HIFIMIDI Live Stream | Bass VSTi Comparison | MODO Bass, Scarbee, Trilian, EZ Bass, Ample Sound

A video to end all bass VSTi comparisons? Not really, but I hope to shed some light on the difference between some of the most popular bass VIs on the market.
These are the basses I own. I know there are many out there, but I don't have all of them, nor do I have time.
Enjoy this comparison.

[@Wourghk]

Verdict / Summary: Trilian = old but full of great synth basses and a great upright; guitars almost suck Scarbee = old but still very usable (and you already have it if you own Komplete) MODO = new with great slide and legato, but modeled sound can be a turn-off EZ Bass = new with a new bag of tricks, but lacks detail in some places Ample Bass = reliable daily driver (J specifically) BEST SLAP: Ample Bass (ABY specifically) NEXT BEST: EZ Bass WORST SLAP: MODO and Trilian BEST SLIDE: MODO NEXT BEST: Ample Bass WORST SLIDE: Trilian

[@hifimidi]

You are amazing.

[@musicxtn]

Hi can one save the new sound if we tweak it on Modo as a new patch and recall it for another session? Thanks

[@wilhemheider]

@@musicxtn Yes you can.

[@boimesa8190]

I really like the punchiness of the Scarbee for soul & hip hop but I really don't want to buy into Native Instruments. What would you say is the next best?

[@diegoalejo15]

I totally agree, I´d add the Ample fretless is amazing, Trillian has a nice fretless too but Trillian strength are synth basses.

[@ViRiXDreamcore]

I know it may not be perfect, but I REALLY like that slap bass in Trillian. SO CRUNCHY Trillian is older but the transitions between notes sound so good.

[@sesquipedalian1984]

It's not even the best. Their truer/cleaner Slap patch is from a Music Man. Electric Studio Bass Slap, if I recall correctly. I used it a lot years ago. Smooth as butter as well as the rest of the Studio Bass patches.

[@Beracahmusic]

Excellent reviews - I own most of the bass you have reviewed. Interesting, my overviews are so similar to yours.

[@josephandrosky6377]

Great informative comparison complete with your honest thoughts. Trilian has a few amazing upright basses. I have used the upright called character on albums and no one ever guessed it was from Trilian, they think I tracked a vintage upright. I also used Mondo Bass on a new album and you can’t tell it is not a real five string. I am a actual bassist, but composing a track using midi is easy to make changes by the clients request. So now I send tracks bounced down from midi, it just saves so much time and some of the sample libraries are so great sounding they can sound better than a standard bass. A Studio Percussionist friend of mine uses a set of Roland V Drums to record tracks for his clients because of the stunning quality of the sound libraries available and ease of editing midi. I plan on purchasing some of the Ample instruments as they sound amazing, especially the Taylor acoustic guitar.

[@PeachesChrenko]

Been trying so hard to choose basses. This is so helpful Thanks alot :)

[@Jake_Bars]

Love your channel! Thanks for everything!!

[@Metalpazallteway]

The bridges change too. That's what you hear in the scarbee sampled model vs the modo so there's more clicks pops and dirtier sound also coming out of a amplifier most likely.

[@GX700]

I wonder if toontrack is actually working on EZ Guitar. Would be such a nice addition.

[@hifimidi]

That would be amazing. I don't foresee it in the near future. Guitars are really difficult to make--more so than almost any other instrument.

[@fusioninthebox2250]

I've Trilian and Scarbee basses. Trilian is not so much fun to play, but it sits in the mix quite beautifully, I should say.

[@AndyCampbellMusic]

Thanks for the comparison.. Ezbass for me is the best at the moment It is the easiest one to create a good bassline from in the quickest time. It has a metal bass and Fender Precision expansions too now... Was interesting to listen to.

[@RichardCareyFordComposer]

Does ample bass or any of the others have functions like EZ Bass for generating riffs or playing along automatically with audio from keys or drums?

[@hifimidi]

No, it does not. That would be amazing, though.

[@christianbirkholtz1135]

@@hifimidi could it be possible to generate riffs with EZBass and play them back with ample bass later on? Probably a conversion of keyswitches would be necessary but perhaps that could be automated with some kind of midi filter-transpose-reroute plugin -- what do you think?

[@antyhingforeverythingnew6285]

Thanks for the review...However , In my opinion Ilya Efimov is the best ever pro library . Made for who are familiar with bass instrument.

[@vrdnyn]

Thank you so much for this. Helped me make my choice :))

[@truthmanifestingtruth]

Modobass and Trillian are both bass libraries and highly customizable. Whereas the other are a customizable bass instrument. They’re all high level sounding depending on the player. For me, MODO Bass is the best. Trillian (which was once the best) is still its own beast and great to have in Omnisphere 2. They’re all I need, but I give shout outs to the others that are also capable and fun. I imagine riffer should be fun to use with amplesound basses.

