Welcome to Music Nation. This week we’re taking a look at Sonuscore’s The Orchestra Complete, along with its expansion library, Winter Strings. I was very impressed when I reviewed the original release last year, and this revamped, expanded, and updated edition looks to add even more content and flexibility to the original formula.
(Updated September 2025) I’m excited to dive into this review, as I loved the first library and rated it among the best sample libraries of the year. The new Winter Strings expansion also promises an exciting and unusual twist.
Have a look at my previous full review for The Orchestra after this
The Orchestra Overview
The Orchestra Complete is an 80-piece orchestral Kontakt-based sample library featuring over 300 ensemble presets covering strings, brass, woodwinds, choir, and percussion instruments.
This edition includes everything from the original The Orchestra release, plus 60 new string articulations, 100 additional patches, ethnic string samples, and the new 41-piece Winter Strings orchestra. You can also purchase Winter Strings as a standalone library.
One of the major new additions is the MIDI Export feature, which allows you to drag and drop all five internal sequence tracks directly into your DAW as MIDI files.
Just Like Old Times
I’m a huge fan of Sonuscore libraries – not only do they sound great, but they also have one of the best workflows on the market.
The Orchestra is an all-in-one epic orchestral tool that captures the same intuitive one-finger workflow found in Sonuscore’s other titles. It’s perfect for those who want to get up and running quickly with convincing, pre-scripted arrangements.
If you haven’t already, I recommend checking out our earlier review of The Orchestra, which covers most of the library’s basic operation. In short, the core orchestra patch contains five fully independent instrument channels into which you can load any of the individual instruments you like.
Each of the five channels includes mixing, panning, and effects controls, but most importantly, they include one of two modulator types – step arpeggiator or curve envelope.
The step arpeggiator allows up to three unique rhythmic patterns, while the envelope offers two unique curves for velocity or crescendo effects. Together, these allow for complex arrangements per instrument, and by loading multiple instances, you can expand your creations even further.
Of course, you can skip the core orchestra patch and load individual instruments much like a traditional orchestral library, though most of the functionality lies within this central patch.
In With the New
There’s a long list of upgrades and improvements in this new Complete edition. Many are under the hood, but a few are genuine game-changers.
The entire UI has had a visual refresh. At first glance it looks similar, but side-by-side with the original, the new interface is noticeably sharper with larger, clearer fonts.
The dynamic range of all samples has been improved, and the difference is obvious. Velocity scaling feels much smoother, especially in the woodwinds and brass, which previously felt a little one-dimensional.
You can now save and share your orchestral patches – a fantastic and often-overlooked feature that could lead to community patch sharing and collaboration.
The new Mongolian ethnic Morin Khuur strings are fascinating to play. They have a somewhat shrill tone reminiscent of sul ponticello strings, but with a rounder low end. They can sound a bit jarring against traditional orchestral instruments, and the staccatos aren’t especially pleasant on their own, but when layered they add wonderful grit and character.
Another highlight: the library’s tiny data footprint makes for incredibly fast loading times. Even the large multis loaded on our test system in under ten seconds. It’s great to see no extra bloat despite all the new content.
The MIDI Export feature deserves special mention. The idea is simple: record MIDI in your DAW, then play it back into The Orchestra. The export section in the GUI switches to “recording,” showing that it’s capturing your DAW’s data. Once finished, you can drag and drop the resulting MIDI files back into your project.
In essence, you can convert your one-finger sketches into full orchestral arrangements in seconds, with all envelopes and arpeggiations preserved for further editing. It’s clever, fast, and perfect for songwriting. You can build rough ideas using piano or another instrument, then feed that into The Orchestra to create a fleshed-out orchestral arrangement.
It’s not magic – you’ll still need to edit and embellish – but the heavy lifting is done for you, giving you a strong base for refinement.
Sounding-Off
The full string section from the original The Orchestra is here, along with the new Morin Khuur ensembles. The improved dynamic range is noticeable, particularly at the extreme ends of the velocity spectrum (0–10 and 120–127). It’s now easier to find those expressive sweet spots.
My only real criticism is that the recordings sound quite raw. The library excels at gritty, epic, and bombastic material, but it’s harder to coax smooth, delicate performances from it. That’s fine – it’s clearly designed for the cinematic “big sound” crowd. If you want something softer, look to Spitfire Audio’s Albion V. The Orchestra is built for power: epic trailers and wall-of-sound Hollywood scores.
The brass section includes French horns, trumpets, trombones, and low brass. It’s not an exhaustive collection, but it packs serious punch. The tone is raw and aggressive – perfectly matching the strings – but not ideal for subtle passages.
The woodwinds cover the usual suspects: flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and contrabassoon. Overall they sound very good, with none of the brass or string harshness. The oboe, in particular, stands out beautifully, even with limited dynamic control.
The percussion section is small but effective, with a lovely glockenspiel and harp, plus solid orchestral percussion, timpani, and tubular bells.
The choir section is surprisingly strong. There’s no word-building or vowel shaping, but the simple “ohs” and “ahs,” along with a selection of staccato hits, sound great. I do wish there were an ADSR envelope for more control over note length.
The String FX section includes hits, falls, and risers – all genuinely orchestral rather than synthetic. The sound of a full tutti orchestra performing a slow riser is stunning and genuinely eerie – perfect for spooking the neighbours.
Conclusion
I can’t find any serious faults with The Orchestra Complete. The additional features enhance the flexibility of the original in several important ways, making the upgrade almost a must-buy.
While the library leans heavily toward the bombastic, some will love that over-the-top energy. I’d rather have too much power than too little – you can always dial things back. It’s like bringing a bazooka to a knife fight: subtle it is not, but unleash it and it will flatten anything in its path.
Scoring with The Orchestra Complete remains as quick and effortless as ever. It’s the perfect tool for brainstorming ideas. The multi-patches offer instant gratification, and the individual instruments sound better than ever.
The new MIDI Export feature is a game-changer. It’s rescued me more than once when stuck on an idea, acting almost like a second composer in the room. It’s worth the upgrade price for that feature alone.
A wonderful library for both novice and professional composers alike – top-notch sound, flexible instrument selection, and smart, innovative features.
Has Sonuscore outdone itself again? Absolutely.
Highly recommended.
