Regarding choirs: IMO, the EastWest choirs are somewhat outdated for today's standards. Several newer products by other companies sound way more detailed and realistic, and some of them do have good word builder functionality if you're willing to spend some more money. A GREAT tip if you're looking for really good sound (great recordings and very nice true legato) at a super-fair price, and can live without a word builder, would be Soundiron's Olympus Elements. And you can upgrade to their "big" Olympus library that also includes a word builder later.

I personally wouldn't go with the old EWQL orchestral library any more. It's actually kind of abandoned by EW. They sell it, but they're not putting any kind of development or support work into it any more. I think that not even the affordable price is really an argument, as EW constantly hawk their "current" (and better) orchestral libraries (the Hollywood series) for very little money. They have quite aggressive sales all the time, one just has to wait and keep their eyes open.

The dreaded PLAY engine is always a risk factor, and while some of the sounds of the old EWQL are still quite nice (some of the strings and the percussion), the library is quite outdated in some aspects. The woodwinds for example just don't cut it, and I really think that VSL woodwinds are the best thing you can get, period. It's really a whole different league. The old EWQL stuff also doesn't have any "true" legato, which I really value having, and is again something that IMO VSL is unparalleled at.

I think the VSL Special Edition + MIRx is the best, most value-for-money full orchestral collection right now. It's not the "newest" collection of samples either, but it's impressive how gracefully they have aged. I guess it's this very detailed, down-to-earth and "realistic" recordings that make these samples so timeless. Trends come an go, and perhaps something that sounds really contemporary and "epic" today, will be perceived as dated 10 years from now. But a VSL oboe simply sounds like an oboe, and the programming is still just top-notch. And it's still a living product - they come up with new stuff like MIRx, VI Pro is being updated, etc., which keeps breathing new life into the library.

In the end it's all subjective of course, and I can only concur with DaddyO's closing statement. Do your research, avoid jumping the gun with sample libraries, be very clear about your needs, and if you can actually try stuff out somewhere, that would be really really valuable and helpful.

@Another User said:

But for a proper audio interface, I was thinking of getting a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

I can't really make any audio interface recommendations, but you will want to use something other than your internal sound card. There are numerous ones out that are good quality and affordable.

Michael

In terms of my own sample library experience, I went from GPO to EWQLSO to VSL SE to VSL Cube.  Of those libraries, I probably found EWQLSO to be the most frustrating.  While it had better sound than GPO, the baked-in reverb was a real problem (Platinum with the three mic positions was a bit better than Gold in that regard).  The incomplete range of the strings I found to be a problem.  I also found that some styles of writing did not work with their strings - writing to the samples was an issue.  I have not had those issues with VSL - even VSL SE.  As for Play, I did not care for it at all (I had EWQLSO Gold in Kontakt, Platinum in Play).

I will echo what others have said: you do not want to even try to run their new Hollywood series on anything other than a new high-end computer.  VSL SE, OTOH, will fit quite nicely on a very mid-range computer.  As for sound, IMO, VSL SE is far superior to the older EWQLSO.

However, the key is to find what works for you.

As Daddy-O suggested, do check out that other forum.

@JimmyHellfire said:

I think the VSL Special Edition + MIRx is the best, most value-for-money full orchestral collection right now. It's not the "newest" collection of samples either, but it's impressive how gracefully they have aged. I guess it's this very detailed, down-to-earth and "realistic" recordings that make these samples so timeless. Trends come an go, and perhaps something that sounds really contemporary and "epic" today, will be perceived as dated 10 years from now. But a VSL oboe simply sounds like an oboe, and the programming is still just top-notch. And it's still a living product - they come up with new stuff like MIRx, VI Pro is being updated, etc., which keeps breathing new life into the library.

My take on this issue as well, couldn't have put it better then this....

Funny that you should mention Soundiron's Olympus Elements: I already have it (albeit the Ableton Live version). I also noticed the sale for the VSL SE products. If I purchase one volume, and I decide to upgrade after the May sale, would that mean I would keep the same discount as I would have gotten in the May sale?

I've heard similar complaints about EWQL's Hollywood Orchestra. I've also heard they don't like any criticism or complaints on their forums. I don't know if that's true or not.

What sort of audio interface do you use? Does anyone use the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (it's the bestseller on Amazon.co.uk and comes up top whenever I search 'audio interface' on Google shopping, and it's not that expensive). 

@Another User said:

What sort of audio interface do you use? Does anyone use the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (it's the bestseller on Amazon.co.uk and comes up top whenever I search 'audio interface' on Google shopping, and it's not that expensive).

I had to find a budget audio interface, and I chose the Steinberg UA-22, but there are plenty of people who are happy with the Scarlett 2i2. Others here can chime in on their preferences. There's a number of options.

Hope these comments help.

Hi, I just got an email back from the VSL Sales team. Yes, you're right, the sale won't be in perpetuity if you buy a volume during the sale and then upgrade after. You'll have to pay the full price. But I agree buying the complete bundle would be overkill. So, would it still be worth buying Vol. 1 during the sale and then upgrade after the sale and pay the full price for the upgrades? 

Hi, 

The discounts available with our Special Offers are always time-limited discounts, so I´m afraid you cannot get the same discount after a Special Offer ends. 