[@SwiftDreamer]

Would be interesting to compare Ample sound basses/guitars with Orange Tree Samples Basses/Guitars. Im doing research to see which one i should get to start my virtual guitar/bass collection

[@Veranek]

I've only tested a little their Cherry Bass and it's amazing.

[@therealjackfisher]

Modo bass is the most versatile, but it is not a cheap bass plugin. Anyways these plugins dont stand slightest chance with modo bass when it comes to customisation. You can change string gauge position of your pick, position of your hand, play style, amps, pickups, you name it, it can do it.

[@ramspencer5492]

I like the Modobass for more natural articulations...... But it isn't refined out of the box. It needs some compression and a good 3rd party amp Sim.... It's the least pre processed really. Just avoid the settings that don't sound quite real.

[@hleet]

yesss, a bass comparator review !!! Maybe you forgot bass from impact sound work ; orangetreesamples ... anyway

[@hifimidi]

I didn't forget. I just don't have all of them. :/

[@hleet]

@@hifimidi Okay :D

[@nepomukism]

Well I miss the VSL ones. While they are a little bit more pricy (not that much, just 30 bugs more or so) I think they still fit in the range and are very well programmed. Especially the upright is close to Ample Sounds one including repetition variations and so on. Or do they have any drawbacks I am not aware of?

[@hifimidi]

I have never played it. I didn't even know they had one and I own the Orchestral Cube.

[@nepomukism]

@@hifimidi Ha, yeah, same here, I own also a lot of them and was also surprised that they have one xD. But -> Check the demos. It can really compete. There are 2 versions, an older one and the synchronized one in a package with other string instruments like Guitar.

[@rautshsale1948]

will you ever talk abut any of the waves instruments? it's rhodes, whurlie, bass, etc?

[@lozzauk372]

Thanks for a great video. I have acquired all of these over the years except Ample Sound, and found Modo bass to be my go-to. Some of the presets aren't great (as you demonstrated), but after a little messing around I found I could get some great sounds that sit in my mixes really well. The issue I have with it is that I have never been able to get convincing slides when sliding at the end of the phrase (i.e. not to another note). Does anyone else find this? I thought this may be down to the limitations of Pro Tools midi editor (I write it to the tone wheel), but I can get the slides in Scarbee to sound much more authentic, so may be not. I recently got EZBass and imho it is by far the most convincing regarding the articulations (slides, ghost notes, harmonics etc) and the quickest and easiest to use. Sonically it doesn't yet match Modo for me, but the ease of use is a good trade off:o) I found Trillian great at the time but it has been surpassed now, although the acoustic double bass still sounds really good

[@sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

How is the Vienna Symphony Library Upright Bass?

[@hifimidi]

I’ve never played that. I didn’t even know they had one!

[@sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

@@hifimidi I'm scorching the earth trying to make solid initial library decisions, to save costly error realization purchases on the back-end, Brother. LOL (This, Modo Bass, everything. )

[@olamideoyeniyan3676]

Sir how much storage do you have on your pc?

[@calvingudu9237]

Dude! Love your videos, but saying that you can’t pronounce someone’s name comes across as plain rude . Try to say it as say hope I said that correctly. Cool! Your vids are 100!!

[@sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

@34:00 you were sharing how much you did not like a sound from a bass... HOWEVER, I am wondering whether you were familiar with the specific bass and dislike the qualities of the model... OR whether you are UNfamiliar with the bass and therefore the tone simply is atypical to your contextual expectations??? It is fine either way. However I NEED to know, as I am currently shopping and do NOT want to skew choices without clear understanding regarding whether the reviewer (you in this case) is familiar with the specific portion of the model they are testing. ...Sorry, I HAVE TO ask. :-)

[@hifimidi]

I don’t like the sound of the MODO Bass Music Man reproduction. There are too many overtones coming through on some of the low notes. I have owned a Music Man bass and know how they sound.

[@sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

@@hifimidi AHHHHhhhh... Thank you SO VERY MUCH for clarifying. I truly appreciate it. As a new person to music (just building my library), I have recently decided staunchly to pause on nearly all sample acquisition in support of a solid Physical Modelling backbone) and adding samples again later as supplements where needed. Your sharing of such information helps aid SO MANY of we beginners to avoid costly mistakes (metaphorical added fees on top of tuition) so that we may attribute to other necessary tools. Thank you. If I may ask, was that primary issue for you, (or would you NOT have purchased Modo Bass had you the opportunity to choose again)?

