Christian Henson made a video explaining the differences between Abbey Road One, Albion One, and bbsco pro and when he compared Albion to Abbey Road, he mentioned that Albion was designed to be a quick orchestral tool for when you have a deadline you have to meet. Albion is good in the sense that it is efficient and easy to use, but if you want greater detail, Abbey Road is the one for you. He mentioned that Albion One was made to be played polyphonically with a bunch of, "Blocky chords," (as he called them). Meant to be played with both hands. Whereas Abbey Road was made for you to play a note at a time and really take your time adjusting the mic positions, adjusting the expression and dynamic controls, and really make a detailed piece. As far as "which is better," if you're looking for a sample library that you want to use to make a detailed piece with a lot of realism and you're willing to dedicate time and experimentation to really get experienced and good at using such an advanced library, Abbey Road is the library for you. But if you aren't too passionate about cinematic style music, for instance if you wanna use the library for EDM or C418-style music, then Albion One was made with lots detail as well, but it's something that was developed mixed and mastered for you so you can use it fresh out of the box without needing to know the first thing about orchestration. It's really a matter of what you wanna do with the library. Both are very good (from what I've heard, I actually have neither) but they were made for quite different purposes.
FYI, while the original Albion I was released roughly a decade ago, it was discontinued a few years ago. Spitfire Audio rerecorded the library and released it under the slightly different name, "Albion One." The newer version contains some legacy patches from the original, but it's mostly a relatively new library. That said, I very much enjoyed your balanced and thorough comparison. I look forward to watching more of your videos in the future. Well done!
I may be alone in this but I'm willing to die on this hill: I loathe the "streamlining" Spitfire has done to this package. When they announced they'd do an Abbey road one library, I was excited but when I saw the UI and how the instrument is set up I was immensely disappointed. No piccolo or flute on separate patches, "Woodwinds high" is what you get. It doesn't just rob you of the instrument's individuality but also the eventual and unavoidable mixing/mastering process where the mix of each group is locked.
Agree, the tone of ARO is indeed amazing. I bought the library despite the lack of articulations and legato. Would have preferred to have it in Kontakt though. Currently, this player version of ARO only offers basic things, clearly Spitfire has some work to do here.
The room tone of Abbey Road ONE is amazing. I‘m looking forward for the upcoming expansions & modular Symphonic Orchestra. I guess the whole Symphonic Orchestra will set a big milestone in sampling.
During their Summer Sale, you can get both for the price of one. OR.....you can pick up the BBCSO Pro for $599 during the sale!!! That price is a steal compared to the regular price of $999.
Nowadays I honestly would prefer Spitfire plugin since this plugin always ALWAYS picks up my Ableton and places all the parameters of automation so I can choose them right from the start. And it's super time and nerve saving comparing to Kontakt libraries where I need to do it manually. Great video, Alvin!
I'm going towards Abbey Road because - while I do like Hans Zimmer's music, I'm also really into composers like Williams, Silvestri, and Shore, who do more symphonic stuff like you get in Abbey Road, and since I already have the Hans Zimmer percussion library, I feel I can kind of meet in the middle.
I feel ya when it comes to swells. I am the same. To be honest, Sample Modeling Brass have the most expressive swells/sforzando out there. They are done naturally in real time by using expression. Unfortunately, the tone does not fit orchestral music 100% (they are more jazzy) but you could get good result by layering them.
@@AlvinSWongMusic Yep, check it out: ruclips.net/video/ZbRajdlYa5U/видео.html - obviously this is not orchestral, but each instrument also has sections.
Albion One seems a bit abandoned with no updates as far as M1 compatibility though it plays through KonTakt. I think overall it was a great move for Spitfire to ditch kontakt, but wish they would release Albion with a similar interface as AR1.
Nice review, personally, after owning ARO for a while - the shorts are lovely, the percussion is fantastic, and the custom mic positions are 100x better than the mix - However.. If you run a good array of mics you will run into issues with CPU spikes playing large groups of voicings OR layering with multiple instances. There are steps that can be taken to reduce the load for the above. Unfortunately, for me, the biggest disappointment is the aggressive attack and stomped on tail with the longs. Expression/modulation or not it sounds very 'synthy' even compared to other SF libs where this occurs. Chamber strings longs are SO much nicer! For shorts and percussion, once making adjustments to be able to run a good mic array it's epic. Shame the longs are such a disaster - at least in their delivery. Why must SF stomp on the tail so hard? Regardless of the tweaks made within the engine :/
Hi, thanks for the great comparison! Regarding BBC SO - would you recommend Spitfire Symphony Orchestra Pro (strings + brass + woodwinds) over BBC SO Pro? I know that there is no percussion in SSO, but if it is not the issue - is it preferable choice?
