CSS vs LASS Cinematic Studio Strings v LA Scoring Strings
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- The venerable CSS (Cinematic Studio Strings by Cinematic Samples) and LASS (LA Scoring Strings by Audiobro). Let's listen to how they compare and contrast using Spiccatos and basic Legato / Gliss transitions for each instrument section. Not really a shootout or a review but more of a not so quick look at where each package shines and how you might use them in your compositions. Couple tutorial tips like noise reduction added for good measure.
0:00 Intro
1:00 Bat Man Multi
4:48 Cello Spiccatos
7:30 Noise Reduction
11:15 LASS Gliss
16:40 Tuning (Violin I & II, Viola)
24:20 Bass Spiccatos
28:00 MIDI Spiccato LASS
30:35 MIDI LASS Simple Legato
32:05 MIDI CSS Spiccato
34:38 MIDI CSS Simple Legato
36:00 Simple Chords
If you are interested in CSS and Spitfire's Chamber Strings (SCS) here is a comparison video: ua-cam.com/video/xd-PZ6Aot9A/v-deo.html
The sound of Lass 3 to me is stunning. Would be perfect with more articulations/control ala modern scoring strings. But the sound is just so vibrant.
LASS sounds gorge.
I definitely prefer the brighter LASS sound. I upgraded to LASS 3 last year. Been using LASS for 8yrs. I use a 10ch setup live.
Awesome thanks for your comment!
Awesome review. Have you ever compared either of these libraries to Light and Sound Strings?
Not yet! I don’t have that one.
Thanks for the great review. A similar comparison between LASS and Spitfire SCS would be greatly appreciated!
Did you catch my CSS and SCS ...? Not really the same thing I guess. ua-cam.com/video/xd-PZ6Aot9A/v-deo.html
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed I'll check it out. Thanks!
Thanks for this Nathan. Have you upgraded to LASS 3 by any chance? If so, are you planning on doing a video about it? CSS is my current workhorse but I've always kept my eye on LASS because of it's tone. Now that v3 is out, and after checking out AB's overview video I'm really tempted to take the plunge :)
Yes I have LASS 3. What would you like to see and hear?
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed What I'm interested in mostly is how well the legato transitions are and how they compare to CSS's transitions. AB's overview video demos the violins 1 legatos but it would be great to hear the other sections as well and also compared to CSS. That would be awesome :)
How does the reverb of 1.1s sound so long? I also love the Lass and Nimbus but its not as lush as R4?Also you mix level is 50%? Why?
Hi! The CSS seemed to sound fairly similar to the LASS Bat Man (using AudioBro convolution reverb within Kontakt as I recall) with that near 50% R4 setting at the time, but I was admittedly listening for differences that weren’t caused by reverb... and the reverb was not on CSS for the whole video. Did you see Nimbus in the video? (I don’t recall using it.) If you have specific questions I’d be happy to investigate more and try different approaches. Please provide a time stamp. I planned to do a “part 2” video going into legato in more detail.
Do you own the full LASS 3 that just got released or still plan on using LASS 2 lite?
I've got the new one LASS 3 full now and plant to use that.
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed I’ve never owned a LASS but have used them since ver 1 came out from a studio and may get the current version 3. I already have a BBCSO, VSL cube, Spitfire chamber for the strings, and have myself for solos since I’m a violin player. Also looking at the Berlin’s right now that’s on sale. But I’ve always loved the sound on the low spiccato’s from LASS and have waited nearly a decade to finally consider buying it.
@Nando Forestan You're not the only person that has issues with LASS. It's completely outdated. If you own it already, great. If you don't own it and want to get some string libraries, don't waste your money on it. Instead, get Cinematic Strings+Cinesamples libraries as well as other string libraries from those two developers. They layer easily, sound amazing, and are easy as heck to program. Not to mention that they blend with everything else. They sound very realistic. LASS should be the last library to get after getting everything else.
LASS Lite is still one of the best for short spiccato in violas and cellos imho.
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed Indeed. With all the sales Audiobro is having...like 60% off or something like that...it's worth getting just for those few articulations. I find 8Dio libraries have great soaring strings. For intimate and quiet stuff...maybe use something else. VSL is making a good comeback with their Synchron series. I still prefer their dry library. It's just more versatile as a supplement to other libraries.
Hey!Great video! I have LASS.I cant find the 5-part multi🤔
The screenshot @0:45 shows that you need to click on the "Multis" tab of the browser. It's not in the Instruments tab. Hope this helps you find it!
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed Its not there🤔I have full version of LASS.I will contact Audiobro.
@@jakobolofsson7780 hunh that's really interesting, i'm sorry. they are a pretty cool patch imho!
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed Yeah,I inly used 3part divisi so far.Looking at Divisimate but I’m a bit reluctant to add more software layers...I wish Logic Pro could build divisi functionality into the DAW
@@conordoyle4472 Its called something else in Lass2.5.Full Strings or something
Did you try Tokio scoring strings? It's very dry, very alive sounding. I think it's in the ballpark of LS scoring strings, and maybe has a few advantages. Also wondering how MSS compares to LASS
First, MSS vs LASS. I would say LASS 2 sounds a bit more raw, emotional, and huskier than MSS. The sound did not change much for LASS 3 but I find a couple things did get slightly more smoothed out (only slightly). MSS is quite a bit more contemporary sounding, with a little less "raw" emotion - although it has a "raw" recording style which is to say if you turn off every EQ and reverb effect it can sound quite simple and plain as if it came straight out of the microphone with no coloring, in a neutral room. This allows you to sculpt quite a bit with MSS, but you'll never get a super wide vibrato out of the box contrasted with something like CSS which has a much more pronounced vibrato than MSS. Next, Tokyo Scoring Strings..TSS has a lot of features that a re similar to MSS. It might be slightly more agile and flexible but even the mic mix has a different timbre or character to the sound that I find hard to describe. While MSS is baseline "neutral" TSS is baseline "with a little bit of character baked in" but again I find it hard to name the characteristic itself. TSS has a great smooth variable vibrato control that works very well. Both TSS and MSS have extraordinary lookahead features. MSS can have small sizes and true divisi but TSS excels at the smaller size "sound". So many choices!
