EastWest Hollywood Choirs – A Divine Ensemble

EastWest Hollywood Choirs

$799 USD or from $24.99/month

Original review March 2018

Bottom Line:
I can see many opportunities to expand the Hollywood series, even within the vocal genre alone. I look forward to future developments with expectation, but in the meantime, I shall be immersing myself in probably the best cinematic choir library money can buy

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D16 Group PunchBOX Bass Drum Synthesizer – A Heavyweight Contender

D16 Group PunchBOX

Original review October, 2017

Bottom Line:
Plenty of scope for creating a signature sound and huge….huge sub-bass slammers. Any serious producer of electronic music should have a kick designer, PunchBOX has a straightforward workflow that makes sense, sounds great and looks pretty amazing – I would put this at the top of the list

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PSP Audioware 2445 EMT Reverb – Crystal Clear

PSP Audioware 2445 EMT

$149USD

Originally reviewed February 2018

Bottom Line:
Every producer needs a good range of quality and characterful effect processors in their collection, particularly with reverbs. It’s one of the most important effects for providing spatial depth and ambience to a mix. This is a neat unit with some tricks and one of the smoothest plate verbs I’ve heard, I highly recommend you try the demo, it will certainly grab your attention

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Spitfire Audio Orchestral Swarm – Oceans Alive

Spitfire Audio Orchestral Swarm

$249 USD

Original review January 2018

Bottom Line:
Another absolutely wonderful offering from Spitfire Audio, who time and again show they are happy to push boundaries and explore new frontiers. Orchestral Swarm is certainly one of the boldest innovations in sampling technology right now, and an essential element for any new composer wishing to lift their A-game – or those at the top looking to stay there

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D16 Group Toraverb 2 – The Final Frontier

D16 Group Toraverb

Original review November, 2017

Bottom Line:
As part of a collection with a nice convolution, maybe a decent spring verb like PSP Nexcellence we reviewed last month, ToraVerb 2 will certainly fill the contemporary role nicely. At around $55 USD, this is a total bargain and probably one of the most remarkable reverb plugin I’ve used

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IK Multimedia T-Racks 5 – Mastering new ground

IK Multimedia T-RackS 5

Original Review, November 2017

Bottom Line:
While sonically, the core system is not a huge improvement over the already excellent T-Racks CS, visually and work-flow wise it’s a massive step up. The new flat look and excellent workflow reset T-Racks as the top dog mastering suite, awesome stuff

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UVI SubCulture – Double-Edged Knife

UVI Subculture

$39 USD

Original review February 2018

Bottom Line:
As an EDM producer this is most likely right up your alley, but from my point of view as a more traditional orchestral producer, this was a real surprise. Not only did I love the basic sound of SubCulture, but the simple to experiment interface is perfect for my compositions

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Sample Logic Trailer Xpressions 1 & 2 – The Heavy Hitters

Sample Logic Trailer Xpressions

Trailer Xpressions 1 & 2 are $299 each or $499 as a bundle.

Original review April, 2018

Bottom Line:
Trailer Xpressions are a set of sample libraries you didn’t know how much you needed until you own them.  An extravagance for a traditional orchestral composer, but a must-have for sound designers and film composers looking to push the limits

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