Hey great video !! Do you know about they have updated Abbey Road One with legato function ?! I jast watched a video from Spitfire (from 2nd March) which shows the legato function. Have you heard about an update ? THX & Kind Regards
This is a very useful and informative video. I already have BBC SO Core, so after having watched this, I believe that Albion One or Audio Imperia Nucleus would be better choice for me for the more Epic/cinematic sound and legatos. Thank you, Alvin!
Awesome. You’re welcome. Makes sense. I have Nucleus too and it is a more epic/aggressive modern sound yes. The legatos are amazing too like the oboes from what I recall. Cheers!
Very! good comparison :-) I use BBCSO Pro and some of the VSL stuff, and it's literally everything i need, extremely fast to stay creative, with templates no problem. But it depends on your workflow. Albion and Abbey Road are like ProjectSam's librarys useful for fast scoring if you are not familiar with big librarys and depending on my state of creativity i like to use Albion oder ProjectSam for "beta-versions" to bring the ideas to the "paper" in set & forget-mode.
The first two 'add on' packs are now out for ARO. Legato is now accommodated for low strings and a specialised woodwinds with a mixable glockenspiel overlay. ARO just got even better.
Great presentation and detailing the differences and suggestion about some considerations before getting either of these. I have a question though,I have the bbc discovery(free) and philharmonik se from Ik multimedia.I just started getting some interest in orchestra ,I normally do pop,futurebass,downtempo music and apashe type of music which is Cinematic/trap,uses orchestral percussion and strings from time to time),would you say that i must see the reason to upgrade with one of these and outgrow the one's i have first.BBC discovery has limited intruments and articulation and same with the version of philharmonik i use(not much percusssions.). thanks
Thanks. And from your list of genres mentioned I would suggest you look into Audio Jaeger Nucleus, Metropolis Ark I or Spitfire Albion One. They are good ensemble libraries and have a more modern processes tone than for pure classical (Nucleus have some great solos too actually). Not sure what sort of percussions you use the above have the basics. I will say that by far the best percussion library package is the Cinesamples Percussion. All well recorded and all encompassing set.
I wish to combine & layer BBC Symphony, Albion One & Abbey Road One for my film scoring and Gospel recording mixes! What do you think of the KeyLab 88 from Yamaha to use as a midi/daw controller...with Behringer XTouch?
The Arturia Keylab 88 looks like a great midi controller and comes with good Arturia VSTs. They are not made by Yamaha btw. I don’t know enough about Behringer XTouch. For both controllers I would recommend researching if you can use the faders as midi cc controllers for more expressive strings, brass and woodwind dynamics and expression.
IMHO If you already got ARO as your ensemble library of choice, then you may as well keep collecting that series and collect the new add-ons with the legatos and other add-ons as they are released. If you are starting out and want an all-in one ensemble library with legatos and the stuff mentioned in the video, then it may have been a more difficult decision btw investing in Albion One vs the newer ARO.
Great video! That Abbey Road sound is singular at this time. Having used the sustains, I do really wish there was a legato. Marketing wise, I think it would have made this library an easier buy for composers that already have some libraries under their belt. It seems so odd to me that the legato was omitted. Still worth it though haha
Agreed. I wonder what the boardroom discussions were like about omitting any legato. Maybe they didn’t want to outshine their other existing product lines too much too early 🤷🏻♂️.
@@AlvinSWongMusic When they talked about Legendary Low Strings and Sparkling Woodwinds at launch (which both have legato), they mentioned how the whole Abbey Road series is a big multi-year project, but Orchestral Foundations was a starting point for the whole project.
I mention this comparison in the summary last part of the video. BBC is great for granular single instrument/section writing instead of the ensemble of ARO. Also had legato and more articulations. If it is a first orchestral library I think it’s the best bang for your buck and all encompassing. I think it’s generally agreed that ARO has an edge in the room tone out of the box with the Abbey Road Studio One sound compared to BBCSO of the drier Maida Vale room.
