Yes,
Pretty much every twisting thought you have I've also been going through. Although my path has taken me in a slight different area.

To use I VSL I purchased Logic and spent the time to learn them both. I record and mix in Pro Tools so there's all this passing files between them that really cuts into the fun of creation. Actually its not the loss of fun per se that is taxing, but the effort expended in human memory and organizaion to keep track of what you're doing while trying to hold the artistic intention inviolate.

If I could use Vienna Instrument within Pro Tools it would help with (at least) the projects where smaller amounts of VSL would be required. That brings up another pertinent question - How many instances of Vienna Instruments could be instantiated within Pro Tools?

I don't really see totally abandoning the Logic/VSL combination. Maybe it's just me but I forsee that it will be easier to create large orchestral mockups easier within it. (Question #2 - With the purchase of a single license will we be able to use both he VST and AU versions of Vienna Instruments on the same computer but in different host programs?)

I really don't want to have to go to multiple computers and multiple VSL licenses. Sounds expensive and cumbersome. I already need to go out and get another audio interface to handle I/O for Logic since th Digi version of coreAudio is so flawed. Otherwise I enjoyed using the 192 as the interface.

However, I look forward to getting a PC for MIR as that become available.
Until Vienna Instruments was unveiled I was considering going for Kontakt2. I'm glad that little episode in thought has disappeared.

But hey, nice people at VSL, this goes to show that there are a lot of Pro Tools users out there who think that spending $10,990 + MIR is really no big deal in relation to how much they alreay have invested in their system. Testing within the Pro Tools environment in VST Wrapper mode or creating a RTAS or, ahem, TDM version is a worthy usage of your time.

Best wishes,
Jack

Pro Tools, like it or not, is the standard of the industry and is virtually every recording studio in the world. I can't imagine VSL ignoring it, but hey, I guess they do what they do....

TH

@tom@aerovons.com said:

Pro Tools, like it or not, is the standard of the industry...............

TH

But not as far as sequencers is concerned...

DG

@DG said:

But not as far as sequencers is concerned...

Exactly. People composing using a product like VSL are not likely to be doing so within ProTools. If at some point, PT starts adding things like notation, track freezing, screen sets and folders on the arrange page, it might become an option.

Lee Blaske

But there are a lot of people running DP as a front end to Pro Tools and need RTAS.

@Lee Blaske said:

Exactly. People composing using a product like VSL are not likely to be doing so within ProTools. If at some point, PT starts adding things like notation, track freezing, screen sets and folders on the arrange page, it might become an option.

Lee Blaske

Lee,

I make my living composing with Pro Tools, and I am a VSL user. And I'm not the only one. It would be nice if Pro Tools added some of the things you mentioned, but that in no way prevents one from successfully composing with it today. Choosing a sequencer is a matter of taste. You can factually compare features of one sequencer to another, and make your own conclusions about what features are most important to you. I'm just digging into Pro Tools 7 and it's sequencer features are a big leap beyond where it has been for the last few years. It all depends on what's most important to you.

In the end, it's how you use the tools you have available. I compose the same whether I'm working in Logic, DP or Pro Tools. My preference is Pro Tools because it is in my opinion a superior mixing solution.

The lack of RTAS support is troubling indeed for Pro Tools users, but on the other hand the Pro Edition was never available to PT users except on a second machine running Logic or GS. That situation will still be the same. I'm happy that the Horizon series is available for Kontakt and hope to see more Horizon products in the future. Future support for RTAS would be icing on the cake.

Regards,

Bill

Lee, if you don't need more than one MIDI track per instrument, this could make it more feasible to use PT for sequencing.

And you should be able to fudge things by using the stand-alone version outside PT with the IAC driver. The only thing is that you can't use DAE and CoreAudio at the same time - I believe? - but you should be able to get audio out of the computer and into PT with some ingenuity and money.

Actually, the real solution would be for PT to add AU and VST support on the Mac side, and VST support on the PC side.

Lee Blaske

Nick -- you can use DAE and CoreAudio at the same time (I do it all the time). Option is to run VSL standalone thru any CoreAudio h/w device, then physically plug it into the Digi interface (this works, I've done it). But I hate this type of setup -- too cumbersome and in general a PITA.

You could even use the G5 optical outs for VSL into ProTools (set Optical to external sync -- you have to connect both in and out for ext. sync).

As this thread is coming up on being two days old it will be greatly illuminating when the 'powers that be' decide to make some kind of statement about Pro Tools usage.

One way or another we should give them the benefit of doubt since the current Cube doesn't work on Pro Tools now. I do want to tip my hat to their ability to keep this product silent during development - and by the way, it seems elegantly conceived.

Right Gary, but not through Digidesign hardware. I did forget that the 192 has an optical S/DIF, though.

(My brain is in MIX-on-the-old-&*^$&$&!!!.-machine mode, and also soon LE-on-my-G5-because-I-can't-justify-HD-for-what-I-do-much-as-I'd-like-to mode.)

Does the 192 have an optical S/PDIF? If not then you just need one of thost M-Audio converters.

Nick -- yes, the 192 has an optical in (8 in). You'd only get a single stereo pair out of the G5, though.

Bump for a response on ProTools from the nice chaps at Vienna. [:)]

@Vagn Luv said:

Bump for a response on ProTools from the nice chaps at Vienna. [:)]

I did suggest the idea of testing the VST version with the FXExpansion VST-->RTAS Wrapper to a couple of people at VSL and I've now been told that they will be doing this. That's one of the nice things about dealing with these VSL people: if you ask a lot of companies to try something you'll get a reply saying "thank you for your suggestion, we'll bear it in mind" which obviously means "please go away and leave us alone". The answer I got from VSL was "yes, we'll try what you suggest". I look forward to the results. Hope it works! I'm sure they'll let us know.

Nick

Yes. Thanks for your patience.