I follow your channel and love your reviews. Your presentation style is very unique. It is amazing to see your script and the instruments playing in the background in such sync! :) love that.
Hey Cory! Thanks for the honest review. I could tell just from the demos already that this wouldn’t be the right brass library for me... don’t want to be too harsh on spitfire, but I have to say this wasn’t their best attempt... Not a fan of the sound and it seems like there is a ton of other issues. But thanks for making it clear and helping us out before we waste valuable money and time on a library that just isn’t really worth it! You are a gem here on RUclips! Never stop being who you are and just keep doing what you are doing!
Loving this! You think is still worth it to have the standard studio bundle as a first beginner orchestra library not that expensive? I already have infinite woodwinds and want brass when I can afford. Also would love your thoughts on Impact Soundworks Tokyo Scoring Strings!
Can you please explain how to change the velocities? I can't get into the instruments bc I once again only have the pro version. It's so strange to me that when you have the pro version, you can't see core versions.... frustrating. I'm having to make ALL of these multis by ear.
You forgot to mention the differing times for sampled crescendos/decrescendos… assumedly because of the samples being spread over a couple of keys, or otherwise not enough individual samples.
Thank you so much for the patches. Also awaiting your review of century brass that I've been using lately. Looking to grab CSB soon. CSB is a great core library and with Century brass adding some extended arts it can be a good combination
Hi Cory. Thanks once more for an honest and interesting review. I did buy the core library when it came out and this is very helpful in order to get the best out of it. I have great respect and generally a fan of most things Spitfire but they're certainly not perfect. I just hope that they'll take your detailed comments on board and take another look at this. Thanks once more for the patches - I assume they will work ok in the Kontakt 6 player. I'm waiting hoping for an NI summer sale to get the full version of 6.
Cory, you should test the Brass Pro... I noticed a difference in the way they use reverb. In the core version using the slider from FAR to CLOSE adds reverb. In the pro version, you change the set of samples and you really have close or far samples. And then the reverb can be add separately using the reverb slider. It gives really a deaper sound !!! I even prefer to use only solo trumpets using the transposition trick to obtain a full richer tone than the a4 set of sample...
@@cyrilcalmes4208 I have the the core version and am looking at getting the pro. This the great to hear. I've played cornet in British-style brass bands and MY GOD does the room matter for brass. I've tried recording my own trumpet and close mic'ed it doesn't even sound like a trumpet. I believed that a lot of the sound issues people have with this library would be fixed by the room mics! Glad to see it does!
@@magdalene2229 Hi, yes, the room is a big part of the sound. I've recently spent hours to work with the Studio Brass Pro. Actually, Studio Brass are the most demanding section in term of mixing skills. And specially the trumpets that can sound really synthetic in the upper range. First I use mainy solo instruments layered together (except Trumpet a2), using the transposition trick in Kontakt to avoid phasing problem due to extensive use of identical samples. Then , I route all the brass tracks to a BUS. In this bus, I use Eventide 2016 Stereo Room on an insert slot, to deal with early reflections (can be done with Valhalla Room, I think). Then, I put the LEXICON MPX reverb on FX channel and send the bus to this channel (using a dark hall or dark chamber preset). Finally, I put another insert reverb on the master the "glue" everything. There, I use Exponential Audio R4. After, it's just a question of tuning. You can (and you should) also use EQ on the reverb to color the tail. These reverb plugins are expensive ($99 for Lexicon and $299 for Exponential Audio), but I could have them for about €40 each. Black Friday is coming.
Dear Cory, I've been ok with what you say about the strange legato of the horns in the Studio Brass Pro. There's really a kind of "pumping" effect. I recently bought the BBC SO Core and the horn legato is fantastic... So I couldn't believe that Spitfire did such a poor legato. Then I found a Spitfire web page about Midi offset and how they deal with it. And finally, I made test, and I found that to avoid this idious effect, one must push the Tightness and Release parameters to the right. And it works !!! Love it. To be honest, at certain low dynamics or with certain intervals,there are few differences... Also, this library deserve a good reverb (I personally use Exponential Audio R4 or Lexicon MPX, but you'll probably prefer Seventh Heaven ;-) I love this library....
Ah, disappointing as I just bought it in the Spring Sale with woodwinds and strings. Thanks for the review though - your opinions seem pretty fair and balanced.
Since there missing instruments in the core verson, I directly bought the Pro version. In my opinion, they are far better and they convinced me to upgrade the core strings and woodwinds to pro version.
just downloaded your patches, thank you for your hard work on them! I have trouble loading them as kontakt says it is missing a nkr called studiobrass__2018. do you know where this is?