Alvin, you are making me sweat. I have no libraries and was thinking of Albion One and then Abbey Road One and now you are telling newbies to go along with BBSCO. I now have to choose. I like your video and it looks like this can be a sketchpad for orchestrating. Let me know your thoughts.
Hi Kenneth, All three will give you joy if it is your first orchestral library every as they all have a lot to offer and you will be addicted for more...;) That said, if it is "orchestration" practice you're after and you want to write very specifically for every instrument -- I would recommend BBCSO. For example you can load up just violin 1, or violin 2, celli, or bass specifically as patches for writing string lines for each. (This versus just "strings hi" "strings low" ensembles patches with Albion One or Abbey Road One). Also, BBCSO gives you a more articulations for each instrument. E.g. There are 20 articulations for just Violins 1! And you get a Harp which you don't in the other two.... The BBCSO recordings still sound pretty great too despite all the crazy focus on Abbey Road and Air Studios. I think you get more for your money as a first library and it can take you a long way!
For external drives make sure you use SSD hard drives for streaming libraries to your DAW. Also, batch re-save all your Kontakt libraries for faster loading.
Good comparison video... Although i must say blending them isn't a good idea considering they're two different rooms and sets of layering dynamics it'll cause phasing issues eventually.
Alvin, just got Abbey Road One. Am using Digital Performer. Only able to play back one instrument. Any help with that? I know your you’re using another program but maybe there is something I’m not doing with this correctly. Thx.
Sorry, I have no experience with DIgital Performer. I’m sure the Spitfire Audio support folks will be able to help you out with what’s needed there or someone lurking in comments here.
Hello, this is a great comparison, thank you for that. 🙏 I have a question which doesn't really fit here but maybe you can answer it. I tried out BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover and I liked it. I'm not composing orchestral pieces mainly but I thought of buying Native Instruments Komplete 13 Ultimate Collector's Edition to get their Symphony Series since it's on sale. Would you say this is a good place to start if you just want to make orchestral music now and then or to mix it with different genres? I know it's been on the market for a long time already and it might not give you that 100% orchestral sound as some people said. But for the average listener it can't be that much of a difference, or?
Komplete Ultimate is definitely one of those packages that will have lots of stuff that’s worth it beyond the symphony series. And the symphony series will definitely be helpful if you are looking to add orchestral elements in with other genres for texture. But yeah if you are relying on it 100% just for the orchestral patches then I haven’t been comfortable with doing that. Overall it’s a good kit.
FYI there are orchestral patches in the Full Kontakt Library too that comes with Komplete Ultimate. I still use the harp and some orchestral percussion there from time to time 😉.
@@AlvinSWongMusic Thank you for the tip. :) To be honest, I actually don't know exactly what's the major difference between Symphony Series instruments and other professional full orchestral libraries. Apparently sound, obviously, but what I noticed is that their string ensemble does not provide that much low end. But is there something specific where you would say, this is the key element?
I would have to load it up and test again to give details. It’s been awhile since I played with the symphony series from NI. Maybe I should do a comparison video.
I don't know about ARO but I've seen so many comments on forums that Albion one sounds are not that great... more "synth" like than realistic sounding. Even Spitfire says it's more of an idea tinkering library as opposed to a production library. As a cinematic/epic beginner, I'm not too concerned with that (only a half [or 1/10th?] truth as I've ignored a lot of fake or unreal sounding stuff), but at the same time, I'm on a budget so I'm not going to spending a truck load of money on a library that won't sound "real" when I need it to sound real. ----- after all that, my comment and question is, in your opinion, what is the realism sound comparison between the two?
This video without any example is totally pointless. You´re showing what is on the Spitfire website. Next time open the program and compare the sounds. We are interested on the sounds. Not in the text.
Thanks for the comment and feedback. Totally understand. This was meant as a discussion comparison and my opinion on usage from my usage. Not a play through of sounds which there a tons of vids on. Sorry if you assumed otherwise. I’ll note this for the future.
![Spitfire Abbey Road One - Is it THAT good? [REVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CaO2jtCaV5Q/mqdefault.jpg)
Great quality video mate! keep it up :)
👋 Heya Daniel! Thanks for dropping by 🤘😄🙌 and the encouragement again!
Yeah, right on Daniel.
