The two new Spitfire free instruments are not within the caliber of nor have the same concept as VSL's products. That is why my previous comment was not meant to be any kind of a comparison. I have pointed a few facts disclosing the direction in which two current lines of products are diverging into.

Everyone gets influenced one way or another, including VSL and Spitfire or any other company. But that's besides the point I wanted to make originally.

It's good that Synchron Instruments are here. The fact is that anything that VSL makes will always be good, because they know their craft very well. So in and of itself that range of instruments is sounding fantastic. Does it measure with the capabilities and flexibility of the classic line of products? I don't think so. I am glad that VSL is not planning to abandon the dry samples recordings and hopefully they soon realize that dedicating all their resources, time, and effort into Synchron isn't such a great idea. Expand and make more of the Dimension Series for example. With more techniques and more controls. It will be well appreciated from composers and arrangers alike. VSL is one well oiled machine by now.

As far as ease if use, it does take a little extra to master the sampler and the software, only for the user to be double rewarded on what VSL can do. If you are a beginner, VSL has cleverly developed the MIRx extensions and the MIRx Mode within MIR Pro for us to use with almost every setting already set in advance by the professionals and sounding solid. Great starting point and a playground to learn from.

I will continue to think of the Synchron series as VSL's exotic line, "out-of-the-box" / plug & play libraries for that one specific sound.

Cheers everyone!

@ZWaves said:

I will continue to think of the Synchron series as VSL's exotic line, "out-of-the-box" / plug & play libraries for that one specific sound.

But wouldn't that be a somewhat limited assessment of the product line? Synchron Series is nothing like some other popular ambient libraries like the ones from Spitfire, for example. Those indeed provide a very specific type of sound and that's kind of their selling point.

Synchron is very different. It doesn't provide a specifically flavored or tailored sound at all. To my ears, the Synchron Stage sounds very clear, strong and compact. And the samples do have a great sense of spatial depth to them, which just helps the realism. But they're not drenched in reverb at all and are not very specifially colored, and are just as flexible and malleable as the old Vienna Instruments samples. The percussion is a great example. It's sounds absolutely "pure" and "real" - not particularly "Hollywood" or whatever at all.

Therefore I can't agree at all with the notion that VSL have changed their philosophy and are now creating flavor instruments with one specific sound in mind. I think the new line just needs a bit time and attention to adjust to.

@JimmyHellfire said:

 I think the new line just needs a bit time and attention to adjust to.

The Strings need another Expansion-pack with focus on Portamento (maybe in combination with tons of different runs-styles).

I would like to see 3-4 Portamento-variants like short, medium, long and veerrryyy long. I think this is a very important part of the puzzle. And as soon as this is out all people have the best Strings-Section on earth.

@Another User said:

Synchron is very different. It doesn't provide a specifically flavored or tailored sound at all. To my ears, the Synchron Stage sounds very clear, strong and compact. And the samples do have a great sense of spatial depth to them, which just helps the realism.

Aren't we suppose to bring that (spatial depth and realism) with MIR Pro?

The Percussion does sound great. The stage does its thing there, help shape the sound that we'd expect in a recording situation and this is what you have called and perceived as "real". But can I place these sounds in another environment? We have to use RoomPack 6 for all the instruments to work properly. You are correct that some time is needed to see how Synchron will be accepted.

@LAJ said:

The Strings need another Expansion-pack with focus on Portamento (maybe in combination with tons of different runs-styles).

I would like to see 3-4 Portamento-variants like short, medium, long and veerrryyy long. I think this is a very important part of the puzzle. And as soon as this is out all people have the best Strings-Section on earth.

I can't consider any library the "best string section" if it doesn't have true divisi.  I love the sound of SyS but between not having divisi, portamento, glissando, or a smooth connected flowing legato sound, it's really nowhere close to the "best strings ection" title.

I'm also surprised to see someone say that MIR is complex to use!  It's one of the most user-friendly pieces of music software I've used before.

@Casiquire said:

I can't consider any library the "best string section" if it doesn't have true divisi.  I love the sound of SyS but between not having divisi, portamento, glissando, or a smooth connected flowing legato sound, it's really nowhere close to the "best strings ection" title.

Precisely one of my points - true auto-divisi. Someone on this forum here had already asked about that and what are the prospects of seeing this feature incorporated into the Synchron Player, but the answer from VSL was - "not at this time". The Player has been announced since January 2018 more officialy and being such a recent release is technically still under development.

