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CSB vs JXL for SSB owner

coprhead6

Active Member
Hey everyone,

I have a heavy Spitfire/Lyndhurst template. My only brass library at the moment is Spitfire Symphonic Brass. I’m a bit frustrated with the weak spots of the library and would like to add something to strengthen my brass palette.

My biggest gripes with this library are the solo horn and trombones; mostly the fact that the loudest dynamics are reserved for separate patches, and there is still no solo trombone legato.

Money and SSD space is tight, so I can’t include Berlin Brass for now...

Would you prefer CSB or a la carte JXL instruments to compliment SSB?
I’m concerned that CSB would be too similar to make my $400 sing... and it might totally replace SSB and make me feel guilty :whistling:

Thanks for humoring my latest GAS stress.
 
Hey everyone,

I have a heavy Spitfire/Lyndhurst template. My only brass library at the moment is Spitfire Symphonic Brass. I’m a bit frustrated with the weak spots of the library and would like to add something to strengthen my brass palette.

My biggest gripes with this library are the solo horn and trombones; mostly the fact that the loudest dynamics are reserved for separate patches, and there is still no solo trombone legato.

Money and SSD space is tight, so I can’t include Berlin Brass for now...

Would you prefer CSB or a la carte JXL instruments to compliment SSB?
I’m concerned that CSB would be too similar to make my $400 sing... and it might totally replace SSB and make me feel guilty :whistling:

Thanks for humoring my latest GAS stress.
I think if you bought CSB you would end up replacing your spitfire and then still have a bit desired in terms of tone quality. The solo horn from CSB is pretty good but, while I use mostly that library, I do wish the tone was a bit better. It is unparalleled in terms of flexibility to me which makes it a good base in the template but would be well complimented by something like JXL or berlin brass to add some much needed warmth to the texture.

TL;DR If I were you I'd fill specific holes with JXLB because CSB is probably not what you need.
 
Maybe it's still fresh and new to me but I've been using mostly JXL of late.
I still use CSB and Spitfire but I think, in addition, you're gonna find JXL to be
a stellar addition. Their SINE player allows you to purchase sections now instead
of the whole library.
 
I'm not a fan of the CSB's tone. In the short time I've been able to play it (don't own it myself) it was just as playble as CSS, but leaves a lot to be desired. JXL for me is just unbeleivable. The things complain about with it leave me confused becuase it sounds breathtaking. It sounds amazing with no tweaking, and the mic blend makes it destroy the competition because I never use more than 1 mic with anything else to keep the RAM down.

Not only does it sound more "realistic", the AM mics are EQ'd prefectly and just sound massive. then the traditonall mics let you make your own descisons with the tone.

Only thing is the trumpets are the weak bit - mainly the solo trumpet. But they are still better than my prevously used hollywood trumpets.


If you want trombones - I really don't think any library has done trombones anywhere near as well as JXL.

I really don't think CSB will give you much more than waht you have with CSB.
 
Hey everyone,

I have a heavy Spitfire/Lyndhurst template. My only brass library at the moment is Spitfire Symphonic Brass. I’m a bit frustrated with the weak spots of the library and would like to add something to strengthen my brass palette.

My biggest gripes with this library are the solo horn and trombones; mostly the fact that the loudest dynamics are reserved for separate patches, and there is still no solo trombone legato.

Money and SSD space is tight, so I can’t include Berlin Brass for now...

Would you prefer CSB or a la carte JXL instruments to compliment SSB?
I’m concerned that CSB would be too similar to make my $400 sing... and it might totally replace SSB and make me feel guilty :whistling:

Thanks for humoring my latest GAS stress.
The never ending quest. I bought Century Brass for some of these reasons. (I don't dislike the SSB solo horn, but it definitely has its weaknesses.) The horns work well with SSB (i.e, SSB horn on 1&2, CB on 3&4 or vice versa), the mutes are decent, but I've had a hard time otherwise getting them to play together as an ensemble. And for me the solo trombone and the ensemble trombones are not an improvement on SSB. (My biggest gripe with SSB trombones is not the lack of legato for the solo, though having it would be nice, but the jumps between velocity layers in the shorts.) SF Studio Brass also has decent mutes and the instruments in general get along better with SSB but the library has lots of drawbacks, and doesn't really address those jumps in velocity for the shorts. I'm looking at the solo trombone in JXL to see how that works. Also as a relatively inexpensive way of trying out JXL and Sine to see if the full library is something I'm interested.
 