Christian Henson made a video explaining the differences between Abbey Road One, Albion One, and bbsco pro and when he compared Albion to Abbey Road, he mentioned that Albion was designed to be a quick orchestral tool for when you have a deadline you have to meet. Albion is good in the sense that it is efficient and easy to use, but if you want greater detail, Abbey Road is the one for you. He mentioned that Albion One was made to be played polyphonically with a bunch of, "Blocky chords," (as he called them). Meant to be played with both hands. Whereas Abbey Road was made for you to play a note at a time and really take your time adjusting the mic positions, adjusting the expression and dynamic controls, and really make a detailed piece.
As far as "which is better," if you're looking for a sample library that you want to use to make a detailed piece with a lot of realism and you're willing to dedicate time and experimentation to really get experienced and good at using such an advanced library, Abbey Road is the library for you. But if you aren't too passionate about cinematic style music, for instance if you wanna use the library for EDM or C418-style music, then Albion One was made with lots detail as well, but it's something that was developed mixed and mastered for you so you can use it fresh out of the box without needing to know the first thing about orchestration.
It's really a matter of what you wanna do with the library. Both are very good (from what I've heard, I actually have neither) but they were made for quite different purposes.
Thanks for that awesome breakdown!
FYI, while the original Albion I was released roughly a decade ago, it was discontinued a few years ago. Spitfire Audio rerecorded the library and released it under the slightly different name, "Albion One." The newer version contains some legacy patches from the original, but it's mostly a relatively new library.
That said, I very much enjoyed your balanced and thorough comparison. I look forward to watching more of your videos in the future. Well done!
Thank you for that reminder and clarification! I forgot about that transition they did.
I already own BBC SO Pro and Abbey Road One (with all the expansion packs). Abbey Road One is my go to library. The sound is awesome.
Just what I needed. The best comparison I'v seen so far. Thank you.😀👍
I may be alone in this but I'm willing to die on this hill: I loathe the "streamlining" Spitfire has done to this package.
When they announced they'd do an Abbey road one library, I was excited but when I saw the UI and how the instrument is set up I was immensely disappointed.
No piccolo or flute on separate patches, "Woodwinds high" is what you get.
It doesn't just rob you of the instrument's individuality but also the eventual and unavoidable mixing/mastering process where the mix of each group is locked.
A very clear, fair, and useful comparison! I like also your attitude, voice, and editing!! Like!!
🙏 Thank you for the kind words! Glad it was useful.
Agree, the tone of ARO is indeed amazing. I bought the library despite the lack of articulations and legato. Would have preferred to have it in Kontakt though. Currently, this player version of ARO only offers basic things, clearly Spitfire has some work to do here.
The room tone of Abbey Road ONE is amazing. I‘m looking forward for the upcoming expansions & modular Symphonic Orchestra. I guess the whole Symphonic Orchestra will set a big milestone in sampling.
Definitely excited to see the roadmap for the Abbey Road Series and what’s released.
During their Summer Sale, you can get both for the price of one. OR.....you can pick up the BBCSO Pro for $599 during the sale!!! That price is a steal compared to the regular price of $999.
Great thorough analysis and comparison!
Nowadays I honestly would prefer Spitfire plugin since this plugin always ALWAYS picks up my Ableton and places all the parameters of automation so I can choose them right from the start. And it's super time and nerve saving comparing to Kontakt libraries where I need to do it manually.
Great video, Alvin!
I've had some glitching with Kontakt, so the Spitfire plugin is really a plus for me.
Thanks! The best comparison video.
Glad you liked it!
I'm going towards Abbey Road because - while I do like Hans Zimmer's music, I'm also really into composers like Williams, Silvestri, and Shore, who do more symphonic stuff like you get in Abbey Road, and since I already have the Hans Zimmer percussion library, I feel I can kind of meet in the middle.
You’ll definitely enjoy it. Great composer list there!
thx, very useful video for understanding the differences of each library!
Amazing video.....
Thanks for such an honest and detailed comparison 👍
Thanks for the feedback!
Very valuable approach to the comparison. I appreciate it greatly!
Great video! Thank you and good luck with your channel!
Thanks so much!
I have ARO and I'm trying to decide what to get next with the Spring Sale. Thank you so much for all this very helpful info!
🙏 Thanks. And have fun, Peaches!
Really good comparison, thank you.
👍 thanks
Awesome vid man, I'm going to pick up BBC core and Albion One. I've been waiting a few months for the black friday sale!
Oh nice! You should have it well covered. Have fun! Cheers.
