At Spitfire Audio we currently have three professional orchestral libraries. These are: Studio Orchestra Professional, Spitfire Symphony Orchestra Professional, and BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Provided in this article is a general overview of each product and their typical usage, as well as a comparison chart and a section chart, that outline the key differences between each product.
If you are still undecided after reading, you can enter a support ticket using the help button below, where a support agent will be able to answer any further questions you have.
Studio Orchestra Professional
Typically, a Studio Orchestra Pro user will be someone who wants to add orchestral elements to Pop records, or create more of a dry, early-Hollywood sound, for a film or television score. With a smaller ensemble, Studio Orchestra Pro provides a slightly more intimate sound compared to the entire Symphony Orchestra and offers more control- with the ability to use Divisi across the sections of the orchestra.
Spitfire Symphony Orchestra Professional
A typical SSO User will be someone who wishes to emulate the modern cinematic sound often produced at the Lyndhurst Hall. In context this would be used for orchestral mockups for modern cinematic scores, with many articulations included as well as larger brass sections, with a6: Horns, Trombones, and Trumpet.
Featuring all of the content that makes up Spitfire Symphonic Strings, Spitfire Symphonic Brass and Spitfire Symphonic Woods, but with added signals. The added signals are 4 alternative (ALT) microphones: a microphone placed close to the leader of each section (L - Applies to String patches only), warm Close Ribbon (Cr), close Stereo Pair (St) and spacious Gallery (G) signals, as well as the addition of Outrigger signals to the common Close Tree Ambient (known as CTA), creating CTAO for the ‘classic Spitfire’ setup. On top of this we offer the Fine (F), Medium (M) and Broad (B) stereo mixes mixed by Jake Jackson for instant great sounding mixes, with low CPU/RAM usage.
Included as part of the pack is Masse, a unique Kontakt library that combines the sections of SSO together as Ensembles. Additionally, upgrading to Symphony Complete adds Spitfire Harp, Orchestral Grand Piano, and Spitfire Percussion to your arsenal.
BBC Symphony Orchestra Professional
Finally, a typical BBC SO Pro user will want to create large, orchestral scores, with greater depth and room ambience. This could be used for an orchestral score mockup as well as for modern cinematic orchestral elements. As part of BBC SO Pro, you will have access to other Orchestral instruments such as: Percussion, Timpani, Harp, and Celeste.
Unlike our other Orchestral packs, BBC SO is contained within the Spitfire Plugin which gives you the ability to customise the user interface through our Technique Editor and switch to other versions the BBC SO library through Mode Switching. Additionally, BBC SO has dramatically more microphone options compared to our other libraries, as well as the unique offering of solo strings in the form of the String Leader patches.
General Comparison Chart
Category |
Studio Orchestra Pro |
Spitfire Symphony Orchestra Professional |
BBC Symphony Orchestra |
| Library Size | ~425GB | ~733Gb | ~600GB |
| Plugin | Kontakt Player (Free download via Native Access) | Kontakt Player (Free download via Native Access) | Spitfire Plugin |
| RAM | Minimum 8GB | Minimum 8GB | Minimum 16GB |
| Microphone Signals |
|
Jake Jackson Mixes
|
|
| Recording Location | Air Studios: Studio One | Air Lyndhurst Hall | Maida Vale Studios |
| Room Tone | Short and Tight | Large and Reverberant | Large and Tight |
| Extras |
|
|
|
| Technique (Articulation) Customisation |
No (Individual and Economic Patches Provided) |
No (Individual and Economic Patches Provided) |
Yes |
| Optional Hard Drive |
HDD (for transfer to your SSD) |
HDD (for transfer to your SSD) |
SSD |
| Uses | Pop Music, Early-Hollywood Dry Scoring Stage for film/ television. Smaller Ensemble for tighter and intimate sound. | Orchestral mock-ups, orchestral scores, and modern film scores with a more cinematic sound. | Orchestral mock-ups, orchestral scores, and modern film scores with a more classical sound. |
Instrument Comparison Chart
Unique differences highlighted in bold.
Section |
Studio Orchestra Pro |
Spitfire Symphony Orchestra Professional |
BBC Symphony Orchestra |
| Strings |
1st Violins:
2nd Violins:
Violas:
Celli:
Basses:
|
1st Violins:
2nd Violins:
Violas:
Celli:
Basses:
|
1st Violins:
2nd Violins:
Violas:
Celli:
Basses:
|
| Woodwinds |
|
|
|
| Brass |
|
|
|
| Percussion | No | Included in Symphony Complete Only |
Untuned:
Toys:
|
| Timpani | No |
Included in Symphony Complete Only |
Yes |
| Harp | No | Included in Symphony Complete Only | Yes |
| Celeste | No | No | Yes |
| Piano | No | Included in Symphony Complete Only | No |
| Ensemble Patches | No | Masse | No |