Checking Out: SOLO by Audio Imperia!

[@mikeklement7223]

Great demo, these solo instruments sound amazing!

[@Alxev]

You know it's good when you see Chris with both thumbs up in the thumbnail.

[@ChristopherSiu]

XD

[@everratic]

This is an excellent playthrough! The highlights for me are the flute, oboe, and vocals. Many vocal libraries have an uncanny sound, but these sound sufficiently natural :D I don't love this English horn from what I've heard. I recommend everyone keep an eye out for 8DIO's solo release of the English horn from Intimate Studio Woodwinds. I anticipate it will quickly become one of the most popular options.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!

[@MamaSymphonia]

Great review Chris! I picked this up on day one and am super excited to start writing with it.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Congratulations!

[@InfiniteConstellations]

I was waiting for someone to play with it. Solo instruments is my weakness :D

[@ChristopherSiu]

😅

[@MamaSymphonia]

Mine too. When this was announced I thought AI must have been reading my mind lmao

[@marcmagras]

This is on my wishlist!

[@kevroberts8147]

Hi Chris, great review as usual. I really loved the clean and warm sound of this library, I am currently only using Audio Imperia as my main libraries, I have Nucleus and Areia at the moment so this would be a welcome addition. Love your work..Kev.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Thanks for watching Kev! Definitely a lovely sound imo.

[@TiqueO6]

I’m so glad I can still hear the difference! And that it takes someone very aware of real and skilled playing to simulate the real thing is a small consolation that at least some human beings won't lose their livelihood due to lowered listener standards. Will people finally rebel and simply want the real thing along with the knowledge that all the people performing the music together are truly expressing what my late father called (and he was an A-Call Hollywood studio musician from the late 40s to '85) one of the highest forms of human communications and cooperation of all time referring to a full soundstage or concert orchestra performance.

[@MaxiGoethling]

The more people have access to the tools to write orchestral music, the more people will listen to orchestral, that in turn will increase demand for real performances. It's a win-win for everyone!

[@860anthony]

Very nice video. My only request is that you give us the settings used to get the sound of each instrument. Or if you are just playing the default settings provided by Audio Imperia. Thank you.

[@ChristopherSiu]

These are the default settings!

[@SlowDescentToWild]

Great and informative video. Would you say the woodwinds as good (or better) than Berlin Soloists or the solo stuff in CSW?

[@ChristopherSiu]

It's say they're on par with both libs!

[@mdp]

In the 'Advanced' tab are you able to control the vibrato at all? Or are the only options you get Dynamics & Expression?

[@MamaSymphonia]

The vibrato, crescendo and decrescendo are pre-baked. This library is more geared toward super-emotional melody lines rather than being flexible for any situation. It does its job better than any other library IMO, but it wouldn't be my first pick if I didn't already have a more flexible solo winds / strings library!

[@HagoAi]

@@MamaSymphonia and what would it be?

[@-Meric-]

@@HagoAi The more expensive ones from the big companies. CineSamples, Cinematic Studio Series, Orchestral Tools, etc. all have pretty good soloists (Cinesamples solo strings, Cinematic Studio Solo Strings, Cinematic Studio Brass, Orchestral Tools Berlin Woodwinds EXP B, C)

[@D20Music]

Very nice for the price - I kinda have all of this covered now with other libraries but great if you don't have a lot of solo instruments to hand. One thing about Audio Imperia - they seem to always fall a bit short on a lot of their instruments. They sound great, but always missing articulations - particularly in the brass and woodwind in this case. I would've preferred a more comprehensive library and paid what Chris expected ($399 full) to avoid having to buy other stuff in the future.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Thanks for watching Kade! As this is primarily intended for slower melodic playing, I think AI focused the most on legato, which for me they nailed. I think they'll go even deeper in future libraries.

[@D20Music]

I hope so... I keep 'nearly' getting something from them. It definitely sounds excellent!

[@Ahmad-Mounir44]

Hey Chris, as this is on sale now, do you think it fits epic stuff?

[@MikeBurnsArrangedAccidents]

Always impressed by Audio Imperia. These days, my eyes are on Aaron Venture's Infinite series. These libraries are one upgrade away from being the be all end all of brass and woodwinds. He's promising a mono compatible setting in rhe next versions. The scripted transitions are so smoothe. The raw samples are so perfectly EQ'd. These libraries can handle super human playing speeds. No actual round robins but he employs a humanization feature that creates thousands of variations of repeated notes, so it's like having infinite round ronins or an actual player in your computer.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Good choices!

[@instrugramm]

The voices are very impressive!

[@ChristopherSiu]

Love them!

[@clark435]

Love those sounds 😁😁❤️👌🏻

[@Fralibers]

Great review Chris ! In terms of the strings how does this one stack up against Cremona quartet ?

[@ChristopherSiu]

Good question! I personally prefer the legato in this library, but of course Cremona has much more flexibility and that classical sound if you need it.

[@Fralibers]

@@ChristopherSiu Awesome! thank you for your answer, much appreciated. I agree the classical sound of cremona is excellent. Maybe you could do at some point another solo strings video comparison between your top 3 or 5 librairies. Have a great day!

[@SecondTierSound]

This does seem like a pretty good deal actually. Thanks Chris.

[@ChristopherSiu]

My pleasure!

[@MaxiGoethling]

The panning is so weird for some instruments. Especially those that are usually on the left.

[@olawfhjorth9985]

Are the bowings infinite on the strings? I have a few cello libraries but they all have a big “pfooo” bow change after 1.5seconds. Would love a lib without that.