I feel ya when it comes to swells. I am the same. To be honest, Sample Modeling Brass have the most expressive swells/sforzando out there. They are done naturally in real time by using expression. Unfortunately, the tone does not fit orchestral music 100% (they are more jazzy) but you could get good result by layering them.
Oh good tip. I haven’t tried sample modeling instruments much. Maybe I should.
@@AlvinSWongMusic Yep, check it out: ruclips.net/video/ZbRajdlYa5U/видео.html - obviously this is not orchestral, but each instrument also has sections.
Albion One seems a bit abandoned with no updates as far as M1 compatibility though it plays through KonTakt. I think overall it was a great move for Spitfire to ditch kontakt, but wish they would release Albion with a similar interface as AR1.
No legato AND no staccato strings. Deal breaker for a high end library like this. What were they thinking?
Thank you for this really well made comparison! Thought I was going to get Albion One, but I think BBC is actually the better first pick!
Great video comparison Alvin!
Hey Mark, Thanks for watching and the feedback!
Great comparison. Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Subscribed based on the presentation.
Thanks!
Alvin, very well organized and thorough walkthrough. I've been looking at both of these, and your review will likely be the deciding factor. Cheers!
Thanks, Jeff! You’ll be glad either way. They’re great libraries. Enjoy!
Nice review, personally, after owning ARO for a while - the shorts are lovely, the percussion is fantastic, and the custom mic positions are 100x better than the mix - However.. If you run a good array of mics you will run into issues with CPU spikes playing large groups of voicings OR layering with multiple instances.
There are steps that can be taken to reduce the load for the above.
Unfortunately, for me, the biggest disappointment is the aggressive attack and stomped on tail with the longs. Expression/modulation or not it sounds very 'synthy' even compared to other SF libs where this occurs. Chamber strings longs are SO much nicer!
For shorts and percussion, once making adjustments to be able to run a good mic array it's epic. Shame the longs are such a disaster - at least in their delivery. Why must SF stomp on the tail so hard? Regardless of the tweaks made within the engine :/
If let’s say i only used one mic setup on each track would that reduce the CPU usage? (Significantly enough)
Great comparison -exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.
Hi, thanks for the great comparison! Regarding BBC SO - would you recommend Spitfire Symphony Orchestra Pro (strings + brass + woodwinds) over BBC SO Pro? I know that there is no percussion in SSO, but if it is not the issue - is it preferable choice?
Thank you for making this. I was looking for a comparison video
R early love your video。thank you！！
🙏 thanks for the feedback.
Wish there was a sound comparison. Great comparison regardless.
Thanks and noted. 👍
The Yamaha modx has realistic string sounds it’s an investment but it’s worth it
Hey great video !! Do you know about they have updated Abbey Road One
with legato function ?! I jast watched a video from Spitfire (from 2nd
March) which shows the legato function. Have you heard about an update ?
THX & Kind Regards
This is a very useful and informative video. I already have BBC SO Core, so after having watched this, I believe that Albion One or Audio Imperia Nucleus would be better choice for me for the more Epic/cinematic sound and legatos. Thank you, Alvin!
Awesome. You’re welcome. Makes sense. I have Nucleus too and it is a more epic/aggressive modern sound yes. The legatos are amazing too like the oboes from what I recall. Cheers!
Very! good comparison :-) I use BBCSO Pro and some of the VSL stuff, and it's literally everything i need, extremely fast to stay creative, with templates no problem. But it depends on your workflow. Albion and Abbey Road are like ProjectSam's librarys useful for fast scoring if you are not familiar with big librarys and depending on my state of creativity i like to use Albion oder ProjectSam for "beta-versions" to bring the ideas to the "paper" in set & forget-mode.
amazing video!!! thank you!!!
👍🙌 avec plaisir.
Nice Breakdown. Thank You - We're Building a New Studio so This Really helps with decisions and info. Continued Success.
Thank you so much. Comments like these make it all worth it with the effort. Best wishes on your new studio!
Basically, AR1 is a supplement, not a replacement. They were smart to keep certain articulations out. You'll eventually need to own them all.
Great, easy to understand Alvin!
Thanks, Fred!
The first two 'add on' packs are now out for ARO. Legato is now accommodated for low strings and a specialised woodwinds with a mixable glockenspiel overlay. ARO just got even better.
👍Thanks. Yah both sound great. I wonder which will add-on be more popular.
@@AlvinSWongMusic My guess would be the low strings as they are not quite so specific use as the woodwinds with glockenspiel overlay.
