I was like: why haven't I heard about Amsterdam Sinfonietta, these samples are the best! 😂

After Your great comparison I immediately wanted to buy Amsterdam Sinfonietta, because it sounded like the real thing 😍 - well, I discovered, it IS the real thing, no VST. 😖🤣

I cannot express how helpful this is. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.

Great test! I liked Berlin Symphonic the most out the box, but this kind of slow arcing piece is actually where samples perform best. My bet is at least 5 of these libraries could be made to sound very close to the recording if one spent time adjusting mic positions, EQing them and customizing CC1/CC11 for each library.

I have seen at least 100 videos about the comparison of strings libraries, and this one makes me feel the most referential and professional, the most practical and the most helpful. Thank you Sergey

Best String Library demo ever!

Brilliant demo. I wish VISTA had been in there, but there are so many libraries, you can't have them all! Very helpful... but I still can't decide! lol

This direct comparison shows the legato of Apassionata is truly in a league of its own. I wasn't even really interested in that library but here I'm amazed, it makes all the other libraries sound really cheap (legato-wise). Another wonderful tool, for when you need that specific skillset.

Thanks for this, I'm well impressed with the comparisons. For me, with the extra discount I get for owning 'Symphonic Motions', SAS really is a no-brainer and an instant purchase.

Well done! You have convinced me on Spitfire Symphonic Strings….which I’ve been contemplating for years. I’m surprised how thin Berlin Strings sound (which I own) and every time I hear CSS it sounds like someone put a pillow over the speakers.

Appassionata directly sounds happier and more bright

Very realistic demo from all vst. You've done great

great comparison!

I have unconditional and excessive love for Spitfire chamber strings , for me the best in realism and easy use.

I was most impressed with Cinematic Studio Strings. I just wish that they made one in an orchestral hall rather than a small studio. It’s the most realistic out of all of them by far. Appassionata would be second place for me

I don’t have an orchestral string library and don’t often need one but listening across the comparisons here, Spitfire Appassionata and Strezov Afflatus come across to me as the most clean, convincing and pleasant. Some of the others sound a bit too processed or “detuned” across the ensemble - and some of it sounds just plain artificial like maybe there was too much layering of samples trying to make it sound too “big”. I purchased Spitfire’s Eric Whitacre Choir almost on impulse when it came out because it matched up qualitatively with what I imagine when considering voices in my music. Thankful for this comparison before doing the same with Appassionata. Need to look into Afflatus a little deeper now…

Thank you so much.This was a very comprehensive comparison. With the exception of Nashville strings I own every library and it was refreshing to see a comparison like this. I learned a lot about my existing libraries. Thanks once again. I have liked and subscribed to your channel.

this is invaluable :) I'm happy I bought the Appassionata last night.

Beautiful work on the comparison, Sergey. Thank you for this!

8dio is not screwing around, damn...

Спасибо! Интересный разбор. Для проекта, который я делаю сейчас, подойдёт East Weest.

Wow, this is absolutely beautiful, well done!

Very interesting...thanks you

amazing work and fun how each of us has his own perception/sensibility...to me only afflatus "scene d'amour" (but in a radical way, not for any use) and CSS have the most touching "way of life" :-) but it's my own artistic perception off course.

After listening to all the samples I chose only two: Spitfire Appassionata and Sterzov Afflatus. You can hear the difference especially when violins one play alone on the high notes it sounds more natural.

To me, CSS sounds the best, there's just no beating that legato. Appassionata comes in at a close second, but I'd like it more if there was more vibrato. All the other libraries just sound stilted in comparison.

To my ears symphonic strings suit the piece of music best-My top three picks: 1) OT Berlin symphonic strings 2) Spitfire Symphonic Strings 3) Cinematic Studio Strings

Thank you, you’re doing the lord’s work.

