@herb said:

I could be, that we will offer expansion packs (maybe downloadable) in the fufure (please don't ask for details now, because I don't know any details at the moment).

best
Herb

That's very goo to hear Herb, and that will have an impact on my decision.

Thank you!

That's all we can offer, because there are distributors and dealer margins, license costs, taxes, shipping costs, manufactoring costs (4 double layer DVDs inside!) etc...
[quote]

I suppose this means I'm gonna have to by a DVD that can reed double layer DVDs righ?

Thanks!

@Simon Ravn said:

Well... I for one think this is awesome value for money, even with only 2-3 velocities.

As far as I remember, Opus 1 has 4 velocity layers (pp-p-mf-f) in standard mode (i.e. keyswitch or modwheel switch) and 2 blended layers (p-f) in performance mode. With VSE we get, respectively, 3 and 2 velocity layers; in other words we should loose 1 layer in the keyswitch/modwheel mode. Doesn't seem an irreparable loss, everything considered.
It seems, on the other hand, that with VSE we gain 1 layer in sustained woodwinds and brasses. If I'm not wrong, Opus ww/brasses have just 2 velocity layers (p-f). This is a good thing, isn't it?

[:)]

Hm, all our products are manufatcured with double layer DVDs.
(since Dezember 2002)
Are there any DVD drives which can't read double layers?

best
Herb

@herb said:

I could be, that we will offer expansion packs (maybe downloadable) in the fufure (please don't ask for details now, because I don't know any details at the moment).

best
Herb

Either downloadable expansion packs (several small and affordable dedicated for one instrument or an instrument group) or Special Edition 2 would be appreciated. Trills especially for winds, col legnos, snap pizzicatos, some real dynamics. Appassionata strings with the same articulations as the rest of the strings. Fanfare trumpets with the basic brass articulations. Can't think of anything that would rock harder than that. [[;)]]

@herb said:

Hm, all our products are manufatcured with double layer DVDs.
(since Dezember 2002)
Are there any DVD drives which can't read double layers?

best
Herb

Maybe mine can and i just didn't know about it? [:D]

Anyway, a new DVD would be practical anyway.

P.S. or maybe i got confuse and mine just cant write double layers?

BTW, it's a well balanced package Herb, i can see that. But i think it's to be expected that Opus users would be a little disappointed to have less articulations. I just wanted to say that.

Thanks!

Getting the trills for all the instruments (brass too please - it was a head scratcher to me why the solo horn had its lovely trills, but the ensemble didn't in opus.. very frustrating too when writing!) would be a must - yes, snap pizz and col lengo for strings. I always found the Sffz patches to be pretty great in strings and brass. As someone with the full opus bundle, I must say I had gotten attached to those very stylish flautando strings.. getting those with (dare I say it?) true legato.. ahhh... [H]

I would also humbly submit some manner of very short note art - the regular stacs are very versatile and probably my favourites from any library, but sometimes something even more clipped is needed - staccatisimos, or spiccati in string instruments.. perhaps some form of the performance reps, those are fairly short? Ideally there would be at least 3 RR reps for these, 4 better for all those rapid fire passages - it would add tremondous value and versatility, and I know there are actually a variety of options from which these could be culled from the full cube

@jc5 said:

Getting the trills for all the instruments (brass too please - it was a head scratcher to me why the solo horn had its lovely trills, but the ensemble didn't in opus.. very frustrating too when writing!) would be a must - yes, snap pizz and col lengo for strings. I always found the Sffz patches to be pretty great in strings and brass. As someone with the full opus bundle, I must say I had gotten attached to those very stylish flautando strings.. getting those with (dare I say it?) true legato.. ahhh... [H]

I would also humbly submit some manner of very short note art - the regular stacs are very versatile and probably my favourites from any library, but sometimes something even more clipped is needed - staccatisimos, or spiccati in string instruments.. perhaps some form of the performance reps, those are fairly short? Ideally there would be at least 3 RR reps for these, 4 better for all those rapid fire passages - it would add tremondous value and versatility, and I know there are actually a variety of options from which these could be culled from the full cube

Agree 100%! (just wanted to point that out [:)]

As a new user to this forum and not owning any VSL products, I checked with Herb to see if my question would be fine. He said yes.

How do you feel VSL SE stacks up against EW Gold? I have seen many discussions comparing it to the cube and Opus, but it is now priced against Emerald and a bit below EW Gold. I have only found one demo, so I am not sure if there are other data points from which to draw comparisons. Guy's demo was very diverse and interesting, and I appreciate him taking the time to share it.

I'm also new to VSL Forum and products (I only own the excellent Glass & Stones - no legato stuff) so I may ask for a two letters answer, if it's the case please be my guest:

Using a combination of different perf-leg strings programs available in SE (Solo, Chamber, Orch.) and some solid MIDI skills, is it possible to fake decent trills?

[[[:|]]] "Trills have nearly no priority" [[[:|]]]

Christian

musical,

you have PM... [:D]

@cfdg said:

[...]
[[[:|]]] "Trills have nearly no priority" [[[:|]]]

Christian

("... within the Special Edition") [;)]

@musical said:

As a new user to this forum and not owning any VSL products, I checked with Herb to see if my question would be fine. He said yes.