Awesome info & overview Alvin !
Thanks, Marti! 🙌
Thank you :) Brilliant review.
Nice! Would like a core version of Abbey Road.
Oooh yeah that would be nice.
Great video! Now I can finally make a decision 👍
Glad it helped!
Great review. Abbey Road is my first one.
🙏 Thank you! Looking forward to the 🎶.
Great presentation and detailing the differences and suggestion about some considerations before getting either of these.
I have a question though,I have the bbc discovery(free) and philharmonik se from Ik multimedia.I just started getting some interest in orchestra ,I normally do pop,futurebass,downtempo music and apashe type of music which is Cinematic/trap,uses orchestral percussion and strings from time to time),would you say that i must see the reason to upgrade with one of these and outgrow the one's i have first.BBC discovery has limited intruments and articulation and same with the version of philharmonik i use(not much percusssions.). thanks
Thanks. And from your list of genres mentioned I would suggest you look into Audio Jaeger Nucleus, Metropolis Ark I or Spitfire Albion One. They are good ensemble libraries and have a more modern processes tone than for pure classical (Nucleus have some great solos too actually). Not sure what sort of percussions you use the above have the basics. I will say that by far the best percussion library package is the Cinesamples Percussion. All well recorded and all encompassing set.
I wish to combine & layer BBC Symphony, Albion One & Abbey Road One for my film scoring and Gospel recording mixes! What do you think of the KeyLab 88 from Yamaha to use as a midi/daw controller...with Behringer XTouch?
The Arturia Keylab 88 looks like a great midi controller and comes with good Arturia VSTs. They are not made by Yamaha btw. I don’t know enough about Behringer XTouch. For both controllers I would recommend researching if you can use the faders as midi cc controllers for more expressive strings, brass and woodwind dynamics and expression.
Great video. Now the big doubt: if already owning Abbey Road One, does it ever make sense to buy Albion One ? If... why ? No... why ? Thanks
IMHO If you already got ARO as your ensemble library of choice, then you may as well keep collecting that series and collect the new add-ons with the legatos and other add-ons as they are released. If you are starting out and want an all-in one ensemble library with legatos and the stuff mentioned in the video, then it may have been a more difficult decision btw investing in Albion One vs the newer ARO.
Great video! That Abbey Road sound is singular at this time. Having used the sustains, I do really wish there was a legato. Marketing wise, I think it would have made this library an easier buy for composers that already have some libraries under their belt. It seems so odd to me that the legato was omitted. Still worth it though haha
Agreed. I wonder what the boardroom discussions were like about omitting any legato. Maybe they didn’t want to outshine their other existing product lines too much too early 🤷🏻♂️.
@@AlvinSWongMusic When they talked about Legendary Low Strings and Sparkling Woodwinds at launch (which both have legato), they mentioned how the whole Abbey Road series is a big multi-year project, but Orchestral Foundations was a starting point for the whole project.
@@c.r.blankenship9040 That's correct. I have the Legendary Low Strings so far...so good. Looking forward to more.
@@c.r.blankenship9040 the thing is that these legato patches play in octaves... so it is still slightly restrictive
It's going to be my first library . I have a hard time choosing one or the other? What should I get? Thanks
Thanks. How do you use Abbey road tracks and add logics own tracks? I don’t seem to be able to do it
I am not a Logic user. Here’s a link that might help from SpitfireAudio. m.ruclips.net/video/quSrEldAFfE/видео.html
Great job. Which would you recommend; BBC or Abbey?
I mention this comparison in the summary last part of the video. BBC is great for granular single instrument/section writing instead of the ensemble of ARO. Also had legato and more articulations. If it is a first orchestral library I think it’s the best bang for your buck and all encompassing. I think it’s generally agreed that ARO has an edge in the room tone out of the box with the Abbey Road Studio One sound compared to BBCSO of the drier Maida Vale room.
Alvin, you are making me sweat. I have no libraries and was thinking of Albion One and then Abbey Road One and now you are telling newbies to go along with BBSCO. I now have to choose. I like your video and it looks like this can be a sketchpad for orchestrating. Let me know your thoughts.
