Spitfire Symphony Orchestra Reviews

Verified

Before buying Spitfire Symphony Orchestra, I was a SPLICE subscriber. I used BBC Symphony Orchestra and really liked its user interface. After using it for a month, I decided to purchase the Spitfire Symphony Orchestra library. When I realized the user interface wasn't the same as the BBC library, I thought I'd get used to it. But my reasoning was flawed. I can't really get used to Kontakt Player. There are so many settings to configure. Furthermore, for reasons I can't explain, Kontakt Player 8 doesn't have the features of the full version and I can't afford to buy it. The feedback I'm writing here is based on my experience.

Verified

I've been using this library for a week now and only have been composing slow movements. However, I really love the warm, flexibel sound and cohesiveness. It is a perfect blend between a classic and filmic orchestral sound. Don't know how the faster action stuff holds, but for now I just love the result. As for the GUI workflow it is very clear and smooth. I'm using big orchestral templates and there I notice that SSO takes a lot of RAM. Thereby some of the samples do have some glitches or do not correspond toautomationas I expect. However, I think this was a really good move from Spitfire, rolling out this upgraded version of their former SSO flagship. I used to be a huge BBCSO Pro user, but SSO might take it's place soon.

Verified

I had been using another orchestral library that proved to have some frustrating quirks, especially WRT the way the different articulations interact with velocity and modulation making it tough for me to create lines that mixed staccato and legato notes. I found SSO to be much more intuitive, especially the performance patches.

Verified

affordable and works extremely well.

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I mean, what can I say. It's just gorgeous.

Verified

Sound quality blows my previous library away. It’s hyper realistic and lush. I am disappointed however that a library of this caliber doesn’t have a dedicated staccato articulation. I’m having to use layering tricks with my older cheaper inferior library because even that one has staccato and SSO does not. That’s frustrating. It’s also pretty CPU heavy. I guess that’s expected with the baked in reverb and realism. But it’s still a factor to consider. I still rate this 4 stars because the sound quality and rich tone are very impressive and it came with virtually everything that you need to make professional sounding orchestral scores for in my opinion a very fair price. (I also got it at a discount which Spitfire seems to regularly do).

Verified

The Spitfire Symphony Orchestra on sale is a great deal. It comes with more instruments than BBC Core and more dynamic layers, which equals greater realism. Plus, it’s baked in reverb is natural sounding and adds a beautiful bloom to one’s projects. Highly recommended!

Verified

I wrote a longer review about the company in general that adresses most concerns. This is not a bad library by any stretch of the imagination but I feel the priorities are a little weird and wish they would re-think the performance patches and put some more energy in the programming because it's too easy to make it sound like there's something seriously wrong while playing certain things. like weird volume changes during legatos and very unrealistic attacks at times. strange pumping sounds during note transitions and stuff like that. it sounds a little unfinished and not like a premium library. but that's the performance patches, the sound of the samples are pretty much excellent across the board. Although some releases can tend to feel a little unnatural and maybe there's a place where I can adjust the release time of the samples to mask it a little but if there is it's not apparent from casual use. Not a bad library, not a great library but also - if you get it for around $350 on a sale like I did, it's definitely worth it because there's no way around the fact that you DO get a lot, and the percussion was surprisingly good! And the main reason you might want THIS library is the sound of Air studio and while I personally prefer Abbey Road because it honestly do sound like my favourite movie scores Air this room feels easier to be flexible with and mix into a more hybrid production (and that's why I bought it). Spitfire is a weird company for sure. They're sooo close to be excellent but unfortunately I think there's a reason they get so much criticism online and unfortunately I think most of it is valid.

Verified

Wonderful product. The sounds and samples are brilliant!

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An amazing product, I appreciate how simple it is to navigate and how well it sounds with minimal programming. Only caution is for anyone looking for a dry library. This one is pretty wet.

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This product is very complete, and the instruments sounds great. Like the option for solo instruments and for patches that are polyphonic, this saves time when writing. The instruments work very intuitive. I really like the way you can play around with percussion and easy allocation of keys to sounds, this way you can easily build your whole percussion section in one multi-instrument. The playing techniques included for brass, winds, and string are numerous. And for the time being way more than I need.

Verified

Very well thought out. I compose for films and have wanted a spitfire library in my toolkit. The range of articulations is vast, solo legato very good and the obvious care taken to make this library totally intuitive and responsive is worth every penny. I will be purchasing more spitfire libraries now!

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Sounds are great. I love the performance mode.

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Awesome library! great rebate!

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The Spitfire Symphony Orchestra is my main orchestral library. Its stunning sound quality and wide range of articulations provide exactly what I need to bring my orchestral compositions to life. This library resonates with me in particular because of my deep appreciation for the lush, traditional sound of classic Hollywood scores and timeless orchestral music.

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Absolutely gorgeous samples, you can hear the orchestra breathing. So rich with depth and nuance. Incredible. Worth every penny.

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Loving this product very much so far! The dedication of Spitfire to the very best quality samples and captures is on full display in this orchestral pack. In addition, they are selling this entire pack at a very reasonable price considering the previous prices for buying the libraries individually.

Verified

I'm extremely happy with the level of flexibility in the SSO range. It has the most options for adjusting each section size in the orchestra, which is a big help for me personally. As well, the extremely large number of instrumental techniques available in this pack is a bonus. Other Spitfire ranges (such as Abbey Road Orchestra) may have slightly more realistic or richer sounding samples, but the SSO sampling quality is still great in its own right, and it has unmatched flexibility.

Verified

Compared to most other libraries, this one is great. And yet, it's half the price of most of the others. The only major complaint I have is the fact that the 'basic' ensembles for strings do not include a tremolo, and requiring the loading of an entirely separate instance to be loaded. I see no reason why one of the most frequently used techniques in string writing is not in the "Core" techniques, and instead in the "Decorative" technique section.

Verified

I think it is terrific. Great discount. The samples are excellent and well thought through.Your company is developing quite a reputation as a “world-class” leader in music software development. I intend on purchasing other products in the future. Well done. William Mullane