It's great to have all the newer options, although the HS demo video doesn't show off all that much yet (and there are things here and there that sound a little off, and it seems like the divisi is faked instead of real divisi).

What I really want to hear is similar musical phrases played on Vienna, HS, and LASS - most demos seem to be full orchestra and it's hard to find directly comparable passages - at this point all the libraries sound good overall so what is interesting is putting specific aspects like runs, legato/portamento etc under the microscope.

Have to say I was a bit disappointed by the Hollywood Strings demo - seemed to have been done in a rush; the intro music ( staccati ) sounds sloppy, and there is so much ( obviously spontaneous ) talking...not a good start. Let's see if the following demos are more convincing.

LASS sounds very good through; quite warm and organic.

I woul definately not fall for this offer:

1) From the demos you can tell that it's definately not bad, but also not, if it's really great.

2) For me every newly recorded string legato performance sounds great in the beginning (if it's not really bad, like the other new competitor next to lass, I forgot the name), but that's only because it's fresh. You start to hear more details using the library.

2) I hate east west for their policy (forum moderated, huge discounts after a short time,...)

3) The Play engine still sucks, especially on mac.

4) One year ahead for 700 bugs in a 2for1 deal.

... Ahhhhh, feels good to talk freely, my attempts to write in the soundsonline forum ... but I admit, the chromatic violin runs where the best I encounterd, if they are really playable (why did they include major and minor runs thought???).

I will rather wait for next VSL strings and maybe lass2 (lass is my only strings in addition to almost all VSL Strings). Where are the damn choirs ...?

Fritz.

It's a nice new string library but so completely different from Apassionata that I don't see much competition there. It's Hollywood but not huge European Classical/Romantic so apples and oranges I say.

@fritzflotow said:

I woul definately not fall for this offer:

1) From the demos you can tell that it's definately not bad, but also not, if it's really great.

2) For me every newly recorded string legato performance sounds great in the beginning (if it's not really bad, like the other new competitor next to lass, I forgot the name), but that's only because it's fresh. You start to hear more details using the library.

2) I hate east west for their policy (forum moderated, huge discounts after a short time,...)

3) The Play engine still sucks, especially on mac.

4) One year ahead for 700 bugs in a 2for1 deal.

... Ahhhhh, feels good to talk freely, my attempts to write in the soundsonline forum ... but I admit, the chromatic violin runs where the best I encounterd, if they are really playable (why did they include major and minor runs thought???).

I will rather wait for next VSL strings and maybe lass2 (lass is my only strings in addition to almost all VSL Strings). Where are the damn choirs ...?

Fritz.

 I thought the end was really nice on the demo. Sort of sounded real.

There are a few nice moments in the demo, like the single celli lines. The larger sections, though really sounded like a string synth to me. EW definitely has an idea of what strings should sound like, and HS really bears a lot of resemblance to their earlier products. It's a somewhat aggressive, harsh and strident sound. Nice for competing with sound effects in an adventure movie score. Sure, you can make it work for more intimate things by adding EQ, slathering it with verb and dropping it back in the mix, but we shouldn't have to at this point. I might buy it at some point, but like others, I'll wait until it's 40-50% off (doesn't take long with EW these days - they've conditioned us to expect it). Also, I must admit I wasn't hearing enormous day and night differences with the various mic positions. I wonder if that's all really necessary. As it stands, I think the various VSL options are greatly superior from a sonic standpoint. HS is interesting, and perhaps some of the control options are unique, but I don't see this as having raised the bar.

plus I forgot to mention:

The "con sordino"-switch sounded to me like a certain eq setting applied, not like actual samples recorded. Also it is mentioned, that divisis are recorded in the same session as the full sections. So It seems to be not a real smaller section, like combining chamber strings and orchestral strings (or combining desks in lass), but rather like more alternate microphone positions. It's difficult though to predict anything with the amount of information given ...

@Lee Blaske said:

I might buy it at some point, but like others, I'll wait until it's 40-50% off (doesn't take long with EW these days - they've conditioned us to expect it)

Yeah, like I just got the EW Choirs expanded for a little over 200 € [G]

There's a longer version of the tutorial up now with two long Thomas J pieces that bookend the demo.  they are both magnificent.  

 Did you notice this ? Maybe it could be a good thing if you absolutely need an Hollywood sound ? http://vsl.co.at/en/211/497/1686/311/181.htm

I hope I'll be able to use my MIR soon ! [H]

@Lee Blaske said:

It's a somewhat aggressive, harsh and strident sound. Nice for competing with sound effects in an adventure movie score

I agree. So I think it is only a matter of style and taste of the composer really.

PSY-Clone:

A / B comparison between  Apass Celli followed by HS Celli (courtesy of Psy-Clone). I beg to differ about the strident / harsh thing being discussed here.

http://10.0.16.246:15871/cgi-bin/blockpage.cgi?ws-session=4093710770

SvK

@svonkampen said:

PSY-Clone:

A / B comparison between  Apass Celli followed by HS Celli (courtesy of Psy-Clone). I beg to differ about the strident / harsh thing being discussed here.

http://10.0.16.246:15871/cgi-bin/blockpage.cgi?ws-session=4093710770

SvK

huh? is that directed to me?

Oh i see you brought along the quacking ducks  😊

Link doesnt work tho.

Hollywood strings is...Hollywood...I think LASS is still better.

VSL is in first instance classical, but you can adjust the sound to your liking

that's what I think...

@fritzflotow said:

plus I forgot to mention:

The "con sordino"-switch sounded to me like a certain eq setting applied, not like actual samples recorded. Also it is mentioned, that divisis are recorded in the same session as the full sections. So It seems to be not a real smaller section, like combining chamber strings and orchestral strings (or combining desks in lass), but rather like more alternate microphone positions. It's difficult though to predict anything with the amount of information given ...

Yes, the sordino is done with impulse responses instead of actual recordings.  I have to admit I'm skeptical about that and the divisis as well.

@mike connelly said:

I doubt this will get answer, but I'll ask anyway.  With the newer libraries doing legato (among other things) with more reverberant samples, is VSL still planning to record samples as dry as possible, or are you guys considering doing recordings in a more reverberant space?  It seems to me that it can be hard to get a good sound with totally dry samples, and even a little bit of room in the mics can make a big difference.

If the rumored choir library is recorded as dry as the VSL instruments, that will be interesting to hear.

Unless they offer these reverbant samples as seperate libraries, I hope they keep them as dry as possible.  Aside from some minor personal preferences, I kind of like the collections just the way they are.  I like dry samples.   The ability to create one's own sonic environments is one of VSL's strongest attributes. 

I totally agree

@svonkampen said:

PSY-Clone: A / B comparison between Apass Celli followed by HS Celli (courtesy of Psy-Clone). I beg to differ about the strident / harsh thing being discussed here. http://10.0.16.246:15871/cgi-bin/blockpage.cgi?ws-session=4093710770 SvK

What is the correct link please?

I would be interested to hear the comparison.

I pre-ordered HS Gold because I have LASS, Appassionata St., Vienna SE + and a bunch of the VSL download instruments.  Generally, I find VSL to be very real and the player the best of any VI out there.  I'm not just saying this on this forum- I say it everywhere.  I do find I have to tweak releases on the instruments but it's no biggie.  And, Vienna Ensemble Pro has made life amazingly great.  However, I do hear some sonorities in the expanded HS demo that I personally haven't been able to achieve using my existing libraries.  There is an attractive quality to sitting down and playing really expressive strings with little programming.  I'm a musician first and foremost and like to work on music ideas rather than futzing around with making something sound sonically great.