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This platform is getting bigger everyday as there are industry professionals&amateurs among us spending their valuable time to help people. I think in the near future, Social Sound Design is going to be a major sound design reference in the web.
So I thought it might be good to provide a list of sound libraries we use, sell or recommend.
Your input is appreciated. Please provide explanations and technical specifications so that we can keep the topic organized.
Chuck Russom FX, independent libraries by Chuck Russom. Awesome effects that are affordable (between $25 and $50 for a download pack). For now, there are 4 packages: Handgun foley, Skateboard, Rocks, and Metal FX.
Rabbit Ears Audio, another independent library by Michael Raphael. Ranges between $9 for 16/44.1 to $50 for 24/96. His first pack is all about rockets!
Blastwave FX, commercial libraries with a huge range of sounds. You can get cheap $25 download packs right up to the huge Blastdrive for $6000 including all their sounds.
That's it for now.
Soundsnap - user created content, as well as other libraries (Blastwave). Pay per file and has helped me out many times.
HISSandaROAR provide film sound design libraries in various bit/sample rates:
and the imminent fourth library will also be availablLe
ULTRA 24bit 192kHz Multi-channel Multi-mic
Just to add a bit more detail.
Rabbit Ears Libraries provide libraries as follows:
Free 16 bit 44.1 kHz
Basic 16 Bit 44.1 kHz
Standard: 24 bit 48 kHz
Hi Res: 24 bit 96 kHz
Sound Mountain is a truly boutique library providing sounds recorded by legendary sound designer Alan Splet & recordist Anne Kroeber.
(Anne provided some unique & incredibly powerful sounds for elements of Land Speed Racers when I worked on the film World's Fastest Indian. Great stuff!)
This thread over on gearslutz is a good one for keeping tabs on what's going on in the sd library world:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/post-production-forum/489796-new-sound-fx-library-releases.html
There's also this resource translated from the French website:
There is also The Recordist, run by Frank Bry: http://www.therecordist.com/
He's a great guy and has some cool content, check it out (after you have all of my stuff, or course!)
Sound Dogs - I like the fact that you can get a low res version of any sound to have a listen and see if you want to buy. I generally use it for oddball effects that I am having trouble creating.
Although Sound Ideas now owns the remaining stock (and I don't think they're going to produce any more of them), the Network Sound Effects library is an odd little jem.
You've got to watch how you use them, because the tail edits on many of them are atrocious, but it's a great source for some really dated soundnig material. There are pieces of technology in that library that you're going to have a hard time finding to record for yourself. You may even have a hard time finding them in other libraries.
Also, some of the recordings really sound their age, which can be awesome for fitting in with period/archival footage.
Though they mostly do loops for music, and the quality runs the gamut, the loop packs are generally cheap enough to take a gamble on. Not your traditional sound libraries, but something I've found useful from time to time.
