19 Sampled Choirs Compared

daviddas.com -- The start of my quest to examine a whole slew of sampled choir libraries, mostly those in Kontakt format. In this video I do quick overviews and simple playthroughs of 19 sampled choirs large and small, from major, minor, indie, and individual developers.
In the midst of this, I reference another video I've made called Choral Writing for Orchestral Composers. That video can be found here: • Choral Writing for Orc...
Table of contents for this video:
0:00 Introduction
2:39 AriaSounds Aurora Choir (www.ariasounds.com/aurora-cho...)
6:53 Kontakt Factory Library (ships with Native Instruments Kontakt)
9:26 Orchestral Tools Metropolis Ark 1 (www.orchestraltools.com/store...)
13:09 CineSamples Voxos Epic Choirs (cinesamples.com/product/voxos...)
18:29 Vir2 Aeris Hybrid Choir Designer (www.vir2.com/instruments/aeri...)
22:25 SoundIron Olympus Symphonic Choir (soundiron.com/products/olympu...)
32:05 SoundIron Elvish Choir (soundiron.com/products/elvish...)
33:16 8Dio Lacrimosa Epic Choir (8dio.com/instrument/lacrimosa...)
38:16 Best Service Mystica (www.bestservice.com/mystica.html)
41:31 SonuScore The Orchestra (sonuscore.com/shop/the-orches...)
45:30 Fluffy Audio Dominus Pro (www.fluffyaudio.com/shop/domi...)
50:55 Fluffy Audio Haunted Choir (www.fluffyaudio.com/shop/haun...)
51:36 Spitfire Winter Voices (www.pianobook.co.uk/winter-vo...)
53:06 Meyer Choir (www.pianobook.co.uk/library/t...)
54:01 Micah's Choir (www.pianobook.co.uk/library/m...)
54:41 Dave Choir (www.decentsamples.com/2019/04...)
55:10 Clara's Vocal* (stefanomaccarelli.com/factory/)
56:04 St. Helen Cantores (www.pianobook.co.uk/library/s...)
56:51 Orchestral Tools Tallinn (www.orchestraltools.com/store...)
*After the production of this video, I got the following information about Clara's Vocal from its developer: ""CLARA'S VOCAL" is no longer available. So at the moment any copy found on the web of the older Clara's Vocal is UNAUTHORIZED. Now There's ETHERA SERIES ( Ethera 2.0 that is the original Clara's Vocal with some new features (true legato and more), then Ethera EVI 2.0, Ethera Soundscapes 2.0, and the GOLD Series, ETHERA GOLD 2.5, ETHERA GOLD INTIMATE VOCALS and ETHERA GOLD SAHARA VOICES, all by Zero-G)."

[@joe-vz6hx]

Wow, what a great find, thanks for this...would love to see another one testing out others like Strezov, Performance Samples, other 8Dio offerings, etc

[@PrimateAlpha]

Truly invaluable review! A small token of appreciation. Purely symbolic. :))

[@q.8965]

Amazingly informative, thank you so much for making this!

[@joebaseballparks3189]

This is an exceptional video. So much thought and care went into presenting this info. I learned so much about the various choir libraries out there. Bravo!

[@montxsuz]

Best overview comparisons of choir libraries I have found. Thank you.

[@robertengstrand4314]

Great reviews. Thanks for taking the time to do them. 👍

[@eylab1541]

The legato in that Mystica choir is insane.

[@DivineMisterAdVentures]

I'm halfway thru. Your intro was great - and this is def. "Magnificent" work! Much appreciation.

[@Eleni_Be]

marvellously executed review.

[@BorisBarroso]

Thanks for your exceptional video, this guide is really complete and well done.

[@ericjohnson1811]

This is exceptionally helpful. Thank you very much for posting.

[@Markrspooner]

Would love a future video comparing choirs as there is so few videos on this compared to other sample libraries, even though the libraries often vary a lot

[@truthsite]

Excellent Video, Thank you.

[@OfficialStevenCravis]

David Das, outstanding video!

[@arnoldbuhmann6221]

thanks! great help.. it did pause a purchase.. but also confirmed a few things!

[@DL-1]

Awesome video.

