I was quite surprised by Glade - I'd never heard of it before watching this video...! Grabbed that and will have a little play...! Thanks, Chris.

It's not just your Glade that has the Benedict legato ohh bug. Mine does it too. I mentioned to them that I'd love to see a UI tweak too. A lot of the interface is very washed out and hard to see and read. It needs more contrast for sure. Hopefully they do something with that when or if they fix the legato bug. I have BFO and Glade. It's wonderful to see such amazing offerings for free. I realize it's about driving traffic their way to hopefully sell the bigger and better libraries. But still, it's great to see. The deeper you get into this, the less you grab for the free offerings but Glade does include some tasty patches. Thanks for the video!

Thanks for sharing, i didn't know glade!

Ooh thank you so much for this. I just downlaoded all 3 now. I'll see what fits best for my need

Many thanks, Chris, I'm another who has never heard of Glade. Some useful patches in there, downloading now. Cheers for the heads up!

Please do something with all three layered. Thanks!

i would def download glade as it offers much more unique texture to the orchestral composition.

I have the free Spitfire, Symphony Orchestra, as well as the orchestral tools Berlin, free Orchestra, and I think the orchestral tools one is much more usable. For the simple reason, it has the entire range for the instruments and has two dynamic layers for most of the instruments. Where as the SSO one has such a limited range, even though it has all the dynamics I just don't find usable. It's more of this is what the real orchestra would sound like if you bought the full version. Also having legato flute and clarinet in the Berlin free Orchestra is a real bonus....

Hi Christopher,

First of all, thank you for your video. I’ve been following your channel for a while and really appreciate many of your reviews—especially those on Orchestral Tools and Spitfire Audio libraries. That said, I’m a bit perplexed by this comparison, mainly because Glade isn’t really an orchestral library in the traditional sense—it doesn’t aim to cover standard symphonic instruments like the others. But that’s just a side note.

I’m honestly quite disappointed with Spitfire’s free library. The sound quality is decent in places—the French horn and English horn patches stand out—but the AIR Studios reverb is often way too heavy. More importantly, the design choices feel rushed and user-unfriendly.

The instrument ranges are severely limited, even on piano, harp, and celesta, which makes them nearly unusable in real musical contexts.
The one-note articulation demos are confusing and serve no practical purpose, especially for beginners who might be trying the library for the first time.
Key inconsistencies: this is not just a free-library problem—paid products like Albion Selects (which you reviewed and I purchased after your useful review) also suffer from inconsistencies here and there. I’ve noticed odd issues myself, particularly in some woodwind patches, which feels unacceptable for libraries costing hundreds of dollars.

What’s frustrating is that Spitfire could easily offer a small, honest orchestral starter kit—just core instruments with basic, functional articulations—for around $50. That would feel fair, useful, and genuinely welcoming. Instead, this free version comes across as a half-baked marketing tactic: it teases interest but locks essential features behind a $600 paywall. It’s a real missed opportunity, especially compared to the more thoughtful, modular, and accessible approaches from other developers.

Sorry for the rant! And thanks again for your absolutely valuable content.

—Giorgio

Saw the Glade demo video yesterday - sounds fantastic, fills a gap for sure.