the question you need to ask yourself when comparing orchestral sample libraries is - could this do the complete Rite of Spring? This is the single most demanding orchestral piece in history, along with some of Mahler's symphonies and a few other less known works. Would EWQL be merely a digital travesty of such a work, with workarounds every few bars? I can answer that for you - yes it would.
That library could never even begin to do such demanding music. It is dependent on being used to do relatively mindless film scores. Especially with the Play engine which is non-existent as an interface compared to Vienna Ensemble's elegance, let alone the samples themselves.
Now, of course you may be thinking. "But I want to do mindless film scores!" Yes, of course you may. But you need to remember - VSL can do those also, but a thousand times better than the libraries that are limited to those. The VSL version of the Rite of Spring is actually a good performance compared even to live orchestras. There is no other sample library that can do that. VSL's success is based upon a uniform system of methodical sampling of all instruments that truly covers the full expressive range of each. And the way those samples have been incorporated into the musically oriented interface of Vienna Ensemble is a crucial element. There simply is no comparison right now between VSL and any other sample library. The combination of the VSL sample recordings themselves, VE, VI, and MIR are unmatched.
