Discover the latest industry news and audio post production.
Pasi's latest library offers users a wide variety of well recorded swish and whoosh sounds from various obscure items.
November 23, 2021
Company: Pasi Pitkänen
Product: Swish & Whoosh
Price: $71
Our Rating: 4.2/5
The artwork is wonderful, the accuracy of the file structure and naming conventions are a testament to Pasi's experience in releasing libraries and working in a professional setting. The metadata and organisation make the library a joy to use, while the well recorded sounds leave no stones unturned in this theme.
Think Indiana Jones style swish sounds with a hint of Scandinavian design and a sprinkle of Star Wars laser rifles. The sounds here are well recorded, swishing and whooshing with everything from didgeridoos to violin bows.
You won't find heavily designed cinematic whooshes and transitions here though, these are bare bones elements intended for further design - the sounds are in 24bit 96kHz which leaves some room for pitch shifting.
The metal slinky sounds are a very, very nice addition. They sound really authentic and leave space for processing to make laser gun sounds in the style of Ben Burtt. There are so many variations of these too that we don't think you'll ever be hitting metal slinkys again!
There are variations on each effect (slow, fast, multiple etc.) which also contain multiple performances within the files - a wealth of content reaching almost 5GB with over 5300 sounds.
We initially had a hard time understanding the use for this library - the type of whoosh sounds found here work in quite specific scenarios if left raw (mainly fight scenes, animation and comedy). They really need to be creatively processed to come to life - but this was Pasi's intention. With some heavy design you could turn these into nice cinematic transitions, soft slow-motion moments or organic user interface sounds.
The price is what makes this library fall short - it has great accuracy and design but unfortunately feels overpriced - not by quality or consistency - but due to the theme and content not being applicable to enough situations. Some people may find it suits their needs better though; it is down to the nature of your work.
If you want an extensive library of whoosh sounds but need to have the raw elements in a well recorded form factor, this is the library for you. There may be cheaper options available, but some of the source sounds used here are priceless.
Soundholder's latest product aims to provide a plethora of moving exterior car sounds with multiple microphone positions.
November 23, 2021
Company: Soundholder
Product: Cars In Motion
Price: $50
Our Rating: 4.2/5
After opening our review copy, we were greeted by quite an extensive set of sounds covering a variety of vehicles. It was nice to see everyday cars and some more abstract vehicles covered, such as tractors and construction. The files are provided in 24bit 96kHz WAV and have extensive metadata.
When listening to the files, they sounded great for the most part. A couple really stood out as unique (we loved the nasty, aggressive tyre squeals and skids of the Volswagon Golf II and the icy crackle of the Audi A4 Allroad as it slowly paced across the snow). Nothing here sounds overly clean or processed, there is a lot of room for EQ if you want a more cinematic sound, and space for realism if you don't.
Many of the vehicles have a nice boomy mono file, courtesy of one of our favourite microphones - the RØDE NTG3, other vehicles are covered by the Sennheiser MKH 8040. Many have a stereo file, provided by the on board microphones of the Sony PCM-M10, which offers a nice distance perception and width. A rather odd choice to include though were some files recorded by a RØDE Videomic, which has a rather high noise floor. Soundholder assure us that these were included only as an additional option.
This library has an earthly quality, likely due to the microphone choice and experienced field recording techniques, it's great for accenting scenes that you have spotted with a specific car library from Soundholder. It's a shame that the scope is limited to this though, you won't find any on board microphones here - see Soundholder's many other products for that. We would also like to have seen more exotic vehicle choices - this library would have benefited massively from a luxury sports car (Ferrari, Lamborghini etc.), but Soundholder have the option to do this in a future update.
An update system has been put in place to ensure that users get the most value from the product. All customers will receive additional free vehicles and these are already in the process of being created, which adds tons of value to an already reasonably priced product.
The inclusion of tractors and construction vehicles is a very useful addition and for some people may warrant the entire library purchase.
