That is certainly true, but Session Strings Pro is a must-have for anyone occasionally doing Disco or R&B style strings. They are deliberately cheesy, but in a good way. VSL is NOT cheesy, so is not the ideal match. I recently replaced some of my VSL tracks with Sessions Strings Pro and it was a HUGE improvement for those particular pieces. I don't think any level of production would have taken VSL to that same place, as VSL is played professionally in a classical way, with classical articulations, intonation, and expression. Session Strings can go dark, warm, cold, or harsh. It's very versatile and easy to work with. I would NEVER use it for anything classical or Broadway. But oh does it ever evoke the 60's/70's!
As fas as VSL is concerned, as of next week I will own everything VSL makes except the Windows-only stuff. Chamber Strings remains my favourite, as I prefer more intimate orchestrations where there is more expression in each part. I rarely ever even double winds and brass, unless doing Wagnerian/Straussian stuff. I generally stick to Chamber Orchestra type instrumentation.
If I were working with a real orchestra, it might be different. Probably I am just more successful with smaller orchestrations because they are more manageable in terms of not having to do so much layering and sample-switching to keep things from getting muddy, as happens so quickly with larger groupings since that's not how real orchestras play (we would need True Divisi, which we don't have with VSL).
I look forward to the arrival of Orchestral Strings I and Appassionata Strings II so that I can finally do complete comparisons of every voicing of the string family. I do find that certain articulations draw me to one vs. the other, regardless of my intended ensemble size. In those cases, I do some doubling if I needed a larger ensemble.
I'm actually surprised just how different Chamber, Orchestral and Appassionata sound from each other, given that the conditions and in some cases the players were probably about the same. And I'm really glad that's the case, because it allows me to "fake" Divisi to a certain degree.