Sample Logic's Fanfare is a 30GB collection and sounds absolutely amazing and while it retails for $399 on their site:http://www.samplelogic.com/products/fanfare s(listen to some of the demos)
 
Musician's Friend has some copies left for $99!!!! 
 
The few copies they must have found doing inventory won't last long... here's the link...http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/sample-logic-fanfare-marching-and-cinematic-brass-sample-library-virtual-instrument-boxed?source=3WWRWXGP&gclid=CJTHuI7zx7oCFc41Qgod9lgAjw&kwid=productads-plaid%5e57308610307-sku%5eH80476000000000@ADL4MF-adType%5ePLA-device%5ec-adid%5e30433110387

The CCH demo's are fantastic

You simply cannot get better than Samplemodeling...
 
http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/index.php
 
Check out their demos and they have some good videos on youtube. I have the saxaphones and again, they're the best.

jac
This has been discussed before, but I'd like to solicit some more opinions on horn instruments. I have Garritan JABB, but the trumpets sound a little thin to me, and the saxes aren't too realistic (the 'bones aren't too bad though). I also have orchestral packages like EastWest Orchestra and Garritan GPO, but I'm mainly interested in using these for jazz band/orchestra style arrangements - mostly section use but, perhaps, the occasional solo.
 
I'm thinking of getting Chris Hein Horns. It seems that I can get the "compact" version for ~$200 , not cheap, but not a major budget buster. Another alternative is SampleModeling, but each instrument/section costs about the same as the entire Chris Hein Horns compact version.
 
Anyone have experience with CHH-compact? Do you get good results? Easy to program? Or do you need to go for the full (much more expensive) version. How about SampleModeling? Anything else in this price range worth looking at?
 
Note: I understand that results depend strongly on how the instrument is driven, and nuance in the form of automation can make or break the performance. I'm not a horn player, however, so intuitive program-ability would be a big help (I saw a sax vst recently with a primary control knob labeled "sex"! - maybe a little over-the-top but definitely intuitive!)

I've been on the same mission for the last 3 months ! In the end I decided buying a VST like Garritan would be too time consuming and all of what I heard to be honest,I thought lacked realism. The best (in my mind) was to go for a sample pack,and then cut up the samples and play with them to get the right sound. Greg Adams brass by Bigfish is probably the best audio sample CD out there. I've not heard anything that comes even close to this for its price.Its cheaper than Chris Hein Horns,sounds more authentic and you dont have to spend hours and hours playing with midi controllers ! The last couple of tracks on my song page feature these samples,if you want to check them out.

Thank you all again for the input. It seems there are some good options here, but now I'm curious about looping/sample approach. I haven't really tried that.
 
Kev1..1, how do you make use of this? In my case, I have pre-written parts for the trumpets (for example). So, I would like to have the library play those parts as opposed to finding riffs that fit in with my composition. You mention carving up the samples. How are they packaged? I know there are Acid loops. Are there separate loops and/or samples for each instrument/section? Are there individual note samples that you assemble? They don't give a lot of info on what's in the package. You indicated this is quicker and easier than programming midi articulations, so I'm curious about how that works for you.

jac
Thank you all again for the input. It seems there are some good options here, but now I'm curious about looping/sample approach. I haven't really tried that.
 
Kev1..1, how do you make use of this? In my case, I have pre-written parts for the trumpets (for example). So, I would like to have the library play those parts as opposed to finding riffs that fit in with my composition. You mention carving up the samples. How are they packaged? I know there are Acid loops. Are there separate loops and/or samples for each instrument/section? Are there individual note samples that you assemble? They don't give a lot of info on what's in the package. You indicated this is quicker and easier than programming midi articulations, so I'm curious about how that works for you.

Hi Jac
 
I make use of it in a few ways.
1 Use the samples as they are and write a composition around the parts.
2 Write my own part and layer the riff with samples.
3 Sample a single note part and play it through a sampler to create a new riff
4 Resample a loop changing the pitch and timing. Maybe I have for example a motif based on a mayor third played in 8s. I could look for a sample close to this and alter the pitch or timing so the 'sample' resembles the prewritten part.
 
The package comes in Acid format. Theres 10 songs in different keys and tempos. Each song has close mic and room mics. Yep some of the parts are all the sections playing together and some have been recorded 'solo'. Then there are folders containing 'Falls,Brass chords (very easy to sample and place in a song) hits and then FX.
 
With the sampling I suppose maybe you could argue it could be equally as time consuming as programming midi articulations. It really depends on how far you want to take the sound.  For me personally though I find it quicker and the results are generally more satisfying.  
I think they do have a demo if you want to hear the sounds. Try on loop library..
 
Thanks
 
Kev
 
 

Thanks Kev - and everyone else!