Sample Libraries

UJAM target media composers with the latest addition to their Virtual Pianist instrument series.

Krotos Studio makes custom sound design accessible to almost anyone.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars. The tonal characteristics of orchestral brass instruments are notoriously difficult to capture and reproduce in sampled form. Does this library succeed?

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars. Iconic Violin provides a solo violin recorded in a historic church in Heidelberg, Germany and offers a fantastic sustain articulation with legato.

The latest Vienna string orchestra offers a unique dual perspective.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. For dramatic male vocals that would grace any fantasy‑style music cue, Ethera Gold Prometheus is absolutely epic.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. It makes sense that Heavyocity, devotees of dangerous, destructive, distorted brain‑crushing timbres, turn their attention to heavy guitar.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The latest sample library from Kirk Hunter Studios is designed to cater to all your strings section needs.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars. Quiet Music may not be the biggest name in software instruments, but for those producing ambient, chillout or lo‑fi music, the company’s products are a real find.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars. This new Kontakt instrument started life as a viola da gamba; a string instrument from the Baroque era, which is generally regarded as the precursor to the cello.

Toontrack and Frank Filipetti span a vast array of musical genres with the latest Superior Drummer expansion.

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Bunker Samples return with their new library Bunker Perc, recorded in the bomb shelter that gives the company their name.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Jade Evolutions can be regarded as a partner product to Strezov’s existing Jade Orchestra, but with all‑new content and a substantially different instrument construct.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Sam Thomas is a composer, producer and session musician who describes his debut solo plug‑in as being somewhere between a synth, guitar and organ.

Rating 4.5/5 Stars. UK producer Trevor Horn was a dominant force in 1980s pop, and this collaboration with Spitfire Audio gives users instant access to the maestro’s sound world.

Sonuscore combine organic percussion sounds with a creative sequencing engine.

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Spitfire’s flagship ARO series now features a third percussion collection around the theme of metals, with essentials such as piatti cymbals and tam‑tams making a welcome appearance.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Sonuscore are back with Trinity Drums 2 which includes all 100 themes from the original, but with considerably more content and a refreshed UI.

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. The Lost Reveries library offers ambient drone sounds and were created by Hilyard, an artist well known in the genre and with some 25 album releases to his name.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Shift is intended to provide modern sound design elements that film composers can blend into their projects to emphasise specific events and/or musical transitions.