Finally got my free copy of BBCSO Discovery. Is there any way to turn down the reverb? It sounds like I’ve left the sustain pedal on. (I haven’t left the sustain pedal on.)
There’s the big reverb wheel, but that’s completely at zero, yet it still sounds like it’s inside King’s College Chapel.
Spitfire likes studios with reverb. Most of their libraries were done at Air - if you think BBCSO is a problem go try one recorded there! It’s used to be a church, and it’s got an uncontrollable crazy reverb (I’m not fond of that). But you can tone it down by going close mics, which of course sound different overall anyhow.
BBCSO was done in Maida Vale which I believe is due to be torn down (or might have already). It’s a big studio so yes you are capturing a bit of reverb. Not much really, I like it, a touch of natural reverb. Nothing like a concert hall like Davies Symphony Hall. My EastWest samples are so dry it’s a little boring, nice to get a little bounce out of the box. You can edit the mix amount in the pro version.
Their next big library will be at Abby Road which is an even bigger studio I believe.
I find the acoustic and sound-staging of the BBC Maida Vale pretty impressive on the whole (and with the Pro version with its choice of mics., I doubt there’s anything better straight out of the tin) There is not normally any reverb added to instruments and at times it can even seem a little on the dry side. Don’t know what sort of music you’re having problems with – the software is of course designed around full symphony orchestra. Could it be that you’re confusing the rather lush basic sound of the Discovery version which tends to the “long” patch as there’s no legato which allows for more crispness? Or we may simply have different tastes.
I don’t think there’s confusion: the notes echo so much that the next one is barely discernible.
If the answer is ‘it’s supposed to be like that’, then that’s OK. I’ll just discard it.
I think probably the answer is “it’s supposed to be like that”. The “long” patch works in some situations but I would agree it’s rather echoey. And the sound in general improves a good deal if you move up to the “real” versions of the library.
Hiya, only came across this by searching about something else, but anyway.
In the plug-in window there is a biiiig circle, click the centre and the options to change various parameters comes up, and one is I believe reverb (got discover and upgraded to Core). Means you can turn up or down. Not to completely dry, but think that’s what’s causing your issue.
Hope it helps (and I’m right, not at comp!)
Ritchie
The OP already said the reverb wheel was at zero (which in general seems to be the default)
I don’t get any options to change parameters when I click on the middle of the reverb wheel. As said, it was a 0%.
However, if I click on the little menu arrow in the top right, and select “Switch to Generic Editor”, then I get a whole load of parameters that I can configure, which aren’t in the default panel.
One of them is “Release”, which by default is 50%. Setting that to as little as 3% stops it sounding like it was recorded in a Victorian public toilet. (Sorry, Paul…! 
)
“A Victorian Public Toilet”? I like that imagery. 
Sorry, I would have actually swore blind about that! My apologies. That’s how it is in Core, and I was convinced there were options in Discover too. Mandela Effect once again (or I’m just plain wrong! Hahaha)
Spitfire instruments are all like this, because they are recorded in a classical music room. We may be surprised, but it is the natural sound of the instruments in the symphonic space or simply in concert (the empty concert hall is however a difference with the full hall - in the days when there were full concert halls! , but the engineers had to mitigate in this sense). If we listen to classic productions, especially current ones, we add additional reverberation to it. For my part, I play more with the microphone options (BBC PRO) placed away from the stage. It is ultimately very natural. But not for all genres of music.
VSL libraries give a cleaner base instrument to begin with. But we end up wrapping them as much reverb, if we have as a reference current classical productions.