Thinking Of Trying VI Pro 5, or MIRx, or Vienna Suite

[DaddyO]

I expect to get some Father's Day money shortly and I'm thinking about getting one of three possible products during the June discount period:

VE Pro 5, MIRx bundle, or Vienna Suite (the latter only IF I get enough, which I doubt)

I currently have Special Edition 1, and 1 PLUS, and VI Pro 2.

I run Cubase 7.5 on a single, rather limited computer that is not limited to DAW work. But so far things have worked okay.

Intel Q8300 Core 2 Quad at 2.5 GHz

8 GB RAM, no capacity for additional RAM

Single standard 7200 RPM hard drive, no SSDs.

I run Valhalla Room for reverb and Virtual Sound Stage for stage placement, both of which are lightweight.

I would download the trial before buying, but before doing so I have some questions.

First, I'm concerned that the recommended system for VE Pro and MIRx is now up to Core i5, i7, Xeon, and for MIRx 12GB of RAM is recommended. That's beyond my specifications. Is anyone successfully running these on a rig like mine? Or should I just cross them off the list until I can afford a new computer?

Second, if I download and install the trial version of VE Pro 5, and if it turns out my system just won't run it well, how difficult is it to revert back to VE Standard?

[civilization 3]

Frankly that system isn't really enough muscle for much. First thing is you are not going to have much fun with a single regular platter, you really must use at least one other drive to stream samples.

Second, 8GB... I don't do really giant projects, I don't do symphonic scale at all and I'm always way past 8GB. I could manage it, I don't really, but IMO 8GB is very five years ago at best. But if all you're using is VSL you might get by, managing the hell out of memory.

I don't know about VE standard; if it's all VSL libs, the thing that's going to pooch compatibility is automation mapping, does standard even give you it?
The things which make VE Pro a must is third party usage and automation mapping, primarily.

I tried MIRx and it didn't do much for me as a long-time Vienna Suite Convo reverb and Hybrid Reverb User (and having extensively demoed MIR Pro). If MIRx is a footprint enlarger, I might recommend VS over it.

In sum my assessment is as follows: If you are not doing Kontakt, Omnisphere, Play etc and just VSL and if not addicted to the automation mapping, maybe stick with VE standard and buy Vienna Suite with this windfall.

[DaddyO]

Thanks, civilization3, those are helpful comments.

I do run only VSL, and I do full orchestral scoring. So far things have gone okay with mapping CC1, CC2, CC11, and CC27 (Humanize). I know I can't run most other libraries with this rig. I have Cinematic Strings 2 and Kontakt 5 and CS2 bogs down with just a few tracks.

I'm just trying to smoke out if there's anyone with a comparable machine to mine who is able to run VE Pro, MIRx, or Vienna Suite. I don't absolutely need MIRx, since I already have the an acceptable means for spatial placement. Vienna Suite would be nice but optional. I know for sure I will want VE Pro, I just dont know whether I can run it now or must wait until after I can get a new computer. That would be my preferred next step, but it doesn't seem realistic right now.

I want to take advantage of the June sale if I can, so VE Pro is my primary target. Still, if I can't run it, it doesn't do me any good.

[civilization 3]

The automation mapping is not CC mapping. The advantage of this workflow is in mixing; that automation is, in addition to volume and send levels, the parameters of plugins. ie., kontakt avails of parameters of instruments as both MIDI and 'Host automation'; the latter is what VE Pro Automation Mapping addresses. So you're evidently not addicted to that. Aha, I just opened it, there is no Automation Mapping at all.

I don't think VE Pro through itself is going to be a much bigger footprint than VE. But the value of it vs VE [standard] is the third-party support and Automation Mapping. So the salient thing is mixing. For you, the step up to Pro should be paradigm-wise, about mixing.

MIRx doesn't provide for placement like MIR Pro, nor so much sound control. One of the things in VS is the power-panner; while there is a basic one in VE, there is not the pre- and post- control, which for me (I lack the time to explain, sorry) is pretty important. At any rate, the combination of defining placement through that and the X-feed control of Hybrid Reverb {at 100%, full diffusion vis a vis the source, at 0% as narrow as your definition before-hand) is crucial. And these types of controls are automatable via Automation Map (parameters exposed to the DAW Host).

So I don't think 'running it' is the issue vs running VE [standard]. Acquiring it provides things you do not have that will tend to encourage a bigger footprint. If you can demo MIRx see if it does anything for you, but I think if VS = optional, then MIRx = optional. Vienna Suite is a whole suite of processors and it's top drawer. MIRx is just a convenient reverb with relatively little control.

[DaddyO]

Thanks again for the helpful comments.

From my demo last year MIRx does provide spatial placement, it just limits you to given presets rather than the wide open options in MIR and MIR 24. Please correct me if I'm wrong. But I'm sure you're right that Vienna Suite is most useful.

If in fact VE Pro will not be a much bigger strain on my CPU and RAM than VE Standard, then I lean towards getting that, mainly because of the many benefits it will bring after I eventually do get a new computer, and because it is not so expensive as Vienna Suite. It will bring some benefit now, and much more later, especially the hosting of Kontakt-based libraries.

[civilization 3]

I donno, I wasn't able to move anybody around in MIRx, it was their way or the highway it seemed.

/ While all of your instruments are pre-positioned using MIRx, you may adjust the wet/dry ratio to fine-tune the mix. If you want more control over the position and other parameters only available in Vienna MIR PRO, such as direction or microphone setup, you will be pleased to learn that an upgrade path to RoomPack 1 Vienna Konzerthaus* is available.

* Requires Vienna MIR PRO or Vienna MIR PRO 24. /

[DaddyO]

@civilization 3 said:

I donno, I wasn't able to move anybody around in MIRx, it was their way or the highway it seemed.

/ While all of your instruments are pre-positioned using MIRx, you may adjust the wet/dry ratio to fine-tune the mix. If you want more control over the position and other parameters only available in Vienna MIR PRO, such as direction or microphone setup, you will be pleased to learn that an upgrade path to RoomPack 1 Vienna Konzerthaus* is available.

* Requires Vienna MIR PRO or Vienna MIR PRO 24. /

Right, you have a choice of positioning presets, but you can't move a track freely around. So the way I look at it, it does take care of positioning, just not with full flexibility. But I can see why you would say it doesn't.

Anyway, thanks again for your helpful comments.

[noldar12]

From your comment on mapping humanize, I take it you already have VI Pro?

[DaddyO]

@noldar12 said:

From your comment on mapping humanize, I take it you already have VI Pro?

Yes. To me that was the biggest VSL no-brainer for someone in my situation.