Jimmy Hellfire, the Old Muppet, needs his ears cleaned out.  

I have used all the string libraries since VSL came into existence in 2000 - actually before with Garritan, Siedlaczek and MIroslav - and THIS IS THE BEST.  Especially out of the box.  

The legatos are fantastic sounding because of the variations as well as the number of velocity layers.  The amount of detail now created in the performance by all the dynamic layers is what puts this over the top compared to any other library. 

It is obviously not yet complete.  I thought that was obvious.    Also -concerning how much resources it takes - I downloaded this entire library onto my secondary slave - a single modest i7 4770 4-core with 32 GB of RAM and it performs FLAWLESSLY. I haven't even tried it yet on my Xeon system.

If Jimmy Hellfire had the Berlin Philharmonic or London Symphony at his disposal he would probably be sniffing "It is not good enough for me ... the legatos are not smooth enough... the staccatissimo is simply too short! " This is a common behavior today - criticize something great to make yourself appear discerning and sophisticated.  

Hi William,

do you mean that the legato of other libraries actually is wrong or even worse? 

A lot of people (inlcuding me) are accustomed (or even spoilt) to the sound of these "hollywood" slurred legatos. Nearly every other library nowadays sounds like this, so I guess it has become a "standard" in some way. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not a string player, and cannot judge on the nature of a legato, but I have to confess that I do prefer the competition.

@William said:

Jimmy Hellfire, the Old Muppet, needs his ears cleaned out.  (...)

If Jimmy Hellfire had the Berlin Philharmonic or London Symphony at his disposal he would probably be sniffing "It is not good enough for me ... the legatos are not smooth enough... the staccatissimo is simply too short! " This is a common behavior today - criticize something great to make yourself appear discerning and sophisticated.  

Clearly, the level of vitriol is not reserved to the VI-Control forum, only ... William, we all appreciate that your opinion seems to be quite contrary to ours and of course there is always some level of taste involved with judging the liking or no-liking a sample library. But, please, do respect opinions deferring from yours in the same manner. We are all here because we wish the best for VSLs success, except some of us have some problems with how this product has turned out so far. This is by far not a minority opinion, so you should not consider that all bollocks.

@William said:

I have used all the string libraries since VSL came into existence in 2000 - actually before with Garritan, Siedlaczek and MIroslav - and THIS IS THE BEST.  Especially out of the box.

@Pixelpoet1985 said:

Hi William,

do you mean that the legato of other libraries actually is wrong or even worse? 

A lot of people (inlcuding me) are accustomed (or even spoilt) to the sound of these "hollywood" slurred legatos. Nearly every other library nowadays sounds like this, so I guess it has become a "standard" in some way. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not a string player, and cannot judge on the nature of a legato, but I have to confess that I do prefer the competition.

The legati of many string libraries today are exaggarated. For example, even the standard, normal speed legato in Cinematic Studio Strings is actually VERY slurred. Same as with many other aspects of today's life, apparently some musical characteristics need to be almost comedically over-sold to be noticed.

It's not bad. It should be within a sophisticated libraries' repertoire. But the problem with Synchron Strings legato isn't the characteristics. There seems to be something inherently odd, maybe even off in the scripting and/or editing. It's not that is sounds "different", it doesn't sound or behave quite "right".

@Another User said:

While there is something to like about the short notes, it seems to me for the sake of playability the sampe starts have been cut to early. I surely like to have a short patch as playable as Synchron, but when it comes at the price of getting unrealistic results, I would prefer a less playble one (or rather an option to switch between playable and good sounding, like other libraries offer without the need of loading an entirely new set of samples into ram).

@dterry, I really don't think that the point of a multi-mic library is to not use them. I could also save system ressources by not using half of the articulations. Or using Violins 1 only. You get the point.

Generally, with multi-mic libraries, I don't think that using a single mic position is good or desirable most of the time. Not with Spitfire, not with Orchestral Tools, Cinematic Studio series OR Synchron.

