I am thinking of taking advantage of the xmas offer. I already own  a few VSL libraries standard and extended. If I bought the VSL exploration kit could I then buy a licence for one of the included standard libraries and get the free extended library as well? That way I wouldn't have to be sent the DVD of a library I would have on the VSL exploration kit.

Hi smallfry,

Of course that will work. Simply register the Standard Library within the timeframe of the holiday offer and contact us - we will send the serial number of the Extended Library of your choice right away!

Best,

Paul

I mentioned this to the composer I'm assisting on a film (he's already jumped on the VSL wagon and purchased several libraries based on the cues I sent him that are full of VSL) and he said he'd get it for me as an x-mas gift.  Sweeeet!  

For me, 180 hours is a looooong time.  I'm not a career composer and usually get in about 2-6 hours per week if I'm lucky so these licenses ought to last me quite some time. 

Between this and the Holiday Deal, I'm loving VSL more than ever. :)

Very interesting product.

Just thinking about the best way of combining things.

If you get the HD from Best Service and add a second product, they give you a 10% bonus.

At the same time they officially mention the VSL christmas deal with the 23% bonus.

When you check out even with 4 libraries they deduct 10%, not more, so it seems the Vienna X mas deal Part II is lost. ( of coursePart I with the free extended library would work).

If that´s the case, it might be better to only buy the Harddisc from Best Service and order the Libraries in the Vienna Webshop.

But I still wonder, if there is a way to combine both.

Greetings

Holger

Hello kleinholgi,

as the Exploration Kit is offered by Best Service, I´d say the best idea is to contact them directly.

Best,

Paul

Hi Paul,

it seems, Best Service knows about the problem. It´s related to their webshop.

"Lieber Best Service Kunde,
Wir freuen uns, dass Sie an dem VSL Weihnachts-Special teilhaben möchten.
Bitte rufen Sie uns an (Tel. 089 45 22 89 226), gerne beantworten wir Ihre Fragen und nehmen Ihre Bestellung
entgegen. Sie können uns Ihre Wünsche auch per email mitteilen, dann erhalten Sie umgehend Ihr persönliches
Angebot.
Bei Bestellungen in unserem web shop www.bestservice.de werden diese Sonderrabatte leider nicht automatisch
angezeigt. "

Greetings

Holger

That Would be a great idea !

For example. a 100 hour license for EUR 70 or so.

R.Denessen

Usually the fees for using rented software are very high for typical high value packages. Therefore I´m not a big fan of throwing money at something, which in the end I don´t own.

But in the case of VSL this might really be a nice idea. I don´t know if it is possible to buy just another Vienna Key and get another 30 days again or if the demo modes are only accessible once per user.

Anyway it is a good idea to get the chance of testing the libraries before buying, especially at this price. 99 Euro including a harddisc that´s worth ~70 Euros alone, with all the samples already copied onboard, is absolutely fair.

I only hope that there´s no confusion when running the directory manager to search for new paths of the library. Regarding the keys I don´t expect big problems when keeping the new key seperate from the old one.My plan is not to copy my existing licenses onto the new key. That way it should be easy to seperate full library exploration from working with existing licensed libraries without hurting each other.

Regarding SATA vs USB I think I will go for the SATA version. Would love to just pop it into an USB port, but I think the performance is worse then. Firewire is often shared with or already in use for audio interfaces, so that´s not a good idea either. External SATA could be nice, but the cases or more expensive and many motherboards and PC towers don´t have the eSATA Slot ( why the hell did they go for another connector anyway, the regular SATA is already small enough IMO ?  ). So in the end, 3 HDs inside the tower should be the best and cheapest solution, although thermally and silence-wise it´s not a dream. Perhaps the SSDs keep getting cheaper and bigger in the future, then we could outsource at least the boot partition and the VSL sample libraries.

cheers

Holger

Just ordered the kit.

Works fine with Best Service. You only have to give them a phone call, because their webshop can´t properly calculate the christmas discounts.

The only thing I´m not quite sure is, if the 180h Demo Vienna Key is included in the Exploration Kit automatically. I guess a standard Vienna Key won´t work for that purpose. Keeping it seperate would be a better idea anyway IMO.

Also I was astonished, that you have to buy external HDs only. I thought you could also have it as a standard SATA internal disc.