Very nice work! I have listened through this great comparison a few times as I did it with classic orchestra's live recordings of the Adagio from Bruckner. The programming could be better here and there like in bar 5-6, which is a bit too loud and too fast. I understand the logic of the fact that you didn't changed the programming/automation and therefore the result not even throughout the different libraries, some of them sounds more balanced, responds better for the same actual programming, however I'm 100% sure, that all libraries could be optimised just as the actual programming to each library, than would be very interesting to do the comparison again. 🙂 I listened the music on my Iphone13 first, ( two times ) than via my studio equipments ( with studio monitor ). There are libraries with big 'yes' and there a few I would not use until they not improve for better quality, flexibility etc. I would only list out my favourite ones here: Spitfire Symphonic Strings ( sound most realistic, rich and balanced and flexible enough to use artistically ), Spitfire Apassionata ( best realistic legato ), Berlin Strings Orchestral Tools, Cinematic Studio Strings ( beautiful tone overall ) Audio Impera Areia ( needed better adjusted programming for best result ), 8dio Adagio/Anthology ( lush, rich rounded tone overall, powerful sound, need to adjust ) Strezov libraries sounds beautiful, but a bit annoying the accent at the beginning of every single note, same with Audioollie Nashville also here is the legato is not obvious. Fluffy Audio Venice Modern Strings has really nice tone, but a bit sounds weaker than other libraries. Audiobro Modern Scoring Strings Library sounds rounded and darker than other libraries, lovely soft, even balanced sound though. The bass in other libraries has more character but maybe it can be changed by a bit more suitable programming/automation. All these libraries must be very useful, and adjust the arranging - programming - automation optimally to each of the libraries. Need to understand and know strings, how they work in real, if someone really want to get out the best out of digital music programming.

Great stuff, it's funny I was looking for the Amsterdam Sinfonietta VST plugin and realized it doesn't exist... LOL... anyway I was looking at the original score and the instruments are first and second violins then 1st and 2nd violas (violas are just incredible, what an intimate timbre it creates!), then just cello. In the demo, you added the basses, guessing this was deliberate. In any case and just for fun, it would be interesting to use these 3 instruments (excluding the basses) and perhaps use different libraries combinations. I am thinking 1st and 2nd violins and violas from "Appassionata" and perhaps use a cello from CSS... I'll try to experiment and share. Cheers!

Lovely

Огромное спасибо за сравнение!

Someday you should try Pacific Strings for this Beauty Arrangement Music.

Fantastic video! Thanks.

dangit. i was thinking "wow, the amsterdam library clearly sounds the best. i was searching all over the internet for it and just realized it was the real orchestra you were comparing the rest too. dang.... CSS is pretty good though..

Beautiful 🤩👏

Thk you Sergey! Spitfire Symphonic strings is best!

I bought Berlin Symphonic based largely based on this video. So lush and beautiful, while mainting a lot of detail as well. It's a perfect comparison video. Is there a place where I can download the midi for this Adagio?

I still have an impression, that speaking about expression (not mic positions) Appassionata & Spitfire Studio Strings sound quite similar

CSS is just king for a writing style like this. I'm a bit disappointed by Appassionata's dynamics. For 5 layers I expect a pp layer to actually sound like one. 🤔 Also thanks for this demo, it's really helpful and one of the few with actually proper programming.

I think the thing I learned most from this is just how inexpressive samples sound compared to the real thing. As much as they sound "realistic", they're not communicating meaning through the music, other than a very basic 'this part is loud, this part is soft'. Thank you for this comparison!!

modern scoring strings smashed all the rest

Wow thanks for that!

They all sound really good. Some better than others. IMO, Jaeger was my least favorite sound of them all.....and I actually own it. All the Spitfire products stood out to me, as did 8dio Century Strings.

BSS, Appassionata, CSS, Venice (that was surprising) for me here. I like the tone of the Afflatus Lush but it has volume bumping every single note, I think there is some programming problem, because I just tried lush from there and it sounds smooth. NSS has attack on every note, sounds weird, hope that it could be fixed too, I would try them, in other user demos there was good legato actually. MSS here sounds dull, but I like legato, I think it has potential, if you spend some time with eq and mic adjustments, plus auto legato is not the best option, there will be better results if you change it manually. SCS, SSS - great tone, legato - meh. SStS - it's good, I think one of the better options, I would just add some reverb and make some CC adjustments. CineStrings - too noisy, odd volume surges, I'm not sure it could be fixed. Hollywood Strings - ok, but there are no drastic dynamic changes and it's too quite in comparison. BS - good, but not my peace of cake. Areia, Jaeger - punchy sound, I don't think it fits this adagio, plus not the best legato. 8dio sounds weird, something with stereo field, I don't like portamento here.

Great!

I have several of these libraries. Use them for different reasons. Interestingly for Romantic strings I found the Appasionata the best sounding next to the live elements. EW sounded fake. I have that one. I usually mix it in with others and come up with a huge mock that sounds wonderful, but on its own, EW doesn't compare to Spitfire Chamber or Appass. Berlin strings sounded pretty clean though.

Amazing comparison set, thank you! Appassionata really sounding beautiful here. Many of these libraries do a great job. Only Air studios sounds like Air studios though!

Синематик Студио первое место (чуть меньше вибрато бы) Второе место Аппасионата. Спасибо за сравнение!!

