Glyn Barnes

         inaheartbeat 

One thing you may see after some period of time is your download speed slowing down because your ISP is throttling your bandwidth. A lot of ISPs will do this because they don' t want you to overwhelm the rest of the users on your segment of cable/fiber.

I suspect this is exactly what was happening last night. I have never had problems downloading other libraries with files of this size but they are nowhere near the total size of Concert Brass. Last night I down loaded one file reasonably quickly, after that it was a total disaster at times download rated were being quoted in b/s, not kb/s ! and then the downloads would fail. In the end the sum total of my night was 1 file of 900 mb.
 
I am trying on another connection now and have a file downloading very fast. Unfortunatly I can only use this for a limited amount of time.
 
I think I am going to asking for an extension to the download time. If I continue to have issues here I will see if they can postpone issueing that until I am back in the UK in December.

 

Thanks for keeping us informed.  Do you know if they do give extensions?


I too am amazed at how long it is taking to get this downloaded.  I ordered Diamond first, and it will take all weekend to get in in at the rate I am going.  So I am glad I heeded your experience and am waiting to buy other products (Concert Strings II and Concert Brass II) next week; otherwise, I would run out of time.

Let us know if you get an extension.

cecelius2

  Do you know if they do give extensions?

I have not tried yet - I have 38 hours and  9 GB left to download.  I will have a day off tomorrow so I should be able to start in a hour or so and use 100% of the rest of the time. 240 mb / hour, it should be a breeze, BUT!

dwcaldwell


inaheartbeat,

I use 7-Zip to unpack zip files. If I use the "Extract Here" command, then the extra folder is not created and the correct folder structure is maintained. If you use the Windows Explorer "Extract All..." command to unpack the files, just edit the destination folder name to remove the last subfolder before extracting.

Here is the documentation for CS2 and CB2:

http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/Concert_Strings_II_Manual_TVEC3/Concert_Strings_2_Manual.html


http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/Concert_Brass_II_Manual_TVEC3/Concert_Brass_2_Manual.html


Regards,
Don

Thanks for the info Don. Ironically, I had installed 7-Zip after my experience with this because I needed it for another package. Kirk was very patient and rapid in responding to my emails for help. Sometimes this stuff can just make me feel like the village idiot but I thought I might not be the only person that tripped over this problem so I figured why not share my foibles.


The libraries do sound absolutely amazing. I spent hours doing nothing but bathing in string sounds after I finally got it all set up. Great work.

Compressed format... ZIP, RAR, etc... have CRC built in. MD5 is useful for security pruposes, but overkill for simple error checking. A simple CRC check is sufficient and built-into the "test" and "extract" modes of winrar, 7zip, etc. If you have a ZIP or RAR that passes a "test", then it's intact.

I missed the deadline to download - there is still around 7.5GB to go. The problem is almost certainly ISP related. Friday night the download speed was totally unusable,  yesterday the downloads were coming in nice and steady again, then it hit the 2GB mark an the download speed reduced to a crawl, then crashed.

I will email them and see what to do next.

Yup...it was weird today when I was downloading my piddly little PopRock Strings.  The first two "big" files (1.9 gigs each) came down in about an hour and a half.  Then the next "big" file (1.7 gigs) took almost 3 and a half hours to come down.  More traffic I guess.

I have been granted further 108 hours to complete the downloads. 

I received excelent service from Kirk. I emailed last night (Sunday) and went for a walk expecting to have to wait until today for a reply. I came back a hour later and the new link had already been sent, So I got one of the remaining five files over night.

NEVER MIND......DOH...I didn't copy over the two "info" files as I should.  Problem solved.  Move along.  Nothing to see here.  Ahemmmmm.

Eyes

 Hey Peter, I have had trouble contacting Kirk the last couple of days, is he occupied with something?

I brought pop rock strings when the group buy started and was impressed with the sound so asked Kirk if I could buy Diamond and have it sent via HD which he agreed to (I get 8 gig download a month here... no chance of downloading it lol), but when I sent him an email a few days back asking about payment he hasn't responded. As this is close to ending I am paranoid about missing out... considering buying it in advance if necessary...

@Eyes, I'll PM you another email address for Kirk. But don't worry. If Kirk promised you something, you will absolutely get it. I'm not sure if you meant " is he occupied with something?" seriously or with a smile on. Either way, yep, he's occupied with a Group Buy that turned out to be a massive success and is beyond 400 people, heading towards 500 by its end this Friday night. But we'll bring it to Kirk's attention and get you set up.  


@Everyone else 
No one has to worry about not getting their libraries if the original download links expire before they're done downloading. If this happens simply send an email to support and you'll get new links. The system generates unique links with a specific time before expiring as a means of hampering piracy. If you're links expire before you have finished downloading, you will ABSOLUTELY get new links. KHS is aware that with downloads this large that issues can occur with your ISP and also, with the significant number of people downloading at once, there are times servers will experience slowness. 

I'm going to drop Kirk an email and ask if it is possible for the time to download files can be increased as soon as I'm done posting this. 


- Peter

I just got in touch with Kirk Hunter to discuss increasing the length of time people have before their download links expire, and I'm happy to report that Kirk has increased this time from 3 days to one week. 

Kirk also wanted me to make sure that no one worries about their links expiring, whether it's due to their ISP or the servers experiencing slowness during periods of heavy downloading due to heavy Group Buy traffic. KHS has been and will continue to reset downloads for customers who email a request to do so (as long as you download using the same ISP address as the original request, you'll be fine).  