I've been using CSB, and generally think it's great, but I agree the tone sometimes lacks. I'm interested in trying JXL, but the many reports of problems with SINE scared me away. Are there people using JXL with Logic with no problems?
 
Your description makes me think of SWAM solo brass which in on pre-order for $480. Maybe some will not agree with me, but I'm kind of confident in this library although it doesn't have enough audio demo at the moment. I have their woodwind solo instrument and they blend well with other libraries, adding some reverb and positioning treatment.

I'm a bit out of topic, just another possibility if you are after solo horn and trombone.
 
I've been using CSB, and generally think it's great, but I agree the tone sometimes lacks. I'm interested in trying JXL, but the many reports of problems with SINE scared me away. Are there people using JXL with Logic with no problems?
Yeah, had a couple of hiccups first 2 days, but very smooth since.
 
Interesting. Did the hiccups just go away on their own, or was it something you were able to do to clear up an issue?
I had a bug where it forgot I had installed stuff. Support just showed me how resolve this. Also had a problem running it in a mutli instance method. Supprt said they are working on this but for now just use multiple instances of SINE. Since then only had one crash of the SINE player.
 
I had a bug where it forgot I had installed stuff. Support just showed me how resolve this. Also had a problem running it in a mutli instance method. Supprt said they are working on this but for now just use multiple instances of SINE. Since then only had one crash of the SINE player.
Thanks for your info. I think I'll try buying one patch, and see how that goes, and if it agrees with my system, I'll go from there. Certainly, the tone sounds fantastic.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone!

From what I’ve heard, it does seem like CSB could replace SSB in my template, especially with my shiny new Spaces II verb. However, it’s interesting to hear that several of you don’t like the tone. Say what you will about the Spitfire brass sampling/programming; the tone is fabulous. Maybe it’s worth suffering through SSBs weaknesses a bit longer and filling holes as needed with the tone monster that is JXL.

Interestingly, the holes I would fill with JXL comes out to about the same price as CSB.
~$379
Solo Horn €64
4 Horns €79
3 Trombones €71
Trombone €64
Bass Trombones €71
(give or take)

Are there any opinions about the JXL solo horn as a workhorse instrument?

SWAM does look interesting for specific instruments, maybe I will pick up one instrument to mess with regardless of this decision...

PS.
Spitfire Support recently told me that the Professional editions of the Symphonic range are planned to be released this year. Maybe there will finally be some fixes for our gripes?
 
Thanks for the advice everyone!

From what I’ve heard, it does seem like CSB could replace SSB in my template, especially with my shiny new Spaces II verb. However, it’s interesting to hear that several of you don’t like the tone. Say what you will about the Spitfire brass sampling/programming; the tone is fabulous. Maybe it’s worth suffering through SSBs weaknesses a bit longer and filling holes as needed with the tone monster that is JXL.

Interestingly, the holes I would fill with JXL comes out to about the same price as CSB.
~$379
Solo Horn €64
4 Horns €79
3 Trombones €71
Trombone €64
Bass Trombones €71
(give or take)

Are there any opinions about the JXL solo horn as a workhorse instrument?

SWAM does look interesting for specific instruments, maybe I will pick up one instrument to mess with regardless of this decision...