Did anyone else watch this hoping to find a reason not to buy Appassionata only to be disappointed by how good it sounds?

Can we have the midi file please ?

alright I'm going with Amsterdam. wish me luck guys

Afflatus sounds great I only wish they would have a softer dynamic (ppp) sometimes. Jaeger sounds good as well as several from Spitfire. I guess with all these libraries it is hard even starting to think what to pick lol.

I wish you compared to LASS 3 too

MSS is quite a bit less loud than the others, and there are other volume differences between the files. Keep that in mind when you compare the files. By the way, your freebie download links don't work.

To me several of the libraries sound good to great EXCEPT for the solo part (bars 17/18, 29/30...) -should that passage be better done by SOLO libs? More modulation/vibrato?

I got prank Amsterdam Sinfonietta is the real :P btw i own all spitfire orchestra strings series and the new purchased are BBC core, they also good deal.

Very impressive effort - very interesting comparison! There certainly are differences, but I’m surprised how similar they sound on my little iPad speakers.

is the Amsterdam Sinfonietta live recording or is it a Sample library & with which company?

Awesome, very helpful! Can I ask, which library did you use for your initial mockup, and then did you make any adjustments for the other libraries or just kept the exact same MIDI?

I ended up liking Appassionata & Cinesamples Cinestrings the most.

Great comparison! But every library reacts to dynamics differently and is usually needed to tweak by ear. Is this tweaked to Apassionata and then just copy/pasted to other libraries?

I really like the room of Audio imperia Jaeger. Do you find yourself using that library a lot?

Yeah this is what I wanted to hear! Not a composer demo from an amateur but how does a master composer sound with these libraries? Bruckner will do

I feel like css hasn’t been used at its best there, it’s strength is the legato and here it felt a bit sloppy and the sound isn’t exactly what I remember it being, but ofc you can’t just reprogram the same midi clips for EVERY libraries you own that’d be a waste of time, other than that this comparison video is awesome and my gawd that composition is incredible and I loved the live version so much

Amsterdam Sinfonietta for me...

Молодец Серёга!

Agitato is underrated

problem with all legato samples starts, when ostinato (repeated note) appears, like example vn I 2:06

Thanks for doing the comparison! By the way, the google drive link to your VST is dead.

Timely video! If I have Afflatus, is the new Spitfire library better?

Less be frank …most part of the libs here sound very well and would be difficult for me to know that the first was a life recording if placed in the middle of the selection . Today sampling technology has reached levels of excelence that is dificult to distinguis from real and fake in the hands of an expert musician programmer.

Hey thx for this. Are you riding the dynamics controls for each instrument? What is the line underneath the midi representing? Is that dynamics or volume?

Wow that first one is streets ahead. You hear the wood.

Great comparison Sergey! Berlin Symphonic Strings is the only one that convincingly recreates the 0"50 rebow (at 11"07 ). All the others, including Appassionata fail there.

You worked hard working on your music. What's a little disappointing is that each instrument has its own characteristics, so it may be meaningful to copy and paste the same Region. Originally, what was made based on Applicationata should have been applied to each new instrument. I understand that because it is also a hard work that takes time.

For me, definitely the best is "Amsterdam Sinfonietta". They really look like real strings. Yes, it is a troll

What is the technical difference between the 2 Berlin's Strings (non sul tasto)?

hello excellent work! what are the hardware features of your computer? Cpu - Ssd - Ram ?

Hi, I’m 19 and just got into music last year. I have a budget and I want to be careful with my first purchase at spitfire. Can anyone please help me decide which would give me more for my money Abbey Road Two or Appassionata Strings? Please let me know! Thanks

Awesome!!!! Sounds really good!!! Beautiful composition!! Beautiful dynamic expression!!! Well done! Keep up the great work!!! So it seems Amsterdam sinfonietta is a live recorded performance? Or is it a libray please? I tried to check on youtube for the libray but I didn't see a video about it. If it's a libray it sounds really good!

Proof they all use the same samples.

I want to hear this in comparison with the bbc...

agitato is the winner here

What about VSL?

I hear fakeness in all orhestral strings libraries. It is so annoying for me ;)

i feel that CSS are the best compared with the real one

SAS almost equal with Berlin Symphonic .. amazing!

Живое исполнение оркестра.... Увы, но все остальное лишь посмертная маска.

It is not fair to use the same programming to compare all libraries

Where is “Tokyo scoring strings”?(

CineStrings and Afflatus sounds absolutely horrible. Appassionata and Berlin Strings are absolutely amazing on the other hand.