Opinions about Chris Hein Strings

[melodea]

Does anybody have an opinion about the Chris Hein String library? I've seen videos and I'm quite impressed but can't find it on recommendation lists for string libraries. Maybe they're not paying to get promoted on the net!

thanks for taking your time to respond!

[psteege]

Hi,

I've had some experience with the CH string libraries, they're pretty impressive in regards to how much control you have, the recordings are good and you get a decent set of usable articulations, Though, for me there was a nasty phasing sound i couldn't get over. To be fair this was a few years ago and could have been (most likely - having had a quick scan through some forums- ) the way i was using it, or the version perhaps. If it wasn't for that i would have found it to be a pretty solid library.
My personal preference is the Cinematic studio strings libraries. I really struggled to find a good all-rounder but the CSS libraries i liked. if you want to know more about some of the other libraries feel free to drop me a message, or ill write more here.

Pete.

[melodea]

Hi,

I've had some experience with the CH string libraries, they're pretty impressive in regards to how much control you have, the recordings are good and you get a decent set of usable articulations, Though, for me there was a nasty phasing sound i couldn't get over. To be fair this was a few years ago and could have been (most likely - having had a quick scan through some forums- ) the way i was using it, or the version perhaps. If it wasn't for that i would have found it to be a pretty solid library.
My personal preference is the Cinematic studio strings libraries. I really struggled to find a good all-rounder but the CSS libraries i liked. if you want to know more about some of the other libraries feel free to drop me a message, or ill write more here.

Pete.

Hi Pete, thanks so much for answering! Yes, CSS gets a lot of mentions in the web. I'm really curious to find opinions on orchestral libraries since a lot of stuff out there is pretty underwhelming to say the least! I got just sucked in in Musio and some stuff is ok but a lot is for me simply not usable! Lack of octaves and lack of articulation are the most important downfalls of so many libraries.I.e. the Harp in Musio is soooo limited, it's a jocke! Super short glissandi all the way through, major, pentatonic, whole note etc. glissandi but no minor one! Really? CH is definitely on the usable side and I'll check out CSS for sure and would be more than happy to get your opinion on other collections.

[psteege]

Yes i think i know what you mean about some of the libraries being quite limited.

There's so many libraries out there currently that all seem to do some things well, but not others. For example they'll sound great in sustain patches, but the legato patches might not be great etc.
I personally like the CSS libraries because they're very practical in so far as there's no huge amounts of programming to get them to function and sounding like real strings. I use an Expressive-E 'Touche' controller when recording them in. it's basically a fancy x-y controller, and mapped to the expression, and vibrato levels. I must admit, i am a fan of "you can never have too many button" but that really is probably the most useful bit of kit i have.

Anyway back to the libraries. these are some of my thoughts from various libraries I've tried


Spitfire Audio.

I can't say i have much experience of the recent strings libraries from spitfire but they're always pretty solid libraries and sound great. I like the Albion Orchestral libraries, The Chamber Strings and Symphonic Strings are great too. The free BBC orchestra isn't bad. It sounds great but can sound a bit mechanical compared to some of the paid libraries.



8DIO.

Again i've not had too much experience with some of the larger strings libraries but i have just bought the Agitato Strings which are really nice - but not really a complete library. 8DIO are pretty good though from my experience.



Sonokinetic.

I like their libraries they're pretty useful but do requite a bit of keyswitching. The Orchestral Strings library is good with some good articulations and expressions. and sound-wise it's sounds pretty nice, also they're not 'too' bad on the wallet for a decent String library.



Cinematic Studio Strings

I think in terms of 'load-and-play' CSS is a great all-rounder. The articulations and techniques are great and I found them really intuitive to use. Both the Solo strings and Ensemble libraries are great. Though they are pretty pricey,



Others.