Do you think USB will be fast enough ? Otherwise I´ll either have to copy it to another internal drive or unmount it from the USB cage.

Just got the information, that the Vienna Key is included in the Package.

Well done.

Cheers

kh

I got mine this week and it couldn't have come at a better time.  I'm working on a film score where realism is key and having all these libs will benefit me.  I already own Vienna SE Extended and SE PLUS, Appassionata I, BRASS II Extended plus a whole buncha downloads as well but I do hear the difference between the SE instruments and DVD libraries.  I'm running my HD from an external enclosure (just pop it in and it works) although it's only going through FW400 and I do have an e-SATA port that I ought to hook up once I get a PCI-e eSATA port for my Mac Pro.  Otherwise I could just pop it into one of the ports in my Mac Pro and take out a lesser used HD and put that into the enclosure....

Not to sound negative but there's soooooo much on this Exploration Kit that it's a bit daunting.  I'm glad we have 180hours to go through it because there's a million articulations and instruments.  I particularly like the upbeat articulations which I used on a cue I recently wrote.  

Dynamite stuff.

p.s.  if I ever want a full license for this, do I have to get them through Best Service or can I buy them from VSL?  Obviously I wouldn't need the DVDs although I suppose a back-up wouldn't be a bad idea....

David

Hello David,

Glad you like our samples 😊

Of course you know that you cannot use any of these unlicensed sounds in any of your work. Just making sure.

If you´d like to order, you can always choose where to order. Right now, our holiday offers let you create your own bundles..... might be worth a consideration.

Best,

Paul

They also had an eSATA external solution, but the price was a little bit over the top IMO. Also, these eSATA devices come with a different connector compared to the standard SATA and without special slotbacks for the motherboard/case I have no clue how to adapt to them. But if you say, FW400 works, I think USB 2.0 should as well, at least for the trial phase.

Since the christmas deal is open until January, we may have some time to decide which combination works best. For the libraries that I´ve been 95% sure they would suit my needs well, I directly ordered a 4 piece package right away with the HD. That way I hope to get enough experience until mid January to decide which free extended library to choose. Without knowing I think Solo Strings or Apassionata extended might be a good choice, but let´s see.

Hi Paul.  Actually thanks for letting me know about that.  I will only use the libraries I own on this project. 

Season's Greetings!

David

I´m in an equal situation.

Had the Special Edition installed on an internal disc and didn´t want any interference with the exploration kit.

But it is very easy. You don´t have to install new Vienna players.

The only thing you have to do is plug in the new drive and run the Vienna Directory manager.

Add all folders with the instrument libraries into the Directory using the Browse function. ( I only left out the progarn files and manuals, that also come on the HD, since I didn´t want to confuse the Vienna player with that, maybe they don´t do any harm at all either).

All Done.

I didn´t test the special 180h Vienna Key yet. Because of the X mas deal I got me 4 new libraries, that actually run on my standard  Vienna key, but the samples are streamed from the new exploration harddisc. With the whole library on it, there´s no need to copy and install the DVDs ( this alone maybe worth some etxra Euro for it :)  )

 Works out of the box, no problems.

Hope , that Murphy´s Law doesn´t proove me wrong, as soon as I plug in the 180h  Key :) , but I really don´t expect any issues there.

Yeah, I installed the SATA HD in one of my ports on my Mac Pro and use my standard Vienna key for purchased libraries but use the HD to stream them since my previous VSL stuff was on the same HD as Hollywood Strings and it was too much to stream from one HD.  I think this is a wonderful idea and gotta be honest- if I do get the urge to buy more VSL libraries, all I need to do is get the full license.  I mean, would there be a way to order say, Chamber Strings but get the license right up front and just have the DVDs as back-up?  I don't see why not.  

Very cool.  Even better than direct download.  No load time nor internet bandwidth worries.

Steve, I´m right now testing the exploration kit with the new demo Vienna key.

Works out of the box, don´t worry. At first start after plugging in the Vienna Key, the VI Player needs some time to check all the additional licensed libraries. Of course go to the Directory Manager as a first step and tell him where the new paths to the libraries on the harddisc are. You can leave your old path ( e.g. to the Special edition installation) right as it is, that doesn´t hurt.

Greetings

kh