8dio Insolidus

Lovely sound. I have never regretted buying an 8dio 'vocal/choral' library. Not sure I am up for the hassle of dealing with the 'beta' version. For those who have the beta - is well enough along where you can still use it as a final for a project?

Tatu said:

Thanks. Valhalla Room (and there's a little bit of that 8Dio's Wonder one... )

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A truly terrific set of tools, Valhalla!

Rob Elliott said:

Lovely sound. I have never regretted buying an 8dio 'vocal/choral' library. Not sure I am up for the hassle of dealing with the 'beta' version. For those who have the beta - is well enough along where you can still use it as a final for a project?

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8Dio seems to know vocal stuff.

Insolidus could be a bit of a one trick pony to some - polyphonic legato swells - but there's normal sus/xfade multi-vowels and ah-oh-uh-eh etc legatos as well to cover more ground.


As far as using this in a finished product.. well why not? It really depends on what one wishes to achieve. In an orchestral/whatever context easily. In a choir only production... well is there any library suitable for that?

Check their bug list on the product page.

What about the Marcato/Staccato articulations? I have heard nothing in the Troels walkthrough (unfortunately, I wasn't available during the live streaming to ask for more infos).

I'm curious to see how well the standard legatos work, especially at lower dynamics. I've been frustrated with Lachrymosa's legatos because of the jarring transitions between vowel color and overall timbre at various dynamic levels. It works well in in dense textures, in very specific situations, but it's extremely difficult to keep the seams from showing when using it for more exposed writing.

If they've solved the problem with this lib, I'm probably on board.

The sound is superb, there is zero doubt about that.

That said, I almost wish this library had just focussed on what's new/great about it and left out the "standard" articulations. Specifically I'd like more of these multi-vowel phrases with additional options in the rhythm, tempo, and dynamic departments. I'd buy a library of just those in a heartbeat.

It seems odd to me that there are so many different choices in the actual vowels that fit in to the phrases, but fewer options regarding the differences between the actual phrases. What if I'd like to do something other than pulsing quarter notes with vowel changes on the beat? I've found other developers to have better legatos, sustains and shorts anyway, frankly. Between those other libraries and all of the previous 8dio choirs, I'm definitely covered for now in legatos and shorts so I would have preferred a library super focussed on these arcs with as many choices as possible. But that's just me. I do understand why they're including the gamut of articulations in this.


I am nitpicking, of course, as I appreciate the work 8dio does and the sound is really stellar.

I'm getting the impression that Insolidus may be one of those libraries where you're better off creating your composition around the library, rather than the other way around. I hope that's not the case, because I really like the way it sounds. Let me ask those of you who have monkeyed around with it so far... once you take out all the preset phrases and preset dynamics, how much of the library is left?

Downloading..... and waiting for the download to finish

Insolidus is downloaded

This may seem like a strange way to request others' opinions, but it will help me to make an informed decision.

All of the Insolidus examples out there sound beautiful, but they all seem to focus on consecutive phrases, which I have to assume is the library's strength. As a result, all of the demos look like this:



What I would like to know is how Insolidus sounds in a production that looks more like this:



In other words, how does it stand up when used like a traditional choral library, where the user controls the dynamics, note lengths, and sequence of syllables/vowels?

Heh. Yep I was kind of thinking the same thing.

Another vote for Polkasound's question; curious to know how it performs outside of its flagship feature.

its really getting quiet about the library here. Nobody there who bought it already and can share some thoughts?

For me it outshines other libraries in its differential soft characteristic, having that in mind for soft and emotional choir you have a good choice here.

I originally stopped watching the walkthrough after about 15 minutes (got a little samey after a while), but now that I'm working through the rest I see some of the things I wondered about are in the second half.

* Monophonic legato (from 37.00). Pretty standard fare.
* Multi-vowel phrases (from 41.40). These are very nice, and give the choice between 'static' dynamics and 'swell'/arc versions. To me it feels like these round out the library nicely. This has definitely swayed me to pick up the pre-order.

Not sure if I just managed to miss them, but haven't heard the standard ensemble oohs and aahs yet, but I'm sure they're fine and not really a deal-breaker.

i just chatted with 8dio and maybe there are some more demos coming before the pre sale ends.
its really intersting that there are literally no reviews or demos or videos online besides that we know from end of april.
just googled but nothing coming up.

Oliver said:

i just chatted with 8dio and maybe there are some more demos coming before the pre sale ends.

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maybe. maybe not.
Other than the video teasers I'm a bit surprised that they would release a product for purchase and not even have any full audio compositions to show for it blending with other instruments even if it is still in beta.
Other than Thorston's videos which are not really songs but just a quick show after download there's really nothing out there.
I've been eyeballing this for sometime but I'm a bit hesitant to take the plunge as I have A LOT of 8dio libraries including Majestica that sound super great but lack in certain functionality. This looks like Lacrimosa's engine so if you like that you'll probably be right at home with this library only with the new sound of this which is beautiful from what we all can tell.

I found a YouTube video where it was blended with Olafur Evo strings which is nice. That's it. The guy who created that mentioned the phrases end abrupt with no release. I'm just guessing that's the the sort of issue that wouldn't be fixed in the beta & probably not a bug but the nature of the engine. I had a huge issue with that in the Agitato Legato Arpeggio phrase builder where there was no release button even after download even though it clearly shows an actual button on the video walk though. A bit deceptive. (plus an email "promise in the future" from Troels that the phrases would loop and they never did and the product is now done with upgrades) So that makes me a little Leary to make the purchase.

My guess is I'll probably buy it anyway since I'm such a choir whore but maybe wait to see what Spitfire's offerings are and try to catch this one during black Friday. I actually had saved for this but ended up buying Rhodope 2 upgrade that sounds just fabulous. Something about Strezov and their marketing and reputation where you know it's just rock solid and never have to guess. I seem to have to be doing that with 8dio. let's face it. Troels can make anything sound good. I can't replicate it after the purchase but then my creative talents are more limited as I've mentioned in other posts.

At any rate, I like 8dio. I like Troels, I like the sound of their products, and own alot of their stuff. I hope they sell a lot of these. It sounds better than anything I've heard so minus a few bugs, betas, ticks, or whatever it might still be worth the purchase just to have the sound then tweak with it if ever there were issues.

Does anybody own this yet and can share your detailed experience so far rather than "hey ya it's great"? Please jump in.

yeah i think i wait too...there are some other nice libraries coming out the next weeks. and without further demos and walkthroughs i will not buy. and its not a 100$ product... so i have to take care..

Thorsten Meyer said:

For me it outshines other libraries in its differential soft characteristic, having that in mind for soft and emotional choir you have a good choice here.

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I'm actually waiting for the Thorsten Meyer playthrough video and review (was hoping this was it). Every 8Dio video is always pristine, while Thorsten goes through it warts and all, like I would myself. Some examples with reverb turned off would be good too. Thanks for the honesty Thorsten.

kurtvanzo said:

I'm actually waiting for the Thorsten Meyer playthrough video and review (was hoping this was it). Every 8Dio video is always pristine, while Thorsten goes through it warts and all, like I would myself. Some examples with reverb turned off would be good too. Thanks for the honesty Thorsten.

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Ok, I do it tomorrow