There are some other great libraries worth considering. I've had experience with other products from these companies, and I've always found them to be pretty decent: Orchestral Tools, Vienna Symphonic Libraries (if I win the lottery, I'll buy everything of theirs, but sadly, I've yet to win it; they also have some great free content), Project Sam (they do some useful free stuff; I sometimes use their Free Orchestra. It's a little restricted but has some usable patches), and Strezov Aflatus Strings are quite nice as well.

This doesn't come from decades of experience, this is just my humble opinion from my usage of these libraries, so others may have more knowledge and experience with the same or different libraries to offer. I've spent ages trying to find a library that sounded great, had the articulations I wanted, and didn't sound 'midi-driven.' While I found some had one set of great features, they wouldn't do something else very well. This is why I like the CSS libraries: the legato sounds lush, and the speed can be determined by the key velocity. The staccatos sound nice, with four mic positions plus a mix of all of them.

It can be hard to choose the right library. Consider budget, and what you want from it, whether it's predominantly block chords or if you're going to start doing more complex movements or solo strings etc.

Sorry it's a bit of an essay, but i hope some of it helps. Any questions feel free to ask.

Pete.

[melodea]

Thanks so much for your in-depth comment! In the meantime I purchased CSS! I researched a lot and finally made a decision. It sounds great and has a useful GUI. There is soooooo much awesome stuff out there! But as you said, without lottery win to have'm all will be a dream and throws you back to the healthy mantra to focus on what you have and learn to use them as good as possible & the best library doesn't make you a better composer, right? LOL

[Edwin]

Hi,

I own many string libraries and have been using them a fair few years.

CH strings are excellent but not usable in all situations. Here's what I love and dislike about CH strings:

Love

-Imo, best solo strings sound for demanding writing e.g. classical melodies, other than SWAM (however SWAM gets criticised for having a lacklustre sound out of the box, costs more and is more complex)
-Excellent value. It's cheaper than many other major string libraries.
-Fairly reliable. These instruments don't seem to glitch much for me. YMMV.
-Huge amount of articulations. More than any other generalist string library I know. If the default patch can't do what you want, it's likely another patch can*
-Extremely customisable. You can control reverb, body, vibrato, legato speed, attack etc etc.
-Huge dynamic range. Sometimes audible switches between dynamic layers.
-Keyswitches are consistent across CH instruments. Learn one, learn them all. CH brass, for example, is excellent and actually my go-to for lyrical brass writing.
-The legato is generally good**
-Dynamic expression is a great patch and can sometimes get quick expressive results***
-Chris Hein is active in forums and seems a generally good person for providing support, updates etc.
-Fairly flexible sound can be tailored to multiple genres of music.
-Gives you the option of controlling volume/ expression through MIDI velocity or CC or both****

Neutral
-Uses keyswitches heavily. You have to make use of these quite extensively in a lot of situations.
-High or low instruments don't play in the written octaves in MIDI. In this case, the double basses are written an octave higher than sounding. This can make large orchestral arrangements a bit confusing. You can probably change this, or just use a plugin before the VSTi to move MIDI up or down an octave (careful with how this will affect your keyswitches).

Dislike

-The longs won't last indefinitely long. Sometimes I need a longer note, which now adds 10 minutes to my workflow while I have to crossfade one long with another.
-There's some harshness around 1-3khz. The sound out of the box isn't as good as some other libraries. I tend to attenuate this area and then strongly boost the his.
-Reverb out of the box isn't great to me. I use my own reverb, and reduce the body of the instrument (see 'love').
-The louder dynamics layers are VERY loud in terms of decibel output. If your instrument is moving between these layers, you will probably need to automate volume or add a compressor.
-*The sound of different patches won't always match, e.g., 'Short 1' might be louder than 'Short 3' so I can't always simply swap between all these keyswitches without issues and time consuming fine-tuning.
-**Legato sometimes sounds weird and will often cause a spike in volume.
-***The consistent shaping that this gives most notes sometimes gets repetitive, and if it isn't what you want you'll have to load up a sustain patch which has very little movement and just manually input all the CC.
-****Takes a bit of setting up to get this how I like it, and can be very finicky if you want to use both velocity and CC to, e.g., create a fortepiano effect, especially when combined with any legato playing complications.