- Peter

I posted this at KVR. Kirk's been snowed under on a couple of projects he has producing and arranging some music for a record label. One of the projects he's working on is for Christmas music. Kirk did the arrangement and produced this song. This is not the final mix and I'll probably have to take it down in a short while. 

But I really want people to hear this. Kirk used all KHS libraries. CS II for the strings, CB II for the brass and Diamond for woodwinds (and I think, percussion, but I'm not certain). While the genre (Christmas songs) may not be the one you're working in, but I think it's a nice example demo of these KHS libraries that shows how beautiful these libraries are, as well as an example of Kirk's talent as an arranger: 

http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/demos/everything_christmas/Everything_Christmas.mp3 

Mesh


That was very impressive and Kirk certainly is extremely talented.
Peter, could you please give me your opinion on what you think about this Diamond Collection vs. getting some others in the similar price range?

Honestly, there's nothing that can touch it in this price range of $137.25 USD or at three times that price. I mean, it's a full orchestra library that's leaps and bounds beyond GPO or Miroslav (both of which I own) in terms of number of samples, quality of samples, articulations, etc. and they all cost around that same price. Remember, the regular price of Diamond is $549 USD and I think it's a good value at that price. And while Diamond was released, I believe, 2007, while Concert Brass II was released this year and Concert Strings II was released this year and are the two flagship Kirk Hunter Studios libraries -- the most sophisticated libraries offered, you'll find that there has been a heck of a lot of well known tv music and commercial songs that uses Diamond (and the libraries contained in it). 

The point of this GB/pricing experiment I worked on for Kirk was based on my theory that the hobbyist market has nowhere to go after they've outgrown beginner libraries like GPO and Miroslav (the IK library made from the original Miroslav library created in the 90s) or want more than the KONTAKT factory library. Most couldn't afford to make the leap to purchase Concert Strings at $799 USD -- which was priced really nicely compared to its peers, but all of those libraries prices are out of reach for most hobbyists. 
Consequently, my theory was that whoever went to market first at a price range that was in reach of most hobbyist would sell a high volume of product. Now, this GB goes below my recommended pricing, but it does establish that there is a market out there that will buy orchestral libraries in the same way that HPs sale of tablets for $99 USD caused a mad rush and illustrated that there is a huge market at that price level for a major brand tablet. It's really the same idea here. 

Anyhow, the beautiful thing about social media, imo, is that marketers don't have the last word. Their voice is trumped by consumers. And while I'm largely just a musical hobbyist who has helped a number of sample and VST devs, I think the most powerful voices should be ones without any ties to the dev (even more than the big name A-list composer endorser testimonials, which provide credibility -- and KHS has a bunch of those -- isn't as valuable to me as a user as hearing from regular customers without a personal relationship or the same possible bias).  I'd love to hear from people who own GPO, Miroslav and other libraries in the same price range as where Diamond now is weigh in on Diamond vs other libraries in the current price range.  

Personally, part of my compensation from KHS comes in the form of getting Diamond, CS II and CB II. Beyond wanting Diamond for the woodwinds, which, of course, aren't part of CS II or CB II, I love Solo Strings I. They sound different than Solo Strings II, so I can see using them together and using them for different occasions. If you go to the KHS Customer Demo Contest thread on KVR (you can enter and win CS II or the equivalent in store credit for entering your own demo), note that some entries use Solo Strings I and others use Solo Strings II and one entrant even did the same piece, one version using Solo Strings I and the other using Solo Strings II. While Solo String II (really, the solo strings in Concert Strings II) has a lot more detail, I find Solo Strings I can sound really sweet and perfect for some of my music, whereas, I think Solo Strings II cello, in particular, will fit great on some songs with just piano and cello or only acoustic instruments as it seems to have a little more bit to me (the strings were from different sessions, made years apart, so of course, you can expect that different instrument models, strings, bows and musicians were recorded, maybe even different mics). 

Anyhow, more than you've asked for! I hope I've answered your question and that others will chime in too.  

- Peter

@Mesh Ahh. Well, Diamond is a full orchestra including strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion and other instruments. Of course, Concert Brass II and Concert Strings II are only focused on brass and strings, respectively. CS II and CB II are more detailed than Diamond; as they're the latest flagship libraries, whereas, I think Diamond came out in 2007. That said, Diamond is, imo beautiful and worth getting. For me, I want it for the strings and woodwinds alone as they were recorded in a different session and sound different, and complementary to CS II and CB II. To my ears, CS II has a little more bite to it that is just what I'm looking for on acoustic songs with piano, acoustic guitar, bass and drums or just piano and cello or acoustic guitar and cello. Whereas I think the solo strings in Diamond sound really sweet (listen to "My Wistful Hope") and are ideal for background string parts (listen the "Still Hope" demo in the KVR customer demo contest thread; it features Pop/Rock Strings up front -- which is really just a lite version of Concert Strings II that doesn't feature samples every half step, three velocity layers, additional strings and programming -- and CS I/Diamond strings in the background) and where I'm looking for a very sweet, silky sound. The definitely sound different, beyond CS II having more articulations, samples, etc. - Peter

That Christmas song is really well arranged and orchestrate. Thanks for posting Peter. :)

bapu


Lawdy Mama. I've finally finished downloading CS2, CB2 and Diamond about 2 hours ago. It feels like I started the downloads in 1987.

Well, since this is 2031, that was quite a long time ago. 


- Peter