But ressource requirements themselves aren't my main point of criticism. An advanced and modern library of course will need the horsepower to drive it. I'm already used to that from other demanding professional libraries. As a matter of fact, I'm currently in the process of putting together a new build and I'm most definitely not cheaping out on fast SSDs and RAM.

But I'm asking myself if there is room for Synchron Strings on this new system. Because even though it's a system that is tailored to and prepared for heavy lifting - there has to be a point in doing so. The costs and benefits have to be at some kind of justifiable ratio. But by the time the legati for the other sections are done, we're probably be talking about 250+ GB (!!!) of disk space for the standard library alone, while not offering anything I can't do with a 32 GB library, perhaps even less. That's where I need to start questioning things.

@JimmyHellfire said:

It's not bad. It should be within a sophisticated libraries' repertoire. But the problem with Synchron Strings legato isn't the characteristics. There seems to be something inherently odd, maybe even off in the scripting and/or editing. It's not that is sounds "different", it doesn't sound or behave quite "right".

Thanks, your answer helped a bit understanding. 😊

I noticed that, too. There seems nearly no hearable transition at all compared to e. g. Orchestral Strings. Even those could be a bit longer, in my opinion. I think Synchron Player will fix this. I still keep on citing those "innovative algorithms" over and over again. But re-invention? When they are only referring to velocity layers and their new recording procedure, than I'm disappointed.

No portamento? :( WIll they possibly add it in via an update?

@JimmyHellfire said:

@dterry, I really don't think that the point of a multi-mic library is to not use them. I could also save system ressources by not using half of the articulations. Or using Violins 1 only. You get the point.

Generally, with multi-mic libraries, I don't think that using a single mic position is good or desirable most of the time. Not with Spitfire, not with Orchestral Tools, Cinematic Studio series OR Synchron.

No, the articulations single-sections analogy isn't valid here - two very different tradeoffs. 

Of course the point of multi-mic is to provide options, but it doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't use a single mic if needed, or if multiple mics simply are not necessary.   I'm not sure what you are suggesting VSL give up to allow you to run all articulations and mics.  Velocity layers make a noticeable difference when using velocity crossfade via cc fader.  How much RAM are you trying to fit this into?

I would think anyone buying libraries with these options would be well aware of the need to configure systems, and mixing options, to make use of them, or be willing to compromise.  Surely users don't think they can run a full Synchron orchestra template on a 32G, or even 64G PC with all mic options.  I wouldn't consider building a new system with less than 128G at this point, even before Synchron. 

Fwiw, OT's Berlin strings work fine with a single mic, if you use the right one, or have the score mixed by a score mixer (done that before).  What sounds good "out of the box" doesn't necessarily work as well in a mix, especially with other libraries in a complex score, at least when these are not just for mockup reference. 

To bring something positive back to this thread - Synchron is a new standard, at the very least for the surround/Atmos options. Every library requires some work and skill to get convincing results, if you write for the music instead of the samples.  There isn't much VSL, EW, OT, Spitfire or anyone else can do to change that. 

Sovereign:

I wasn't saying I only used those only! Are you kidding? I have been using all the current string libraries including all of VSL - I meant that I started with those and have used everything since. I thought that was obvious.

Jimmy Hellfire and all you experts: what music do you actually do? I haven't heard anything but a lot of talk. I want to hear the music you actually do, not just a lot of blabbering.

Here is an all Synchron mix of a piece I previously did for Production Music Online. Violins and Cellos are lyrical vibrato legato, violas and basses long sustain.

No Greater Love

William Kersten

www.williamkersten.com

Hi William,

I went to the "No greater Love" link and had a listen. A very lovely and nice piece of music. Sounds very expressive.

thanks for sharing ⭐

Steve😃

Hi Steve

Thanks, nice to hear from you!  I am really excited by the sound of the Synchron strings.  Each VSL library has a different sound, for different expressions.  This one is the most complex and probably along with Appassionata out of the box the most perfect.  Though Synchron beats even Appassionata because THERE IS NO MIXING!  