Nathan, looked at the videos and all their pros & cons, and dislikes, I don't have an all-string library and was thinking oh all those others, and LASS 3 popped up. Geez, all I hear and see is you guys are pros at orchestrating and composing and whatever you do all these libraries sound great to me. But for a newbie I'm confused. I saw you did differing on Opus, which I got at a discount as an all-in-one orchestra library and I wonder if I made a mistake. Can you please respond, appreciated?
Hi! I’m not clear on what your question is exactly. Most of my videos are to try to help people make use of tools they’ve bought, or try to get a sense of what different libraries feel like when you try to use them. It certainly is a difficult landscape to navigate. Let me know if you have a more specific question. Opus is a great product. If you already own it and you’re just starting out, I would suggest continuing to learn how to get the most out of it. It wasn’t a mistake, certainly not for strings. They hold up quite well. Cheers!🍻
Well, as for the tone of CSS, it just lacks air, it sounds similar to LASS 2 denoised
I think they had a re-release after this video was made. Might want to see if you like the tone any better (I’m guessing it won’t change much for you, though).
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed I just got LASS 3, and CSS is still my favourite, it has more useful content and its interface is less cluttered. Sure, LASS has more controls, but most of them is not so useful, like this AMG switch.
CSS is much better IMO in terms of realism but loudness is an issue; this latest version of LASS sounds better than they did years ago, & they cut through, but of course will need effects processing, not out-of-the-box at all.
Could you do a review on audio bros modern strings
I’m waiting for the LASS 3 update.
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed i think audio bros modern scoring strings is different from lass. And also what about native instruments essentials violins by audio bros. Would love a shoot out
@@davidvalens3337 gosh I don't know why I mentioned LASS 3 when you typed MSS, it's like I was responding to a different comment or something, sorry! My main MSS videos are here: ua-cam.com/video/kqbW6GDd5MU/v-deo.html and this playlist: ua-cam.com/video/FIQlFPEomyI/v-deo.html
@@davidvalens3337 and fwiw here is a shootout between AudioBro + Native Instruments NI Symphony versus Spitfire Symphonic Strings: ua-cam.com/video/0eKvu37loP8/v-deo.html
LASS 3 update...? What? Isn't MSS replacing a LASS 3? 😲
To be honest, LA Scoring Strings sounds more life like.... CSS is nice, but it's just not the same... It seems more processed.
I like the sound of both, but I usually reach for LASS first these days in most projects, and CSS if I don't hear what I want on the day.
In my honest opinion adding the extra reverb over CSS and playing with the mics takes away from the quality of the timbre and it kills the definition, great video though.
Where part 2
Good point! Looks like need to change the title and description because I never made a part two :( ... there are a couple LASS 3 videos and other CSS videos but no other LASS vs CSS comparison videos. Guess I got too busy! My apologies!
There's no way you need to add reverb to CSS to make it sound like LASS... LASS is the second driest string library out there... Even when it is on Batman. All your LASS examples sound drier with LASS than with CSS. Now changing the subject, I probably did the opposite of what you did: tired of LASS' inconsistencies and dirty sound, I ended up buying CSS. I am going to see if they can meet in the middle, regarding brightness of the sound. Some things I don't like in LASS: violins legato have a weird noise when you go from middle G to middle E; cellos are more resonant in their bottom fifth; violas have a sucking sound in the legato, because there's a crescendo as the note starts, so if you play a few quavers at the right tempo you can really hear it. Finally, it is hard to mix. Oh and the most important thing: difficult to deal with so many patches distributed on so many MIDI channels of so many Kontakt instances, and needing to replicate settings manually in all of those.
What’s the driest. Also he said he is using the convolution with LASS
Really good points @Nando Florestan! I was playing with vibrato in the intial CSS examples only because many people seem to dislike the CSS vibrato; not to make it sound more like LASS. Sorry for running those two ideas into each other in the video. All those criticisms of LASS are valid. I personally like the sound of it "overall" better than most of my others, esp. in the spiccatos even if I need to use a little denoise and tame some resonances during mixing. I will try to address a couple of these things when make another video in this series (Part 2). Thanks for responding with your thoughts, I really appreciate it.
@rikoLas the driest I have is LCO. Here's a video that compares some Spitfire close mics, starting when I am moving to LCO: ua-cam.com/video/L9orQ3jVQ-c/v-deo.html
@@marLamaDeo Another dry library is from Vienna Symphonic Library. Not the Synchron stuff...you want the regular sample libraries.
Were the flaws corrected in LASS 3?
Css sounds like there's a choir singing behind it...
Are you a fan of CSS?
@@NathanDavidCarltonSoundbed not specifically, but I just hear it like that. why such question?
@@seok84 I wasn't sure if you liked what you heard or not.
You know what… That’s a great catch