The library sounds very good overall, and there are definitely strengths — especially the shorts, which I find very usable and musical. They layer well with other libraries and have a clear, defined character. However, the RAM usage is extremely high, which makes it difficult to integrate efficiently into a professional template. In large orchestral setups, this becomes a serious limitation. I also feel that the articulation set is not as complete as expected at this price point, and the legatos are not always convincing enough for exposed melodic writing. They work in context, but often require layering with other libraries to achieve the desired realism and expressiveness. I initially purchased the Core version, but found it too wet for my workflow, so I upgraded to the Pro version. While the Pro version is very expensive, I do appreciate the additional microphone options — especially the Close and Tree mics, which are essential for flexibility and integration into my template. Overall, it is a good library with some strong qualities, but given the price, performance demands, and limitations in articulations and legato realism, I believe there is still room for improvement.

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Product details
Brand: Spitfire Audio
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The library itself is excellent. The legato is flawless. The problem lies with the sampler or other components. The entire library is poorly optimized. My computer specs are an Intel Core i9-13900K, 128GB RAM, and a WD_850X 4TB SSD. I use Nuendo as my DAW. Even with this setup, I still encounter problems running this library. When I play back tracks, the project frequently stutters and pops. This persists even after applying so-called “optimized” settings to certain parameters. It significantly impacts my actual workflow experience.
Even after adjusting the velocity and changing the playing techniques, the legato is still a complete mess. Do you have any plans to update and improve this?
I’ve been using Spitfire Audio products for over a decade, and the Abbey Road Cellos are truly exceptional. The level of realism, especially when using faders to control expression and dynamics, is outstanding.
I would like to emphasize that the "sound "is great. I'll try to use this strings in my works despite of these cons below. It's too heavy to load. and has insanely vast memory consumption. As regarded in Other Media Revies, you need to wait for a lot of time even when you load a single mic position stored in a WD Black PCIe 4 super fast SSD. Spitfire Symphony Orchestra is as fast as reasonable, but this product is far from comfortable. Many producers may avoid this product not only because the problem, but also because the slowness in playing. Even only a single track performance of Vn1 Performance Legato(Extended), you'll find it has a plenty of latency and you can hear the sound chopped when you play fast passage (of course, it happens even when you use only a single mic position). It's painstaking experience to use this instrument by Spitfire original engine. Though I'm using a windows machine with Core i9 13900K and 128GB RAM, these troubles insist to occur. What kind of enviroment can play this well, I doubt. I miss you, KONTAKT engine.
Would be great if it worked.
Bad support
The sound is not quite as good as the 1st Violins Professional, that's not to say it isn't good, it is. but just not remarkable if you have for instance BBC SO or Chamber Strings. As with the 1st violins I was surprised that double stops were not a thing with this library, and for the price I'd really expect section size as well. Its real advantage is just in the playability of the scripted patches which is very good at getting between short and longer notes and has very smooth transitions between its layers especially with vibrato. Speaking of which I would have liked the auto vibrato option in there too from their other products. There are some problems with the UI on the pro version, it keeps loading up with the core version which obviously has fewer features, this just creates added steps every time you use it which at first is just odd then over time because annoying.
It is stunning.
I love the sound, the legatos and articulations but I always miss cleaner and more varied vibratos. It is definitely a good product that I have to explore further.