It does have its own charm of sound, yeah. It's the off-kilter programming and dud samples you find along the way while trying everything out that betrays this library's potential - especially when stacked next to libraries like Berlin Brass, Cinematic Studio Brass, Infinite Brass and Modern Scoring Brass. Funny thing is, even Symphonic Brass has some programming and sample problems so it seems to be a Spitfire thing.
Cory, I picked up Studio Orchestra Professional on sale as my first big orchestral library (along with BHCT). The brass is probably the hardest to work with for me. I don’t want to replace it but I was wondering if there is a library you can think of that would combine well with it to add a bit more “oomph” and cut some some of the harshness. Spitfire combines Symphonic Brass with it to do that in one of their walkthroughs, but I’m wondering if there is something better out there, maybe even a dry library. Since I have Studio Brass Professional and BHCT, maybe I don’t even need a full brass library, if there is something that might fit the bill (for instance, I’ve never tried anything like the Metropolis Ark or Symphobia series, so would be open to stuff like this if you think there is something that would blend well with Studio Brass, as I have described above).
I didn't realize they didn't include a solo trombone. that's a deal breaker for me. I was actually going to buy myself this for Christmas. I'll stick with my 8dio century brass and futz with the mic positions instead...
I don't suppose there's any chance you could do a video where you play a short piece on Spitfire studio brass and then again on Cinematic Studio Brass so we could hear the difference?
@@CoryPelizzari for me it would be the core version that would be of interest - although I imagine the legatos would be the same in each? I've heard a few people say they prefer the tone of the Spitfire library but the playability of CSB. It would be great to hear the difference on a short piece of music. I wish I had the skill to make better judgements for myself, but I'm hoping the use these libraries to take my first steps in orchestral composition and am a bit of a noob! I do think CSB sounds better in demos, but it costs a lot more and uses a lot more HD space, so the tricky part is deciding whether to get that now I already have Studio Brass...
@@CoryPelizzari bummer, it would be great to see how you go about balancing the patches, so I could replicate it in the pro version. Maybe a patch creation tutorial?
@@MrJorjazz Working the patches are a pain in the butt you don't really want. You have to change the volume manually for each sample group for every patch. Not something I enjoyed at all and not something I would want anyone else to go through. Spitfire really needs to manage their patches better. Perhaps sending in requests to them?
My most disappointing purchase. Got it on sale and I still feel like I got ripped off. Woodwinds are okay, still not as good as VSL for details but they have a nice warm timbre. Brass are atrocious though. Good sounds but it's all over the place and 80% of the time is spent on tweaking stuff to salvage what you can.
Too late! I already bought the bundle. Oh well. Really appreciate your sincere evaluations. But it's too bad you didn't use Kontakt 5 for making the patches. But, since these work in the player, all good I suppose. Thanks!
this is really difficult because while i have all 3 brass libraries you recommended, in my most recent project spitfires sounded the best. not to say it is the best, but rather it has some places where it fit so much better than cinematic studio brass. CSB is extremely playable, but something about its dynamics and tone sometimes just dont fit. Modern scoring brass is a beast i have yet to full work through. In all honesty, Aaron Venture Infinite Brass was the surprise for me and might actually end up being my main go to from now on.
That's why I think the brass here is still use-able. The legatos though are very disappointing. Spitfire records all this stuff to tape so the darker sound can sometimes fit better in certain situations.
Mostly the shorts dynamics volume balance. The original patches had uneven volume balance between velocities and the quieter velocities were way too quiet.
I follow your channel and love your reviews. Your presentation style is very unique. It is amazing to see your script and the instruments playing in the background in such sync! :) love that.
Hey Cory! Thanks for the honest review. I could tell just from the demos already that this wouldn’t be the right brass library for me... don’t want to be too harsh on spitfire, but I have to say this wasn’t their best attempt... Not a fan of the sound and it seems like there is a ton of other issues. But thanks for making it clear and helping us out before we waste valuable money and time on a library that just isn’t really worth it! You are a gem here on RUclips! Never stop being who you are and just keep doing what you are doing!
That horn legato makes me wanna go sit in a corner and cry.
Loving this! You think is still worth it to have the standard studio bundle as a first beginner orchestra library not that expensive? I already have infinite woodwinds and want brass when I can afford. Also would love your thoughts on Impact Soundworks Tokyo Scoring Strings!
Can you please explain how to change the velocities? I can't get into the instruments bc I once again only have the pro version. It's so strange to me that when you have the pro version, you can't see core versions.... frustrating. I'm having to make ALL of these multis by ear.
You forgot to mention the differing times for sampled crescendos/decrescendos… assumedly because of the samples being spread over a couple of keys, or otherwise not enough individual samples.
Thank you for your videos and also the amazing free patches! Much appreciated.
