First of all, let me tell you that I think your string writing is beautiful and THANKS for the comparison!

Your post is just in time. I've done a lot of composing with VSL and it's only when I have strings-only parts that I'm dissatisfied with the results. I use a lot of modwheel, probably the equivalent of what you do with the breath-controller, and also a mix of legato and non-legato patches from the VI special editions - most of the time doubling those two.

The problem is that no matter what I do, the string section doesn't come across full-bodied and homogenous. I think the sound that you have in your dimension strings demo is closest to what I'd want it to sound like. As to the synchron strings, I haven't heard anything yet that - for my taste - provides the natural flow and vibe which I think is essential to strings.

In the end I'm kind of frustrated by the amount of time I have to invest into the string parts to make them sound acceptable. I've considered turning to different sample libraries, but I'm still hesitating because VSL samples have always been more than sublime. My feeling, however, is that I'm going to stray very soon.

Very good test, Nicola, congrats.

My vote goes to Dimension Strings. They sound so… alive.

In term of realism, it becomes hard to say : “this is fake”, which is a challenge with strings.

When you say “Orch. and Dim. together”, you mean you mixed them ?

Gabriel Plalame

Hi Xander,

happy that you like the music.

I have libraries from other companies too, like Orchestral Tools or Spitfire, but I have to say that at the end I use mostly VSL.

I think Dim. Strings was the first library I bought from VSL and Orch. Strings one of the last (today I bought the Harp 1 and it is great).

Also for Dim Brass and Woodwinds I have always loved the sound, but it was difficult for me to obtain something totally satisfying. But I wanted to use them because, as you said, the sound is more than sublime :-)

MIR Pro and the breath controller helped me a lot in this, expecially the last one.

In this last period I played a lot with them and I started to understand how to use them in a way that I like and now I really appreciate these libraries. My template is almost exclusively VSL for the orchestra now.

For me it is very important to create my own presets of the instruments, trying to understand which articulations I will use and which one I don't mind. I change the presets until I am totally confortable with them.

I think you should try something else, I use cinematic Strings 2 and I am happy with it, but obviously everyone has got his own preferencies ;-)

All the best,

Nicola

Hi Gabriel,

I agree with you, Dim. Strings are great, I recorded separately every instrument, but I am sure that I could obtain even more from them with more diligence.

In "Orch. and Dim. together" I simply putted the two version together ;-) I didn't make it with Synchron because my 2nd vlns of Orch. string and Dim. strings are on the right (I don't like the transposition trick, never used it).

All the best,

Nicola

@nicola74 said:

Hi Everyone,

now that SyS is almost complete, I tried to make a comparison between Orchestral Strings, Dimension Strings and Synchron Strings.
I used a short part of a piece that I wrote sometimes ago, using only the strings part, no woodwinds or brass and so on.
For every instruments I used breath controller and mostly legato patches, here and there portato.
For SyS I used Leg-Soft-LyV Full Velocities Room-Mix and a little bit of Miracle; for Orch. Str. and Dim. Str. I used Mir Pro and Teldex as venue (2nd Vlns on the right).
There is no EQ or Comp at all, just the original sound.
The sequence in the file audio is:
1- Orch. Str.
2- Dim. Str.
3- SyS
4- Orch. and Dim. together
I didn't tweak the midi files so much, it is mostly on the fly, I added some articulations after the recording and corrected some errors, that's it.
I really would like to know what you think about the sound of these libraries.

Thanks for posting this awesome demonstration. The string writing is great as previously said.

The most remarkable thing to me is how similar they all sound. Especially since you did nothing with EQ or compression. Also remarkable since you used Teldex for Orch. Strings and Dim. Strings, yet the room sounds match very closely. I am amazed that there is not more difference in room sound.

Since I hear more similarities than differences, I could not possibly pick a favorite.

@nicola74 said:

Hi Everyone,now that SyS is almost complete, I tried to make a comparison between Orchestral Strings, Dimension Strings and Synchron Strings.I used a short part of a piece that I wrote sometimes ago, using only the strings part, no woodwinds or brass and so on.For every instruments I used breath controller and mostly legato patches, here and there portato.For SyS I used Leg-Soft-LyV Full Velocities Room-Mix and a little bit of Miracle; for Orch. Str. and Dim. Str. I used Mir Pro and Teldex as venue (2nd Vlns on the right).There is no EQ or Comp at all, just the original sound.The sequence in the file audio is:1- Orch. Str.2- Dim. Str.3- SyS4- Orch. and Dim. togetherI didn't tweak the midi files so much, it is mostly on the fly, I added some articulations after the recording and corrected some errors, that's it. I really would like to know what you think about the sound of these libraries.

great writing, great test!

I loved especially the Orchestral Strings version!

The Synchron version is the only one that doesn't convince me 100%. There are some bumps in the dynamic here and there, while the other libraries sound so smooth and natural.

@FabioA said:

great writing, great test!I loved especially the Orchestral Strings version!The Synchron version is the only one that doesn't convince me 100%. There are some bumps in the dynamic here and there, while the other libraries sound so smooth and natural.

Re Teledex,

At the Westlake Pro demonstration, VSL Paul when asked about other MIRPro roompacks and Synchron mentioned that Teledex was a room that matched pretty well.

@jcandela said:

Thanks Nicola. After listen to your great composition (congratulations) I've decided to buy Dim Strings. José Candela Castillo, Madrid. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC94qinFTAc4OSfq6--SGvXw

I haven't gone through all the posts, so please forgive me if I'm asking something obvious, but why do Dimension Strings cost so much more than, say, Appassionata strings?

@Xander S. said:

I haven't gone through all the posts, so please forgive me if I'm asking something obvious, but why do Dimension Strings cost so much more than, say, Appassionata strings?

The best one of this performance is Dimension Strings.  

The Synchron have too much high frequency, a common problem in sampled strings.  

Wow, thank you very much for this great comparison. Too bad there is no snippet for Appasionata Strings.

Judging from those snippets, in my opinion Dimension Strings are still the holy grail and pinnacle of all the VSL string libraries, yet combining them with Orchestral Strings really adds alot to them which is astounishing.

It is also quite interesting to see how well those old Orchestral Strings aged and still boldly stand against all the newer libraries, including SyS.

Nicola, this is a great midi rendition and an extremely useful comparison - thanks so much for sharing!

Dimension+Orchestral is my favorite version as well. However if I had to choose any single library it would actually be Orchestral, since they have this silky texture in the high strings (around 0.25), that is just amazing.

@antcarrier said:

Dimension Strings FTW! I have SyS & Dimension. In my experience, DS + MIR is the king, easily. If only it had more velocity layers like SyS - it would be mind blowing!

@theiss1979 said:

Wow, thank you very much for this great comparison. Too bad there is no snippet for Appasionata Strings.

Judging from those snippets, in my opinion Dimension Strings are still the holy grail and pinnacle of all the VSL string libraries, yet combining them with Orchestral Strings really adds alot to them which is astounishing.

It is also quite interesting to see how well those old Orchestral Strings aged and still boldly stand against all the newer libraries, including SyS.

@Kai said:

Nicola, this is a great midi rendition and an extremely useful comparison - thanks so much for sharing!

Dimension+Orchestral is my favorite version as well. However if I had to choose any single library it would actually be Orchestral, since they have this silky texture in the high strings (around 0.25), that is just amazing.