Hollywood Orchestra 2026 update

[Ashermusic]

Some of what they have added will be more helpful for newbies perhaps, but I think the different mic combo EQ, and verb (which I always turn off for my own FX, will be helpful time savers. I am sure that most of us have formed our opinions on this orchestra and duet it will change minds much.
We’re excited to share a major 2026 update for the Hollywood Orchestra series, bringing powerful new features and refinements to all instruments in the collection — including Hollywood Strings, Brass, Orchestral Woodwinds, Orchestral Percussion, Harp, Solo Violin, and Solo Cello.

Important: This update requires OPUS version 1.6.2 or higher.

What’s New in This Update

Movie Mixes – Instantly dial in film-ready sounds with curated mixes that adjust mic balance, reverb, and newly added per-instrument EQ.
Alternative Scales – Explore new tonal possibilities and expand your compositional palette.
Updated Interface Artwork – Refreshed visuals across the Hollywood Orchestra instruments for a more inspiring and intuitive workflow.
Performance Tweaks & Fixes – Subtle refinements for improved consistency and playability across the entire series.

Movie Mix Options
• Standard (no EQ, classic EastWest sound)
• Horror
• Drama
• Action
• Sci-Fi & Fantasy
• Cinematic

The Standard Mix always loads by default, ensuring full compatibility with existing sessions. The additional Movie Mixes introduce tasteful EQ and mic adjustments designed to shine in real-world scoring contexts.


But hats off to Ryan Thomas, who really has this orchestra down.

[Guy Rowland]

Time was when they didn't do feature updates for free. I can't get super-excited by it, still its nice to see.

They are quite a different company from what they used to be.

[Ashermusic]

Like I said, everyone's formed their opinions already. I don't use it as much as I used to because I am just not being called upon to do big, lush orchestral cues.

But if tomorrow I got hired for a score that did, I still believe that overall it is the most great sounding and complete sampled orchestra..If every developer offered me their's for free (Spitfire, OT, Cinesamples, VSL, etc.) on the condition I used only the one and endorsed it, nit that they care about my endorsement, it would still be the one I choose.

And we are now at the ;point where Opus is to my mind wayyyyy more user friendly than Kontakt, although Kontakt allows you get more under the hood. But I am not that guy.

[GR Baumann]

Interesting, I just updated Opus. I have not tried it yet, hence just a general thought. While the new movie mix options might as well be as brilliant as it gets, it does remind me to the changes in the world of professional photography.

I created and printed already HD pictures before the term "HD picture" was created. About five years later the first cameras hit the market with baked in HD JPEG option at the push of a button.

So what you got there was the individual photographic taste of the engineers at work, and the same I suppose could be said about the movie mixes.

I look forward to have a go with them. Do we happen to know what mixing engineers are behind these mixes?

Thanks Jay, and yes, I share the same thoughts on Opus compared to Kontakt.

[GR Baumann]

I asked EW, no specific engineer brandmark.

These were a collaborate effort on behalf of the EW team."