I did nothing but play the tracks in MIDI on this.  That is incredible.  Of course I could tweak it if desired but that is what is amazing about the library.  Just load and play.  On this piece there is only one articulation for each instrument.  Though of course it is a simple piece.  But espressivo legato is what I first try to judge about a library's sound and the Synchron is so beautiful and characteristic of each instrument. 

Hi William,

no problem - I listened to the music, and then the YouTube video followed with some more lovely work from you.

I'm glad you are enjoying the library. Yes, the VSL Libraries are all different.  I really did enjoy watching Paul in his videos showing the very soft articulations.

Have you also heard what Beat Kauffman has done with the short articulations from Synchron with the new partita version? He has achieved a very energetic sound - very realistic - I do love the shorts of this library. Amazing sound. It's great that there is energy in the short samples.

 All the best with creating music with this library. You've done very well with what I've heard in the YouTube video. I wish I could get my demo's to sound as good as that!

best,

Steve😃

Thanks Steve, I agree Beat's demo is great. Also I am eagerly auditioning those new variants like the soft articulations.  It is interesting how you can use the soft attack legato for example with a higher velocity than the normal legato to create an espressivo attack and then resume the lower velocity legato.  I did that on a number of the lines in this piece.  There are lots of variations in the new sounds that are very exciting to try out.  

Best,

William

Hi again William,

Glad you liked Beat's demo. I thought the sound was amazing that Beat achieved with this. I have to hand it to Beat, he really knows how to use articulations so well. I thought he really showed what you can do with the shorts in his demo. Amazing sound!

Also, as you mentioned about the different legato attacks -having that as a variation of the legato gives more choice of the attack of the notes. I'm sure that we'll be able also to hear this when Paul does his video on legato.

Steve😊

Hi William,

Absolutely beautifu! I loved your No Greater Love piece. The strings indeed do sound top notch quality and expressive... Now, I have to decide what I'm gonna get... Upgrade to full Apassionata Strings library or get the Synchron Strings. Now, I really have to think!

Regards,
Richard

@dterry said:

I'm not sure what you are suggesting VSL give up to allow you to run all articulations and mics. 

Nothing. As I said, my main problem isn't that the library is ressource demanding. It just becomes the problem when the library ends up being capable of less than libraries that are half, or quarter the size (either because articulations aren't there, or don't work properly). Then the excessive requirements add to the absurdity of the situation. That's the point that I was trying to make.

Thanks Richard!  I read your post about Appassionata and agreed on them being such a good overall string sound.  Definitely having the entire library is important.  All the different strings of VSL have their various strengths - for example Orchestral Strings have the most varied articulations, Chamber a more intimate sound, Dimension amazing individually controllable textures, Solo strings the best solo timbres,  and now Synchron with instant playability and imaging in a great recording venue.  So it is indeed difficult to choose.  I have been using them all in different compositions depending on the mood of the piece. 

For example I am working on a film score that is a small-scale psychological drama inspired by the Val Lewton RKO low budget mystery horror films of the 40s.  On that I decided to use Dimension with no doublings with some solo strings because it is a sound more like that intimate group of players, rather than a huge epic sound like Appassionata. 

Though on a recording for a production library that was supposed to be "epic" the Appassionata were essential. The variety of the VSL strings has become a great asset and is certainly the result of the nearly infinite expressiveness of the strings.

Hi William,

That is exactly why I do love the Appassionata strings, the big lush shound. I'm just wondering if it is possible if you could create a short dmeonstration of the dynmaic patches in the Appassionata Strings so that I can hear what they sound like. They never did show those in the videos. I have an idea what they may sound like because I have a few libraries that have them, but it would still be nice hear what they sound like.

Regards,
Richard