[@Nightowl427272]

Does anyone know how (or if it’s possible) to get a clean DI sound out of Ample’s basses? I compared the unprocessed DI sound of 4 different Precision basses: MODO Bass 2 70’s P Bass, Ample’s P Bass, Impact Soundworks Shreddage Precision 3 and Native Instruments Prime Bass. 3 of the 4 vary slightly, as expected. But Ample’s sounds so RADICALLY different that I struggle to believe that it’s unprocessed at all. No matter what I do, I can’t get a clean DI signal out of it: all FX bypassed, amps turned off, SAME note (G on E Str.) being compared, fingered articulation…it still sounds very processed, like it’s still running through a heavily colored preamp, an amp and a cabinet. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds great, but I want to run it through my own cab/amp sims and there’s no brightness.

[@hifimidi]

The DI sample was recorded through a REDDI preamp, so there may be some coloration from the preamp, but it’s not processed.

[@Nightowl427272]

@@hifimidi - Thank you for the reply! Hmmm...I doubt a super-clean DI like a REDDI could be causing the coloration I'm hearing. I must be doing something wrong...or I'm losing my mind and hearing things. lol Thanks again for the reply!

[@sinisasinisa6317]

Best bas today is Ample sound ABY and ABJ

[@hieuinhmusicviet4246]

VST có dùng trên iPad được không xin hỏi.?

[@jason5276]

Thank you Ruben for all the Bass comparison \m/ Love the Slap and Pop from the Fodera YinYang. That one is unique. Love it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5KVeXqdjd2ebqc You said it, a gorgeous bass

[@defrigge]

Nothing comes close to Scarbee IMHO, concerning quality and authentity, followed closely by the Ample Jazz Bass. What's great about EZ Bass, is some special fuctionality, like midi conversion of bass audio, along with a tolerable compromise between audio quality and fast functionality. Modo Bass has most options, but introduces the danger of getting completely lost in all of them, instead of actually playing and recording. And you will spend too much time with it all the more, since the basic sound often isn't as good as Scarbee's, and you begin twisting to find the proper tone - while sacrificing a bit much of CPU on the way. That CPU is definetiley better spent otherwise in recording into a DAW. Trillian is nice for fast throwing in of a halfway fitting bass preset on the fly, but I tend to replace it by Scarbee basses, or sometimes EZ Bass, later during mixing.

[@hajianekena6909]

EZ BASS is easy to make the bass sit in the mix, other is so forward or disappear in the mix and difficult to put in the mix, difficult to make sound natural in the mix but not impossible...

[@khfa541]

1:14:30

[@luisrangel3296]

Hi

[@johnhill762]

Modo Bass wins

[@daystardaystardaystardayst1865]

Trilian has the disadvantage of not having a "musical" interface. Which can really affect how you create. I think this is something that they are really behind on. Saying this, I feel that the sounds are not set up to sound great straight away, you really need to dial a few things. Despite coming last, Trilian is is actually used (constantly) in hit songs up to the present day. From Hip-Hop to Pop, Rock etc. You will have heard Trilian on a regular basis already without knowing it. I've heard people say that Trilian just seems to sit in a mix and sound professional. Even a big pop star like Billie Eilish has Trilian on most songs. The thing that i dislike about Trilian is the fact that different strings are'nt sampled.

[@jesussaddle]

Trillian is warm sounding and has a lot of character, and using Omnisphere's latch and trigger modes is a huge plus for a library like this - if you are going to jam with it.

[@EyeOfThe_God]

Who win?

[@hifimidi]

That's up to you. For me, it's a toss up between Ample Bass J and EZ Bass.

[@lightningMTA]

@@hifimidi I'm hesitating between those two... AHhhhh such a dilemma!!!

[@johnhill762]

Modo Bass

[@stephanelarocque77]

@@hifimidi Hello, I'd like to know if these 2 still your favorite since Modo Bass 2? Thanks

[@hifimidi]

@@stephanelarocque77 ABJ is still my go to, when I'm creating complex bass lines with few instruments. EZ Bass is my #2 now when I have lots of instruments. I don't really use MODO Bass all that much, although it is a fantastic plugin. I am too used to the workflow in the other libraries to switch over.

[@wolkingsami708]

Dude, way too many ads. I left after 2 ads within the first 5 minutes. I get the concept of having videos monetized and placing extra ads in them, but having so many ads probably hurts your audience retention rate. Just sayin'...

[@hifimidi]

I don’t control where the ads are. I thought it was set to before and after. I’ll adjust it. Thanks for the feedback.

[@OKNOOOOOOO]

Then get premium you cheapo lmao. Complaining about a free video on a free service.