The size is huge, but this solo instrument was so good I instantly regretted not getting the entire quartet and splurging for the “Collector’s Edition”. The Stradivari Violin was truly awe-inspiring. It definitely has its place in cinematic sound design, but I definitely categorize this one in the ‘you already know if you need it’ classification. I found Mysteria to be fun for crafting vocal textures, but I am not completely convinced I want to put aside 30gb of space for it. Having access to so many different guitar articulations at the press of a keyswitch really allows you to bring out the natural sound in the samples and make it very convincing. The guitar loops provided are diverse, and putting the guitar in ‘melody mode’ truly gives you the flexibility to get guitar tracks that are nearly indistinguishable from an actual player. The Session Guitarist instruments are very much worth the investment in time it takes to learn them. The particles engine doesn’t just add ‘pads’ to your piano, but it actually adds rhythmic textures and swirling motion behind the piano in a way that makes you want to explore every preset (which, I’ll admit, I did). Add the ability to insert a felt dampener between the hammers and the strings and now you can get a truly mellow piano tone that really sits way back in the mix. There are 16gb worth of samples and dynamic layers, it sounds rich and playable.

Noire would be an excellent piano instrument on its own.

This holds true with the other sampled instruments. Add a mix interface that allows you to play back activated rhythm patterns on each instrument, and you’ve got an incredibly useful engine for generating realistic sounding mallet patterns. They are meticulously sampled, and have a level of polish that feels wonderful. Mallet Flux, for examples, offers some truly inspiring mallet instruments that sound absolutely stunning. The interesting thing about these instruments is their propensity to offer two complete paradigms. The sampled instruments see a significant upgrade this time around with the inclusion of Noire, Stradivari (I tested the Ultimate edition which came with the violin), Mallet Flux, Mysteria, and Session Guitarist.

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