Best, 
Paul

@JoviantheConqueror said:

Hi, I just got an email back from the VSL Sales team. Yes, you're right, the sale won't be in perpetuity if you buy a volume during the sale and then upgrade after. You'll have to pay the full price. But I agree buying the complete bundle would be overkill. So, would it still be worth buying Vol. 1 during the sale and then upgrade after the sale and pay the full price for the upgrades? 

It really becomes a matter of the factors at play in your personal circumstance. What is worth it to one person is not to another.

You don't need to make up your mind today, but by the end of the month. If you haven't already downloaded the trial version of the complete Special Edition then I suggest you do so. You will benefit some from first-hand experience with the library. But given your early stage in the journey of orchestral DAW work, there are strengths with VSL SE that you may not fully appreciate before the month is out. Still, you wouldn't be totally dependent on others for your evaluations.

You can always buy one volume right away and then, after trying it out, you can buy more before the end of the month. And you can always wait a year or less for any further purchases. I can't guarantee it, but you will usually see some sort of Special Edition sale over the course of a year. This is a good sale. If you are unsure now just how deeply you want to dive in, jump in now with a light footpring. Get Volume 1. By the end of the month you might have a better idea if you want more now or are content to wait awhile.

Jovian 

I've only read the first post of this thread, let me give you my personal feedback: If you are after realism VSL is what you need without any doubt. You will get all the articulations you want and a brilliant interface to manage them (playing or notating). Let's say you choose a Flute matrix, set the Keyswitches and MIDI CC the way you feel more confortable and play it (of course you need some VI playing technique) it will be the same as listening to a Flute player in your studio. 

Yes, the sounds are dry. This means you will be able to place them where you want (close or distant) and to get the feeling of small/medium/big ensembles (and venues) according to the music needs. Of course it means you will need some nice convolution reverbs and of course it will take time and experience to learn how to use them properly (in conjunction with faders and power panners) if you're after a good placement of the sections. This community and the Beat Kaufmann tutorials will help you to master these tecniques.

I purchased SE bundle 1 and Bundle 2 + the Vienna Suite less than 5 months ago. I never used VSL samples before and i swear i am extremely satisfied of the whole package. My advice: if you don't need the Harpsichord, the Pipe Organ and the Chamber Strings right now you can go for the SE Bundle 1, if you just want to check the outstanding quality of VSL and your music could be played with the basic articulations you can choose the SE Volume 1.

Regards

Just a question about hardware requirements: is having a seperate SSD essential for just SE Vol 1? What about an audio interface? I believe my internal hard disk is 7200rpm. I looked inside my computer case and there does seem to be a slot where an SSD is meant to go, but by the looks of it there isn't a spare SATA and Power Supply cable. 

Would it be all right to say, purchase it now and download it later when I have the required hardware, or is there a time limit to download it? 

The SEs are very ressource efficient. It should work with a 7200 rpm drive, but an SSD would be a very sensible and noticeable upgrade - I would definitely invest in one for any sample-related work. Do yourself that favor, sooner or later.

An audio interface is an absolute must, spare yourself the disheartening experience of working with samples through a standard audio card.

Something just occured to me: if I purchase SE Vol. 1 during the sale and then upgrade to Vol. 1 Bundle afterwards, would I have to make the difference from the discount I got from the sale and ultimately end up paying the same price if I had bought Vol. 1 after the sale anyway? Or, would the upgrade price be 'fixed' and still be exactly the same regardless of the price I paid for Vol. 1?

Hello, 

Once you have registered the SE Volume 1, the price you paid for it doesn´t matter for the upgrade. The best idea is of course to purchase the bundle right away, there are still some days left...

Best, 
Paul

I don't know, I don't really want to rush into anything. I've been thinking maybe I should wait until I get the recommended hardware first before making the purchase, even if that means missing the sale. 

I think you need to change your username to JovianTheTeaser

:)

For SE, an SSD is not necessary, a 7200 rpm hard drive will work fine.  SE 1, 1+, 2 and 2+ combined require far fewer resources than the full libraries, and fully loaded, will only take up about 8 gigs of RAM.

Generally, when running sample libraries, you do need multiple hard drives, keeping the sample libraries off the system drive, as doing so helps overall performance.  In a typical music computer setup (where a separate computer for running sample libraries is not used) one drive is used for the o/s and programs, one drive for sample libraries, and one drive for recording.

About the SSD drives: people tend to install their o/s on the SSD and use the hard disk as storage, but it sounds like people use it to run their sample libraries seperate from the drive they have their o/s on, or so that's what I gathered. Is that correct?

Both. The OS and applications sit on an SSD to accelerate startup and loading times. The samples sit on separate SSDs so that nothing gets in the way of streaming samples, which is of vital importance for the performance, and also to be able to keep the system clean and be able to reformat the system drive, set up a new OS, make a fresh install etc. without having to re-install hundreds of GB of sample data as well.

HDDs are often used as project and audio data storage because frequent/constant writing on SSDs reduces their life duration (although not nearly at such a drastic rate as people used to believe). Nontheless, SSDs should be treated as much read-only as possible.

Using an SSD for VSL libraries has many advantages, from the number of samples that can be streamed to being able to load smaller portions of the samples into RAM (with VI Pro only IIRC).  Using an SSD is particularly beneficial when using the full libraries of VSL.  However, for SE, the need is far less, and if your budget is tight, that is one place you can save some money.  If you were purchasing a full library rather than an SE library, then an SSD would be of significantly greater importance.