Orchestral Tools have improved their sampling and overall approach with each release in the Berlin series. They’ve come a long way since the original Berlin Woodwinds. For instance, the last big Berlin release was Berlin Brass. They got it just right. IMO, it’s the best library available right now. They took VSL’s Dimension Brass concept of recording each instrument individually, but in position with six microphones in Teldex. An amazing achievement. I can finally mock up with contrapuntal writing and not have to get frustrated with voice stacking. It’s the first library that, out of the box, puts me in the conductors chair when I close my eyes and listen. I do like the sweet sound of Spitfire’s strings though. Finally, companies other than just VSL including a great collection of articulations. I still use VSL Winds though. It’s not hard to mix dry woodwinds with wet strings, etc...Nice video.
You're welcome. It's an orchestral arrangement I made of "Morning Song of a Jester" by Ravel. It's available for download at my website: www.TonePure.com
Thanks for all the videos! As you've stated in your replies, each library has its strengths. I'm wondering if you've experimented with layering the two together? Your thoughts? Since you have so many libraries, what's your favorite to layer with SSS? The same question for BERLIN? Thanks in advance.
I haven't had the need to layer. I know many do. I'm sure some good results with layering can be achieve with some experimentation. Check out Afflatus. It's on sale for the first time since it's inception.
Dan it, have to have both libraries, for different musical contexts. The Berlin sustain is truly beautiful. But sometimes, the portomento sounded rough. The detail on 8 violins is more chamber like, but I would use Spirfire's 16 violins for romantic music like Wagner's Parsifal Overture, the main Grail theme needs richness and terrific restraint to make it work. If only Spitfire would issue their linraries on usb sticks SSD drives. btw, the sound of your keyboard is distracting, especially when listening to the fast tuns, which I am trying to do; and with the money these libraries cost, you have to be very critical and attentive. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I might stick to my cheap libraries and generate notation; some day, a live orchestra might play my music, for the truth of the piece to be heard. Or that libraries really will become so real sounding, the live orchestra will be redundant. I will hate that day. despite technology favouring the budding composer like never before.
Each one has it's strengths and weaknesses. Berlin Strings is more sophisticated overall with their Capsule technology. They're both excellent libraries.
Berlin strings wins for me because of the flexibility of the CAPSULE interface and how you can use each articulation to quickly build the patch that you need for the song and have all of your necessary articulations on one midi channel with customizable keyswitching and transposition.
Sustains are not meant to be played as legato but as chords... And how they work between chords changing. And please consider to mix your voice to the level of the libraries so we don't need to manually volume up and down when you are playing or speaking.
It's not that easy to say they are just for chords. Sustains are basically "non legato" patches and those have nothing to do with chords in the first place.
@@beloved3244 Your answer is extremely stupid ... in some countries like Brazil 840 pounds equals 6 minimum wages or half a year of work, without food, rent, or anything... From now on, think more fondly of the others.
@@polloloco6353 Good point. I'll bet if they brought their price point down to 1/3 of the current cost, in global volume alone, they would far surpass current margins. Especially after the introduction / new stage has long since passed.
Berlin String have more traditional a classical sound, Spitfire has much more wet and romantic sound. That being said, you can make your dry library more wet in a matter of seconds but you can not go vice versa. OT definitely for me, much better sound and much better library overall.
I do not like the tone of Berlin Strings. The combination of mics they chose and the way they were EQ'd sounds very unbalanced and harsh somewhere in the 1-3 kHz range...very unpleasant to me. The default tree mics are very different sounding in each library. Berlin seems closer and in a less reverberant room = more definition. Spitfire tree mics seem a little further away and in a more reverberant room = less definition. I think this is why people think Berlin strings sound so "incredible"...because they are upfront and punchy. Our ears naturally think louder is better, which is essentially what is happening here. The overall tone for me is much more pleasant and natural/realistic in the spitfire symphonic strings. Add a little close mic to spitfire and then you get the definition you are missing from the tree (if needed). Whereas Berlin, I would hate to hear what the close mic sounds like because the sound is already harsh.
That's why we have many choices. Spitfire Strings are more atmospheric. Of course there are many more choices. Here are 28 strings libraries: ua-cam.com/video/JL3FDOZbJwk/v-deo.html
It's a matter of taste. The harshness you speak of can be remedied with EQ. On the other hand OT sound has certain weight, focus and hardness that I find appealing.
