better, and the best parts of Anthology are basically in Agitato. What's usable of the solo strings isn't better than what I already had with Session Strings Pro. I feel like I would have been better off getting something like Spitfire Symphonic Strings.
Hey hurey thanks for the comment. I can see how the knob adjustment could bother some users now that you mention it but I tend to program my cc's with an external controller so I didn't really think about it. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
8Dio's licensing information, found on their website states "you may use this product on up to two (2) separate computers, which computers shall be owned and used by you exclusively". That's a deal breaker for me! I got the impression it probably meant two machines simultaneously, but my impression was wrong. It means two unique machines and that's it! You install this on a third machine, for any reason and you're going to need to buy it again to do so!
Even though 8Dio products require NI's Kontakt sample player, there is no comparison between both company's license agreements. Native Instrument's practical terms do not have a hard limit on the number of machines you can use, just the number of simultaneous installs, etc and even that is 50% more than 8Dio's total machine limit.
The Anthology product sounds decent, but no way am I going to spend that type of money on a limit of two machines.
Any 8Dio product stopped being a consideration once I saw that disclaimer! A total of 2 machines is a ridiculous limit.
how can you assign a MIDI input to a keyswitch?
Its being offered now for 50usd. I'm wondering if its still worthy.
me too
How does this compare to cinematic strings 2?
haha...cinematic strings are sooo good...
Hello everybody, thanks for the beautiful review. i was attracted by a 148 bucks offer, and i purchased them. i can't afford the more or less 300 for the cinesamples. To me Cinesamples looks much more "real" for the single instruments (cello, for example, is stunning according to the demos) but in the same time i hope my choice on 8dio was correct. If somebody has some hints to give me regarding this choice would be appreciated!
Why on earth would you talk about the mic options but not demo them?! What a missed opportunity. The point of a video is for us to hear what it sounds like. I really would have liked to have heard the close mic in solo.
I hate the sound of this library, and I can’t decide if I think they are just synth-sounding or I hate the room or both. I’m shocked that people think this sounds good. Compared to BBCSO or Abbey Road or even the series from Native Instruments, I wouldn’t use this to score a Halmark movie of the week. What am I missing?
I got Anthology and Adagio for $58 bux. 100 Gigs of samples. Is it older? Yeah. Is it perfect? Nope. I think it’s pretty nice - I don’t use the effects or the mix mic - I use channel strip EQ and reverbs (as the reviewer mentioned 6 years ago).
I don’t do classical or movie music, I do pop rock so it sounds good on a lot of stuff. I’m pretty sure if you buy it now a days you can buy the older Adagio violins, violas, cello, and bass libraries for $8 dollars as a cross grade. Lol no brainer with many solo articulations that do sound different.
It was kind of my introduction string library and for $58 bux no regrets.