My intention in posting the other day was to try to promote a more temperate (good choice of word, @Oceanview) dialogue, having seen things getting a little heated. I think it's better to take a positive attitude, try to understand other people's viewpoints, etc. Re: Upright Bass, as @patdup says, it should be possible to cross-grade VIs bought as single instruments singly. Plucked Instruments is particularly frustrating as it includes three instruments whose pluckability is about the only thing they have in common. I suspect I'm not the only guitarist who bought the UP bass - the real-world instrument is large and many of us have space issues plus it's played in a totally different way. It seems unfair to expect me to pay for instruments I'd never use. Ironically, with Woodwinds, which naturally go together in a way the PI don't, there are Single Instruments cross-grades.
I think it also needs to be recognised that it won't only be VSL who have a lot of work to do: switching from VIPro to the SP also involves a significant learning curve (it took me several months to feel comfortable after so many years) and also a huge amount of reprogramming work. It's not a seamless transition.
Ultimately, while I wouldn't expect VSL to give all cross-grades away for free, there is that thorny question I raised: what exactly are we paying for? This is the crux of the matter from a PR point of view and VSL need to handle it carefully or risk losing a lot of people (N.B. I don't mean myself). Though they still sound great and it's becoming harder to find drier sources now, these are fairly elderly samples now, for which we've already paid, and the Synchron Player is free software. A "cross-grade" isn't even the same as an "upgrade", which suggests getting something new for the money. A lot of people may think "if I've got to learn completely new software, reprogramme all my arrangements and spend a four-figure sum, I might as well get the dopamine hit of something new and look at other companies' products". I'm a very loyal VSL user (as @Paul can attest having seen my account!) but a couple of decades ago I was earning good money, so I decided to invest in the best orchestral samples available at the time. I really did see it as an investment, I knew might not always have that kind of budget. Nowadays I simply don't have €1000 to spend on cross-grades over a couple of years. I'd have to find the money for those essential to my work then, for the others, either do without those libraries or look at cheaper alternatives from other developers. This is not what I want to do but... needs must.
I've always found VSL to be a company that listens more than most and this is fairly fundamental so I'm optimistic they will here. I suspect higher-earning users will already have cross-graded. I thought about it when it looked as though there might not be an Apple Silicon VIPro but was put off by the cost, plus I needed Duality Strings 😜. If I had to cross-grade more than a few old libraries I'd be unable to buy any new ones for a long time (no dopamine...)
Finally, I hope VSL will consider this: while of course the true credit for their success belongs to @herb, Paul and everyone else at the company, they wouldn't've got far without those of us who spent thousands, tried things out, discovered new ways of using the samples, suggested ideas, contributed feedback, helped one another out with problems, etc. etc. We've contributed to VSL's success too - I started with Gigasampler, EXS and Kontakt, then switched to the original Vienna Instruments when that came out, then VIPro and now Synchron Player.
Anyway, thanks to Paul for his assurances that VSL will take this on board, we'll look forward to hearing what they come up with.
Nick
