Great Woodwind library?

I have EWQLSO gold...and am not satisfied with the woodwind/brass (moreso woodwind) choirs. A greater selection would be nice too (bass flute, oboe d'amore, piccolo clarinet). So - what do you consider 'the best' :P? (or at least better than ewqlso)

Well symphobia has an excelent woodwind section. But it's only the whole section, you can get only lets say piccolo if you only write in the upper register, as you go down the keyboard then comes the flute, the oboe, bassoon etc... it's really great for that massive orchestral sound, not so much if you want good solo samples.

Wallander Instruments make great sounding woodwinds, also Westgate studios. Cinesamples makes the renowned HollyWoodwinds and Xsample Chamber Ensemble has really nice solo instruments.

Of course you could get the big dogs like Sonivox or VSL

I like the EWQL woodwinds and brass, I think they are the strongest sections of their orchestral samples

I would definitely say that a mix between Symphobia and Hollywoodwinds would be the way to go. Symphobia for full ensemble patches and Hollywoodwinds for solos, runs, etc. But as always, test out the demos and go with your ear/gut instinct.

Happy Scoring

If you want expressive winds, and you have experience mixing and with sequencing, go with VSL. Hands down, no contest. Symphobia and Hollywood winds are good expansion libraries, but they're rather limited as base libraries.

There are no solo woodwinds in Hollywoodwinds. It is, just like Symphobia, a sections library and is meant to augment your existing winds, not replace them.

Andy is right in that absolutely nothing touches VSL for solo woodwinds. They are hands-down, no contest the most versatile and beautiful sounding woodwinds on the market. You can download just the individual instruments you need from their site as long as you have a Vienna Key. The Sonivox woodwinds have a gorgeous tone, but the programming is outdated and far less flexible than the VSL winds. VSL also gives you a lot more mixing control because of the dryness of the samples. Personally, I've never liked the Westgate sound and Wallander's woodwinds sound less convincing than the brass. Both of which are inherently synth-y sounding on their own.

Doh....Sorry about that. I was under the impression that hollywoodwinds has solo instruments. Either way, VSL woodwinds do sound beautiful.

VSL it is...though not so easy to come by :P Thanks everyone

As I said, the individual woodwind instruments are downloadable right from their site. Doesn't get much easier to come by. The only thing you need order is the Vienna Key (assuming you don't have one of course) and that will only set you back 30 bucks on Amazon or Ebay or wherever if you don't feel like ordering all the way from VSL HQ. Either way, if your mixing skills are decent then you can't possibly be disappointed by the versatility of the instruments.