Totally agree...Serious heartache here right now trying to achieve an acceptable result. So many nasty frequencies to notch out. HF attenuation applied everywhere yet still a noisy abrasive harshness exists really high up. Very very difficult to deal with, indeed. Also, this thing is peppered with an unbelieveable amount of scuffs and clunks at the ends of notes..mechanical noise unwanted artifacts. So time consuming to deal with.
its not a fair comparison to take a LONG patch and try and do heavy moving lines with it. It destroys the intent of the patch. You should have set up one set of example lines and each patch plays it so we get a fair comparison. Doing it ad hoc doesn't provide a fair comparison to sound, attack, and glitches in attacks we heard with Berlin Strings in a few examples. (I have Spitfire Chamber Strings and East West Opus)
very poor comparision - you even don’t use dynamic, vibrato or expression knobs…everything playing on full dynamic like amateur, so both libraries sounds bad….
![[EN SUB] Deconstructing my beat “Odyssée” for french rapper B.B. Jacques](/img/n.gif)
Thank you for your effort in laying out the differences between the libraries.
You're welcome.
Orchestral Tools have improved their sampling and overall approach with each release in the Berlin series. They’ve come a long way since the original Berlin Woodwinds. For instance, the last big Berlin release was Berlin Brass. They got it just right. IMO, it’s the best library available right now. They took VSL’s Dimension Brass concept of recording each instrument individually, but in position with six microphones in Teldex. An amazing achievement. I can finally mock up with contrapuntal writing and not have to get frustrated with voice stacking. It’s the first library that, out of the box, puts me in the conductors chair when I close my eyes and listen. I do like the sweet sound of Spitfire’s strings though. Finally, companies other than just VSL including a great collection of articulations. I still use VSL Winds though. It’s not hard to mix dry woodwinds with wet strings, etc...Nice video.
Yes, Orchestral Tools has been getting better and better. The VSL will probably do brass next..
I'm trying to buy these instruments to make my SM/audio modeling stuff sound better haha
Thank you for this video! Can you please tell me where i can find the intro theme? I love it and i cant recall the name of it.
You're welcome. It's an orchestral arrangement I made of "Morning Song of a Jester" by Ravel. It's available for download at my website: www.TonePure.com
Thanks for all the videos! As you've stated in your replies, each library has its strengths. I'm wondering if you've experimented with layering the two together? Your thoughts? Since you have so many libraries, what's your favorite to layer with SSS? The same question for BERLIN? Thanks in advance.
I haven't had the need to layer. I know many do. I'm sure some good results with layering can be achieve with some experimentation. Check out Afflatus. It's on sale for the first time since it's inception.
What about Hollywood Orchestral Diamond? What do you think about them? Thank you for the effort
Will post a brief comparison with Spitfire Symphonic Strings. Hollywood Orchestral Diamond is in the same league.
:) Thank you
it's trash and is ancient. everything is great except the strings
Dan it, have to have both libraries, for different musical contexts. The Berlin sustain is truly beautiful. But sometimes, the portomento sounded rough. The detail on 8 violins is more chamber like, but I would use Spirfire's 16 violins for romantic music like Wagner's Parsifal Overture, the main Grail theme needs richness and terrific restraint to make it work. If only Spitfire would issue their linraries on usb sticks SSD drives.
btw, the sound of your keyboard is distracting, especially when listening to the fast tuns, which I am trying to do; and with the money these libraries cost, you have to be very critical and attentive.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that I might stick to my cheap libraries and generate notation; some day, a live orchestra might play my music, for the truth of the piece to be heard.
Or that libraries really will become so real sounding, the live orchestra will be redundant. I will hate that day. despite technology favouring the budding composer like never before.
I agree. For optimal results, at least 2 string libraries give you the flexibility to choose the best articulations for a specific orchestration.
Im gonna watch the video as soon as I get home. Which one do you prefer?
Each one has it's strengths and weaknesses. Berlin Strings is more sophisticated overall with their Capsule technology. They're both excellent libraries.
Best option to compere will be record midi and than compare, every time you playing different.