Thank you so much for the patches. Also awaiting your review of century brass that I've been using lately. Looking to grab CSB soon. CSB is a great core library and with Century brass adding some extended arts it can be a good combination
Thanks! Not sure I would've changed my mind had I saw these yesterday. Is Spitfire in the habit of updating?
Would love to have these multis for the pro version, as without this type of thing... I have no real drive to use this brass library
yey 5 am here, so just arrived in perfect time for a composers good night video
You must be closeby. It's 5:26 here. Best time to watch this haha
@@Fangornmmc Well either that, or we´re on the same meridian hahaha :D
Hey Cory! Are you likely to make multis for the pro version any time soon? Love your work, btw.
Hi Cory. Thanks once more for an honest and interesting review. I did buy the core library when it came out and this is very helpful in order to get the best out of it. I have great respect and generally a fan of most things Spitfire but they're certainly not perfect. I just hope that they'll take your detailed comments on board and take another look at this. Thanks once more for the patches - I assume they will work ok in the Kontakt 6 player. I'm waiting hoping for an NI summer sale to get the full version of 6.
I only use Kontakt player as well so would be interested to know if Cory's patches will work in player...
Just bought the Studio Brass Pro.... amazing !!!!! With just a bit of reverb (LEXICON MPX NATIVE).... Gorgeous !!!!
Cory, you should test the Brass Pro... I noticed a difference in the way they use reverb.
In the core version using the slider from FAR to CLOSE adds reverb.
In the pro version, you change the set of samples and you really have close or far samples. And then the reverb can be add separately using the reverb slider. It gives really a deaper sound !!!
I even prefer to use only solo trumpets using the transposition trick to obtain a full richer tone than the a4 set of sample...
@@cyrilcalmes4208 I have the the core version and am looking at getting the pro. This the great to hear. I've played cornet in British-style brass bands and MY GOD does the room matter for brass. I've tried recording my own trumpet and close mic'ed it doesn't even sound like a trumpet. I believed that a lot of the sound issues people have with this library would be fixed by the room mics! Glad to see it does!
@@magdalene2229 Hi,
yes, the room is a big part of the sound. I've recently spent hours to work with the Studio Brass Pro. Actually, Studio Brass are the most demanding section in term of mixing skills. And specially the trumpets that can sound really synthetic in the upper range.
First I use mainy solo instruments layered together (except Trumpet a2), using the transposition trick in Kontakt to avoid phasing problem due to extensive use of identical samples.
Then , I route all the brass tracks to a BUS.
In this bus, I use Eventide 2016 Stereo Room on an insert slot, to deal with early reflections (can be done with Valhalla Room, I think). Then, I put the LEXICON MPX reverb on FX channel and send the bus to this channel (using a dark hall or dark chamber preset).
Finally, I put another insert reverb on the master the "glue" everything. There, I use Exponential Audio R4.
After, it's just a question of tuning. You can (and you should) also use EQ on the reverb to color the tail.
These reverb plugins are expensive ($99 for Lexicon and $299 for Exponential Audio), but I could have them for about €40 each. Black Friday is coming.
@@cyrilcalmes4208 amazing! Thanks for that detailed response!
@@magdalene2229 make a research on the Web, you still can find the Lexicon MPX Native reverb at €38.30.
Dear Cory, I've been ok with what you say about the strange legato of the horns in the Studio Brass Pro. There's really a kind of "pumping" effect. I recently bought the BBC SO Core and the horn legato is fantastic... So I couldn't believe that Spitfire did such a poor legato. Then I found a Spitfire web page about Midi offset and how they deal with it. And finally, I made test, and I found that to avoid this idious effect, one must push the Tightness and Release parameters to the right. And it works !!! Love it.
To be honest, at certain low dynamics or with certain intervals,there are few differences...
Also, this library deserve a good reverb (I personally use Exponential Audio R4 or Lexicon MPX, but you'll probably prefer Seventh Heaven ;-)
I love this library....
I do like this library for certain tasks but I prefer the Pro version using the Mix 2 mic and I mainly use the longs and shorts.
@@CoryPelizzari Not the same price... also need a bigger SSD ;-)
@@CoryPelizzari For Mix2 mic, do you mean the Stereo Mix 2?
Ah, disappointing as I just bought it in the Spring Sale with woodwinds and strings. Thanks for the review though - your opinions seem pretty fair and balanced.
Since there missing instruments in the core verson, I directly bought the Pro version. In my opinion, they are far better and they convinced me to upgrade the core strings and woodwinds to pro version.
just downloaded your patches, thank you for your hard work on them! I have trouble loading them as kontakt says it is missing a nkr called studiobrass__2018. do you know where this is?
