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  4. VSL SE complete bundle vs. symphonic cube (standard) vs. super package (standard)
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    Hi Avacade, to summarise:

    Vienna Superpackage
    www.vsl.co.at/en/211/442/1797/1883/1881/305.htm
    The full works: 24 complete collections comprising approx. 184 instruments and sections, chromatically sampled, all velocity layers, 871.5 GB. Standard library € 5,990, Extended library € 4,490, Full library (= standard + extended) € 10,480.

    Symphonic Cube
    www.vsl.co.at/en/211/442/1796/1885/1884/216.htm
    10 complete collections comprising approx. 130 instruments and sections, chromatically sampled, all velocity layers, 548 GB. Standard library € 2,690, Extended library € 3,290, Full library (= standard + extended) € 5,980.

    (Standard library = basic articulations, Extended library = more advanced articulations. Extended libraries are not available separately; having bought and registered a Standard library, you pay extra to unlock the Extended samples.)

    Special Edition Complete Bundle
    www.vsl.co.at/en/211/261/2066/2090/1776.htm
    All 6 Special Edition volumes comprising approx. 109 instruments and sections, sampled at tone intervals, reduced velocity layers, fewer articulations than the complete collections, approx. 130 GB installed. € 1,695 (download) or € 1,735 (on USB stick)

    (The Special Edition volumes are slimmed-down, budget versions of the complete collections. Though they are less intensively sampled and don’t have all the articulations found in the collections, they still sound very good indeed.)

    These are the SE Bundle instruments not found in the Symphonic Cube:

    • Solo violin, viola, cello & double bass ‘con sordino’ versions
    • Chamber strings (6 violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses) con sordino versions
    • Appassionata strings (20 violins, 14 violas, 12 cellos, 10 double basses)
    • Bassoon 2, Bass Flute, Heckelphone, Contrabass Clarinet, Oboe d’Amore, Basset horn
    • Trumpet in Bb, Cornet, Flugelhorn, Alto Trombone, Euphonium, Fanfare Trumpets (6)
    • Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Soprano and Bass saxophones
    • Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano, Vienna Konzerthaus Organ, Harpsichord
    • Electric guitar (Overdrive), Concert guitar
    • Vienna Choir

    The Symphonic Cube has a much larger menu of miscellaneous percussion instruments than the SE Complete Bundle, including wood blocks, temple blocks, claves, cowbells, Roto toms, boobams, rock kit cymbals, gongs, bells, crotales, lithophone (small), log drum, waterphone, etc.

    Since you are new to orchestral programming, I don’t think you should get sidetracked with high-end features like the MIR reverb engine; your system sounds more than adequate to get started. (N.B. To access more than 3GB of RAM, you need a 64-bit operating system.)

    I would advise against going straight for the Superpackage: such an expensive, top-of-the-range product is overkill for a beginner, and you might end up not using half of it. The advantage of the Special Edition Complete Bundle is that it supplies a very good spread of the huge Vienna sample database, enabling you to get familiar with the instruments without spending a fortune. You can upgrade the instruments you use the most to their full collection status later, but in the meantime you can make *great* demos with the SE, which offers many playing styles (including the wonderful VSL ‘true legato’) and the fabulous Appassionata Strings.

    All these libraries run exclusively on the Vienna Instrument. It takes a little time to figure out how the VI software works, and since you’ll be coming to terms with sequencing software at the same time, there’s a danger you could get bogged down in technicalities. My advice is to keep it simple and concentrate on what you want to do musically. If you get stuck, VSL’s educational videos are excellent, and there are also plenty of experienced Vienna users here who’ll be glad to help.

    Apologies if I got any details wrong. Good luck!