[@sunnyschramm9650]

Nice library, nice intro price BUT - I think I got enough solo instruments with CSW, CSB, CSSS, OT FS, 8DIO Deep Series, 8DIO Intimate Studio Strings, Jade, SBDT, BS Emotional Series, all the Symphobia stuff, Spitfires, Heavyocity Vento and a lot other libraries. Please dont convince me on this one too!!! xD

[@ChristopherSiu]

I'd say you're covered :X

[@dafingaz]

Great sound!

[@ChristopherSiu]

Agreed!

[@joshbarron8961]

I'm currently trying to get better solo instruments and am not sure what would go well with my Spitfire Libraries (I use BBCSO Pro with Abbey Road One Collection). I am on the fence between 8dio Claire Woodwinds and Solo. Solo is pretty tempting as they not only have woodwinds but they have some brass and vocals, but I am concerned about what will blend well with what I have.

[@coalescence3835]

Great sounding library, and great review, Chris. By the way, do you think you could make a review of Sunset Strings? I keep getting ads for it and saw that you had it. Would love to know what you think!

[@ChristopherSiu]

Thank you so much! I actually made a video a while back using it and HHC in a song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/equVga2ffrxrfcU

[@coalescence3835]

@@ChristopherSiu Oh, cool! I'll check it out

[@TonyDeConcini]

Another stellar review and walkthrough. Just got this to add to Nucleus. Going to be a very useful tool indeed at a great price. The sounds generally are very good. However for solo violin - while this is awesome - still very hard to beat Embertone's Joshua Bell - which I LOVE. Always was impressed with his playing and the way Embertone handled that instrument in capturing it. Thanks for keeping us up to date.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Great choice Bill! Thanks for watching.

[@johnmoukarzel2544]

Hey Chris, thanks for the great video. If only thinking of solo strings: In your personal opinion, which would you recommend/prefer: Cinematic Studio Solo Strings or Audio Imperia's SOLO? Would really appreciate and love your input. Thanks :)

[@ChristopherSiu]

I'd say CSSS for dedicated solo strings. I love the legato and natural romantic feel of them.

[@johnmoukarzel2544]

@@ChristopherSiu Thanks so much for replying. I feel the same way but was curious for your opinion. The wood and bow strokes sound more 'real' and less 'brushed' or toned down - and I am all for natural. However the winds sound great (not what I'm after though) and I can imagine they are so inspiring to play with as they come so easy (from what I can see)! Thanks Chris :)

[@MurphyKargesBass]

As far as my speakers go.. Imperia SOLO brass horn blew away the Cinebrass solo horn.. and I like Cinesamples.. all just taste and style I guess.. fantastic samples..

[@ricgus3]

Great to have such an early impression video! That cello pizz reminded me of FF7 soundtrack. I prefer the solo horn from cinebrass, but i prefer SOLOs descant horn! SOLOs trumpet is a bit weak imo. I think jeager/nucleus solo trumpet sound better. But the woodwinds are the real beast here!

[@ChristopherSiu]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Rikard!

[@andrealoverde8771]

This compared to Spitfire Abbey Road Two?

[@idance10]

Not bad.... but... I've heard better solo libraries. The operatic soprano is pretty impressive! There's a new technique for solo instruments which is called "smart delay" it's playing the track with 1 bar delay, in this time it builds all the necessary articulations to sound as real as possible. It's amazing.... hopefully those library companies will implement those techniques as well....

[@ChristopherSiu]

Yep! For real time libs this is quite good to me. I did the review for the smart delay trumpet, I assume you’ve seen it?

[@shonorities]

We purchased these sounds to play back midi files to use as a guide to performers (singers) when learning a new work. The sounds such as voices and violin we tried so far, sound out of tune in certain pitches (i.e. E, F for the voices and F, G, A for the violin) making them unusuable. The same result happens when playing the sounds through midi keyboard on a DAW (i.e. Nuendo). The violin and voice are so out of tune in certain pitches that you cannot form chords that include these pitches. These sounds are not acceptable to trained ear. A professional violinist and soprano confirmed that these sound up to a quartertone out of tune in the pitches I mentioned above. The worst of all if the Audio Imperia's customer service. I sent them several audio samples comparing them with other sound samples we owned and they keep finding excuses to dismiss the issue. They have been rude and seem that all they care is how to sell licences and earn money without taking any responsibility of issues relating to their products using as excuse the no-return policy written on their website. Just to clarify, the sounds exhibit the same out-of tune issues in both midi play back and playing through midi keyboard on a DAW. The out of pitch pitches are specific and don't occur to the entire register. Also the sounds like voice, have build in a massive 10db+ crescendo that keeps looping meaning that is impossible to write tenuto notes that have different dynamics to the baked-in effect. This may work once or twice but if you keep using these sounds all pieces will end up sounding the same! The sounds appear OK on the surface but once you start using them they have some many issues that there is very little you can do with them. Basically these are sounds that you can only use they way they dictate you and not the other way around (i.e conform to your ideas). That is why they are very limited and flawed. Most importantly, they are out of tune in certain pitches and sound horrible when combining them in more than one parts as the harmonies sound totally off. We have wasted lots of time debating with Audio Imperia providing samples etc. and them keep finding excuses and give irrelevant answers. We gravely regretted ordering them as it has been a waste of money and time. Eventually, we ended up buying different sounds and they just sound correct out of the box. That speaks by itself.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Hi Basil! Just replied to your email.

[@charlesyateschalfant]

It's a very good library, however, the strings IMHO are a let down. Except for the cello. Overall though, I prefer Cinematic Studio series strings and woods along with CineBrass.