Is UVI’s Orchestral Suite 2 The Best Value Orchestral Library Ever? – Sounds and Presets
Plus Wrong Tools give us a very unique take on a piano sample library!
3,0 / 5,0 | 
Orchestral Suite 2 gives you a complete orchestra at your fingertips with enough articulations and nuance to have the big boys quaking in their boots. We also have a remarkable new piano library from Wrong Tools!
Sounds and Presets
UVI Orchestral Suite 2 for UVI Falcon and UVI Workstation
I’m not one for hyperbole, but UVI may have delivered a pretty earth-shattering statement in the world of orchestral sound libraries, which may have some of the more established names in that particular world looking at their own offerings and wondering how UVI have pulled this one off with Orchestral Suite 2.
There are a lot of orchestral libraries out there made with deep care and attention by some stalwarts of the industry. Spitfire Audio, Vienna, Orchestral Tools, East West, to name just a few. Their depth and range are extensive, with multiple articulations, numerous round robins and a myriad mic positions.
But they all do share one thing in common. A hefty price. And I want to make it clear that for a deeply multisampled orchestra library, those prices are more than reasonable. Some of those manufacturers even provide free or low-cost versions. I’m a particular fan of Spitfire’s Pro/Core/Discover method that started with the BBC Symphony Orchestra package.
But UVI’s Orchestral Suite 2 has fired shots across the bows of all of the other players with a flexible, high-quality and massively affordable package that, whilst maybe not delivering on the depth of others out there, delivers a remarkable level of scope, detail and content to satisfy all but the most elite of composers.
Orchestral Suite 2 delivers instruments from every part of a symphony orchestra in both solo and ensemble varieties. Furthermore, each instrument has mono and poly versions with velocity mapped to either the keys or mod wheel. As well as all the expected instruments, UVI have also added choirs (Male, Female and Child) as well as a Cathedral Organ and Classical Guitar.
Every instrument in Orchestral Suite 2 comes with a range of articulations, accessible by the beautifully simple UI or via the more traditional method of key switching. The pitch range of the instruments is limited to the specifics of the chosen instrument, but you can flick a switch and go beyond that range in either direction.
As if that wasn’t enough, each Orchestral Suite 2 instrument has its own timbre settings with gain, pan and pitch controls, as well as an ADSR envelope and LFOs. There are also controls for dynamics, colour and balance as well as reverb, delay, EQ and a maximiser with plenty of options for each.
I could go on at length, but I’ve not even mentioned Orchestral Suite 2’s inspired ‘Composer’ function. This built-in tool allows the user to play around with chord progressions, utilising the orchestra in ways suited to classical, cinematic, short and expressive styles. Within each of these styles are numerous presets that provide different blends of instruments with numerous chord presets, defined by your chosen key.
But far from being a rigid, limited tool, the user can then dive into the preset and tweak not only the notes, but the instruments playing those notes. It is beautifully simple, immediately rewarding and almost infinitely variable, made even more so by Orchestral Suite 2’s delightfully intuitive interface.
Orchestral Suite 2 has a 36GB footprint, using 94GB of losslessly compressed FLAC samples spread over nearly 500 presets recorded at 88.2kHz and presented in 44.1kHz. it will run in UVI’s Falcon instrument as well as their free UVI Workstation, both of which offer AU/VST/VST3/AAX and standalone versions.
And how much does all this power cost? Orchestral Suite 2 is €199. That’s insanely great value for money. But wait… Buy it before May 31st, 2026, and you will only pay €129!! If you subscribe to UVI’s SonicPass, you can download Orchestral Suite 2 now for no extra charge! Get this. Get this now!
Pianesque for Kontakt by Wrong Tools
If we have a ton of orchestral sample libraries, we probably have even more piano sample libraries. Every time a piano sample library comes across my desk, I let out a little sigh and hope that it will be wildly special or unique. But when you get one from Wrong Tools, you know it is going to be something special.
Billed as a study in piano abstractions, Wrong Tools tells me that Pianoesque begins where the hammer contact with the strings ends. This statement in itself had me intrigued, so I was quite keen to dig into this 4.4GB Kontakt library.
Instantly, you can see why they’ve described it as they have. They’ve used granular sample processing, tape colouration, ebows and more to deliver sounds that are instantly familiar but quite unlike anything you may have heard before.
This is very much an atypical piano library and one that anybody who works in cinematic, ambient or more esoteric composition will find immediately inspiring and rewarding. The interface, like all Wrong Tools interfaces is simple and easy to navigate and there are 90 presets here for you to explore.
Everything is sampled at 24/96, and you will require a full version of Kontakt, version 6.4.2 and above to play this. It goes on sale on May 26th, but you can pre-order now for a 50% discount, down from €54 to just €27.
Acacia Fantasy for Chromaphone 3 by Applied Acoustics Systems
This next one is a bit niche, but I am an eternal sucker for all things physically modelled and many things video game related, so this new expansion pack for AAS’s acclaimed Chromaphone 3 ticks both those boxes in a big way!
The influence behind this pack is the classic fantasy RPG genre of video games, and it is positively overflowing with sounds that will have you in the mood for rescuing some princess from a fire-breathing dragon, crossing numerous environments and battling it out in splendid arenas!
You get 100 presets for your money, which will work in both the full version of Chromaphone 3 as well as the free ASS Player. Of course, using Chromaphone 3 will allow you to edit and tweak the sounds to your particular taste.
There’s lots to explore here, and many of the patches are viable outside of the fantasy RPG environment, so even if you’re not into that sort of thing, there will be plenty here to keep you sonically entertained. You can grab this pack now with 48% off for a limited time at just £17.95!
Prism for Waldorf Protein by A.Kav
Another great bank from A.Kav brings this week’s proceedings to a close, and for one of my most favourite synths of recent months, the fabulous Waldorf Protein. This little desktop unit is getting a lot of preset love of late, and deservedly so.
This pack contains 40 brand new presets that focus on texture, movement and atmosphere. There’s plenty here for the electronic, experimental and ambient musician with leads, pads, arps and many wierd and wonderful sounds.
Prism costs just €15 and is worth every penny/cent! And whilst you’re there, check out A.Kav’s other Waldorf Protein pack, the excellent Horizontal.
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