jerrypettit


I too have always been impressed by Kirk Hunter support.

Until recently.

Clicking on "Support" at his site now directs you to a KVR forum he has where...support, at least for me, has been virtually nil.  I'm still not up and running with Easy Arranger--despite several increasingly "whiny" posts there.  ;-)

Yeah--I have had mixed views about the KVR forum support.  What I do is just send a direct request to Kirk.  If you go to this page  http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/index.html  you will find at the bottom some ways/links to contact  KH sales, support, and general information.  The Customer Service link brings up this email:  support@kirkhunterstudios.com --That is the one that I have used to get quick info and support from KH and it has been Kirk Hunter himself who replies--at least that is what my vague memory recalls.

Thanks, Cecelius2!!

I picked up the ESA add-on for CS2 a couple days ago. I've now had two evenings to experiment, and I have to say I am really impressed. I really thought that Kirk had pretty much mined all the important features by now, but no... he still has tricks up his sleeve!

Of the three new features I find the auto-fade to be the weakest. It sounds nice, but I can get the same effect using automation. Maybe I'm missing something?
The Harmonize tool is cool, I'd love to see more granular control over the chords and voicings - but that would, I suppose, defeat the purpose. And even with that minor quibble I'd LOVE to know what he is doing behind the scenes, because moving from chord to chord using the harmonize functions sounds better than doing so manually.
The Motion feature is AMAZING! I've tried to build fast string runs using Diamond and CS2 and never accomplished what I hoped for. I use other libraries (e.g. Animato and the Presonus Orchestra) for those effects - or rather I used to.



I've always liked the sound of the CS2 and CB2 libraries. I'm also really fond of the single instrument approach, especially since Kirk generously allows users to use Key Switches, MIDI CC or Host control messages to manage all the divisions, articulations, and features. This model fits my workflow well! If it didn't sound great that wouldn't be worth much, but they do... or rather they can. His samples are pretty darned dry, and they do require some effort to get them to play nicely together. I'm ok with that.

If you are in need of a really good string library, and haven't pulled the trigger on these deals, I'd suggest downloading the demos and give them a try. And if you already own CS2 or Pop/Rock Strings I'd buy the ESA add-on even at full price.

Eventually I'd like to pick up LASS or Cinematic Strings, or both<G>, but I can't believe I'd get rid of CS2 when I do. I did just pick up Orchestral Essentials, and the CS2 strings blend really nicely with OE.

As far as support goes - well I've never really had an issue. I've always contacted him directly via email, and at most I think I've had to wait a day or so for an answer. Granted, I've really only had a couple of issues, and they were mostly understanding some of the features.

I just came across this thread after posting that Kirk Hunter Studios opened up the 50% off Group Buy discount to everyone. 


@lawajava Pop/Rock Strings is really a scaled down version of Concert Strings II; it's very similar to the relationship between Superior Drummer and ezDrummer (where Pop/Rock Strings is analogous to ezDrummer), if you're familiar with those products. Pop/Rock Strings doesn't have the same amount of individual samples per octave as Concert Strings II nor all of the articulations as Concert Strings II. I advise Kirk on products and promotions and came up with Pop/Rock Strings to cater to musicians and producers who specialize in pop and rock music and are on a tight budget who may not own the full version of KONTAKT (Pop/Rock Strings is fully compatible with the FREE KONTAKT Player, whereas Concert Strings II requires you to own the full version of KONTAKT). I'd also add that despite the name, Pop/Rock Strings is useful for any genre. Kirk and I merely agreed that the library sounds great with pop and rock music and believed it made a lot of sense to communicate that with the name.  

edrummist - thanks for the explanation / clarification.  

Can you point me to any sample of Concert Strings II that sounds different from a sample from Pop / Strings on Kirk's site?

It seemed like all of the samples I heard sounded the same ( between the two).  I wasn't able to find a sample that demonstrated the extra difference I would hope for if I was going to make the larger purchase.

I don't have anything that dramatically demonstrates the differences, but I own both, and haven't used Pop/Rock Strings in a while. I think if one recorded a strings-only project, and was hyper careful/critical you'd hear a small difference.

