Chris Hein's four-volume brass and woodwind library is one of the best available, so it's great news that it has downscaled to a 'compact' and more affordable format for those on a budget.

The 5GB library includes 53 solo instruments (brass, clarinets and saxes) and six synth brass instruments. There are also four multitimbral patches (full section, saxes, clarinets, trumpets and trombones) with an integrated eight-part structure and mixer page for quick layering.

CHH Compact doesn't include the textural variation of its big brother, but you can still adjust plenty of parameters, and it produces some excellent sounds when combined with its effects. It also includes a new real-time hotkey system for easy access to five of eight available articulations.

Overall, we did miss some articulations (crescendos and stabs in particular), and it's a shame it lacks ensemble patches. However, the new interface is much slicker than the original.