One of our only gripes with this library is it's lack of consistency. Every vehicle sounds good, but not every vehicle has the same microphone positions and sample variations. For example - one vehicle has a horn doppler pass by and others have recordings while reversing. Some vehicles are strictly mono too. Hopefully this won't affect most people's usage, considering it is branded as a more 'general' car library. It does however make the library feel like a combination of different vehicle recording sessions rather than a cohesive final product.
An extensive library for Sound Editors that work with cars. It's best uses would be in combination with on board recordings of vehicles, or to sweeten certain shots with a distant sound or pass by. The unique sequences Soundholder have recorded on some files make this product a great addition to your hard drive, as a general car sound effects library. At this price point, you'll struggle to find another natural sounding exterior car library, which has unique vehicles and amazing braking sounds. There is an exclusive discount code (Ends 5th April) below as well as a competition by Soundholder to win a free library!
Get Cars In Motion with $10 Discount: Use Code: 344audio
Whooshes and Impacts 2, the extensive new library from SoundBits, offers a fresh aesthetic to creative Sound Design.
November 23, 2021
Company: SoundBits
Product: Whooshes and Impacts 2 (+ Elements)
Price: €48 for Standard, €39 for Elements
Our Rating: 4.5/5
We were sent both the Standard and Elements version for review. When browsing through the various whooshes and impacts, the extensive Metadata gives users a great description of each effect. The breakdown into High Frequency, Mid Frequency and Low Frequency sections in the Elements version provides a useful and quick way to tracklay a heavily designed scene. The sounds are provided in 24Bit 96kHz and over 600 sounds are included with the Standard version with a further 450 available in the Elements pack.
The sounds here really took us by surprise, in a good way. They have a signature sound that separates them from other comparable libraries, SoundBits did a great job of combining unexpected elements, making the whooshes and impacts useful in a variety of genres. The fact that they offered variations on some effects was a nice touch. These effects are very nicely mastered, with the impacts having a wide and powerful cinematic sound, and the whooshes providing everything from a subtle breeze of LFE to full blown Sci-Fi pass bys.
When track laying our project, these whooshes and impacts really took it to the next level. We accented vehicle pass-bys and used the Low Frequency whoosh layers to sweeten slow motion shots. There is a clear, natural quality to the effects in the mix, which leaves more scope for EQ and compression. Other similar libraries process the sounds too heavily, which makes them great initially, but creates a struggle in the mix to make them fit.
This library is a no frills, straight up useful creative tool. Don't expect flashy artwork or overly processed sounds. Do expect content that you will use in almost every project, building blocks for great Sound Design moments. We would definitely advise purchasing both the Standard and Elements versions, as when the content is broken down, it takes on a new lease of life. It may not be the only Whoosh and Impact library you'll ever need, but for SoundBits it probably won't be the last that they release, and we would continue using their products in a heartbeat.
It may be useful in the future to separate the whooshes and impacts folders by genre or content, so it is a faster process to find the right sounds for the right scenario. There was a missed opportunity with the branding too, this library deserves more unique artwork, which could help show the quality of the content better. There is also a distinct lack of reverb here that initially disappointed me, especially on impacts. But when it came to using the library in a project, I appreciated the flexibility.
For only €48/€39 you get 2 creative tools that are unique enough to make a scene shine, yet subtle enough not to be painfully obvious in a mix. We would happily use the same effect in multiple projects with the Elements version, as you can combine the different layers to make new content. Buy both, and you wont be sorry, especially because until March 31st you will get an exclusive discount of 35% on all 'whoosh related products' at the SoundBits website with the code: 344AUDIO-SOUNDBITS as well as a generous free mini pack below.
We found a nice selection of sounds created by The Epic Website (headed by Stunt Actor and Martial Artist Tony Jaa).
November 23, 2021
Company: The Epic Website
Product: Epic Soundpack Combo
Our Rating 4.4/5
Price: $38
Upon opening we found a nice selection of sounds created by The Epic Website (headed by Stunt Actor and Martial Artist Tony Jaa).
4 Sound Packs are included from EPIC's current and previous releases, the first two covering Punches, Kicks, Grabs, Swooshes and Bone Breaks, the latter two including various Gunshots, Ricochets, Bullet Impacts, Explosions and much more. There are over 800 effects included and they are provided in a variety of formats, from 16 Bit, 44.1 kHz to 16 Bit, 48 kHz WAV format.
