Since the Star Wars scores were, in many ways, my introduction to classical music, the sound of this library causes an almost involuntary reaction. I'm not a composer by any stretch - most of what I get out of my libraries is the simple pleasure of hearing amazing sounds that I actually have some control over (I'm not a keyboardist, just a noodler), even more-so when it's the sound of an amazingly lifelike orchestra.
My dilemma with ARO is this: I've seen a number of people say that it's Spitfire's take on Big Bang Orchestra - which seems fairly accurate - the only problem being, I already took the plunge on Big Bang Orchestra, piecemeal at first, then "completing the bundle" when I realized the price via Best Service was very similar to what I would have paid by waiting for sales on the individual pieces. Needless to say, BBO is a much larger investment than ARO (I was flush at the time, and it was an aspirational purchase - I honestly don't see myself going further up-market than this, based on my skills and interests), but BBO also has a lot more content than ARO (I already have legato for all sections/ensembles, plus many things I don't see SF adding to the Foundations/Selections line).
But, as nice as BBO sounds and as amazing as the Synchron player is, BBO doesn't have That Sound, and there's a part of me that will always want it. I can't really justify having both (in addition to the small selection of other orchestral libraries I have), but selling off BBO and taking a hit on the sale - even though having the option to sell is one of the attractions of VSL libraries - for something with much less content and some odd limitations (the limited range of some of the Selections, etc) just to get That Sound also seems a little bit crazy. Again, I don't see myself in the market for the AR Modular line - I really can't see any way that I'd be able to justify it.
But....That Sound.