How do you feel VSL SE stacks up against EW Gold? I have seen many discussions comparing it to the cube and Opus, but it is now priced against Emerald and a bit below EW Gold. I have only found one demo, so I am not sure if there are other data points from which to draw comparisons. Guy's demo was very diverse and interesting, and I appreciate him taking the time to share it.

It's an apples and oranges question that gets asked a lot, since SE is just a reduced version of the larger Symphonic Cube.

Any comparison has to be done with the Gold Bundle vs. SE, and even there, you can only really compare instrument lists and articulations. Each company produced to their own individual aural vision, and the approaches are radically different. You need to look at sound and workflow, too.

You can listen to any of the VI demos because except for sampling whole step vs. chromatically, and the number of articulations you get, it's the same sound.

I have the Pro Edition at 16-bit and VI at 24-bit. The 24-bit is gorgeous sounding and is a major sonic improvement over the 16-bit.

I have KH Emerald that friends in CA bought for me. The other two libraries are radically stronger choices and worth the extra money.

@Peter Alexander said:

I have the Pro Edition at 16-bit and VI at 24-bit. The 24-bit is gorgeous sounding and is a major sonic improvement over the 16-bit.

It's really hard for me to go back to 16 bit samples after having used 24 bit samples. I use to think that gold sounded good and still does but once i got SISS in 24 bit i got to say Gold sounds kind of cheap in comparison. I would assume it's the same with VSL.

@Anonymous Joe said:

It's really hard for me to go back to 16 bit samples after having used 24 bit samples. I use to think that gold sounded good and still does but once i got SISS in 24 bit i got to say Gold sounds kind of cheap in comparison. I would assume it's the same with VSL.

That's comparing rotten apples with a screwdriver. The quality of the recording means a lot more than the bit depth of the samples. Then there is the sample engine and your equipment that have an effect on the sound quality. The difference between 16 bit and 24 bit end product is almost negligible if both are made from 24 bit source files and the possible editing has been done in 24 bits.

Since SE will pitch-shift every other sample I wonder if the VI engine suffers from any aliasing problems. Anyone who knows?
I'm a little bit worried about this since the other VI instruments are chromatically sampled and hence aliasing might not have been a concern earlier.
I didn't worry much about aliasing earlier, but when the later versions of Kontakt2 introduced new high-quality interpolation modes I noticed a big difference for some of my whole-note samled instruments.

All the performance legato patches of the Symphonic Cube (and also First/Pro and Horizons) are whole tone (24 intervall samples for each wholetone step).
We only recieved statements so far, that the content of Vienna Instruments sounds much better than the previous sample library products.
So nothing to worry about.

best
Herb

I NEED an answer to these questions to know if VI will suit me. I've looked around but there no pdf that explains that.

a) How many articulations can i control with the mod wheel(EXCLUDING the use of keyswitch)? I've watched the video tutorials and i see only 3 instrument controllable by mod wheel. I would like to control way more than that 3.

b) Can i work like i would in K2 using instrument banks and program change where i can load 128 articulations asign to 1 midi channel(with out using keyswitch). Can the matrix be use as an instrument bank?

Thank you!

@Anonymous Joe said:

It's really hard for me to go back to 16 bit samples after having used 24 bit samples. I use to think that gold sounded good and still does but once i got SISS in 24 bit i got to say Gold sounds kind of cheap in comparison. I would assume it's the same with VSL.

That's comparing rotten apples with a screwdriver. The quality of the recording means a lot more than the bit depth of the samples. Then there is the sample engine and your equipment that have an effect on the sound quality. The difference between 16 bit and 24 bit end product is almost negligible if both are made from 24 bit source files and the possible editing has been done in 24 bits.

My example may not be perfect but it still work IMO. ANyway, you listen to user demos done with Gold and Platinum you will hear a huge difference.

You can manage 1728 articulations in only one VI instance (on one miditrack).
And each articulation ca also be stacked with a second articulation (layering or crossfading)

One Vienna Instruments holds 12 matrices which can be switched via keyswitches or programm changes.
And each matrix can be setup with 144 patches/articluations.
You would need two controllers (or keyswitches), one controller, for example modwheel, to switch between 12 horizontal cells/articulations, and a second controller of your choice, swithimg between 12 vertical cells.

best
Herb

@herb said:

You can manage 1728 articulations in only one VI instance (on one miditrack).
And each articulation ca also be stacked with a second articulation (layering or crossfading)

One Vienna Instruments holds 12 matrices which can be switched via keyswitches or programm changes.
And each matrix can be setup with 144 patches/articluations.
You would need two controllers (or keyswitches), one controller, for example modwheel, to switch between 12 horizontal cells/articulations, and a second controller of your choice, swithimg between 12 vertical cells.

best
Herb

Thanks for the quick reply Herb. It looks like it may suit my needs. I would have prefered to have control to more than 12 articulation with the mode wheel(only) but i guess i could live with that.

Thank you.