9 GB Sonivox orchestral library for $1

[bayswater]

For some reason, most SONiVOX products no longer mention engine requirements.

This is a VI.

[cuttime]

EDIT: I see there is an option to move the library to another location using the "gear" icon on the interface, but this option was not available in the installer.

Well, I can't get this to work. I effed up the directories to the point where I had to do a complete reinstall. If anyone knows how to move the library to an external disc, I'll be waiting.

[David Polich]

Thanks for the tip, David. This is worth far more than the price of the bandwidth. I wish there was a way to install it on a drive other than the system, nevertheless, I gave a few patches the Khachaturian "Gayane's Adagio" stress test (which I have come to use as the definitive string patch test), and it passed with flying colors. I'm looking forward to giving the rest a workout over the next couple of days.

Yes, it has it's own proprietary player, and as far as I can tell, one can attach a controller to all the knobs. There is the documentation in the library folder.

The library would not authorize on the first go round, but after a reboot all was well.

EDIT: I see there is an option to move the library to another location using the "gear" icon on the interface, but this option was not available in the installer.

Good news about the quality of sound. Bad news about being unable to move the library.

[bayswater]

Good news about the quality of sound. Bad news about being unable to move the library.

I couldn't get it to work either. Put a question in to support and will post the answer.

[billf]

Bad news about being unable to move the library.

You can move it.

1. Copy the folder named Orchestral Companion Strings to your desired location. Note: I left the Authorizers folder in it's original location (I don't know if it makes a difference or not).

2. Move the original Orchestral Companion Strings to Trash, but don't delete it yet.

3. Open your DAW, and in the DAW open the Sonivox VI. The VI will have a little gear icon, which when you click it brings up a window that allows you to specify your desired content location. However, make sure you are selecting the Samples folder which is inside of the Orchestral Companion Strings folder. Hit REBUILD DATABASE. Wait a couple of minutes, the quit your DAW.

4. Restart your DAW and try the VI again. The sounds should now work from the new location. Once you confirm they do, you can delete the trash containing the original.

[cuttime]

Bad news about being unable to move the library.

You can move it.

I did this and ended up with a bunch of missing samples errors. Perhaps I didn't wait long enough for the DB to rebuild? Is there anything that indicated it is finished? I don't recall any progress indicators.

[billf]

Bad news about being unable to move the library.

You can move it.

I did this and ended up with a bunch of missing samples errors. Perhaps I didn't wait long enough for the DB to rebuild? Is there anything that indicated it is finished? I don't recall any progress indicators.

Make sure you are selecting the Samples folder when you are setting it up. It's not the best designed VI, so I can understand why it's $1.00. But at least the sounds are decent.

[mhschmieder]

To bayswater: not sure what being a V.I. has anything to do with the requirements of an audio product being from scratch vs. using an engine, but I've never tried to program one, so maybe aside from "Synth Toolkit" and maybe some VST building tools, there are just generic ways that people do their VI's from scratch vs. avoiding reinventing the wheel.

At any rate, the most I can tell from what little info is published about current (vs. previous) SONiVOX offerings is that they have their own proprietary engine now. Perhaps it is a combined engine for the sample-based products vs. the ones that are more synthesis-oriented.

[mhschmieder]

I'm on my second round of handshakes now, so hopefully the next one will result in receiving actual download links and codes for the suite.

If I have time, I'll try to compare the redundant stuff (for me) vs. my Kontakt versions (I never bought the Giga versions as I didn't buy my first home computer until the end days of Giga).

[bayswater]

To bayswater: not sure what being a V.I. has anything to do with the requirements of an audio product

I thought the question was whether you need Kontakt, Aria, etc to use this library. You don't need anything except a plugin host.

[cuttime]

However, make sure you are selecting the Samples folder which is inside of the Orchestral Companion Strings folder.

Aha! This is the key to success. I was selecting the root folder before rebuilding the DB. Thanks!

[mhschmieder]

No, I use the term "engine" as a generic term for whatever technology provides the basics of either synthesis, sampling, or both, for any VI or plug-in. This is pretty common in the industry, but as I work in the industry, I may have lost my awareness of what terms are vernacular vs. "insider".

So, to clarify, the SONiVOX products do not require owning another product, but most of them seem to be plug-in only vs. also usable as standalone apps -- at least of the ones I already owned before doing the suite upgrade.

Still waiting on the second handshake so I can download, install, and authorize the rest.

[mhschmieder]

That was very helpful advice about how to move the libraries; I had no choice as the total amounts to over 100 GB (for the suite) and I only have 30 GB left on my SSD (not sure why; I went from a 120 GB drive to a 400+ GB drive a year ago and it's already mostly full, even with all data on other discs).

Of course, it took a few hours to do the downloads, installations, and four-step verification process one-at-a-time (since there wasn't room to install them all at once).

I haven't loaded them in DP yet; I always audition plug-ins in StudioOne first, as it has the worst validator (well, tight race with Logic, but StudioOne does VST and AU and Logic only does AU), so I get a heads-up on what "might" be a problem in DP.

The orchestral libraries flew through, as did the Singles, but the two BigBang products and the piano product crashed StudioOne multiple times before finally partially loading SOME of their variants (they have different channel count versions). Hopefully they'll work OK in DP.

I quickly ran through the libraries, and the orchestral ones are actually the best quality overall, with the BigBang stuff being OK if that's what you're into (I'm not; I like dry and tight vs. thunderous and "Hollywood" or "computer games" style).

It wouldn't be fair to judge the piano product without using it in a serious trial, but a quick run-through sounded a bit tinkly and harsh. Hopefully -- given its disc size -- it is a more modern library than seems on first inspection, but the SOS review was rather scathing (though they held punches).

As TimewARP 2600 is worth at least $200 on its own, and as Twist and Wobble are worth $10-$30 each for their occasional utility and uniqueness, and as the orchestral fare is still pretty good due to great recording quality and timbre as well as a few articulations here and there (the horn section is well known for covering some stuff that others don't), the full suite is well worth the $60-$70 it would cost anyone today (the price varies a bit based on what you have and whether you have cash in reserve at the site).

Note that the Singles do not seem to have the ability to re-point where their samples sit. But collectively, they only take up a bit more than 1 GB of disc space. There's some useful ethnic percussion material in there that isn't yet covered by other libraries, and it's of a similar granularity to mid-period catch-all collections vs. early releases -- in other words, Ethno World vs. Ethno.

[Martini Hill]

Wow! Very cool! Thanx for the detailed description!! I'm sure I'll be Re-reading this when I get back and install in a couple of weeks.

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

[mhschmieder]

Naturally, everything passed through Digital Performer's best-in-industry plug-in validator with no problems.

TimewARP 2600 still fails in AU vs. VST though, but it's a separate vendor, long gone, and absorbed by SONiVOX's parent company InMusic (or whatever they're called).