I have listened to samples of the new version and I can't really tell if they are that much better than the originals. Which causes me to question whether it's worth the upgrade.

The original samples are pretty decent and since I only use them occasionally I will probably hold off. I will upgrade to the new BIAB version first since I skipped last years upgrade.

That being said I just recently started exporting some of the Classical fake book midi songs into Reaper after opening in BIAB and applied the Philharmonic samples. I can say I'm pretty impressed with the samples and from my untrained ear It sounds like an orchestra. I added some eq, compression and reverb and viola!

If you haven't picked it up yet and don't want to spend a fortune for LA Strings or some of the other pricier samples this one has value. Perhaps I'll upload one of the classical songs I added samples to Sound Cloud and post a link if anyone is interested.