Some additional thoughts on this comparison: There obviously are big differences between the libraries in terms of sampled content/articulations. You can read about that on Spitfire's website, so this video doesn't try to show all articulations. Instead it's taking a look at the articulations from Soaring High Strings (legato, sustains and spiccato). This video should give you an idea of how these libraries compare in terms of tone, dynamic range, consistency of timing and handling of different legato lines. (Note that both ARO 1st Violins and Abbey Road Orchestral Foundations offer dedicated control over vibrato. For this video I tied vibrato to the modwheel.)
So about 0:46, ARO was designed differently to how spitfire usually do it, where the Release property actually affects the transitions in the legato too, where spitfire havent ever done that before, it would usually only affect shorts and longs. So doing fast runs when your release isn't low will result in it being muddy like that. If you bring it down, it gets a lot cleaner - it's a balancing act to keep it where you want per context.
Thank you for this comparison. To me, the Soaring High Strings outperform especially AROF, and to some extend also ARO1stVLNS. But AROF Lo & Hi strings have some great shorts, apart from the spiccattos which are again better in AROSHS. Very happy with this last addition, making AROF much more useful.
Soaring Strings sounds a bit "stronger" (because it's 30(?) Violins vs 16) and many people prefer the runs transitions on Soaring Strings. Other than that I'd say you don't really need it if you already have ARO 1st Violins.
Is it just me, or do the most expensive 1st Violins have much less aggressive spiccattos at the fff dynamic? I don't hear them getting as loud as ARO or the Soaring Strings.
Yes, they don't get quite as loud or forceful as the other ones. However, you have to keep in mind that Soaring High Strings has almost twice the ensemble size of ARO 1st Violins (because it's 1st & 2nd Violins) and AROOF even adds Violas on top of that.
Soaring Strings is a combination of violins 1 and 2, ARO is a combination of violins 1 and 2 as well as violas. The AR violins are just that... ...first violins. That's why these kind of comparisons are not really showing anything.
@@uncle-ed I disagree (although of course you're right in that they're different ensembles, which I also mentioned in my reply above). Here's my reasoning behind making this video: All three libraries are high strings ensembles recoreded at Abbey Road. In my subjective opinion that's enough of a similarity to make them comparable, especially because these three are literally the only high strings ensembles from Abbey Road that are currently available on the market. I made this video mostly for three types of people: 1. Someone who already has AROOF and is looking for high strings legato from Abbey Road. They'll have to choose between ARO 1st Viollins and SHS. 2. Someone who already has ARO 1st Violins and is wondering if SHS would add something to their arsenal or if it would just be redundant. For these two types of people a comparison just between ARO 1st Violins and SHS probably would have been enough (and there is another one with these two coming btw), but I threw AROOF in as well because I could and because I thought it was interesting to hear the different effect the tightness knob has on that library.
@c-c-laurin-lenschow - I enjoy your comparisons of libraries, many of which I own. Having a good library of options to use is what usually drives a new purchase. I own most of the Spitfire catalog. The ARO Violins when they came out - even with a loyalty discount - felt like a price too high. I have passed on a few of that series. I did purchase the Cello library. It was a lower price and I loved the tone. Your demos are well done and I know that they are a good amount of work - Thank you.
'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' :) The Spitfire Audio Low Strings are superb (for the incredible price of $49). The Soaring high Strings are "synthish" sounding. For the rest I will stick with the Berlin collection from OT.
Some additional thoughts on this comparison:
There obviously are big differences between the libraries in terms of sampled content/articulations. You can read about that on Spitfire's website, so this video doesn't try to show all articulations. Instead it's taking a look at the articulations from Soaring High Strings (legato, sustains and spiccato). This video should give you an idea of how these libraries compare in terms of tone, dynamic range, consistency of timing and handling of different legato lines.
(Note that both ARO 1st Violins and Abbey Road Orchestral Foundations offer dedicated control over vibrato. For this video I tied vibrato to the modwheel.)
So about 0:46, ARO was designed differently to how spitfire usually do it, where the Release property actually affects the transitions in the legato too, where spitfire havent ever done that before, it would usually only affect shorts and longs. So doing fast runs when your release isn't low will result in it being muddy like that. If you bring it down, it gets a lot cleaner - it's a balancing act to keep it where you want per context.
Thank you for pointing that out; that's very important input for the runs comparison I'm working on right now! :)
Thank you for this comparison. To me, the Soaring High Strings outperform especially AROF, and to some extend also ARO1stVLNS. But AROF Lo & Hi strings have some great shorts, apart from the spiccattos which are again better in AROSHS. Very happy with this last addition, making AROF much more useful.
@c-c-laurin-lenschow Would you give me your thoughts on whether Soaring would be useful if you already own ARO 1st Vlns?
Thank you for the video. I wonder, to me, it seems soaring high string with 100% legato offset has better legato runs compared to ARO legato runs.
You'e welcome! I think I feel the same way - I'll probably make a dedicated runs comparison video soon.
Yes, please make dedicated runs comparison with soaring high string set 100% legato offset. That will be very helpful!@@c-c-laurin-lenschow
Would you give me your thoughts on whether Soaring would be useful if you already own ARO 1st Vlns? Thank you for putting these comparisons together.
Soaring Strings sounds a bit "stronger" (because it's 30(?) Violins vs 16) and many people prefer the runs transitions on Soaring Strings. Other than that I'd say you don't really need it if you already have ARO 1st Violins.
Is it just me, or do the most expensive 1st Violins have much less aggressive spiccattos at the fff dynamic? I don't hear them getting as loud as ARO or the Soaring Strings.
Yes, they don't get quite as loud or forceful as the other ones. However, you have to keep in mind that Soaring High Strings has almost twice the ensemble size of ARO 1st Violins (because it's 1st & 2nd Violins) and AROOF even adds Violas on top of that.
Soaring Strings is a combination of violins 1 and 2, ARO is a combination of violins 1 and 2 as well as violas. The AR violins are just that... ...first violins. That's why these kind of comparisons are not really showing anything.
@@uncle-ed I disagree (although of course you're right in that they're different ensembles, which I also mentioned in my reply above). Here's my reasoning behind making this video:
All three libraries are high strings ensembles recoreded at Abbey Road. In my subjective opinion that's enough of a similarity to make them comparable, especially because these three are literally the only high strings ensembles from Abbey Road that are currently available on the market. I made this video mostly for three types of people:
1. Someone who already has AROOF and is looking for high strings legato from Abbey Road. They'll have to choose between ARO 1st Viollins and SHS.
2. Someone who already has ARO 1st Violins and is wondering if SHS would add something to their arsenal or if it would just be redundant.
For these two types of people a comparison just between ARO 1st Violins and SHS probably would have been enough (and there is another one with these two coming btw), but I threw AROOF in as well because I could and because I thought it was interesting to hear the different effect the tightness knob has on that library.
@c-c-laurin-lenschow - I enjoy your comparisons of libraries, many of which I own. Having a good library of options to use is what usually drives a new purchase. I own most of the Spitfire catalog. The ARO Violins when they came out - even with a loyalty discount - felt like a price too high. I have passed on a few of that series. I did purchase the Cello library. It was a lower price and I loved the tone. Your demos are well done and I know that they are a good amount of work - Thank you.
Thank you for your kind words!
'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' :) The Spitfire Audio Low Strings are superb (for the incredible price of $49). The Soaring high Strings are "synthish" sounding. For the rest I will stick with the Berlin collection from OT.
Thanks for this test, so I'm not the only one having the impression, that ARO 1st Violins are not the final strings to rule them all.