For general use, I prefer Performance Samples Vista or CSS. Aaron Venture looks interesting though I've never tried it. Met Ark 1 and 2 strings are brilliant for certain specific needs. However, CH Ensemble or Solo Strings is still a very good library and certainly not a waste of money. You can hear CH ensemble and solo strings in my music here: https://soundcloud.com/user-668111672/n ... 1edd8facb0

[psteege]

HI,

I don't think I've ever come across Performance Samples' strings before, but blimey their strings sound good (at least on the demos i've heard.) I'm just currently downloading some of the freebies.

Pete.

[melodea]

Hi,

I own many string libraries and have been using them a fair few years.

CH strings are excellent but not usable in all situations. Here's what I love and dislike about CH strings:

Love

-Imo, best solo strings sound for demanding writing e.g. classical melodies, other than SWAM (however SWAM gets criticised for having a lacklustre sound out of the box, costs more and is more complex)
-Excellent value. It's cheaper than many other major string libraries.
-Fairly reliable. These instruments don't seem to glitch much for me. YMMV.
-Huge amount of articulations. More than any other generalist string library I know. If the default patch can't do what you want, it's likely another patch can*
-Extremely customisable. You can control reverb, body, vibrato, legato speed, attack etc etc.
-Huge dynamic range. Sometimes audible switches between dynamic layers.
-Keyswitches are consistent across CH instruments. Learn one, learn them all. CH brass, for example, is excellent and actually my go-to for lyrical brass writing.
-The legato is generally good**
-Dynamic expression is a great patch and can sometimes get quick expressive results***
-Chris Hein is active in forums and seems a generally good person for providing support, updates etc.
-Fairly flexible sound can be tailored to multiple genres of music.
-Gives you the option of controlling volume/ expression through MIDI velocity or CC or both****

Neutral
-Uses keyswitches heavily. You have to make use of these quite extensively in a lot of situations.
-High or low instruments don't play in the written octaves in MIDI. In this case, the double basses are written an octave higher than sounding. This can make large orchestral arrangements a bit confusing. You can probably change this, or just use a plugin before the VSTi to move MIDI up or down an octave (careful with how this will affect your keyswitches).

Dislike

-The longs won't last indefinitely long. Sometimes I need a longer note, which now adds 10 minutes to my workflow while I have to crossfade one long with another.
-There's some harshness around 1-3khz. The sound out of the box isn't as good as some other libraries. I tend to attenuate this area and then strongly boost the his.
-Reverb out of the box isn't great to me. I use my own reverb, and reduce the body of the instrument (see 'love').
-The louder dynamics layers are VERY loud in terms of decibel output. If your instrument is moving between these layers, you will probably need to automate volume or add a compressor.
-*The sound of different patches won't always match, e.g., 'Short 1' might be louder than 'Short 3' so I can't always simply swap between all these keyswitches without issues and time consuming fine-tuning.
-**Legato sometimes sounds weird and will often cause a spike in volume.
-***The consistent shaping that this gives most notes sometimes gets repetitive, and if it isn't what you want you'll have to load up a sustain patch which has very little movement and just manually input all the CC.
-****Takes a bit of setting up to get this how I like it, and can be very finicky if you want to use both velocity and CC to, e.g., create a fortepiano effect, especially when combined with any legato playing complications.

For general use, I prefer Performance Samples Vista or CSS. Aaron Venture looks interesting though I've never tried it. Met Ark 1 and 2 strings are brilliant for certain specific needs. However, CH Ensemble or Solo Strings is still a very good library and certainly not a waste of money. You can hear CH ensemble and solo strings in my music here: https://soundcloud.com/user-668111672/n ... 1edd8facb0

WOW! Thanks so much for your extensive comment! Appreciate it!