Depends on how much you are willing to invest. EWQL Hollywood Orchestra Diamond has a very nice sound, but for their PLAY Engine you need a very strong system to be able to use it well for complex arrangements. On the other hand the price is unbeatable for what you get: Strings (stil top notch - maybe the best sounding ones IMO), Brass (also very nice with a lateromantic / hollyvood style sound), woodwinds (not bad but the solists are not perfect) and also the percussion section. A Cheaper way would to get EWQL Symphonic Orchestra, which was one of the most successful libraries of the last 2 decades. The tone stil is very good, even it has got a little bit much reverb and also no legato articulations. But - stil a useful library which offers strings, brass, perc and winds. And its cheap. Its also a PLAY engine vst, but with this you would not have any performance problems.
Another alternative is the CineSymphony complete. This also is a nice collecion with CineStrings, CineBrass, CineWinds and CinePerc. Its for NI´s Kontakt. The sound is very nice, but its over $ 2 K.
Spitfire Audio also has got an all in one "orchestral starter" solution called Albion One. Its not that its bad. I also got it, but i have to confess that i just use up to 5 patches from that big product. The other stuff didnt really convince me. I mainly use it for layering. The low doublebass / celli octavated legato e.g. is strong. Its not a bad thing - especialy for layering or writing down your ideas quickly. But i would not use it for the final sound. Fir what it offers its overpriced IMO.
ProjectSam Symphobia I also could be interesting for you. As far as i know it also contains the basic orchestral sections and the sound also is usable. Its for Kontakt, too.
If you want the best stuff possible and are willing to invest A LOT and also can afford it, this is IMO the best possible setup these days:
1. Strings:
Core Sound: EWQL Hollywood Strings Diamond (remember - you need a strong machine!!!)
Layering: Cinematic Studio Strings / Cinematic Strings 2 for writing down ideas and for layering. Strezov Sampling Cornucopia also is nice for layering because of its very personal tone which creates extra realism in context
Solo Strings: CineStrings Solo, BestService - Chris Hein´s Solo Violin, Embertone - Intimate Strings Series
Aleatoric: 8Dio CAGE Strings
2. Brass:
Core: CineBrass or EWQL Hollywood Brass Diamond for the core sound
Layering: Many people these days layer Samplemodeling Brass over it to add details and a human touch. IMO the best possible combination - no matter if you use CineBrass or Hollywood Brass in combination with Samplemodeling
Solo Brass: Samplemodeling The Trumpet v.3, The Trombone V.3, Frenchhorn & Tuba V.3, The Saxophones (ok sax is a woodwind instrument, but i just add it here for completeness
Aleatoric: 8Dio age Brass
3. Woodwinds:
Core: Orchestral Tools Berlin Woodwinds. The best ensemble sound out there - no doubt IMO. Very expensive, but ultra beautiful in tone and well scripted. The second choice - stil very nice - would be CineWinds. EWQL Hollywood Winds also is not bad, but far weaker than the other instruments of the hollywood collection IMO.
Solo: If you need solists which are directly placed in the orchestra - those are aready included in the Berlin Woodwinds Main Library. If you need instruments that stand more out of the orchestra and shine with lots of nice and audible details, i would go for Berlin Woodwinds Exp. B Solitst I and 8Dio Claire (besides the clarinet which IMO is not good - for this i would go for embertones Herring clarinet). If you need more flexibility and human touch (e.g. if you write jazz etc.) i would take the Samplemodeling Flutes, Saxes and maybe also the doublereeds in some situations.
4. Percussion:
Depends on what sound you want to achieve. The best orchestral Percussion IMO is Spitfire Percussion Redux. Hollywood Orchestra Diamond - Orchestral Percussion also is not bad - i just dont like the celesta and the tubuar bells in there. Even its old ProjectSam´s True Strike I stil is quite usable. Then there llso is CinePerc which i dont own - so i cant tell much about it.
For hybrid perc and Effects i would go for Heavyocity Damage and Gravity. Also some good synths would help a lot, like spectrasonic omnisphere 2, NI Absynth 5 and Massive or Xfer´s Serum.
5. Choral:
The most believable choir in epic projects stil is Strezov Sampling Storm Choir. I layer it with their male epic choir Wotan. If you can live with very nice Ah legatos 8Dio´s Requiem Pro stil is good (dont like the other patches that much). But if you need an affordable and stil great sounding solution Strezov Sampling also stil offers their old Storm Choir I version (SC2 is stronger, but far more expensive) which is ´stil just epic. If you need a more medieval sound go for Bestservice Mystica. For ethnic sounds Strezov´s Rhodope also would be a great choice. You hear that bulgarian choir sounds in projects like hans horner´s Troy.
Solo Voices: Bestservice Shevannai, the solo voice from Bestservice Forest Kingdom II
6. Piano:
EWQL Pianos Platinum. No doubt.
7. Concert Harp:
Orchestral Tools Symphonic Sphere
Like i said - this is the (IMO) strongest setup possible these days. But for this you easily can spend 10k €. Sounds hard, but its absolutely worth it. I just wanted to write that down because most people always ask themself which would be the best gear possible. Well here was my two bits. Hope that helped to orient.
Peace