Berlin strings wins for me because of the flexibility of the CAPSULE interface and how you can use each articulation to quickly build the patch that you need for the song and have all of your necessary articulations on one midi channel with customizable keyswitching and transposition.
so does spitfire. just press the really low notes to switch articulations
Orchestral Tools
They are different from each other, Spitfire is warmer, Orchestral Tools more flexible.
Sustains are not meant to be played as legato but as chords... And how they work between chords changing. And please consider to mix your voice to the level of the libraries so we don't need to manually volume up and down when you are playing or speaking.
Valid comment. Chords would have been a good idea for the sustains.
It's not that easy to say they are just for chords. Sustains are basically "non legato" patches and those have nothing to do with chords in the first place.
If you play a sustain patch as a chord you wouldn’t be playing a 16 violins section, but a 48 since each note triggers the entire section...
@@CaesarCMusic - maybe why Orch Tools does with less instruments per patch. They seem to aim at the final result better than other libraries.
@@BillMcFadden People are so rude omg. Love ya Wiliiam
How do you get so much money to buy so many libraries? I hardly have any cash 😭😭😭
Get a Job
@@beloved3244 it was a rhetorical question, why thank you.
You amass credit card debt :)
@@beloved3244 Your answer is extremely stupid ... in some countries like Brazil 840 pounds equals 6 minimum wages or half a year of work, without food, rent, or anything...
From now on, think more fondly of the others.
@@polloloco6353 Good point. I'll bet if they brought their price point down to 1/3 of the current cost, in global volume alone, they would far surpass current margins. Especially after the introduction / new stage has long since passed.
Berlin String have more traditional a classical sound, Spitfire has much more wet and romantic sound. That being said, you can make your dry library more wet in a matter of seconds but you can not go vice versa. OT definitely for me, much better sound and much better library overall.
True, difficult to go vice versa, but possible.
I do not like the tone of Berlin Strings. The combination of mics they chose and the way they were EQ'd sounds very unbalanced and harsh somewhere in the 1-3 kHz range...very unpleasant to me. The default tree mics are very different sounding in each library. Berlin seems closer and in a less reverberant room = more definition. Spitfire tree mics seem a little further away and in a more reverberant room = less definition. I think this is why people think Berlin strings sound so "incredible"...because they are upfront and punchy. Our ears naturally think louder is better, which is essentially what is happening here. The overall tone for me is much more pleasant and natural/realistic in the spitfire symphonic strings. Add a little close mic to spitfire and then you get the definition you are missing from the tree (if needed). Whereas Berlin, I would hate to hear what the close mic sounds like because the sound is already harsh.
That's why we have many choices. Spitfire Strings are more atmospheric. Of course there are many more choices. Here are 28 strings libraries:
ua-cam.com/video/JL3FDOZbJwk/v-deo.html
It's a matter of taste. The harshness you speak of can be remedied with EQ. On the other hand OT sound has certain weight, focus and hardness that I find appealing.
I think same
Totally agree...Serious heartache here right now trying to achieve an acceptable result. So many nasty frequencies to notch out. HF attenuation applied everywhere yet still a noisy abrasive harshness exists really high up. Very very difficult to deal with, indeed. Also, this thing is peppered with an unbelieveable amount of scuffs and clunks at the ends of notes..mechanical noise unwanted artifacts. So time consuming to deal with.
Yeah, I steer clear of orchestral tools. I don’t like the tone of their libraries, tons of issues and VERY EXPENSIVE.
The Berlin strings sounds so much better! At that price, £840 is really worth it !
Berlin strings is great for an aggressive big string sound!
its not a fair comparison to take a LONG patch and try and do heavy moving lines with it. It destroys the intent of the patch. You should have set up one set of example lines and each patch plays it so we get a fair comparison. Doing it ad hoc doesn't provide a fair comparison to sound, attack, and glitches in attacks we heard with Berlin Strings in a few examples. (I have Spitfire Chamber Strings and East West Opus)
Not a very fair comparison. You needed to play the EXACT same examples for both programs to really determine which one sounds better.
this video is not working. it just doesn't play on my phone. other videos are fine but not this
Sorry about that.
very poor comparision - you even don’t use dynamic, vibrato or expression knobs…everything playing on full dynamic like amateur, so both libraries sounds bad….
Will include dynamic layering in addition in next video.
BEZNADZIEJA