Hi Kenneth, All three will give you joy if it is your first orchestral library every as they all have a lot to offer and you will be addicted for more...;) That said, if it is "orchestration" practice you're after and you want to write very specifically for every instrument -- I would recommend BBCSO. For example you can load up just violin 1, or violin 2, celli, or bass specifically as patches for writing string lines for each. (This versus just "strings hi" "strings low" ensembles patches with Albion One or Abbey Road One). Also, BBCSO gives you a more articulations for each instrument. E.g. There are 20 articulations for just Violins 1! And you get a Harp which you don't in the other two.... The BBCSO recordings still sound pretty great too despite all the crazy focus on Abbey Road and Air Studios. I think you get more for your money as a first library and it can take you a long way!
Do you have trouble with sounds cutting out when they're stored on an external drive? Just curious if I'm alone in this...
I don’t use external hard drives so I wouldn’t know.
For external drives make sure you use SSD hard drives for streaming libraries to your DAW. Also, batch re-save all your Kontakt libraries for faster loading.
Good comparison video... Although i must say blending them isn't a good idea considering they're two different rooms and sets of layering dynamics it'll cause phasing issues eventually.
Yeah, blend carefully and follow your ears indeed.
Alvin, just got Abbey Road One. Am using Digital Performer. Only able to play back one instrument. Any help with that? I know your you’re using another program but maybe there is something I’m not doing with this correctly.
Thx.
Sorry, I have no experience with DIgital Performer. I’m sure the Spitfire Audio support folks will be able to help you out with what’s needed there or someone lurking in comments here.
@@AlvinSWongMusic thx for your thoughts. An amazing library. Can’t wait ‘til I can use it.
Best-Richar
Hello, this is a great comparison, thank you for that. 🙏 I have a question which doesn't really fit here but maybe you can answer it. I tried out BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover and I liked it. I'm not composing orchestral pieces mainly but I thought of buying Native Instruments Komplete 13 Ultimate Collector's Edition to get their Symphony Series since it's on sale. Would you say this is a good place to start if you just want to make orchestral music now and then or to mix it with different genres? I know it's been on the market for a long time already and it might not give you that 100% orchestral sound as some people said. But for the average listener it can't be that much of a difference, or?
Komplete Ultimate is definitely one of those packages that will have lots of stuff that’s worth it beyond the symphony series. And the symphony series will definitely be helpful if you are looking to add orchestral elements in with other genres for texture. But yeah if you are relying on it 100% just for the orchestral patches then I haven’t been comfortable with doing that. Overall it’s a good kit.
@@AlvinSWongMusic Alright, thank you very much, that helped me a lot.
FYI there are orchestral patches in the Full Kontakt Library too that comes with Komplete Ultimate. I still use the harp and some orchestral percussion there from time to time 😉.
@@AlvinSWongMusic Thank you for the tip. :) To be honest, I actually don't know exactly what's the major difference between Symphony Series instruments and other professional full orchestral libraries. Apparently sound, obviously, but what I noticed is that their string ensemble does not provide that much low end. But is there something specific where you would say, this is the key element?
I would have to load it up and test again to give details. It’s been awhile since I played with the symphony series from NI. Maybe I should do a comparison video.
Damn, no legato... This could be really the only reason I would change my decision...
Exactly
I'm curious how Spitfire's BBC SO stacks up to these.
They're different types of libraries. AROne/AB are ensemble, BBC are by individual sections. Both fulfil different needs
I don't know about ARO but I've seen so many comments on forums that Albion one sounds are not that great... more "synth" like than realistic sounding. Even Spitfire says it's more of an idea tinkering library as opposed to a production library. As a cinematic/epic beginner, I'm not too concerned with that (only a half [or 1/10th?] truth as I've ignored a lot of fake or unreal sounding stuff), but at the same time, I'm on a budget so I'm not going to spending a truck load of money on a library that won't sound "real" when I need it to sound real. ----- after all that, my comment and question is, in your opinion, what is the realism sound comparison between the two?
This is why Abbey Road One is way more expensive and contains way less sounds. It's more realistic and have lush sound.
No sample purging on Abby Road, so its next to useless on a orchestral template.
IMPORTANT! Don't buy this if you are not 100% sure you need it, once you download the library, you'll never get your money back!
Well thats pretty normal....
This video without any example is totally pointless. You´re showing what is on the Spitfire website. Next time open the program and compare the sounds. We are interested on the sounds. Not in the text.
Thanks for the comment and feedback. Totally understand. This was meant as a discussion comparison and my opinion on usage from my usage. Not a play through of sounds which there a tons of vids on. Sorry if you assumed otherwise. I’ll note this for the future.