Not a big fan of ensemble libraries in general, but this one is a great sketching library with a very good quality sound. The audio demos sound extremely good and "polished" (in a positive way).

The new lyrical legatos are beautiful. Are these really new recordings? Curious to me they sound like the VI Flute, Clarinet, Oboe and Trumpet in C. No big difference to me in terms of expression and playability, it's just a "wet" recording in a bigger room. On the other hand, it shows and proves the VI recordings have been top-notch since then.

I want to know some more information on the mixes. They continue the way it was introduced with Duality Strings. This is no critique, I much prefer the new mixes. Only the compressors do more harm than good in my opinion. I disable them all. And I also don't understand why the room mixes get panned. But hey? If it sounds good, it is good, right? But I also get rid of all these pannings. I want a natural sound as recorded. In several threads here and at VI-control I was talking about the close/mid microphones and I never understood why these were narrowed (powerpanned). So my thinking was right all the time? What is the reason behind this new mixing approach? The close microphones are not narrowed (powerpanned), but balance panned.

I also like the new mixer preset structure. Instead of hundred different ones, only three. I was never happy with the current ones in the Synchron libraries, because all have different settings, even across the same instrument family. What I would like to see in the future is one "classical" preset with unified settings for the tree and the room mics. And without any processing or more additional panning as needed.

Oh, and I hope we get lyrical legatos for all of the instruments in the future. ;) In my opinion they would be even better with some progressive vibrato as an alternative. But please the progression not too slow as in the espressivo patches. 

Was going to purchase synchron smart orchestra and some of the BBO's (andromeda, altair, black eye, and capricorn) that are discounted for BF.

@Paul

Altair is one of the BBO's I am considering but to what extent is it represented in synchron smart orchestra? Would it be redundant to acquire altair along with synchron smart orchestra or is there other content in altair that is not present in smart orchestra that would justify acquiring both?

Hello TonyF!

BBO-Altair and Synchron Smart Orchestra share the same brass recordings, string and woodwind sections are similar, but come from different recordings.
If you want more options as far as the sound is concerned, BBO-Altair may be a nice alternative to Synchron Smart Orchestra, because you have more microphone channels at hand.

Best regards,
Andi

Are there any clear benefits with Smart orchestra over Prime edition for live playing except the price?

I would sure think so. This is meant for one person to play a full orchestra themselves. Synchron Prime is a traditional orchestral library, so if you want five different instruments/sections, you would need five people on five keyboards.

Of course you aren't really explaining how many people you have playing. It could be that you actually want one person to play just flutes on one keyboard, and another person to just play oboes on a second keyboard, and another person to just play clarinets on a third keyboard, etc., and if so then Prime might make more sense.

@johanibraaten said:

Are there any clear benefits with Smart orchestra over Prime edition for live playing except the price?

Hi! The Synchron Prime Edition is a complete All-in-one orchestra that follows a more "classic" approach, as it features all instruments and sections individually.

Vienna Smart Orchestra has been designed to play a solo instrument with one hand and the rest of the orchestra with the other. Perfect for sketching out musical ideas, composing, and quick orchestration work.

We do offer in-depth videos for both products on our YouTube channel and the respective product pages (under the VIDEO tab).

This is the YT video that convinced me to purchase synchron smart orchestra. Was going to purchase some BBO's, which I did (andromeda, black eye, capricorn, dorado, and eridanus). But instead of altair I bought synchron smart orchestra.

I know it's designed primarily for live use but I like the way the instruments are organized and segregated.

And it supposedly has some synchron duality string samples. 😁

I broke down and bought Synchron Smart Orchestra today. It's really great. The woodwind soloists specially recorded for this are very strong and I'll get use of them outside of a sketching library. The brass soloists make me want Synchron Brass more than ever.

Tanks for the info. It seems like the smart orchestra is well suitet for live playing. However, can you use it as a soundsource for scoring in Sibelius? I read that there is some integration between Prime edition and Sibelius. How does that work, will it integrate equally good as the native Sibelius sound and are there any choir in the prime edition?

@Andreas8420 said:

Hi! The Synchron Prime Edition is a complete All-in-one orchestra that follows a more "classic" approach, as it features all instruments and sections individually.

Vienna Smart Orchestra has been designed to play a solo instrument with one hand and the rest of the orchestra with the other. Perfect for sketching out musical ideas, composing, and quick orchestration work.

We do offer in-depth videos for both products on our YouTube channel and the respective product pages (under the VIDEO tab).

Thanks, this is acually how i intend using it. There will be 4-8 persions with their individual keyboard playing at the same time so each person are onne section or soloist.

@mducharme said:

so if you want five different instruments/sections, you would need five people on five keyboards.

@johanibraaten said:

Are there any clear benefits with Smart orchestra over Prime edition for live playing except the price?

In that case then Synchron Prime might be better for you. You will have more choices of instrument that way.

Thanks, this is acually how i intend using it. There will be 4-8 persions with their individual keyboard playing at the same time so each person are onne section or soloist.

Would love to know what articulation and mix preset Synchron Smart Orchestra uses for the Violins and Celli legatos. They are really really nice and I'm trying to replicate in Duality Strings.

Synchron Prime Edition > Synchron Smart Orchestra?
I've got the "Prime". Is there a difference to the "Smart" on rg. Instruments?
I mean, are there other / more instruments or is it another way to play?

Thax for any answer!

Hi Dr. Mavro,

It's really another way to play. This playlist will give you a good impression:

The sound quality of the Prime instruments is a solid notch up from the Smart instruments, which seem slimmed down so those people still using 10 year old computers can keep up (why these people buy new software but refuse to buy a new machine always gets me, the upgrading process isn't as bad as it was 10 years ago peoples). Smart ensembles are all compressed pitch range in octaves (why the VSL website doesn't make clear the instruments are in octaves also baffles me, octaves vs unisons is a central arrangement issue, at least they offer refunds) while Synchron Prime offers unisons mostly but you have the option.

Smart may be nice for sketching if you like it but you will outgrow it quickly and regret the money you could have saved just skipping to the real deal. Smart doesn't have the nice Flow interface and probably won't because it doesn't have enough articulations included to make it nice. I would decide if you want to use VSL and if you do then get what you are actually going to need first.