My point of view is that neither is better than the other.

Giga Running on a 2Ghz Dell (overkill really)
EXS Running on G4 Dual 1.25Ghz

Giga has better file structures and is quicker to set up and use.
EXS has more depth (but only if you become an expert user and most users wont need that depth)

Giga perhaps scores more points in that there are many more Sample Libraries available for it.

At the end of the day what you get out of both has more to do with the Sample Library that the Software.

tattie

There are threads on the subject that explain the exact differences, but I personally don't think they're significant. You can get more voices on the EXS version as of today, but unless you're playing harp glisses, polyphony isn't really an issue.

@Nick Batzdorf said:

There are threads on the subject that explain the exact differences, but I personally don't think they're significant. You can get more voices on the EXS version as of today, but unless you're playing harp glisses, polyphony isn't really an issue.

Thanks Nick!

I thought that EXS was limited to 64 voices per occurrence of the application.

How could you have the same "gliss" performance occurring over different occurrences?

Or, am I not understanding how that works... [*-)]:

EXS is limited to 64 voices perc instance. Logic can load 64 instances in a session, so I guess your polyphony (assuming your computer is fast enough) is really 64x64.

For me, what makes the EXS version most desireable is Crossfading instruments for the performace patches. For example, the performace legato violins (piano and Forte) are one Xfade instrument. I don't know about you guys, but that's a big deal to me. The limitations of giga 2.5 are thrown out the window. EXS has no limits to zones/layers/samples/ etc, etc, etc.

Also, EXS can work with 24 bit samples. Not only that, I understand that you can have a single instrument patch that has both 16bit and 24 bit samples co-exsisting in the same patch. I only mention this because I believe it's relevent as far as future developments. I assume it will be easier at this point for VSL to press forward with EXS than giga, but who knows?

@nathanfurst said:

For example, the performace legato violins (piano and Forte) are one Xfade instrument. I don't know about you guys, but that's a big deal to me. The limitations of giga 2.5 are thrown out the window. EXS has no limits to zones/layers/samples/ etc, etc, etc.

Also, EXS can work with 24 bit samples. Not only that, I understand that you can have a single instrument patch that has both 16bit and 24 bit samples co-exsisting in the same patch. I only mention this because I believe it's relevent as far as future developments. I assume it will be easier at this point for VSL to press forward with EXS than giga, but who knows?

Very good info. Thank you, nathanfurst.

I'm not a very "in-depth" user, I guess... because I don't even know what the limitations of GIGA are concerning zones/layers/samples etc.

"I don't even know what the limitations of GIGA are concerning zones/layers/samples etc."

Giga has a weird thing where you have only so many slots for samples and programming. EXS does not. For example, in giga, you can only make so many keyswitches or whatever in an instrument before you run out of space. As I understand it, that was a big problem that the VSL dudes were running into.

On EXS, I've personally created instruments that will have like 14 keyswitches (of longer violin articulations like trem, leg, etc.) with the ModWheel set to 0, and then like 10 completely different set of keyswitches (detaches, staccatos, etc) with the ModWheel set to 127.
Those numbers are not limits of EXS, it's just that I ran out of articulations for that instrument.
As long as you have the RAM and the power, the EXS is completely UNLIMITED.

I don't know anything about the EXS but these differences sound HUGE to me, especially being able to stack the legato instruments.

You can't do that at all on giga. I have to use so many different tracks it is very complicated to record anything with a lot of articulations/expressions/etc. Considering how cheap ram is today why accept limitations created by the software?

Very interesting, Nathan. I'd love to know how you've programmed those patches in more detail...

So if you are using VSL on EXS already, is there a point to going over to a GIGA version as well, or would it be better to just buy another mac and keep going on EXS versions....

i have both exs & giga.

i personally don´t like the handling of the realtime controlling (keyswitch, realtime fade between samples etc....) of the gigasampler. i don´t like either the giga editor.
some realtime controlling of the giga is linear not logarithmic like in the exs which is a better feel in using modwheel to change e.g. the volume of the instrument. (btw, linear value changing is easier to program then logarithmic value changing)

the giga is good for e.g. to hold the instruments where no realtime controlling is necessary (percussion etc.)

if you want to switch with your e.g. modwheel in realtime between samples
e.g pp hornsection (modwheel value 1-30) to mp hornsection (val 31-70) to mf hs (71-90) to f hs ( 91-105) to ff hs (106-127), you can set in the exs also an crossfade parameter which smoothes the transition between the layers. Also you can add to make the transition more realistic an filter offset per group and do some filter controlling with the same modwheel.
check this out ! you will have a very smart hornsection and you will hear no transitions with using the different samples.

you can´t do this with the giga sampler.

imho, exs is a much more finer sampler, and you have very less limitations. in my opinion you must be more an expert with the gigaeditor then with the exs editor.

it would be nice to have someday a standalone version of the exs.

Siggi

i must agree, that the extra expresson possibilities are a big deal in EXS. I am enjoying them. that be said , the limitations of EXS come down to memory. with a G5 and 8 gigs possible the EXS version will become way more powerful but untill the panther operatating system is out the G5 will not be able to see over 2 gigs of ram. With giga 3.0 rumored to be out at NAMM the extra keyswitching options not avaliable in GS 2.5 should be available. then it will become a choice of which platform you have more of and has VSL reprogrammed the lib for 3.0

On a related note people have ported over VSL to Kontact and are acheiving excellent results including 2 and 3 lay performance legato patches. I understand the conversion to Kontact is fairly painless.

I guess there are velocity and release region limitations that I do not know about or completely understand. I'm going to learn more about this, because I do not personally like using the mod wheel or keyswitching in my performances.

Can anyone tell me specifically what the velocity/release region limitations are in GIGA?

@Another User said:

I thought that EXS was limited to 64 voices per occurrence of the application.

How could you have the same "gliss" performance occurring over different occurrences?

Good point, by the way. You can't have the same gliss over multiple EXSs (unless you spread the MIDI data over multiple tracks), but the 64 stereo voices you use up on that one gliss still count as straws on the camel's back. One machine is capable of running a finite amount of polyphony.

And harp glisses are a perfect application for the Freeze command.

Sounds like a cool command [6]

What does the freeze cammand do? .... I wish I had a freeze command, LOL [:D]