E M U L A T O R P R O T E U S - no other instrument has ever knocked my socks off like that one in 1990, when the first affordable sample-based instruments had just come out (Korg M1, Roland U-20...). The Proteus was one of the 'kings' of realism for that time, and I was fascinated about its orchestral sounds. Now of course, perception has changed so much that the demo songs can't impress anyone and sound deficient.
Emulator continued to manufacture such racks until about 2000. I think this orchestral one was the last one, and for 1999 it really sounds excellent:


One of the former heads of EMU is now said to have announced to take up production of modules again. However, it seems to be focused on electronic/analogue sounds I don't want to abandon hope that it will also include new orchestral racks/modules...

I'm with you on this one, Rosetree. I, too, wish they'd make a new, state of the art orchestral sound module, or at least, a module that also includes all the orchestral sounds anyone would need.

Speaking about the Roland U-20, it was my second keyboard. In fact, I still have it, but some of the keys and buttons stopped working many years ago. I had bought it when it came out, in 1989, because it sounded the most realistic, as far as acoustic and orchestral sounds were concerned. The Choir sounds still sound pretty good.

Come on, Kurzweil, Roland and Yamaha, gives us some modules!

The thing these days is that laptops are so cheap and powerful, (And there are many orchestral VST libraries on the market) demand for hardware modules is small and non-profitable. (Also a laptop and VSTs are no more difficult to set up then a hardware module these days)

Bill

Another topic we've often discussed already... I agree that for studio use everyone goes VST, and that's most probably why Emulator had to stop manufacturing their hardware modules around 2000. But does a 'cheap' laptop really suffice? According to all I read you need a powerful, more expensive one for the good libraries. Then, I was thinking about using orchestral sounds live, and there I still consider hardware sound generators as both easier and less glitch-prone. In fact, there IS a reasonable demand for the Roland Integra, it's not one of Roland's total flops (like BK-9).
I even see one advantage of sound modules for live use which they didn't have in the late 1990s: with an iPAD (or other tablet) and a proper app (to be developed by the manufacturer preferably), even a module can be controlled very conveniently as if it had a large touchscreen of its own.

The bigdownfall of the big VST orchestrall stuff is loading times and processor use... I wouldnt use LASS or anything in that order on just a normall laptop


But... if you want impressive orchestrall stuff, turn your head towards the Korg Kronos expanions... KA pro is the name and they are close to what those VSTs offer and fit in a workstation..

Very impressive and Sevan did a masterful job of demoing it. However, although probably better than anything you'll hear on a normal synth, I found the strings just a tad harsh/(metallic?) for my taste and I also didn't like the harp....I should say, I didn't like the simulation, the sound itself was quite nice, it just didn't sound like a harp to me. I do believe that the strings could be 'mellowed' to my taste with high quality EQ, as the tone itself is full, rich, and has lots of 'character'. JMO, though. I'm no expert on orchestral sounds. Would like to have heard some of the orchestral horns.

chas

Even though these demos came out a few years ago using the older Kurzweil PC3 series (not the newer PC3K or PC3A), they are definitely worth a listen. I think you'll be hard-pressed to distinguish these from a real orchestra:

http://ejbleen.wix.com/uso#!__page-1

Sorry about the link. You'll have to cut and paste it on Google.

Regarding the Kronos, yes, I would consider its expansions as the closest (at least technically) to software libraries you can get on a synth, I just recommended someone to have a look at it - for me personally, it would mean to give up the lightweight MoXF and carry a 13.9 kilogram keyboard to each church wedding. That's why I'm so crazy about a module.
With respect to this specific demo and expansion, I'm not sure... the demo boasts so much with gigantic percussion sounds and octaved strings with a strong-vibrato solo violin on top of it, I'd rather want to hear how a plain Beethoven symphony would sound with it in order to be sure how realistic it really is.
In that respect, I like the Kurzweil examples Mikem posted even better - even if this is not up-to-date technology, and there are some details where you hear it: the very high string section tones do sound somewhat synthetic, the piano is sub-standard, and at one point I heard a not-so-perfect trumpet. Kurzweil have certainly also rested on their laurels too long... Actually I think the Roland SRX 04 and 10 largely live up to these Kurzweil sounds (SRX 10 probably exceeds them), Roland woodwinds might be a bit worse, but IMO it's more a question of how much detail you put into the sequencer tracks.

So KApro is from Kurt Ader? He used to be the head of KARO sounds in Mannheim. They used to have string libraries for the M3, too. They sampled the Mannheim symphonic orchestra. Obviously KApro is no more under the KARO label, but made by Kurt Ader, as the Youtube user states...