Modern Scoring Strings v1.1.0 KONTAKT
20 June 2021 | KONTAKT | 34.4GB
This is a light version of the Audiobro Modern Scoring Strings library. The library features a 60 piece “a2″ divisi string ensemble, meaning 2 parts divisi per section. The library features 16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos and 8 basses, divided into two sections each. On top of that, it includes a solo violin, viola, and cello as well. The sound of the library is quite lush and smooth, and the vibrato is quite balanced even when the “Molto” button is enabled and doesn’t go to the extremes unlike some other libraries. The dynamic range is quite large and allows the library to be used in various contexts. The natural ambience from the scoring stage is quite adequate and not too overbearing, which makes the library more versatile.
The strongest feature of this library is its Auto Divisi feature, which works upto two notes for each instrument group and gets rid of the stacking effect when playing multiple notes and allows for divisi writing. On top of that, the library includes a wealth of articulations for a quite comprehensive coverage of one’s scoring needs. Each articulation has a variety of parameters that can be tweaked, which gives the user granular control over their composition. Of particular note is the Ostinato feature which helps in making ostinato patterns sound good quite easy. The solo instruments sound great too and work great as first chair instruments, and in some contexts can serve really well independent of the main library too. The Intuition Series patches are very playable and are great for putting down ideas quickly. Finally, the Stage feature is nice and the Mixer panel is one of the most comprehensive ones in a Kontakt library.
All in all, a fantastic library that has a really long list of features, is very versatile, and would please anyone who likes complete control of their instruments!
Following changes were made to the library:
1. The “Mix” and “Surround” mic sample groups were removed. The default Mix isn’t that great, and as discovered in a few forums, seems to have a few phase issues as well. The Surround mic position doesn’t add too much value, and can be easily replaced by a reverb. The included “Close” and “Stage” mic positions allow for a great deal of flexibility while preserving the sound of the hall the strings were recorded in as well. However, the Mix position remains present for the Aleatoric articulations only, as these articulations don’t have any other mic positions.
2. The samples in the original release were in 24-bit 48kHz format. The samples were converted to 16-bit 48kHz and repacked into NKX containers. A null test results in a peak of -85dB, which won’t be audible at all. Also, after quite some testing, no issues were found with noise floor build-up when playing lots of notes. The conversion process takes the size down to 34.4GB from the original 122GB, which is a 72% reduction! 
The result of these changes is that patches now consume less memory than the original. For example, the “Cellos.nki” patch now takes up 0.96GB of RAM instead of 1.26GB in the case of the original library!