All 8dio string packages 70% off till Dec. How useful are they? Seem amazing/killer deal

Oddly if you put the four string instruments in your cart it is far cheaper than putting the bundle in your cart. Add in a discount for letting them send you junk mail and it comes to 350. Interestingly Spitfire has a sale on their basic strings package for a touch over $260. Which is the better deal?

I was very interested in this sale when I first saw the prices, but after reading through the VI thread (and the favorite/regrets thread that one of the VI posters linked to), I've really cooled on the idea. It sounds like the 8Dio libraries get a pretty mixed reaction...

bigcatt
Oddly if you put the four string instruments in your cart it is far cheaper than putting the bundle in your cart. Add in a discount for letting them send you junk mail and it comes to 350. Interestingly Spitfire has a sale on their basic strings package for a touch over $260. Which is the better deal?

There is 27 more GBs in the bundle than the individual libs... I've posed the question at VIC but no answer yet as most people seem to be watching the USA fall apart...not to mention the planetary ecosystem...
 
"We're toast" takes on a whole new meaning to me, re: climate change, tonight...
 

They are good, but are not a replacement for a full string library. These are smaller libraries that cater to a specific style. They are great additions to something like EastWest's Hollywood Strings or QLSO. They blend well with other libraries as well.
 
Regards,
Dan

Vastman
I would say the one thing I notice about the strings... adagio and agitato... is they sound way more emotional... I don't know how to say it exactly... but they seem different than my spitfire/PSam/OT/other libraries...
 
Maybe this is just how they are demoed by 8dio but I'm almost willing to buy the strings, actually I'm thinking of 
Agitato Legato Arpeggio for Kontakt VST-AU-AAX$53.00 Adagio Basses VST-AU-AAX - Kontakt Instruments & Samples$59.00 Adagio Violins for Kontakt VST-AU-AAX$119.00 Agitato Grandiose Ensemble Violins for Kontakt VST-AU-AAX$44.00  
 
 
Which, while totaling $275, get down to $247.50 when u apply the 10% additional discount code you can get when you sign up for their emails (use another email if you need to to get the code...)
 
The strings just seem lovely, stackable within other libraries, and dripping with emotions, especially their smart legatos...  I don't care if they're updated... they're different.  
 
Or am I off base???  They sure sound different
 
 

 I like those choices.  I can't afford any more libraries even at those prices but the basses seem tempting.  I would hate for a year or two down the road where they may not work in newer versions of Kontakt.  I think I'd prefer to put that money towards upgrading my EW or VSL libraries.
 
 Still I'm eyeing those basses.

Yep...You're right, my ol pal  added them... vi guys demanded I do it given what I've shared.  Also, swapping out the bass for cello...per a really strong argument from someone who makes me look like a guppie!  I have iceni and loads of other bass already and the cellos ARE friggin dripping!!!

yorolpal
Emotional is almost always better. Picked up the Sordino strings because of that fact.

 
olpal -- what do you think of them? I'm very curious...

I like the 8dio strings I have, but I'm having difficulty understanding why they are being "discontinued" - why would any company invest in the sampling process, make a great product, then stop offering it?
 
?
 
-Tom

emeraldsoul
I like the 8dio strings I have, but I'm having difficulty understanding why they are being "discontinued" - why would any company invest in the sampling process, make a great product, then stop offering it?
 
?
 
-Tom

Happens all the time... CSS just replaced CS2... both are amazing and different.  In this case however, the trend seems to be unifying desparat parts (like spitfire's mural  which had loads of products/articulations) and the brass products are all now being replaced by their new unified  brass library "Symphonic Brass" 
 
8dio is working on "Century Strings" and has said it will be heavily based on Adagio; We assume this will be a single lib replacing all the smaller libs.  Also, hope they fix all the issues over the years that bother some...Finally, scripting has advanced... For those that own all of the Adagio/other libs, I'm sure there'll be a crossgrade plan like spitfire did.
 
8dio is particularly fractured into a variety of parts that don't necessarily tie together, although each is amazing in it's own right.  There is a real bunch of Yes/No arguments from orcestrators with strong feelings on both sides but to me they are irrelevent... Agitato is full of amazing stuff, as is Adagietto...stuff you won't find elsewhere. Having a few emotional quivers in your bow... at give away prices... is an exciting opportunity for anyone wanting to add some emotion to their compositions...
 