Pop/Rock Strings uses a subset of the samples in CS2... or so the literature states.

There are a couple of articulations that are unique to Pop/Rock Strings, I can't remember what they are, but they are gimmicks one would use in disco or TSOP style stuff, and you can probably get the effect using CS2, although I haven't tried. (For that stuff I use Session Strings.) And I don't believe that Pop/Rock Strings has the 2nd sections... and I do find myself using the 2nd Violins a lot, and the 2nd Cellos almost as often.

If you have the budget, and you are discriminating, or you want the 2nd sections then buy CS2. It is the flagship string offering from KH, and you won't regret it.

If budget is an issue then get Pop/Rock Strings... you can use them for 
I don't have anything that dramatically demonstrates the differences, but I own both, and haven't used Pop/Rock Strings in a while. I think if one recorded a strings-only project, and was hyper careful/critical you'd hear a small difference.
Pop/Rock Strings uses a subset of the samples in CS2... or so the literature states.

There are a couple of articulations that are unique to Pop/Rock Strings, I can't remember what they are, but they are gimmicks one would use in disco or TSOP style stuff, and you can probably get the effect using CS2, although I haven't tried. (For that stuff I use Session Strings.) And I don't believe that Pop/Rock Strings has the 2nd sections... and I do find myself using the 2nd Violins a lot, and the 2nd Cellos almost as often.

If you have the budget, and you are discriminating, or you want the 2nd sections then buy CS2. It is the flagship string offering from KH, and you won't regret it.

If budget is an issue then get Pop/Rock Strings... you can use them for a lot of styles, and it is not terribly limited, other than the 2nd sections. 

I think edrummist and Kirk put together an absolutely brilliant entry level offering, it was the first of his string libraries I purchased, and I did eventually upgrade to CS2. There may even be an upgrade path - you will have to check the web site, I'm don't remember.

Holler if you have any specific questions... I'll try to sequence some scales or something to demonstrate the audible  differences between the two, but again, they are subtle! It's really more about features.

There's  a page on Kirkhunterstudios.com that compares Pop/Rock Strings and Concert Strings II. I think that Bill stated it well when he compared the two. Pop/Rock Strings uses the samples from Concert Strings II, but Pop/Rock Strings doesn't use as many individual samples per octave as Concert Strings II. So if you are looking for absolute detail, the greatest variety of articulations and have the budget, Concert Strings II is the way to go. 

Here's the comparing the two libraries: http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/compare_cs2_prs.html

- Peter

Thanks Peter - I knew there was a chart, but could not find it.

Pop/Rock is missing more articulations than I remembered, Bartok Pizz, Trills, and Harmonics, but it does include a "Short Disco" articulation that is a LOT of fun!

Given that everything is 50% off I'd lean towards CS2, but each person has their own requirements and budget.

I have the Pop Strings now and really appreciate what it is capable of sounding like.

Since the sale is on now I have been mulling if there's enough perceptible difference with CS2 to be worth a bigger splurge.

I guess I'm satisfied enough with Pop Strings, but since I have been so impressed with it I still am curious about CS2 - at least for a few more days until the sale ends.

@lawajava Take a good look over the chart on the website. You can also search KVR comments from users and you'll find probably a dozen posts from people who upgraded from Pop/Rock Strings to Concert Strings II and were surprised by their appreciation for the difference in Concert Strings II (I never saw a single post from anyone disappointed when they upgraded). I'd also suggest looking at the additional articulations in Concert Strings II. I think Pop/Rock Strings is excellent for the price -- hey, I came up with the original idea to do it and the name. But Pop/Rock Strings is really Concert Strings II Lite in many senses. Pop/Rock Strings comes from the same sample pool, but doesn't include all of them. It doesn't include all of the articulations in Concert Strings II. The real advantages of Pop/Rock Strings are that it's a great value and it is sufficient for a lot of pop and rock productions, the stings sound great for pop and rock and it doesn't require you to own the full version of KONTAKT (i.e., it's a KONTAKT Player library). But, if you can afford it, you'll have even higher quality (more samples per octave) and greater articulations in the mother ship, Concert Strings II.