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Mutlu
by Gary E. Andrews - 04/15/24 07:08 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Anyone ever make a comparison between Hollywood Strings Gold and LASS Lite? I'm in the market for good "block chord" type strings (not solo strings). I have EWQLO, Kirk Hunter Strings, and Logic Pro strings. Not bad, but want to push my strings up a notch or two. Best, John
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I don't know about Hollywood Strings, but I know a bunch that are using Lass Lite (the version without the divisi patches). You'll need a great reverb to glue LASS well together, and in the Lite version without the divisi, you'll need to pan the strings properly as it doesn't come panned out of the box. They say it takes a bit work to get LASS to sound great, but also that it's worth it. Personally, I have EWQL Gold, and hardly ever use it due to the ambience in the patches. I just can't get it to sound right in a mix. The PLAY engine also messes up my DAW, so I've ruled out EW products. I layer Session Strings from NI, with the strings in Kore and/or Kontakt or Omnisphere, which is fine for what I do (pop/rocck), but not really sufficient for orchestral work. As far as I can tell, the competition uses Symphobia and LASS for mock-ups, together with Altiverb. If you don't have those, you'll be behind in the race. Some use the Vienna stuff. That's what I've picked up anyway, and the reason I won't move further in that direction. Way too expensive, and the competition is fierce! To justify those things, orchestral really need to be your metiér. LASS, Symphobia and Altiverb is about 3000$ all in all. I personally better like the sound of the Vienna strings, the Special Edition and Special Edition Plus seems great value for the money, but what do a rock'n roller really know about the finer nuances of midi.. I'm going to get the new Session Strings Pro, that has a fully editable "animator" and release samples. It's not for Hollywood sounding orchestral work, but for pop/rock it looks great. Either way, seems to me Lass is becoming the industry standard, so that's the one to get. For thick lush patches, Symphobia. You can try the demo here http://www.try-sound.com/ . Alternative route, Vienna strings. Maybe also check out the new Cineorch from Cinesamples http://cinesamples.com/products/cineorch/ . I'd bet it can make most string libraries sound great, no matter what you decide.
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Thanks Magne for all the info. Never had any problems with the EWQL play engine. I imagine the Hollywood Strings would do the job, but don't want to invest a near grand at this time. Cineorch looks interesting. I'll do some more research on it. Yes, I've been doing the layering of strings myself. At this point I'm not really interested in doing "mock-ups". I do more of a Modern Orchestra thing. Some real sounding instruments with some modern sounds and effects. Can't really compete with a real "live" orchestra anyway. At least not on their terms. However, a real "live" orchestra can't compete with a modern virtual orchestra. I'm mainly interested in have my tracks sound professional using the best samples I can afford. I've been also considering Omnisphere. There's some awesome string-type pads in that package. The Vienna stuff is probably the top-of-the-line, but I've been told by several users those samples take a lot of tweaking (something I don't want to use my time on). The one user told me it took him a year until he was getting what he wanted out of those samples. Besides, my wife would murder me if I spent that much money. Thanks again Magne! You gave me more to think about. Best, John
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At this point I'm not really interested in doing "mock-ups". I do more of a Modern Orchestra thing. Some real sounding instruments with some modern sounds and effects. For that the strings in Omnisphere could do the trick. It only has one or two useable strings patches, but I often layer them with session strings or the strings in Kore, and then they sounds great IMO. For what you describe, I would bet you could get a lot of mileage out of this new library too http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/powered-by-kontakt/session-strings-pro/ You would need Kontakt, though. Which btw has a bunch of great sounding pad's to be layered with string samples..
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It's between Omnisphere and Hollywood Strings Gold now Magne. I think my system can handle the Hollywood Strings, but I've heard Omnisphere can be a CPU hog. They're both in the same price range. Hmm... Okay, I'm going with Omnisphere. John
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Those are very different beasts, John. Omnisphere is a synth, and Hollywood Strings is a dedicated strings library. Don't coun't on Omnisphere for bread and butter go-to strings. It won't deliver that. It's mostly great for pop/rock patches to sweeten up a track IMO, and it's not that much a CPU hog, for most patches anyway. I run it easily on my core 2 duo setup.
I did say that layering the strings in Omnisphere can sound great, if you layer them with a dediacted strings library, but don't expect Omnisphere to be a notch up on the strings libraries you already have. It's not. It has about 3-4 layered lush patches, and no solo strings or sections at all. It's a synth, and that it does really well, but not a go-to bread and butter sampler at all. For that NI Kontakt is waaaay ahead of the competition.
