I am confused with Horizon Series

[syra]

Hello everyone, this is my first post in this forum. After doing my research, it seems that the VSL product is the best in the market today. I am waiting for the Giga 3 realease and off I go... [:D]

...however, I am confused with the Horizon series. Are the "mallets" for example exactly the same as in the orchestral package? Is the purpose of the Horizon series to offer these sounds in smaller packages (why buy a huge collection when all I need is a high quality marimba...)?

I also noticed that the Horzion samples are 16/44.1. In addition, there are some sounds that are only available as a Horizon product...

So...whats the deal here?...and finallly what about upgrade-ability from Horzion to the Orchestral series?...Thank you very much.

[herb]

Hi Syra,

some Horizon products are "Spin Off" releases of our Pro Edition,
but most of the Horizons are complete new releases.

An overview:

100% Spin Off of Pro Edition:
Opus 1
Mallets
FX-Percussion

Partial Spin Off of Pro Edition:
Solo strings (Solo violin and solo cello are part of in the Pro Edition)
Harps (Harp 1 is part of the Pro Editon)

Complete new content:
Chamber Strings
Epic Horns
French Oboe
Woodwind Ensembles
Saxophones I
Glass and Stones
Concert Guitar
Overdrive

100% Spin Off products are thought for users, who don't have our First/Pro Edition products.
All other Horizons could be used in addition to the First/Pro Edition and of course also as "Stand alone" products.

best
Herb

[syra]

Thanks herb. It makes more sense now although I still find trouble figuring out what I should buy.

What I want is:

*Normal strings AND performance strings
*Normal Brass/Woodwinds
*Mallets (at this point I don't need any other Percussion)

In other words I need all the sounds, including mallets (except the other percussion) in normal mode, and also the strings with the performance tool.

Thanks.

[herb]

Maybe this is helpful:

First, it depends which string sound fits your needs.
If you like the chamber string sound, I would suggest this bundle:

Horizon - Mallets
Horizon - Chamber strings (performances included)
First or Pro Edition Brass & woodwinds (no performances)

For the large string sections you could bundle:
Horizon - Opus 1 with
Horizon - Mallets

a more advanced solution for the large string ensembles could be:
First or Pro Edition Strings,
First or Pro Edition Brass & Woodwinds
First Edition Performance set
Horizon - Mallets

best
Herb

[mstedeford]

Oh. Does the pro edition strings not include the first edition performance set by default? - I thought it included all the articulations in the first edition performance set as well as some new ones.. ?

[mike connelly]

If I understand correctly, the pro edition strings contains the first edition strings. The pro edition performance set contains the first edition performance set.

I'm not sure why they regular strings are sold separately while the performance strings are not. Why isn't there an option for people who want to buy the full set of strings but aren't interested in winds or brass?

[JonnK]

Maybe that's a nice idea for Herb to consider: integrating the performance elements in the packages for the instrument groups of the orchestra. Maybe even splitting brass and woodwind up into two separate packages.
It makes little sense that you have to buy the entire performance box for the entire orchestra when you need the strings only.

[cm]

mike, looking back now almost two years this might look like a wrong decision, but we didn't expect users want to buy performance elements if they don't own the orchestral cube. the whole idea to record and offer performance elements was pretty new and hard to calculate. future products will be configurable more modular to give you the freedom of choice.
christian

[syra]

Yeah, I too thought STRINGS would contain all of them (normal AND performance)...unfortunately things are complicated...

are there any plans to create an all string library including the performance elements? It doens't have to be ALL the strings...Chamber is cool, you could have an ensemle package and a solo one...the point is that whatever sounds you buy they come with the performance elements too...

anyway, thanks herb for the help...I'll let you know what my decision will be.

[mike connelly]

"we didn't expect users want to buy performance elements if they don't own the orchestral cube"

Regardless, there's nothing stopping you from doing it now, is there? Why not just release split versions of the perfomance set just like the split versions of the orchestral cube?

[cm]

yes, we just had to make new DVDs, new sleeves, new booklets, new manuals, ship them to distributors, add new products, think about new prices, discounts and upgrade paths ... uhhh wait, there's a problem - we don't have enough space left in our store [;)]
christian

[Dietz]

... or to put it another way: The logistics involved would most likely mean more costs than income. It's as simple as that.

HTH,

/Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library

[mstedeford]

I guess the most sensible thing to do would have been to offer separate instruments, rather than an entire set with separate performance sets. People go for vienna because they want a real sound, and let's face it- you need performance sets to get a real sound (most of the time, from what I can tell). Would be simpler to offer "STRINGS" as a full, with all performance elements included. And then "BRASS" as a full, with all performance elements included. Same goes for all the other instruments. This would mean less storage/manuals..etc. required for a separate "performance set".

[syra]

...what mstedeford said,,, [[[:D]]] [[[:D]]] [[[:D]]]