[@Bhadmojo]

Great video man!

[@johannes914]

That was an awesome video.

[@dezinerAhmad]

Very UNBIASED overview... Thanks for you Research..... it was very helpful 🙂

[@nicolasvigh]

Thank you!

[@coalescence3835]

I feel like this needs a lot more views.

[@Nicoladen1]

Great video, thank you! The aurora choir is 90% off at this moment! Definitely buying it for €39. Thanks again for the detailed review and comparison!

[@vladimirsoroka9766]

Super!!! Thanks a lot!

[@engenheirodeaudiopro]

you just helped me to choose one :) thanks

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Nice video and very comprehensive! It must have taken a while to put together! A good resource for those looking for a particular type of sound.

[@daviddas]

Thanks David! (Yeah, a couple of months.) I love working with choir, so this was as much an exercise for the public as it was for me, in figuring out all this stuff on my hard drive and what works for what!

[@aserabus]

@@daviddas Hello, I really appreciate your content. Can i ask for a bit of help? I'm looking for a female choir vst that is the same or as similar to the "Hymn of Faith" sound from final fantasy X. I've been looking and have had very little luck. It's crucial that the choir is as close as possible because the albumn I'm writing requires specific notes that need to be achieved. I'll leave a link to the sound. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, thank you. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rIi6antur652aac&ab_channel=Koldat

[@rdpatterson2682]

great vid thank you.

[@user-xu3bt4ck5j]

Hi David. Thanks for this fine walk-though comparison video. It was really interesting and informative, and it sure saves a lot of time for someone who's looking to compare the qualities of different choirs on the market. I own quite a few of these choirs myself, as well as a few not in the video, and it was interesting to have them compared to other choirs I've been looking at before. I'd say that the Tallinn choir is in a league of its own among the other choirs in this video. If I ever purchase another choir the Tallinn would be my choice, since it's the only one that would add something that is missing in my toolbox. I especially like the fantastic legato transitions that sound a lot more natural than in other choir libraries. Again thanks a lot for this video! Warm greetings, Daniel

[@daviddas]

I appreciate it!

[@adirsab]

nice thanks !

[@jfr28]

thank youuuu

[@thomaswimmer4833]

THX!

[@gatopardo9960]

thanks

[@philippejanssens9066]

tallin sounds great

[@MattStevens9824]

Finally! Someone who doesn't belittle the Aria Aurora choir. I don't know why that library gets a lot of negative comments. It's always at an accessible price too. On the Elvish choir, had a good chuckle at the "you can plug a mic, have friends over, and some alcohol" 🤣

[@jordanrazowskymusician8178]

Great!

[@danielpisera]

Very important review! Thank you so much! I think Requiem Light and Requiem Pro (Soundiron, 8dio) are excellent choir libraries that were not reviewed here !!

[@daviddas]

I believe these are older libraries. I'd be happy to review them in a sequel, if the companies wanted to provide them.

[@poulwinther]

@@daviddas Requiem Pro is about ten years old but it had a rather grand update at some point. It is 80% of for a couple of days. I am wondering if it holds up today.

[@daviddas]

@@poulwinther That did catch my eye ($98 instead of $498). This is also a library that during holiday season they will sometimes give away for free with a purchase above a certain dollar amount. I'd be happy to review it in a sequel to the above video if @8dio would like to provide it. I'd actually be even more interested in looking at their newer libraries which presumably would improve on the older ones.

[@MarkLumsley]

Hi David! Brilliant work on your video, I had no idea how many plugins sounded so good! I was wondering: which of these plugins do you find has the most comprehensive phrase builder?

[@snarf1504]

Really cool comparison. Appreciate that you went through all the controls & options rather than only showing the sounds (with the same midi, lol). I missed my favorite choirs by Strezov Sampling from this comparison, I take it you don't have them?

[@daviddas]

I would love to have included Strezov (have heard great things) but I don't have them. Ditto Spitfire's Eric Whitacre. Perhaps for a part 2...

[@johnnydayzstudios2208]

The Strezov Choirs are on sale for an awesome price. Would love to hear them included in these type of comparisons.