Century will NOT be cheap!  Bits of these are, which will most assuredly be integrated into a more organized package beyond my budget...
 
I wouldn't buy these as my main go to library... I'n getting CSS for that. It's the clear winner to me... Alex the Aussie really knows how to put together a package... VIC folks, who've nearly all flipped out about it, clued me in and it is georgeous, simple, and dripping with real player emotion, which should blend will with 8Dio
 

These threads are theraputic... I've spent well over 40 hours on string libraries this week...learned sooooo much.
 

• 8dio's strings are unique in that they have spent a huge amount of time, GB's and money capturing "bowings", half and quarter bowings, sometimes multiple styles within this catagory, which totally changes the emotional content/realism of the library... they aren't faking it with "crossfades"...Other libs have nothing like this... they haven't sampled this stuff...  This is huge.
• Similarly, they've captured a zillion bowing volume changes,vibrato changes, ups and downs, in what the call Dynamic Bowing (Natural Flowing Gesture) all addressable via keyswitches.  Huge...
• OK... they also have this, and it is really cool:  louré (portato)– separating and swelling at the beginning of each note in a series of notes taken in a slur; this differs from up-bow and down-bow staccato in that each note’s re-articulation is gently emphasized while continuing the bow in the same direction. This also differs from hooked bow, as the bow stroke does not completely stop, nor does the sounding of the string become stifled from the bow motion interruption. for example, they have just in an ensemble patch:
  
  • • Ens Loure Expressivo (9 reps) w/ intentional attack (MF)
    • Ens Loure Expressivo (9 reps) w/ fluency (MF)
    • Ens Loure Expressivo (5 reps) w/ DynBow Attack (MF)
    • Ens Loure Expressivo (5 reps) w/ fluency (P)
    • Ens Loure Expressivo (5 reps) w/ alt. dynamics (P)
    • Ens Loure Expressivo (4 reps) w/ DynBow (P-MF-P)
    • more, all keyswitched...

Lots more stuff like the above, a lot of which is in Adagio...not to mention a zillion legatos, slurs and other things... Huge library.  It's all about capturing everything a player does... is it confusing?  Well, there's a lot more there than anywhere else so yes, maybe...but I love it.
 
As a result, I've totally changed my order... Oh, the  Adagio Basses!!! UN F'n believable with all the quarter/half bowings/intensity changes, pulsing tempo volumes/vibs... all real, not faked. So:
Adagio Violins for Kontakt VST-AU-AAX$119.00 Agitato Legato Arpeggio for Kontakt VST-AU-AAX$53.00 Agitato Sordino Strings for Kontakt VST-AU-AAX$89.00 Adagio Basses VST-AU-AAX - Kontakt Instruments & Samples$59.00 Adagio Violas for Kontakt VST-AU-AAX Samples$89.00 Adagio Cellos Vol. 1.5 for Kontakt VST-AU-AAX$119.00 Coupon:  
Total$528.00




 
Actual total, with the extra 10% off coupon, is 475.  Having such tools available is wonderful... Should have them by next wednesday!
 
I assume 8dio's rescripting all of this amazing performance capturing to be more automatic and/or consolidating the many parts they've developed over the years.  It must be a mammoth task now that I understand the soul capture approach they've tried to achieve over the years.  Kontakt can't do as complex of scripting as Falcon/Bohemian Violin can do so AI auto configuration of all these playing styles into rules will be more difficult... but I hope they can do more of it in their much delayed Century Strings...and I can see why it's taking them awhile... But it must be close... Thus this sale! 
 
Have a lot more respect for them now that I've come back to take a look after several years with other costly libraries...
 
 
 

Vastman, nice post! You may have double posted? I'm not sure, it's barely noticeable!  :)
 
I agree with your respect for the 8dio offerings. I have Adagietto which covers a lot of ground. I very much like the "a  la carte" approach at lower prices, as opposed to the "whole enchilada" approach at big $$$$$.
 
I will tell you, I also have the Ostinato Builder, which is great, but the timing of those fast phrases is not 100% rock solid - there is a little drift, at least with Sonar. It's manageable.
 
I'll check out the "Basses" thanks for highlighting that.
 
-Tom