Chris Hein Horns Compact from Best Service – Review

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Yo what’s good fam!

Back with another goodie for ya!

As soon as I saw this one, I knew I had to have it.

I have seen the Chirs Hein Horns for a while, but the complete collection (4 volumes) is close to 750 bucks or so.

I’m sure it’s dope, but if you’re not doing things on a pro level, not sure you want to spend that much on horns…it was a little out of reach in my opinion.

BUT….Best Service just released a “compact” version of the horns.

let’s check it out!

What is Chris Hein Horns Compact?

It’s a “compact” version of the Chris Hein Horns library.

You get all 53 solo instruments from the complete library

They have 6 velocity layers and you get 5 playing styles in the patch.

So…it’s really a “complete” horn package for many people

Quick Specs

  • content: 5.8 GB
  • format: Kontakt Player/Kontakt
  • price: $204.68

 

 

So how does it sound?

For years I’ve had people tell me about Chris Hein Horns…and any time I do a review on horns, they seemed to come up.

I won’t lie, I was interested, but at the price point for the whole thing (I mean, I wanted all the instruments, not just the sax or trumpet section), I just sorta looked past it.

NOT Anymore!

1 word to describe the sound would be AWESOME

Seriously, they have a really nice tone about them, that just sounds….real.

It’s not so much of an orchestral tone, more of a jazzy/funky big band type of sound.

The inclusion of the convolution reverb is really nice, as it can add some nice space and texture to the horns.

The recordings are well done, not annoying digital artifacts, and they can sound as full or as intimate as you wish.

I also love that you have FX built right in, so you can eq, compress, adjust the filter, reverb, or even flanger.

At the end of the day, sound is what really matters, and these definitely sound dope!

So what’s the bottom line?

Seriously? Just get them…Chris Hein Horns for a fraction of what it cost to get the complete collection.

Sure you get more playing styles and a few more layers in the “full” complete version, as well as some extra sections…but this right here is no “lite” version.

The way you can build your own sections is just plain fun and very useful.

I give this 5 out of 5 subs, it’s quite possibly the best horn library I’ve played with at any price range.

There may be better options if you want a more cinematic or orchestral approach…but for jazzy, funky, big band style horns that YOU control….this is it, period.

I really have nothing else to say, I love these horns, they load quick, they sound good, and the interface allows me to be very versatile with my section creation.

Just check it out at Best Service: http://www.bestservice.de/detail1.asp/best_service/chris_hein_horns_compact/en

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43 Comments

  3. Ghost Beats · Edit

    Wow, i’m really impressed by these. I have the Project Sam Orchestral Brass Collection but it’s not really useful for interpolating Big Band, Jazz, Soul, etc. This is perfect for replaying those samples with realism. Great find fam!

    Reply
    • saintjoe · Edit

      @Ghost Beats, yeah exactly, I don’t have project sam but have heard it, I do have some other orchestral brass libraries and nothing really useful for that jazzy/funk sound. That’s what I dig about this. I’m glad they are doing these “compact” versions of their more expensive libraries, it’s a really good opportunity to get some great sounds.

      Reply
  5. Angelinni · Edit

    I think Chris Hein is a (deserved) well-respected name regarding libraries. At least I heard of his works almost any time I check about horns (as well as projectsam, cinebrass, to name a few). So (I think) this is actually a great value for the price. The manual is available at site, but there’s a few things that doesn’t mention. For example, I understood (could be wrong, english is not my language), the articulations are selected “automatically”. Can be selected using keyswitching as well? Which articulations are included? Apparently the swells can be handled with velo key, so eventually automated. Overall I’m deeply interested on this one. Thanks a lot for the review, SJ

    Reply
    • saintjoe · Edit

      @Angelinni, You are correct, well, I just used the trigger keys to trigger the harmonics, trills, etc. And you can use the mod wheel to do swells. I will have to get into it some more on the articulations happening automatically, I’ve only had this for a couple days so there’s still much I haven’t explored but the basics are all there and I’m loving it. I agree, I’ve heard of a lot of the same companies you mentioned and even have some of the products, but they lean more towards the “orchestral” side to me. These are great for jazzy, funk, and more contemporary pop styles. Thanks for the comment.

      Reply
  8. Tiko · Edit

    SJ!! you are going to render me bankrupt real soom fam. The sound quality is amazing and I a, only using tiny headphones

    The iphone is gonna have to wait. I am getting this for real.

    Thanks for the Demo as always. Nice little loop you had going on there too.

    Reply
  9. Mannas · Edit

    Thanks for the heads up on this SaintJoe. I’ve been on the lookout for a good funk horns type library for a while now. Chris Hein Horns have always been expensive and same with Mojo. It’s good but high. I’ll be honest when I saw this said Compact I had low expectations but I judged way too quickly. There’s nothing compact about it. It looks like you get a ton for your money. The instruments sound good but the ability to arrange sections and the effects are huge. It looks like there are quite a bit of customization options. It’s nice that everything seems guided too for those who don’t arrange horn sections on the regular. That’s very helpful. I think I’m gonna have to pick this one up.

    Reply
    • saintjoe · Edit

      @Mannas, I was the same man, didn’t know what to expect….once I started playing it, I just started smiling. I really dig it man, the interface is really what takes it to the next level, the sound itself is great but the interface is what sets it on fire!

      Reply
  10. iRonicLee · Edit

    It’s cool, it didn’t give me goosebumps like that Cinebrass library did. It still sounds digital to me. Maybe it will grow on me. It sounds good for software but it doesn’t sound as real as that Cinebrass library to me. Just my two cents 🙂

    Reply
    • saintjoe · Edit

      @iRonicLee, Honestly I think they may be the “Holy Grail” I haven’t had a chance to try them yet.

      Here’s my analysis on what I have so far

      CineBrass – killer, realistic, hollywood/orchestral sound, nothing touching it for “that” sound in my opinion

      Chris Hein Compact – really great for building your own sections, clean interface, easy to tweak, a little week in the solo horns, good for jazz/funk, and maybe some big band

      Vir2 Mojo – really like their solos, sections are ok but prefer the tone of their solo instruments, really good for jazz, soul, and funk/big band

      So I like different ones for different things. But I still think at this time Chris Hein is the best “bang for the buck” as the others are a bit more expensive.

      So I still need to get Sample Modelling because from their demos I’ve heard, they seem great for both solo and possibly sections.

      Reply
      • iRonicLee · Edit

        @saintjoe, 🙂 Thank you sir, you know I always value your opinion. Yeah I’m looking at the Cinebrass and the Samplemodeling as well as a few other things you’ve reviewed lately. I still got to get Trillian.

        Reply
        • saintjoe · Edit

          @iRonicLee, No doubt, the real value in CHH to me is what you get for the price here, for 200 bucks, it’s quite a lot, with a lot of control and bult in FX.

          I really like building sections, but still find myself pulling up Mojo for solos.

          If I need epic sounds, CineBrass no doubt. I do want to try SampleModeling, but I will have to do one at a time lol, they about 200+ per instrument lol.

          Reply

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