Hi. Im looking for an orchestral sample library under 500$. So far i know of Varazdin Orchestral, Garritan Personal Orchestra and Miroslav Philharmonik. And more libraries but they start at 550$+. Are there any other variants?

You should look at East West Symphonic Orchestra Gold Complete for $495. While it is a few years old it still holds up great against newer stuff. I personally use it almost everyday and used it to do a soundtrack for a film last year.

http://www.soundsonline.com/Symphonic-Orchestra

The only downside is you have to have an ilok to run EWSO. Some people do not like ilok's and that will cost you another $50 if you don't already have one.

You could get Vienna Symphonic Library Special Edition version 1, basic orchestra, high quality, although again you need a dongle. A VSL key.. nice thing about VSL is you can upgrade instruments individually or bundles 

here's the first special edition

http://www.vsl.co.at/en/211/261/2064/2067/1751.htm

The audio is all dry, you have to add your own reverb, which leaves more flexibility. VSL stuff I think is more flexible then EWQLSO but it requires more work to get the sound you're after. 

You should look at Kirk Hunter Studios which has several string libraries that are first rate, and they also have a full orchestra called Diamond.  This past Holiday/Christmas there was a big group buy and these were very very affordable.  They are of exceptionally high quality.  The Pop/Rock strings currently is $249 and the Diamond Orchestra is a little over your price at $549.  You can get their Concert Strings II sections like the Whole Divisions or Half Divisions or Quarter Divisions or Solo for $249 each.  The Complete Concert Strings II is $749 which is more than you want to spend, but it was much less than that with that group sale six months ago.  Here is his website: http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/index.html  I also would check over at KVR forums as there are sections/threads on Kirk Hunter Studios http://www.kvraudio.com/f...ic.php?p=4920740 

I've been looking at all of these, but am now leaning heavily towards Project SAM Orchestral Essentials, which has all the essentials and can be bought on sale for $399 at Sweetwater. This package can do the job, I think, and is affordable. No iLok. 

"ProjectSAM has carefully selected the essentials from each of their products, including the highly praised Symphobia series, True Strike series and Orchestral Brass Classic, and bundled them into one effective, incredibly versatile package. Moreover, new instruments not found in any other ProjectSAM products have been included."
   

Hear it: http://soundsandgear.com/project-sam-orchestral-essentials-review/

Read about it:http://www.musicradar.com/gear/all/computers-software/virtual-instruments/orchestral-essentials-532068/review
 http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4782665

Get the specs: http://www.projectsam.com/Products/Feature-Products/1403

SAM EO is outstanding but wouldn't suggest it unless I already had a bread & butter type orchestra.
Cinematic in style, great for layering & also my fav for creating  & developing ideas.
Again, it depends on what you're going to use for, it sounds great as all SAM products do.

->Also here's a link to try-sound.com,  never tried it myself but you may like to check it out to demo SAM OE..

http://www.try-sound.com/index.asp/en

carl


SAM EO is outstanding but wouldn't suggest it unless I already had a bread & butter type orchestra already.
Cinematic in style, great for layering & also my fav for creating  & developing ideas.
Again, it depends on what you're going to use for, it sounds great as all SAM products do.

Also here's a link to try-sound.com,  never tried it myself but you may like to check it out to demo SAM OE..

http://www.try-sound.com/index.asp/en

When you say "bread and butter" you mean non cinematic? I take it that you believe the cinematic sound is limited in application because it has a larger presence in a mix, versus something dry  and scaled down, like a Kirk Hunter Pop/Strings?

Kreative

carl


SAM EO is outstanding but wouldn't suggest it unless I already had a bread & butter type orchestra already.
Cinematic in style, great for layering & also my fav for creating  & developing ideas.
Again, it depends on what you're going to use for, it sounds great as all SAM products do.

Also here's a link to try-sound.com,  never tried it myself but you may like to check it out to demo SAM OE..

http://www.try-sound.com/index.asp/en

When you say "bread and butter" you mean non cinematic? I take it that you believe the cinematic sound is limited in application because it has a larger presence in a mix, versus something dry  and scaled down, like a Kirk Hunter Pop/Strings?

Again, it all depends on you needs or what you'll be using them for. If you compose mostly string quartets 'in the style of' then you probably won't get same amount of use out of SAM OE as opposed to a more standard library or one that's better suited for that style.

It sounds like my style, and the download is under way.

From all the comments I read about OE, I can't lose by buying it. I have also got CineOrch and Vivace,[ Evolve] and London Strings to get me started for my first film scoring project, among other elements already bought, and yet to come, perhaps.