Yay/Nay – K-Sound’s $799 Symphonic Dreams Complete 4 Library

[Chopin's11th]

A colleague of mine may beat me to the punch and purchase the (K-Sound's) "Symphonic Dreams Complete 4" Library (as shown on the Korg website to download for $799!). A lot of money to spend on a library of sounds, though the samples played on the site sound amazing just coming through the little 3-way speakers attached to my laptop (and a pair of BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro earphones).
I mention this as he is (right now lol) in the process of selling a Yamaha controller and has intentions of purchasing, (I have to keep telling myself the price) the $799 Symphonic Dreams Complete 4, there after I am not sure about using or pointing to "links" here on the forum so I'll post it a little more safer and ask that if anyone has advice/opinion(s) on this rather expensive library, that they be vocal about it/them. Please advise before I too purchase this and fabricate a story of why I had to spend so much $ today to the wife.

The sound library is found on https://shop.korgDOTCOM/kronosSoundLibraries and again is KApro EXs Sample Library Bundle Vol. 2 “Symphonic Dreams Complete 4” at $799 currently.

PS: I have the blessing of being able to let another colleague spend the money before I do and hearing all about it through him before I part with that kind of money. However, I just told him that there are so many veterans on this forum who may have much to say about this or even these (higher end) purchases (compared to anything I've paid for before in the "sound library arena" so to speak).

Thank you for any advice concerning this sort of rather expensive and quite possibly "habit forming" quest for new sound libraries for the hungry Krono monsters in the den and studio

[GregC]

Seems like a lot of money.

Did you really like the demo ?

Are the factory orchestras , etc keeping u busy ?

[SanderXpander]

What is your intended use? If you're planning to do high quality orchestral arrangement with lots of articulations and realistic strings, I would strongly discourage you from trying to do this on a workstation. If you are already working in a DAW and just want the best orchestral sounds I'd like to point you to soundsonline.com where you can "rent" almost their entire collection for 30 dollars a month. There are other good libraries but their Hollywood Strings is up there with the best, and it comes with their own VST (Play) which is especially made to handle articulations and keyswitches.

[Chopin's11th]

Seems like a lot of money.

Did you really like the demo ?

Are the factory orchestras , etc keeping u busy ?

Yes, there are multiple demo's from several artists/developers etc that I've carefully listened to, that of which include some or more of the following; 256 programs, 147 wave sequences, implementing a “round robin” based realistic sounding and vivid audio reproduction, 30 drum tracks and 432 multisamples (including 215 stereo multisamples). The stock symphony sounds included with the KronosX using the latest version 3.0.2 are great but pale in comparison to the added timbre's for each instrument or orchestral combination ergo plucked strings and mallets having a more raw/organic sound(s) even going so far as to capture arterial noise(s) conducive to the ambience and noises made during "the real thing" so to speak. Much more convincing in applications like film orchestration that I have recently found employment in and that require symphonic excerpts (though I would think that entire songs would be not only possible but much more convincing in the absence of a part or full "live orchestra").
I suppose the question posed best would be more or less; "Is or are there other avenues to pursue first such as finding these same sounds on this forum in parts or whole either to be purchased or downloaded "gratuito" and/or has someone found these sounds to satisfy their needs in the same or similar sense I wish to employ them?" Are there any other applications or sites that have similar or even better libraries than this.

PS: I made a rather larger mistake in my original post ergo: "Kapro" is the company rather than "K-Sounds". The link (using DOTCOM) remains the same as it IS correct. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

[GregC]

Seems like a lot of money.

Did you really like the demo ?

Are the factory orchestras , etc keeping u busy ?

Yes, there are multiple demo's from several artists/developers etc that I've carefully listened to, that of which include some or more of the following; 256 programs, 147 wave sequences, implementing a “round robin” based realistic sounding and vivid audio reproduction, 30 drum tracks and 432 multisamples (including 215 stereo multisamples). The stock symphony sounds included with the KronosX using the latest version 3.0.2 are great but pale in comparison to the added timbre's for each instrument or orchestral combination ergo plucked strings and mallets having a more raw/organic sound(s) even going so far as to capture arterial noise(s) conducive to the ambience and noises made during "the real thing" so to speak. Much more convincing in applications like film orchestration that I have recently found employment in and that require symphonic excerpts (though I would think that entire songs would be not only possible but much more convincing in the absence of a part or full "live orchestra").
I suppose the question posed best would be more or less; "Is or are there other avenues to pursue first such as finding these same sounds on this forum in parts or whole either to be purchased or downloaded "gratuito" and/or has someone found these sounds to satisfy their needs in the same or similar sense I wish to employ them?" Are there any other applications or sites that have similar or even better libraries than this.