Maybe I'm crazy, but it sounds pretty damn good to me.
It does have its own charm of sound, yeah. It's the off-kilter programming and dud samples you find along the way while trying everything out that betrays this library's potential - especially when stacked next to libraries like Berlin Brass, Cinematic Studio Brass, Infinite Brass and Modern Scoring Brass. Funny thing is, even Symphonic Brass has some programming and sample problems so it seems to be a Spitfire thing.
Cory, I picked up Studio Orchestra Professional on sale as my first big orchestral library (along with BHCT). The brass is probably the hardest to work with for me. I don’t want to replace it but I was wondering if there is a library you can think of that would combine well with it to add a bit more “oomph” and cut some some of the harshness. Spitfire combines Symphonic Brass with it to do that in one of their walkthroughs, but I’m wondering if there is something better out there, maybe even a dry library. Since I have Studio Brass Professional and BHCT, maybe I don’t even need a full brass library, if there is something that might fit the bill (for instance, I’ve never tried anything like the Metropolis Ark or Symphobia series, so would be open to stuff like this if you think there is something that would blend well with Studio Brass, as I have described above).
I didn't realize they didn't include a solo trombone. that's a deal breaker for me. I was actually going to buy myself this for Christmas. I'll stick with my 8dio century brass and futz with the mic positions instead...
That's sounds like a better plan. With some EQ you can get it to sound like the Studio Brass anyway.
I don't suppose there's any chance you could do a video where you play a short piece on Spitfire studio brass and then again on Cinematic Studio Brass so we could hear the difference?
Possibly with the pro version. I've been thinking of doing videos on the pro versions of the studio libraries for full coverage.
@@CoryPelizzari for me it would be the core version that would be of interest - although I imagine the legatos would be the same in each? I've heard a few people say they prefer the tone of the Spitfire library but the playability of CSB. It would be great to hear the difference on a short piece of music. I wish I had the skill to make better judgements for myself, but I'm hoping the use these libraries to take my first steps in orchestral composition and am a bit of a noob! I do think CSB sounds better in demos, but it costs a lot more and uses a lot more HD space, so the tricky part is deciding whether to get that now I already have Studio Brass...
@@CoryPelizzari do you have a pro version?
@@artemi-music Not yet. Right now the AUD is horrifying so paying $300 to get the pro upgrades for brass and woodwinds will cost me $600.
@@CoryPelizzari where do you live?
Thanks Cory.
thanks for your demo review man!
Are you using a midi controller to command Dynamics and Expression ?
Just CC1 for dynamics, which is the norm for all the patches.
Thanks again! I see a job at Spitfire in your future😊. I have the pro version do you think your patches will still work?
The core patches don't work with the pro version because of the separate licences. It's kind of dumb.
@@CoryPelizzari bummer, it would be great to see how you go about balancing the patches, so I could replicate it in the pro version. Maybe a patch creation tutorial?
@@MrJorjazz Working the patches are a pain in the butt you don't really want. You have to change the volume manually for each sample group for every patch. Not something I enjoyed at all and not something I would want anyone else to go through. Spitfire really needs to manage their patches better. Perhaps sending in requests to them?
My most disappointing purchase. Got it on sale and I still feel like I got ripped off. Woodwinds are okay, still not as good as VSL for details but they have a nice warm timbre. Brass are atrocious though. Good sounds but it's all over the place and 80% of the time is spent on tweaking stuff to salvage what you can.
Too late! I already bought the bundle. Oh well.
Really appreciate your sincere evaluations. But it's too bad you didn't use Kontakt 5 for making the patches. But, since these work in the player, all good I suppose. Thanks!
Thanks again! I bought the pro versions, will your patches still work? I see a job at Spitfire in your future.😊
@@MrJorjazz Should work fine.
@@lahattec Just confirming they do NOT work.
this is really difficult because while i have all 3 brass libraries you recommended, in my most recent project spitfires sounded the best. not to say it is the best, but rather it has some places where it fit so much better than cinematic studio brass. CSB is extremely playable, but something about its dynamics and tone sometimes just dont fit. Modern scoring brass is a beast i have yet to full work through. In all honesty, Aaron Venture Infinite Brass was the surprise for me and might actually end up being my main go to from now on.
That's why I think the brass here is still use-able. The legatos though are very disappointing. Spitfire records all this stuff to tape so the darker sound can sometimes fit better in certain situations.
Agreed I normally use Cinebrass but find the playability of SF inspiring and the sound tends to blend better in certain applications.
What do the custom patches 'fixed' version change?
Mostly the shorts dynamics volume balance. The original patches had uneven volume balance between velocities and the quieter velocities were way too quiet.
@@CoryPelizzari Amazing!
This sounds awful.