[@daviddas]

I would love to have included Strezov (have heard great things) but I don't have them. Ditto Spitfire's Eric Whitacre. Perhaps for a part 2...

[@johnnydayzstudios2208]

@@daviddas Awesome! I just subscribed. Looking forward to more videos.

[@SuperSouper]

@@johnnydayzstudios2208 bought the full pack. The Choir is really realistic overall (especially the legatos) but if u need agressive choir like metropolis ark 1 the pack might not be the way to go

[@RachelHardy]

The Meyer Choir is kinda scary XD

[@RobertGlotzbach]

Wonderful to have all these in a row.... Many thanks. Btw: Lacrimosa Choir is now on sale for $200 and Requiem for $160 :-) Fighting not to get my credit card out now.....

[@fullhouseentertainmentco8366]

On sale where?

[@RobertGlotzbach]

​@@fullhouseentertainmentco8366 Tried to answer your question, but it got deleted... Search for 8dio. After purchasing, I realized that they might be different from the ones discussed here, although they carry the same names. But they sound great, and I'm pleased with the buy :-)

[@daviddas]

@@RobertGlotzbach They put this on sale from time to time, and I believe I've seen it for less than $200 occasionally, if you're willing to wait for the deep sales around the big holidays.

[@prominence2]

Kontakt Factory library choir can be really improved by adding amplifier modulation (say, by CC 11) in the backend. You can find instructions here on youtube - "how to add cc 11 to kontakt 6". The instruments have only two dynamic layers and adding CC 11 will not give you proper crossfade between those, but still, given its "free" - I think it's a very useful hack to know in general. This trick raises whole Kontakt Factory VSL instruments value greatly. Another hack I tried is Unison/portamento "fake legato" kontakt script - with somewhat satisfactory results. You will not get it sounding like 300$ lib (or even 39$ aurora, for that matter) - but, again, it's free, and takes like half an hour to tune...

[@daviddas]

Adding amplifier modulation is literally a volume control, so you can already do that by automating CC#7 (master volume). Adding an automation via CC#11 is exactly the same thing. Yes on the fake legato script -- worth playing with!

[@prominence2]

@David Das Absolutely. I just prefer to set master once and for all to balance template. CC11 then works within those boundaries as expression without breaking the balance.

[@StefanoMaccarelli]

Hi, :-) nice video , Just an info "CLARA'S VOCAL" is no more available ( since 2016). So at the moment Any Copy Found on the web of the older Clara's Vocal is UNAUTHORIZED. Now There's ETHERA SERIES ( Ethera 2.0 that is the original Clara's Vocal with some new features ( True legato and More), then Ethera EVI 2.0, Ethera Soundscapes 2.0, and the GOLD Series, ETHERA GOLD 2.5, ETHERA GOLD INTIMATE VOCALS and ETHERA GOLD SAHARA VOICES, all by Zero-G). Many Thanks!

[@daviddas]

Thanks for this information. I'll add it to the video description in case anyone is looking for it.

[@opusaeterna]

I think Requiem Light should be in your list. For me one of my favorite with Hollywood Choirs.

[@lucasschachtaudio]

Yeah, I come back to Requiem Light pretty frequently. In fact it's actually the first choir library I open up when writing a new song that requires choir. 😅 Big Soundiron fan.

[@ronnyb5890]

great spread of choirs David,i have the eastwest symphonic choir (cheaper) but there is also the hollywood choir,better samples and more expensive (too expensive for me),i also love the voice of realivox blue,she has a sweet sounding voice

[@daviddas]

Good tips, thanks! Perhaps for part 2!

[@ronnyb5890]

@@daviddas already looking out for it,cheers David

[@alexwatson7068]

I use EW Hollywood choirs with their subscription service. I was a little surprised to not see this in the video.

[@ronnyb5890]

@@alexwatson7068 yep,a super choir Alex,mostly because of the wordbuilder,the hollywood one was too expensive,so i bought the symphonic one,dont like monthly subscriptions,i buy my libraries direct,cheers Alex

[@svendkorsgaard9599]

Just got Requem Pro for 50bucks! It's on flash sale until next month. Hurry up!

[@gderksmusic]

Great video, thanks a lot! Which library are you finding yourself going back to more often?

