This ambitious 5-CD set covers choirs (men, women, both, and boys), classical soloists, Gregorian chant, layered pop vocal stacks, Latin phrases, truly spooky choral effects - even whistling, shouting, and laughing. Most of the samples were recorded in real acoustic spaces, with real reverb; while this theoretically limits your flexibility, in practice the ambience sounds great. Also, in some cases, chords were recorded as a single sample because of the sonic difference compared to playing multiple sampler notes. The pop stacks are the result of overdubbing singers multiple times, giving that glassy, smooth, pop vocal quality.

Although the human voice is extremely difficult to sample, S.O.V. is truly awe-inspiring. While it's a "specialist" among sample CDs, if you need realistic-sounding, tastefully-recorded voices with variety and accuracy, look no further (besides, after investing the time to audition all 5 CDs, you won't want to look further!). S.O.V seems ideal for the film and video post crowd, although these sounds are equally well-suited for straight-ahead musical applications. In any event, they're exceptionally good.

-Craig Anderton EQ Magazine review