I was checking out the new EW Hollywod Orch. Opus..

Mixed feelings about all it.

On the bright side it's quite Amazing/astounding the level of Homogeneity and cohesiveness they have reached,
everything seems to be as Smooth as it could possibly be, and the sounds are very compatible with each other..

The whole library sounds just like a say Disney, or a rather Light-spirited adventure/animation Movie soundtrack.
It seems to be absolutely perfect for that medium and certain genera.. and be kinda ready out of the box, which is awesome/convenient. It sounds like One instrument indeed, and that's a fundamental goal of every orchestra..

However it's what it is, so it looks like it won't be the best choice for either a more Orthodox symphonic sound,
or a more Epic and Aggressive sound which is so desirable too, in both movies/trailers and video games..


So I wonder, how much of it has been re-worked,
how much does it change compared to the Original EWQL HO?

I never used the original, so I can't tell exactly,
but looks to me like the original had somewhat of a different sound...
(or maybe they have just corrected/smoothed the edges so much,
and that's how it should've been the whole time..)


And also there's one thing I'm not too sure about, and it's the whole Soft/Classic/Epic control..
I mean, ideally speaking we would have One single instrument/mode that covered the Full Range of Expression,
which you could control with velocity and/or CC Automations etc..

But this has three Modes per instrument..
So I wonder, how well do the different modes Transition/Overlap?

Is the loudest/most intense value on Soft, very similar or Equal to the quietest value on Classic,
offering a direct and perfectly smooth/seamless transition? (same for Classic<>Epic..)

Or are they like separate instruments/expressions that don't connect/overlap??


In any case, very interesting library/evolution,
and at 600$ for the full orchestra, I guess it will be an absolute success in some areas,
specially light hearted stuff like Movies/spots, some video games etc

Or maybe also orchestra aficionados/students who want a direct plug-play Hollywood sound,
if this is well adjusted, it will blow other full-direct packages like GPO out the water/universe for good..

(not that I found GPO good by any stretch of the imagination,
but there's a lot of ppl using that because it integrates nicely/directly with Finale/Sibelius type Score editors, etc..)

 

Last edited: Oct 16, 2021

I looked at it once before. In terms of sound quality to their prior libraries, they have upped the quality of the samples substantially.
It uses their own custom engine, so seeing it on the sister site anytime soon is unlikely unless R2R steps in.
I also looked further at other libraries.
I am not big on subscriptions, but for what they are asking when I looked at what you get if you were to buy every library listed outright, is around $30,000+ worth for $240 per year. So as far as subscriptions go, East West's subscription model in financial comparative terms presents the best value I have seen against most other subscription models.

 

finally i own this thing, first of all it is waaaay better than PLAY, but the legato still unsatisfying, overall it is very good for a fast workflow,
you need this file in order to make OPUS better (i have several issue before)

 

Is it not Smooth or Agile/Delicate enough?


And what about the Soft/Classic/Epic mode..
Do the different Modes transition seamlessly?
Or are they kinda like separate instruments?

I gather that Classic mode is exactly what the Old version had,
and the other two are new productions, right..

So one couldn't get Soft or Epic expressions with the original?
Or it's like they upgraded/widened the margins/palette of expression?

 

Last edited: Oct 15, 2021

well it is not "legato" enough for me though (i love how VSL sounds in Legato), and for the 3 modes i think it is just based on EQ and fx,
i think the OPUS has bigger volume than the PLAY version, and fwiw i think the Orchestrator stands out against all the cons with this library

another place to discuss is here

Code:

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/hollywood-orchestra-opus-edition-and-hollywood-orchestrator.92930/page-213

 

Just to know, what's good about East West orchestral samples? I tried their composer cloud for a year or so, but in the end not much from them made it into my productions. Even this one sounds miles behind other libraries to me, at least in terms of realism and expressivity... without even talking about the scripted-sounding legato.
So in time I simply came to associate East West with those low-budget chinese mobile game with generic epic music.

 

Last edited: Oct 15, 2021

I never used their orchestral stuff,
but for ages it was pretty much the Standard to beat..

Some of their other stuff can be useful tho, like the good old Ra

 

And this stuff is in the wish list of many in the sister site eh? Nov black friday, lets see : )

 

You pretty much nailed it on the sound and it's imo the strongest thing going for it. So many orchestral libraries out there try to mimic the Hollywood or "Cinematic" sound but, despite the name, EQWL's libraries (Symphonic and Hollywood) are the sweetest thing you'll find for lyrical or musical theater style music. The sounds make me think of the Disney renaissance films. I've heard straight from the my little pony's mouth that composers who work for Hasbro or children's cartoons tend to use EQWL.

The sound is def mixed. The strings on Opus sound sublime, but I can't totally gel with the brasses. They're not bad stuff, but I get what you're saying where some instruments still feel a bit "old". I was a subscriber on the Composer Cloud, but they have a very stupid way of downloading all the Opus files onto your computer through their own slow server using their download program. When it was all done, I still found myself consistently running into "samples missing" and needed to redownload what was apparently missing even though I had already just done it. This whole process persisted until I eventually just gave up. I was spending more time trying to just get the dang instruments than writing with them. What's worse is that the plan they say I was on is something I was locked into for a whole year and I couldn't cancel, even if I was not using most of their stuff.

Good sounds, but there's too many other kinks in the chain. Funny enough, despite the new software, I feel none of these things would be an issue if it was just on Kontakt. Regardless, it's good stuff but a bit of a mixed bag. Given my experience, I'd advise just sticking with the many "free" orchestral libraries from Cinesamples, Orchestral Tools, Spitfire, etc and only jumping on the EQWL train when they become available around these parts. I have a strong suspicion that my issues, such as constant sample missings, to bypassing the slow server downloads and the silly subscription plans, will become totally moot if Opus finds it's way here.

 

Well, can't deny it would be an interesting/welcome addition..
and yeah, some ppl has been awaiting it for decades!


If you asked me tho, I would much prefer getting the v1.2 update for MSS..
This new lookahead function looks marvelous, exactly what the library needed

And this could apply to other libs,
enough material has been released/freed to cover pretty much any style or genere/medium..

But updates like this can improve/overhaul the whole thing and be a considerable game changer

 

Last edited: Oct 16, 2021