PS: I made a rather larger mistake in my original post ergo: "Kapro" is the company rather than "K-Sounds". The link (using DOTCOM) remains the same as it IS correct. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

I find it difficult recommending something this expensive, esp since you are a new owner. The best part of the Kronos is getting under the hood, doing edits, playing with karma, etc etc. I am sure the sample lib is excellent , as it should be for that price. Anyway, you should and you are researching the purchase, which is a wise way to proceed

[SanderXpander]

I respect anyone's workflow but if you're going to use it for serious filmish composition I would never try that on a workstation, even one as nice as the Kronos. I will also personally guarantee you not a single Hollywood composer does it. Just throwing it out there in case you're looking for the best route to pursue rather than the nicest samples for your Kronos.

[Chopin's11th]

What is your intended use? If you're planning to do high quality orchestral arrangement with lots of articulations and realistic strings, I would strongly discourage you from trying to do this on a workstation. If you are already working in a DAW and just want the best orchestral sounds I'd like to point you to soundsonline.com where you can "rent" almost their entire collection for 30 dollars a month. There are other good libraries but their Hollywood Strings is up there with the best, and it comes with their own VST (Play) which is especially made to handle articulations and keyswitches.

THANK YOU! I am "on it" right away. Just walked back in. Yes, using several DAWS (depending on WHO I am working with or where), mainly a couple versions of Sonar and Protools. I namely record in real time and haven't really found the necessity or need rather to use anything like Karma as each track is written entirely from cradle to grave by myself and those I currently work with (though it is starting to seem as though the Kronos has so much put into Karma and really seems to cater to that (I don't have the words quite) stylistic approach be it to stimulate new ideas or even use the sequences (after somewhat made personal). Still, I find the use of the Kronos elsewise better than (for me at least) using all sounds from the computer as I get a more of a sense of ownership this way.
More on the "Thank you!"... I may be more indebted to you than I know right now if I am to find sounds.com a better choice. 30 bucks? Wow ehmm, yeah, a much more attractive offer, especially with the way these sounds are growing so exponentially in numbers now days as that would make more economic sense (to be able to graduate to a different set of sounds when they come out without killing the wallet again). I'll check out the Hollywood Strings but first - Need to notify my other friend in SD, CA. to hold that "wallet" closed as well until he/we've checked every other avenue. If it seems though I have gaps in knowledge and look a little "green" in this area it's because I AM. I have 41 years (this April) of playing nearly every day of my life having graduated from the Royal Academy of Music and much more but I have just about ZILCH in the vast area of music workstations and the DAWS that seem to inevitably come with them if you are to make any semblance of large, multi-tracked musical presentations with them as well. Performing was really the only "feather in the hat" prior to about a year ago more or less. My God, the amount of work for me to do in enabling myself to compose multitracked music via learning all this software! Hope this closes the gap between my questions and what may be "common knowledge" for much of you on this forum, lol. I do thank you again as I am headed to sounds.com to enlighten myself and NOT lighten the wallet as much possibly. (I'll let you know) Thanks

[SanderXpander]

Just to be sure, it's soundsonline.com
It's basically the online shop portal of East West Quantum Leap which is a huge player in high quality sample libraries. Yeah 30 bucks but it's monthly. Eventually you'll rack up a similar cost as the 799 of course. But you can also stop whenever you want. If you're on holiday, or if you're really frugal you could even write sketches with your already available sounds and then take another month to transition to the "high quality" stuff.

You can actually even outright buy the Hollywood Orchestra Diamond Bundle for 750 right now. That's less than the Kapro bundle, though that one comes with lots of solo instruments too.

[Chopin's11th]

To:
SanderXpander

Thought it be redundant to keep quoting you and I it's going to be a while until I am, not done, but have stopped reading and listening on soundsonline.com for a breather. So I wanted to thank you for the link. "I owe ya one" as this is going to save money for me at least on the orchestral sounds and the high price I was about to again fork out. Wow, Composer Cloud is great. Checked out Hollywood Strings....and still not done yet. So much info. (I do remember Danny Elfman making mention of this in the past but hadn't followed up on it).
What a well laid out site. Easy to navigate compared to some of the others I've seen but also not the same as those either. This almost at first impression seems to be close to a "once stop shop" and includes almost everything you could possible think of.

Wouldn't have otherwise found this without your help. At least hadn't done so this far. I'll more than likely post some of the uses this site has come to be for me in the future. What a conglomerate of notable musicians.

