Sample Libraries

Rating ***** 5/5 Stars. For quick and effortless choral mock‑ups, or even more complete works, Choir Essentials boasts a healthy 11.5GB of sample content at a very attractive price.

Rating **** 4/5 Stars. While Fractured Strings is a fully paid‑up product, Broken Strings is a freely available instrument, with samples drawn from a warped‑Nyckelharp and a broken Autoharp.

Rating **** 4/5 Stars. Auddict are back with a further library that uses the PercX engine: Raw Drum Kits, aimed more at songwriter/producer types.

Rating **** 4/5 Stars. As with its predecessor, this toolkit lacks any rhythmic material, but its astonishing sounds are well worth the entry price.

Cinematic Studio’s eagerly anticipated Woodwinds library does not disappoint.

We look at the Gospel according to Toontrack.

The Vienna samplemeisters expand their Synchron orchestral range.

Rating ***** 5/5 Stars. DEEP’s drum sample content and collections of drum pattern style sets give it a distinct musical flavour within the UJAM drum line‑up.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Acousmatic Engine explores future retro and Gothic‑influenced sound design to conjure a world of dank cellars, flickering lightbulbs and leering spectral apparitions.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. This is a very unusual expansion kit, steering well clear of the more familiar electronic drum sounds in favour of something rather more experimental.

Rating: **** 4.5/5 Stars. Sudden Audio describe this package as ‘strings reimagined’, setting this sampled‑suite apart from the more usual orchestral or solo string bundles.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Soniccouture have given this musical treasure the five‑star treatment it deserves...

Luftrum offer some found sounds as a cure for lost inspiration.

Orchestral Tools beef up their Berlin orchestra with a full‑size symphonic string instrument.

UJAM and Hans Zimmer attempt to make creating professional string parts possible for everyone with Striiiings.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. 5Elements utilises almost 6GB of samples sourced from a selection of handmade Indian Instruments, but you won’t find any sitars, tamburas or tablas here...

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars.  This Kontakt‑based library comes with the subtitle Boutique Cinematic Guitars, and that captures the essence of what’s provided in the 6GB of sample content.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Morricone fans will be pleased to hear that his compatriots Fluffy Audio have created a sample collection inspired by the composer’s striking cinematic soundscapes.

Auddict’s innovative orchestral strings library marks the legacy of a top London studio.

ZoneMatrix transforms a single instance of Kontakt into a multi‑instrument performance environment.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Version 2 ramps up the content with new instruments, new articulations, an enhanced Engine browser and new presets.