I would advice you to take a reincheck on what you really need, John, as these two products are not doing the same things at all...
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Those are very different beasts, John. Omnisphere is a synth, and Hollywood Strings is a dedicated strings library. Don't coun't on Omnisphere for bread and butter go-to strings. It won't deliver that. It's mostly great for pop/rock patches to sweeten up a track IMO, and it's not that much a CPU hog, for most patches anyway. I run it easily on my core 2 duo setup.
I did say that layering the strings in Omnisphere can sound great, if you layer them with a dediacted strings library, but don't expect Omnisphere to be a notch up on the strings libraries you already have. It's not. It has about 3-4 layered lush patches, and no solo strings or sections at all. It's a synth, and that it does really well, but not a go-to bread and butter sampler at all. For that NI Kontakt is waaaay ahead of the competition.
I would advice you to take a reincheck on what you really need, John, as these two products are not doing the same things at all... Yeah, I understand the difference between the two beasts Magne. As far as solo strings, I'm happy with Kirk Hunter. I think using one of Omni's string pads along with Kirk Hunter & EWQL will give me good results. And I'll have additional sounds to inspire me with Omni. Not 100% certain what direction I'll go yet though - they're both still on the table. Glad to hear you're not having crashes (or "out-of-memory" issues hopefully) problems with Omni. Are you using the Lite Version/Sample Thinning option? My Mac processor: 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. Memory: 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3. I'll need a few more days to work this out. Here's a youtube video using the Hollywood Gold Strings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YGO4o8OB1wThanks, John
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Hollywood Strings are now on order!!! Can't wait to get under the hood. John
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Sounds exciting, John. Can't wait to hear some stuff from you with that. I expect BiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiG sounds! :-)
I'm on a core 2/4 rams platform as well. No issues with Omnisphere in the full mode, I can run 8 track multi's without any issues. I struggle with EW's Play engine, though. It messes up my projects every time, if I haven't brought it up at the beginning. Can't say I'm a fan. I would expect Hollywood Strings to demand a computer upgrade from you..
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I'll let you know if I need an upgrade Magne. I have the EWQLO and EW Choir and both work smooth on my Mac. I've used up to 40 tracks without any problems. I imagine there are a lot of variables besides the 2/4 ram platform. Also I'm getting the 16 bit strings instead of the 24 bit. There's an easy upgrade to 24 bit if I decide in the future. Best, John
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Good news and bad news... The Hollywood Strings just arrived! Bad news is I can't load them today. Thunderstorm's a brewin'! But tomorrow is supposed to be nice. John
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Hollywood Strings are loaded. But... the damn iLok autorization is giving me a problem.
Says my authorization software is no longer compatible. So I downloaded the newest version, Still get the same message. Tried authorizing directly from my iLok account online. Tells me I have to update my software and drivers. So I did that. Still not cooperating.
Damn it, damn it, damn it. I'll have to make some phone calls tomorrow.
Seems every time I get new samples there's a problem with iLok. I hate it!
Frustrated John
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Up and running. Sounding good...
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Update scoop on Hollywood Strings. Love 'em! However, I'm starting to get a system overload message with only using seven string patches so it appears Magne was right when he said it may be time for adding memory to my Mac. When I start adding woodwinds, brass, and percussion I'm sure the old boy will crash. It's a trip to Double Click (Mac service techs) this weekend to boost my 4 gigs to 8 gigs of memory. John
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Just got back from the shop. What a difference the 8 gigs of ram make. 8 gigs is as far as I can go with a core 2. So I'll have to be careful not to go too crazy with new sample packages. Although... I see they just came out with the Hollywood Brass samples. Hmm... John
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I posted a film noir type track earlier but deleted it. It wasn't quite up to snuff. So far I haven't discovered the romantic, soft symphonic strings in this package. I'm sure they're in there somewhere? However, for big blockbuster cues, I think they'll work fine. Here's a 60 second cue using the Hollywood Strings with percussion: http://schicksville.com/Music/DramaticString%26Perc%202.mp3 John
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Having a ball with the Hollywood Strings. Though they are a cpu/memory hog. The company says 4 gigs minimum memory. I'd say 8 gigs minimum memory (and it wouldn't hurt to have 12/16 gigs). Still get overload boxes, but not nearly as much as when I only had 4 gigs of memory. Still discovering things in the package. I'd recommend them if they had a little smaller price tag. Best, John
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