[@daviddas]

TBH it's been a while since I've done a choir-centric composition, so I don't feel like I have any specific leanings. Each of the major libraries in the videos above have strengths and potential.

[@DavidGonzalez-su6zg]

I've seen this video like 6 times. I'm so overwhelmed with the awesomeness of these I'm stuck. Help me out here. If you HAD TO HAVE ONLY 3 which would you pick. (no price tag) Thank you.

[@dezinerAhmad]

SUBSCRIBED 👍

[@thomaseddie9450]

If you had a limit of $200 what three Sample Choir plugins(if any) would you have on your short list ? Also, my sincere thanks for the time and effort you put into this superb video. Tom.

[@grantechols6621]

The best budget all around choir imo is Soundiron Requiem Light

[@grantechols6621]

however, keep an eye on emails from 8dio ... sometimes they sell their $500 choirs for literally $50. That happened this past month

[@BCE-111]

Thanks! What about EastWest Hollywood Choirs? Was looking forward to your thoughts on that.

[@daviddas]

Possibly in a future sequel video...

[@devrajpatnaik4510]

32:38 Sesame Street!!! LOL

[@striverfor7628]

3:06 Legato, Polyphonic and Sequencer

[@stephaneexcorier4363]

Hello, and what about audio imperia chorus ? Thx 😊

[@claudiod.7385]

Hi, great video thank you. However I am very surprised you did not talk about EastWest choir products (which are not Kontakt instruments). They seem to be at forefront of phrase building and have some pretty unique voice products as well. For fairness and comparison purposes, could you please create a second part of this video? Other choir products you might want to review are "Vienna choir" and "Storm choir". Beside, a comparison video specifically for voice instruments would be greatly appreciated as well. Looking forward for your reply. Thank you.

[@daviddas]

Thanks for these ideas -- very valuable. I will consider doing a part 2 at some point, and/or perhaps a specific look at the EW choirs since they are so interesting in this regard.

[@claudiod.7385]

@@daviddas Cool. Looking forward for it. And, as I said, it would be great if you could review as well some vocal/voice products. Thanks.

[@snesmocha]

@@daviddas … you need a bloody super computer for any of the word builders to work… Ewqls libraries have frustrated me to no end

[@SouloftheTroll]

@@snesmocha I've had pretty good luck with the word builder in EWQLS, was even able to give the choir a Slavic lilt. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3jTlnuJdtaEn9E

[@claudiod.7385]

@@daviddas Hi Davis, any update in the second part of this video? I am postponing the purchase a choir sample library because I woukd like first to see your second part on the subject. When do you think you will manage to release it? Thank you in advance.

[@virtuafighter3]

I am new to all this. How much are these choir sounds / patches from each of these sellers generally?

[@daviddas]

I didn't cover the answer to this in the video because this is catered more for people who are already in this world. The answer is: they range from free to several hundred dollars each. Some of them require you to own Native Instruments Kontakt; others work with the free Kontakt Player. A few come in alternate formats that might be entirely free (I haven't checked) or may be paid. Basically it varies. In order to use these, you're going to want a DAW (digital audio workstation, a recording program) such as Digital Performer, Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic, Ableton (etc.) and then you would run a sampler inside the DAW (the most popular sampler is Kontakt, and Kontakt loads almost all of the choirs I chronicled in the video). Hope that helps.

[@virtuafighter3]

@@daviddas Thanks for your answer. This music scene looks interesting but daunting too. The possibilities look promising. (My goal is to get my Yamaha PSS A50 - when it arrives soon - connected to a PC and pretend I have some 80s Fair light sounds going on!)

[@dunamisstudio6417]

Have you tried out the new Audio Imperia Chorus library?

[@daviddas]

Not yet, but I've added it to my list if I do a Part 2!

[@lislesaint-louis2585]

Eastwest is missing. One of the best word builder in the market.

