Miroslav Philharmonik CE for $15

[MarioD]

FYI – the Miroslav Philharmonik CE is a no-brainer deal for $15 USD. This supposedly has many useful orchestral sounds.  I just Dled and will try it out later.

http://audiomidienews.squarespace.com/audiomidienews/2011/3/17/ik-miroslav-philharmonik-ce-no-brainer-deal-just-15.html

[offthewall]

 
I'm busy installing it now myself.
It HAS to be a bargain 

 
James

[kara]

Waiting for reviews here before I buy it 

k

[elwoodblues1969]

I was considering this software,but decided to do some research on it first.The audio demos were decent,but I have a strong suspicion that the individual sounds are weak.
There are mixed reviews on this software...one of which,stated that the strings sounded more synthesized than sampled.

If one is not happy with the classic edition,than it appears that one needs to purchase the SampleTank software to get the additional sounds,which costs $229.
They mention this software being compatible with Logic,Cubase & most of the big names,so I don't know if it will work with my Presonus DAW.
Also,this software is 32 bit & my main DAW is 64 bit.
I have both 32 & 64 bit versions of Presonus,but it's a pain in the butt starting songs in the old version & then having to export & import into the new one.

In general,really authentic orchestral sounds are very expensive,which is why my orchestral package in my NI Komplete 6 is so incomplete.

For my particular situation,I have an ample amount of very usable orchestral sounds,so I seriously doubt this IK Multimedia package would be an upgrade for me.

The initial $15 is a great start,especially for those who don't have any orchestral sounds at all & if one ends up being content with just the classic version,then it is a great deal.

Thanks for the heads up though,Mario.


-Thom

[MarioD]

I did get a chance to review a few of the string sounds.  They are not bad, not stellar mind you, but useable. Also this is very CPU friendly.  The strings will be a good fit for backgrounds, especially if you have some good sounding solos for more expensive programs and/or a good reverb.

As Thom indicated you can spend thousands of dollars for string sounds.  This program does not compete with that crowd, however it is, at least for me, a good addition to my arsenal of sounds.  I would compare this to say Garritan’s GPO or any other $250 or less program. Plus for $15 you can’t go wrong IMHO.

PS – No Thom this would not be an upgrade for you. Have you looked at Session Strings for Kontakt?

PPS – This is not an upgrade in orchestral sounds to those who have Kontakt4.  However, as I have said it is a good addition.  I also have Kontakt 4.

[offthewall]

I have had a very quick glance at this stuff and, from my point of view as the type of musician that I am    ... there seems to be plenty of decent sounds for filling out backgrounds.
The orchestral ensemble and choir parts all sound OK for my needs ... and the price was right 

 
James

[elwoodblues1969]

Mario,

I have considered Kontakt 4 additions in the past,as I know there are some good ones out there....the thing is though-after having dropped 5 bills on the Komplete package,I was not really enthusiastic about investing anything further NI at the time.

As far as CPU-friendly stuff goes...well..it's usually not that inspiring and inspiration is everything to me,regardless of the cost.I will probably end up adding more to my Kontakt library eventually....but my primary goal is to save up for a bigger CPU!

I'm not going to spare much expense this time around-so when the time is right,I'm going to spring for a 6-core,1TB monster PC from Cyberpower.

In the interim,I will be importing a lot of my sounds from my hardware keyboards as audio files into my DAW,so as to spare my PC from all of the processing power that my NI K6 software eats up,as it's becoming quite a problem.


-Thom

[MarioD]

but my primary goal is to save up for a bigger CPU!

I'm not going to spare much expense this time around-so when the time is right,I'm going to spring for a 6-core,1TB monster PC from Cyberpower.

-Thom

I hear you Thom!  I’m saving for a new music computer also.  I’ll check into Cyberpower however thus far all of my computers have been made locally by a friend of mind who owns LyteSpeed computers in Rochester NY.  The music computer I have now he made 6 years ago and now is just getting long in the tooth; it’s a 3.2 gig win 32 bit XP Pro machine with two 360 gig HDs. My next one will be a 64 bit Win 7 Pro with two terabyte HDs.

[kara]

ok I bought it to.... my review :

It's a bit a surprising mixture of some very good and some average sounds
A couple that I've tested with existing songs :

- Obviously I started with the STNWY pianos : verdict = not to bad to put in a mix, not good enough as a solo piano
- Classical guitar : has some disturbing string noise in the start of every sample. Not good enough for a solo but in a mix you don't hear it.
- Woodwind ENS : Very good for the (original) price of the package
- Woodwinds solo : Some good ones and some average ones, there way to much tremolo on the flutes, the oboes are good
- The strings are pretty good if you combine a couple of different sections, you can get a decent string section
- Same goes for the brass section, by combining you get a nice section
- The choirs : as such not a big deal. But if you combine them with slight detuning of the different sections, you can get a good choir
- The percussion and drum elements : a strange mixture of good and pretty bad ones....
 
The final verdict : Mario is right, it compares to the light edition of GPO, same price category and same quality of sounds.
I would never buy it at the normal selling price but at $15 it's a no brainer, there are some very usefull sound in the package.

Thanks Mario for announcing this


k

[kara]

For those that didn't buy it yet....

Here is small demo how it sounds.
Azell played the flute with here windcotroller, but I surprised here a bit with it, so the melody could be better....
But it gives an idea how it sounds

k

[Oren]

...In general,really authentic orchestral sounds are very expensive,which is why my orchestral package in my NI Komplete 6 is so incomplete...

Thousands of comedians are out of work, and Thom's trying to be funny. It works for me...  
Thanks  to Mario, Kara, James, and Thom for the information and reviews - you guys are amazing.

[MarioD]

I thought I would post this so you could get another sound bite of this no-brainer deal that is still going on.

Note that this piece is incomplete and not mastered.  I’ll post it on the other forum when/if I finish it.

[Mentious]

This would interest me but I found, on using their free trial, that it is not a real natural-sounding string plug-in. I was disappointed with it. It's not the good stuff.

[Oren]

I thought I would post this so you could get another sound bite of this no-brainer deal that is still going on.
Note that this piece is incomplete and not mastered.  I’ll post it on the other forum when/if I finish it.

Sounds good, Mario. In this context, and with your production skills, the strings work...

[MarioD]

This would interest me but I found, on using their free trial, that it is not a real natural-sounding string plug-in. I was disappointed with it. It's not the good stuff.

You’re right, it’s not the good stuff.  That was addressed earlier.  But if one needs strings and/or is short on cash it is a good buy for $15.