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  • BBO "obsolete"/"recreatable" with larger VSL libraries?

    C
    C

    Hello VSL-community,

    as I am currently planning to get some of the libraries, I would be happy if someone could help me with my questions about two issues, which I have not been able to discern myself:

    From my understanding, the BBO series contains selected samples, patches and instruments from the "bigger" editions, mainly the Synchron libraries.

    1) Would it thus be possible to (re)create "BBO style patches" on the basis of some of the larger libraries? I am referring primarily to ensemble and group style sounds/patches, be it multiple "players" of a certain instrument (like 4 violins) for a richer and more realistic sound or a patch consisting of several different instruments combined/layered either to be played simultaneously or by velocity or key split ("high strings", "woodwinds", "whole orchestra" etc.).

    2) Are absolutely _all_ of the BBO sounds taken from the other libraries, that is, if, e.g., one gets the Synchron package, would the whole BBO series "included", in effect?

    I really like many of the BBO libraries (strings, brass, woodwinds, especially) and at the moment I am quite torn what best to get for my budget. Currently, I tend towards the Synchron-ized Elements Special Edition package together with several BBO volumes (Andromeda, strings, brass, woodwinds - mainly those packages with no clusters, riffs or heavily bpm-dependent samples). If however, with some time and work those BBO volumes can be built (or approximated) from the Synchron-ized Elements Special Edition or Synchron sounds, I would prefer to not buy them "again" under the BBO label.

    Furthermore, with the current discounts (and considerable financial stretches) it might even be possible for me to go for several of the Synchron packages instead of the above combination - which would, of course, cost more, but would also include e.g. all of the pianos (of which I already have the CFX which I love, and would like to get the D-274 ASAP, which from the demos seems to be phenomenal).

    Another option might even still be the VI series, especially at the new discounted prices, but from the demo version I realized that I prefer sounds I do not have to fiddle with overmuch for them to fit in, but rather "work" out of the box.

    As it stands, I am uncertain what to do (option overload), and any information is highly appreciated.

    In case the following might be useful, my areas of musical interest (regarding the use of the VSL libraries) are symphonic/folk metal, classical piano, and movie/game scoring. I am not a professional, and currently use a laptop and Windows 8.1 Pro, with 1+2 TB SSDs (NVME and USB 3), 16 GB RAM, a i5-8250u CPU, and Cubase Pro 9; MIDI input controllers are keyboard (main), e-drums, wind controller, and MIDI-fied guitar.

    I hope my post is in the right place here, thanks in advance for any help.

    [Edit: Corrected the package name, it's the "Synchron-ized Special Edition" bundle I am interested in, not "Synchron-ized Elements" - my bad]
  • PaulP
    VSL Team
    PaulP
    last edited
    last edited

    Welcome chaot,

    Here are a few shorter answers:

    In general, BBO recordings are totally new recordings, only exception: BBO Phoenix and Quasar, which contain material from Synchron Percussion I&II.

    The whole idea of creating such a product line is that a whole orchestra or sections playing together (tutti) create some kind of musical magic that can hardly be achieved by creating them from separate parts. So you get an incredibly authentic performance with very little effort!

    Here is an attempt at a quick summary of our different product lines.

    In my opinion, you should be very well of with a combination of the SYNCHRON-ized Special Editions and some BBO products.

    Best,
    Paul

    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • S
    S

    My two cents,

    I only own the BBO Brass Packs, and I highly recommend them for what you've stated your goals are.  The low brass pack, especially, is incredibly strong and powerful sounding in a way that is difficult to recreate with the VI libraries or even SYN Dim. Brass alone without some MIR Pro (or other spatialization) magic.  As long as you,'re okay with the pre-selected instrumentation (which is the standard low brass section plus some optional contrabass oomph, pretty applicable in just about all your given intentions), it's very good bang for your buck.  Ganymede (which I don't own, but intend to at some point) is also quite robust and functional for its price point!

    - Sam
  • C
    C

    Paul and Seventh Sam, thanks a lot for your help and clarifications!

    And to the VSL folks in general, also thanks a lot for your exceptional customer service.