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

soundiron sounds very visceral

[@michaelschallmacher5782]

Good day David, great video, very informative and time saving if you need an overview of chhoir plug-ins. I would like to ask you a question: I am looking for a plug-in / library that works exclusively with Christian words / vocal phrases. Or a software that allows free text input and then converts the text into choral singing. (No AI if possible, I like to work offline :-) ) Thank you in advance and best regards, Michael

[@jaymurray6051]

Everyone Skip to 51:37 this part is for everyone the first part is for people that has more money than sense - truly no sense! in this over priced world where we can barely afford heating or food -Nothing against David his video is truly awesome just it’s a bit niche for about 13% of the population

[@Bronwyn031]

VOXOS Epic Choirs! ... Till I saw that PRICE! Eeeek! My Sample Library Addiction is getting out of hand.

[@tri-unetrl3966]

Which sounds better in your opinion Aurora choir or Olympus choir?

[@daviddas]

They're both great. You should listen to both segments (above) and compare them. And/or go to the web sites and listen to their demos. Note that Olympus is men+women, while Aurora is only women.

[@tri-unetrl3966]

@@daviddas Right on.. thanks bud

[@stephaneexcorier4363]

Hello, and what about Strezov sampling ? Thx 😊

[@daviddas]

I get asked about Strezov a lot and will consider that for a future video!

[@stephaneexcorier4363]

@@daviddas thx

[@DavidGonzalez-su6zg]

I'm confused on those syllables. Do they mean something or are they actual words?

[@daviddas]

Not sure which specific syllables you're referring to, but most of these libraries provide either Latin syllables or generic-sounding syllables, which can be used to build or at least approximate words. (Latin is a much easier language to emulate than English, due to the more limited consonant, vowel, and combinations.)

[@comm2005]

Interesting. Thank you. How come you missed Hollywood Choir of East West ?

[@daviddas]

I don't have that library. I have had quite a few requests for it, so I may consider it for a future video.

[@comm2005]

@@daviddas thank you. Looking forward to your review on it.

[@drdandalf]

@@daviddas definitely want to hear your opinion about this Choir.

[@mybiggrin]

How in the heck do you have so many choir libraries?!

[@juanantoniolopez7496]

How about EastWest Hollywood Choir?

[@daviddas]

I haven't worked with the EW Hollywood Choir. Perhaps for a future installment. I would say the three choirs I get asked for most are the EW, the Spitfire Eric Whitacre, and Strezov.

[@shamimmovahhed1316]

I am wondering why you did not mention anything about EASTWEST CHOIR which is an absolutely fantastic product with the unique ability of WORD-BUILDING

[@daviddas]

I don't own the EW choirs. I'll consider reviewing them in a sequel video if I can get a few more libraries to look at alongside them.

[@shamimmovahhed1316]

@@daviddas Sure, Actually I have used east-west choir for 2 years. Except the fantastic quality the word-builder option is awesome. Please do check it. Thanks and regards

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

@@daviddas now i get it ;) well, with 30$ you can review all their vsts

[@gb3496]

So which one (ones) win...? :)

[@daviddas]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! :)

[@Bhadmojo]

I’m want to get dominos chior pro for Christmas 🤟

[@daviddas]

Dominus really is one of the top choirs in this comparison. I believe it occasionally goes on sale, so I'd definitely get on their mailing list in case they send something out.

[@Bhadmojo]

@@daviddas thank you I will be on the look out for a winter sale. I’m definitely going to get the pro version. Keep making these high quality informative videos! Seriously, thank you for not having some bullshit ad read! I dropped a like and I subscribed!!!!

[@daviddas]

@@Bhadmojo Glad they're helpful. Planning for lots more in 2022. (And yes, I think Pro is a GREAT deal.)

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

it is amazing that EW choirs are not there !

[@DL-1]

Are the best service sound libraries still in use? They have lots of titles. Why aren't they more popular in the producer community?

[@daviddas]

You're right; they are less widespread. I think their marketing engines are just not as strong as others like 8Dio, Spitfire, etc. I was a little underwhelmed by the design of Mystica...it was not as friendly as some of the other libraries.

[@DL-1]

@@daviddas what about Shevanniah and the others? They have so many instrument liibrarie as well. Can you do some review videos based on the demos? Maybe you could do a 1-10 rating to determine if a library is worth purchasing or not. What are your thoughts about that?

