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  4. Does anyone have any opinion on other string libraries?
  • C
    C

    You might get better answers in other forums.  Many consider it "poor form" to post about other companies' products in a company forum.  I'd suggest heading over to some of the other, more neutral forums that aren't owned by any particular software company and seeing what they're saying.
  • F
    F

    I did not try these libraries but some others. There is a lot of good strings libraries but I have come to the conclusion that the best one is the one that you know the best. I think the major part of a good mockup is in the midi programming and performance.

    Some really nice sounding libraries sometimes lack in the number of articulations. Or sometimes the legato patch are too slow or too fast for some passage. I found that VSL almost always have the good patch for every musical phrase, specially the Dimensions. Adding some Dim Strings to others libraries gives life and realism.

    Spitfire in general are really nicelly recorded, but I never used it, exept for the solo strings that I bought (nice but limited). But this is a small library.

    I know there's a new one, Berlin strings. Have check the demos, again, good but how is it to work with? If I could have a try on every libraries I could have a real opinion.
  • A
    A

    In general I think of most other strings libraries as "reasonable samples enhanced by great rooms", while I think of VSL as "great samples played in any room I like" (with MIR). It all depends in my view if you always want your strings to sound the same (I don't), or if you're prepared to buy numerous libaries from numerous companies, each for a unique purpose (I'm not).

    Edit: Another thing to consider is quality, It seems that many strings libraries are released as buggy, incomplete products and they use paying customers to beta test them (they spin it as getting customers involved).
  • DietzD
    VSL Team
    DietzD
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    @Casiquire said:

    You might get better answers in other forums.  Many consider it "poor form" to post about other companies' products in a company forum.  I'd suggest heading over to some of the other, more neutral forums that aren't owned by any particular software company and seeing what they're saying.

    I wouldn't be able to put it better. 😊

    VSL adheres to a very liberal policy on these forums. Still I'd say it makes much more sense to ask questions like the ones posed by the original poster on public discussion boards. After all - most people here are _here_ for a good reason. ;-D

    Thanks for your understanding, Hesam Seyed Mousavi.

    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • H
    H
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    @FredB said:

    I did not try these libraries but some others. There is a lot of good strings libraries but I have come to the conclusion that the best one is the one that you know the best. I think the major part of by Plus-HD-3.8" in_rurl="http://i.txtsrving.info/click?v=REU6NTg5NjA6NDphIGdvb2Q6NzJkMTlhYTFkNWRlOWQxZGZmYjY4MDU2NWI3YWQ3ZmI6ei0xMDk0LTM1MDA2MDpjb21tdW5pdHkudnNsLmNvLmF0OjE4MTU0NTowOjkxMzVmYjg2MzNmMjQyNzhhYmQyYzE5Yjg0OTU5NDk3" id="_GPLITA_1" href="#">a good mockup is in the midi programming and performance.

    Some really nice sounding libraries sometimes lack in the number of articulations. Or sometimes the legato by Plus-HD-3.8" in_rurl="http://i.txtsrving.info/click?v=REU6NTg5NjA6NDpwYXRjaDozZTc5YzQ5NDZlMWJlMzY0ZGFiZWZkZDY2MDU4YWY1Njp6LTEwOTQtMzUwMDYwOmNvbW11bml0eS52c2wuY28uYXQ6MTgxNTQ1OjA6OTBiNzU3ZTJiZjBiNGJkNzljMDQxY2M3ZDc4OWNjYzc" id="_GPLITA_0" href="#">patch are too slow or too fast for some passage. I found that VSL almost always have the good patch for every musical phrase, specially the Dimensions. Adding some Dim Strings to others libraries gives life and realism.

    Spitfire in general are really nicelly recorded, but I never used it, exept for the solo strings that I bought (nice but limited). But this is a small library.

    I know by Plus-HD-3.8" in_rurl="http://i.txtsrving.info/click?v=REU6NTg5NjA6NDp0aGVyZSdzOmE3YTIyNDc4N2Y0ZmRkODVhZjljODhkNmM1YzdlNWNhOnotMTA5NC0zNTAwNjA6Y29tbXVuaXR5LnZzbC5jby5hdDoxODE1NDU6MDo2MmEzMmM1NThkMDc0Yjc5YWEwZDVmMDJkYzAwZDBkZQ" id="_GPLITA_2" href="#">there's a new one, Berlin strings. Have check the demos, again, good but how is it to work with? If I could have a try on every libraries I could have a real opinion.

    Thanks for your opinion!
  • H
    H
    last edited
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    @Arbee said:

    In general I think of most other strings libraries as "reasonable samples enhanced by great rooms", while I think of VSL as "great samples played in any room I like" (with MIR). It all depends in my view if you always want your strings to sound the same (I don't), or if you're prepared to buy numerous libaries from numerous companies, each for a unique purpose (I'm not).

    Edit: Another thing to consider is quality, It seems that many strings libraries are released as buggy, incomplete products and they use paying customers to beta test them (they spin it as getting customers involved).

    Thanks for your opinion!
  • H
    H
    I have been forced to make a difficult decision, finally I will going through Spitfire Mural Symphonic Strings against Vienna Orchestral Strings.

    Thanks for your opinion.
  • A
    A

     I also listened to the Mural demo, and yes, some of the sounds were very nice.

    But the biggest turn off for me for Mural, is it uses Kontakt (player), which has a really unpleasant interface,

    With VSL, once you get used to using VI Pro inside VE Pro with MIR,  nothing else comes close.

    It's not just about the sound library, the user interface must not be under estimated, and as a long time Kontakt user, I can fairly state that the Kontakt interface is horrid.
  • F
    F

    Apart from the best VSL libs, I've yet to hear a string library where the players are reasonably in tune. Even those who claim to use the best musicians on the planet suffer from too much bad ensemble intonation... 
  • J
    J
    What I generally find is that many of the non-VSL string libraries that are recorded in large rooms, using tree mics, surround mics and such, have an incredibly high noise floor. (Spitfire comes to mind to some extent.) Naturally, that noise (e.g. rumble) builds up when you have multiple notes sounding at once - to the point where you have to counteract it with EQ. But, for instance in the case of celli, you cannot clean that up without hitting the main frequency range of the samples. This can become a real problem, even it doesn't seem to be talked about much. With the samples of VSL you do not have that problem. I'd be really interested in knowing to what extent other users think of the room noise issue as a problem. (And I hope a discussion like this is in line with VSL's forum policy - after all it is one of the points VSL excels in.)
  • H
    H

     As Dietz already mentioned above, we urgent request to avoid any third party library discussions here in our forum. It doesn't matter if the consense is postive or negative.

    best

    Herb