If you want to spot your fights, shootouts and epic scenes, this library will get you really close to that Hollywood sound. You should definitely still add additional layers and design to sweeten the mix as well as combining the various elements for larger hits and effects.
The sounds on offer cover a wide spectrum for a great price, varying in quality from decent to brilliant from Soundpack I to IV. You have a lot of scope for creativity and enough variations to cover extended scenes.
The fact that Face Punches, Body Punches and Kicks are separated leaves a lot of flexibility, and the Swooshes are a vital addition to the fighting effects.
The Gunshot, Hit and Ricochet effects sit in a scene really well, and with some reverb and EQ, you could have complete design layers at your fingertips ready for mixing.
The Explosions are also nice and all of the sounds are mixed in a way that feels natural without too much baked in reverb.
When placing the effects against picture, you will find that you are adding production value with each glass smash or bullet whiz, which will have action movie fans on the edge of their seats.
One small criticism is the lack of quality control in the earlier libraries. They were released a while back and this reflects in the way that they sound. Some may be less useful, but by no means are they unusable.
The library is clearly aimed more at Frugal Filmmakers rather than professional Sound Designers, having no metadata tags and a variety of sample rates at 16 Bit, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Epic got most of the sounds just right.
For the low price of $38 you get a lot more value than what various professional developers offer in their products, but with a much more 'earthly' and instantly usable quality, giving your epic scene that level of production value it deserves.
Today we have the pleasure of reviewing a recent library from newcomer Fox Audio, an ambitious product to launch their brand into the sample library universe.
November 23, 2021
Company: Fox Audio
Product: Space Racer Pass-bys
Our Rating: 4/5
Price: £15
We were very eager to open this one up and have a tinker into it's hyper-drive sound engine. The 'Pod Racer' being heavily featured in the libraries sound list gave us flashbacks of a classic film scene that everyone should know about. The presentation of this library gets a 5* from us, great graphics and 'film trailer' style voice overs give the product high production value - and it sounds great.
Upon opening, it was clear that the files were named appropriately and accurately. Unfortunately we also discovered that the majority of sounds were in fact 'Pod Racer' and only a minority were based on other would be vehicles of the future. While this is not a problem as these sounds can be used universally, it does leave the Sound Editor feeling like there is limited scope before even auditioning sounds. The sounds are delivered in 96 kHz 24 Bit and have metadata.
You are probably wondering, which scenarios will this library work for?
It works exactly as described, any Sci-Fi scene with vehicle chases, pod races, Wipeout style speeders and the like will benefit from this extra colour in their design pallet. The Sound's are beefy and complex, not quite as processed and huge as libraries that cost 10 times more, but the rawness often works better when tracklaying - offering a wider flexibility to users.
When tested against the classic Pod Racer scene from Star Wars, these sounds hold up, which is a massive achievement. The variety of sounds on offer with light, medium, heavy and Turbodrive pass-bys really do make the workflow much easier. I also like that some sounds use a more complex stereo movement which offers a bit of variety over simple L to R passes. The price is pretty impressive for the content on offer, this library could either be a great layer to your current arsenal or stand on its own to get you past a tight spot on a fast deadline.
One of the reasons we couldn't award this library a higher rating was due to some really obvious omissions. We know that it is priced extremely well and it does say 'Pass-bys' in the title, but engine idle, startup and shutdown sounds would have been the icing on the cake, even if it was priced 20-30% higher. Fox Audio assure us that these are coming in a future product, soon you'll have a more complete toolkit to build your Sci-Fi scene, engines and all. The other slight issue for us was the fact that the editing wasn't as perfect as we'd have hoped for. Most sounds are edited and mixed beautifully, but a couple fell short where their panning felt unnatural combined with their modulation, or there were missing fades that irked slightly on some layers.
If you need pass by sounds for a design heavy Sci-Fi film, game or commercial, these sounds will fill that void, and sound great while doing it. The theme was matched excellently and any gaps will be filled with a new product coming soon, keep an eye out for Fox Audio!
