BBC Symphony Orchestra vs Virtual Guitarist

BBC Symphony Orchestra is a virtual orchestral sample library for music creators, with strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion recorded at Maida Vale Studios. It runs in Spitfire Audio’s dedicated plugin, which supports VST3, AU, and AAX formats. The Discover edition is described as compatible with major music creation software, including GarageBand and Pro Tools. Discover contains 34 instruments and 47 techniques in a 240MB package, with one mix signal. Core provides 44 instruments, 344 techniques, and one mix signal; Professional has 67 instruments, 468 techniques, 45 legatos, and 20 signals. Owners can switch between Discover, Core, and Professional modes, which Spitfire says supports sharing and collaboration across editions. The Spitfire Audio app is required to download the library, with installers for macOS and Windows. Spitfire recommends installation on an external drive, though another location can be chosen. Discover is free; Core is £399, paid once and Professional is £899, paid once.

Virtual Guitarist is UJAM’s collection of electric and acoustic guitar plug-ins for creating accompaniment in varied styles. The listed range includes CARBON, IRON 2, SPARKLE 2, AMBER 2, SILK 2, and CINEDREAM, totaling 777 presets, 12,110 phrases, and 365 styles. Patterns can be dragged into a DAW as MIDI. Built-in effects, amp modeling, and selectable guitar, amp, and speaker combinations shape the sound. UJAM says no guitar or sound-engineering skills are required. The plug-ins work with Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig, Reaper, and Reason. IRON 2 adds 30 styles, over 350 phrases, stomp-box emulations, Finisher FX modes, Drop D tuning, and doubling. It supports 64-bit VST 2, VST 3, AAX, and AU 2 on Windows and macOS. Pricing is from $129 with a seven-day trial.