[SanderXpander]

Well I'm glad to hear it was helpful!

[jeremykeys]

I'm very curious as to what you are doing and how this is working for you. Please keep us in the loop if you can. I'm not a film score writer,well not yet at least, but who knows what the future may hold. Kaypros stuff does sound incredible and you certainly do get what you paid for but I'm with Sander on this. One of the things I've be interested in is East Wests Symphonic Choirs. The ones where you can type the words in from your computer keyboard and then play the chords from your music keyboard and you get an actual choir singing your words. That just blows me away,

[PCFREE]

SanderXpander always gives honest, unbiased 'sound' advice !
The Kronos is excellent, but depending on what you want to achieve, other options can give better results with much more flexibility.

[Epictetus]

What is your intended use? If you're planning to do high quality orchestral arrangement with lots of articulations and realistic strings, I would strongly discourage you from trying to do this on a workstation. If you are already working in a DAW and just want the best orchestral sounds I'd like to point you to soundsonline.com where you can "rent" almost their entire collection for 30 dollars a month. There are other good libraries but their Hollywood Strings is up there with the best, and it comes with their own VST (Play) which is especially made to handle articulations and keyswitches.

I am a composer.

I could not disagree more....I bought 3 libraries from them (bought, not rented). Many sounds are sampled like noobs, for example they are out of tune. I could not use the solo violin in symphony orchestra. It's out of tune. Same about the sax sounds in Goliath. Many other such problems.
All these keyswitches are extremely difficult to learn to use. In 6 years I barely finished 4 pieces with this stuff.

I have heard this theory about how computers are supposedly so powerful and limitless compared to workstations....a million times. And a million more. I never, EVER, found this to be true. I make more music with a good workstation in 8 weeks than I do with this computer crap in 5 years. Tons more music, and good music, not some crap either.

Keyboard workstations are REAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Computers aren't. And all the stuff supposedly made 'for musicians' on computers, are made by computers nerds, and computer nerds know very little about musical composition, improvisation, music theory, etc.

How could they? They spent all their time programming on computers, I am not surprised they don't know jack about music, at least to any notable degree.

Nothing against computer nerds, but I have never confused them with musicians.

Computers are GREAT for EVERYTHING, except one thing: writing and recording music. Sure, if you are a studio engineer, you are stuck with computers.

I am a musician. I work with notes, scores, theory, harmony, themes. Computers are the antithesis of these things. And I have learned enough about other composers too.....about 90 per cent of them, if you ask them about computers, they will say 'I use it to check my email, and then I get the hell out of there'.

Keyboard workstations are more expensive and you get less for your money, compared to all this computer stuff. On the surface.

My opinion.....a workstation like the Korg Kronos or the Yamaha Motif XF p****s all around computers. You spend more and get less 'value', on the surface, but it works.

And all these people who say how much better is to buy this or that VST or sample library, instead of sounds for your keyboard workstation....I bet 90 per cent of them have never done it themselves. And if they did, they didn't do it a lot and over the long term.

All this VST this and VST that and this and that 1 terabyte sampling library on computer, is mostly an illusion. It's like banks: they give you a credit card and you go 'wow, I can spend up to 5000 dollars'.

As for soundsonline....30 dollars a month? I am not interested even if it were free. Though unfortunately I spent a lot more than 30 dollars. I love these libraries as much as I love my wallpaper peeling off the wall.

[Epictetus]

SanderXpander always gives honest, unbiased 'sound' advice !
The Kronos is excellent, but depending on what you want to achieve, other options can give better results with much more flexibility.

Are you doing that yourself ? Are you composing soundtracks with those other 'more flexible' options?

[SanderXpander]

I respect your opinion, however I would say you're by far in the minority. I would also like to know how you handle things like spiccato, slurs, runs, accents and legato playing on a workstation. I do it on the computer and while it is true you need to "learn" some key switches you don't actually need to play them live, you can use a piano roll editor to fine tune them. This gets far more realistic results than playing live, in my humble opinion. I'm a full time musician but only a part time composer/producer. Can't say I've done any film scoring. I appreciate the need to interact with an instrument, as a musician I really need that to help inspiration along. But if you are hoping to get realistic results you will need to do a lot of editing. Computers are simple a required evil nowadays. If you're not comfortable working with a DAW you will have to find (and can find!) other ways to be productive but you're creating other hurdles for yourself.

In any case, you can try EVERYTHING for a month for 30 bucks, so if the OP doesn't like them or the workflow they need, small loss.