[@daviddas]

@@DL-1 it's possible, but to be honest, I don't know that it would yield very objective results. Product demos for these libraries are often written to highlight the library's strengths and hide its weaknesses. For example, they might have done awesome phrase sampling of specific phrases. You might hear the demo and go "wow, that choir sounds 100% real." Then you buy the library and realize: "they literally recorded that entire phrase and plopped it in the demo as is" which means you have zero tweakability (apart from perhaps time/pitch-stretching). A sample library, once produced, is basically a deconstruction of what the real instrument is. Then the reconstruction is left to the composer. So I don't feel like I can really do a review until I've looked at it in its deconstructed state, and then figured out how versatile those component pieces are in a composer's hands.

[@DL-1]

@@daviddas I understand your point and can see the complication and the amount of time required to do that. I apologize for making that request. It is selfish and self serving. Thank you for taking the time to consider it and reply.

[@daviddas]

@@DL-1 Oh, no need to apologize. I was just explaining my rationale for doubting that I could effectively critique a library via its demos. Nearly all of the good choir libraries have absolutely stunning demos!

[@richardrobbins1422]

What about East West choirs ???

[@daviddas]

I don't have the EW choirs, but may consider doing a follow-up video with those plus the Eric Whitacre and others that I may have missed.

[@DrGameTazo]

How about Oceania??

[@daviddas]

Possibly in a sequel video...

[@SouloftheTroll]

East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Choirs?

[@daviddas]

That's a much older library, and I believe it might have been discontinued (?) I have had it on my radar to take a look at the new EW choir product, though.

[@DL-1]

What about Eastwest Choirs2?

[@daviddas]

I would have enjoyed including them, but I don't own them. There are a few other major missing contenders (e.g. Spitfire Eric Whitacre, Strezov). I may do a part 2 if I can get my hands on the other major ones.

[@snarf1504]

@@daviddas HWC would be relatively easy to check out via CC cloud

[@daviddas]

@@snarf1504 true and good point. I'd be interested to try it out. If I do tackle a part 2 of this, I'd be happy to include it. (The other two I'd be dying to include would be Spitfire's Eric Whitacre, and the Strezov ones.)

[@theholydonkey3527]

@@snarf1504 Symphonic Choirs as well

[@zoltanbereczki8067]

East West Symphonic Choirs?

[@daviddas]

I'll consider this for a future video!

[@robaire.b]

It's disappointing that the captions have been disabled for those who are hearing impaired

[@Gloriankithsanus]

Can't help but think that olympus sounds as cluttered as massive. I don't really like it. Though there seems to be lots of options there.

[@SolsticeBeatsComposer]

What about EastWest?

[@daviddas]

I've had many requests for it. I might do it in a follow-up video.

[@SolsticeBeatsComposer]

@@daviddas Would appreciate it very much

[@LeDrummerDu88]

Where's Insolidus ?? And Silka ??

[@daviddas]

I don't own those, but would be happy to review them in a sequel.

[@karayuschij]

Frankly, I can't stand all those chorus libraries with their ready-made syllables and phrases... Anyway, I prefer to use the Omnisphere sounds.

[@qualitydag1]

The voices don't sound nearly as good as Dominus Choir Pro

[@daviddas]

Which ones don't you like as much as Dominus?

[@qualitydag1]

@@daviddas all of them except for if I remember correctly after the boys choir there was a grouping a voices that sounded more smooth. I'm sorry I just don't remember which one's those were I think it was just after the boys' choir possibly. But most of the voices in general they just sounded kind of tinty compared to the ones in dominus choir pro.

[@DiosteestaBuscando]

Thanks for sharing the video! God bless you! Please remember the following: Therefore, as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death passed to all men, because all have sinned. Romans 5:12 So, as by the transgression of one (Adam) came condemnation to all men, in the same way by the righteousness of one (Jesus Christ!) the justification of life came to all men. Romans 5:18 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. John 3:16 And in no other is there salvation; for there is no other name under heaven, given to men, by which we can be saved. Acts 4:12 If you acknowledge the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

[@rafaelhernandez5550]

Amen

[@jaymurray6051]

Such a shame your video was destroyed by constant commercials

[@alyctro8158]

less talking more playing, please...