PS.
Spitfire Support recently told me that the Professional editions of the Symphonic range are planned to be released this year. Maybe there will finally be some fixes for our gripes?
If you don't already have it I would immediately pick up the 2€ Majestic Horn from Organic Samples (distributed by OT). I've found it a good supplement for some legato stuff that the SSB solo horn struggles with. I also don't especially like the SSB Horn a6 and substitute Ark 1 Horns a9 for that. With the addition of the Century Brass horn as well, I'm reasonably happy with my horns. I mostly like the SSB trumpets, except at high dynamics where I find they don't cut through the tutti orchestra as well as they should. I often have to draw in the Ark 1 trumpets a4 for that, and the joins between SSB and Ark 1 trumpets are imperfect. The trombones are very much a mess, mostly as I noted with inconvenient gaps between the dynamic layers of the shorts. Supplemented with Iceni for apocalyptic passages, the low brass of SSB as a whole don't pose too many issues for me, except in the shorts at more modest dynamic levels. But the trombones alone are rarely fun to work with... If I find the JXL trombone is much better than the SSB trombone in terms of consistency and managing dynamic layers of shorts, I'll definitely work toward changing over more of my Brass to JXL.

I don't know that the new SSB can solve its inadequacies without considerably more new sampling. The programming can be made a lot more consistent and that will be welcomed and help to a degree. But many of the issues with it seem to be baked into the limitations of the sample pool.
 
If you don't already have it I would immediately pick up the 2€ Majestic Horn from Organic Samples (distributed by OT). I've found it a good supplement for some legato stuff that the SSB solo horn struggles with.

I mostly like the SSB trumpets, except at high dynamics where I find they don't cut through the tutti orchestra as well as they should.

The trombones are very much a mess

the low brass of SSB as a whole don't pose too many issues for me, except in the shorts at more modest dynamic levels.

I just picked up Majestic Horn... Wow! That will definitely earn it's keep in my template. Thanks for that!

I also like the SSB trumpets. They are definitely my favorite of the instruments.
The low brass also is really good in my opinion.
 
IDK -- I bought only the solo trombone from JXL brass to supplement the Spitfire stuff; agree with the OP that the solo trombone is just not that hot in the Spitfire Symphonic Brass (maybe Pro version will fix it?). The rest I'm pretty good with.

Other than that instrument, I like the Spitfire brass. Plus I still use Hollywood Brass and a number of other libraries now and then. They all sound a little different.
 
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I've been using CSB, and generally think it's great, but I agree the tone sometimes lacks. I'm interested in trying JXL, but the many reports of problems with SINE scared me away. Are there people using JXL with Logic with no problems?
A lot of composers are using Sine without issue. If you actually look at who’s complaining about it, it’s the same people in every thread. Keep in mind most people who are using it without issues don’t ever post.
 
I use HB a lot but the solo and ensemble bones leave a lot to be desired. So I got jxl solo and ensemble bones. So far I like them.

The solo Horn and the 2 horn and the 6 hrn patches in HB are great.

I like what I'm hearing in the JXL solo and 4 hrn patches so I will get those shortly.

Often overlooked because of the nature of the library is sample modeling. I've had unbelievable results with sample modeling trumpet. I oft layer it with an ensemble patch it brings them to life.

I think with as with any library knowing how to work with the real thing really makes a difference.

Like for detailed solo stuff nothing beats The Trumpet by sample modeling. For tutti ff passages I've gotten the best results with Caspian Brass. I'd still like to pick up Angry Brass Pro.

For Brass Choir writing I've actually done well with just HB+Sample modeling.

If you're wanting to use SSB as your core, note where it is weakest then look around for those specialty libraries that fill it out. For some reason devs have a knack for a few instruments in a section then they fall over. So for me rather than buy another full lbrary I like to pick and choose.
 
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A lot of composers are using Sine without issue. If you actually look at who’s complaining about it, it’s the same people in every thread. Keep in mind most people who are using it without issues don’t ever post.
Sine is completely unusable for me!

(But then, that's because they haven't made an AAX version yet. :cool:)

Best,

Geoff
 
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