As far as the legato sounds, I'm seeing that SyS is overflowing with them 😃. Someone even asked "why so many?" on which I'd say - the more the better. I have noticed though that there aren't nearly enough articulations in this first library as the classic VSL Strings. Hence the title Synchron Strings I pointing that this is only one of several more to come, or at least one more, enhancing the articulations.

The "best string section" is Meta-Strings, an ensemble made by putting most or all of the VSL string libraries together.  This allows almost all articulations, divisi up to Debussy levels, portamento, etc. with sections and even individual players totally controllable.   

Whether you can use Synchron Strings as part of that is not clear but perhaps with the MIR Synchron it would be possible though not with the kind of instant playability being advertised.     

I was thinking something rather odd and vaguely disturbing in that Synchron is not only like the old East West orchestra -though obviously better quality - but FX Strings is like Symphobia-type libraries.  This not only is a change for VSL but a reversal.  I always thought that the difference between Symphobia stuff and VSL was that with VSL you create your own Symphobia, by using an amazing thing called... ORCHESTRATION. 

What composers have always used.  So it is ditinctively your own, rather than exactly the same sound that the other guy  is using.  But FX Strings is not only pre-baked reverb but pre-baked performances.  That is Symphobia. 

This probably indicates that VSL having cornered the serious orchestration market now wants the instant orchestration market as well, which probably makes sense from a business standpoint.  Artistically, I wonder.  For example, I am working on a "modern-horror" album which has various atonal sounds.  If I use FX Strings for this, I am essentially doing what somebody else can do, instantly, by just pressing a key.  The creativity of a composer is gone, and supplied by the wonderful creativity of somebody else - the people at VSL.  

I feel that if VSL continues with this approach and creates more instant orchestration libraries, they are dooming themselves to an obsolescence that is so remarkably missing from the previous so-called "Legacy" libraries.  (I hate that word! )  Because creating a representation of the vastly intricate, detailed and flexible instrument known as the Symphony Orchestra allows endless possibilites to emerge - even now at this late date in the history of music.  But pre-baked performance sample libraries become old very fast for a simple reason - anyone using them sounds the same. 

But all this seems representative in general of technology now - people are becoming weaker and more dependent while machines become stronger and more independent.  

I agree with you, William. I hope there won't be too much libraries like this one.

Well I don't mean that really - I think Synchron will be a great library overall.  But the dry/MIR instrument approach should continue and not be viewed as "old" when it certainly isn't.  

I agree with Willian too. I hope VSL stay focus as possible on raw instruments instead of "instant orchestration libraries". 

I bought Synchron Strings last fall and Synchron FX last week and I enjoy both. But the so-called "old" strings librairies remains by far my favourites. I'm looking forward to trying the Syncron player on these dry instruments. Maybe in 2018? I'm crossing my fingers.

Claude B.

@C.B. said:

I agree with Willian too. I hope VSL stay focus as possible on raw instruments instead of "instant orchestration libraries". 

 

I bought Synchron Strings last fall and Synchron FX last week and I enjoy both. But the so-called "old" strings librairies remains by far my favourites. I'm looking forward to trying the Syncron player on these dry instruments. Maybe in 2018? I'm crossing my fingers.

 

Claude B.

I don't think you could play the "Classic" ( I call them that way, not "legacy" nor "old" 😊) libraries on the new Syncrhon Player, becuase it requires completely different file type to load the samples.

Yeah it would be a crying shame if VSL were to retire the Silent Stage..  Something tells me that that's not going to be the case though. I think they're goiing to concentrate on the Synchron series probably for the next year or two so that they can get up to speed with the competition like Eastwest in the "baked in reverb" arena.  Then they might record "Historic Strings" back on the silent stage to continue that line of sample libraries.  Who knows.

However, I would be very worried if they were to all of a sudden come out with a Synchron series Boys' Choir.  why not do a version on the silent stage? 

William mentioned something about FX Strings that troubled me and that is this Symphobia (or whatever it's called) idea of "instant creativity."  For me anyway, the creative process is an evolutionary one that requires a lot of blood sweat and tears. 

Unfortunately, you cannot ignore the "invisible hand" of market forces and it just seems that consumers of music media today want instant gratification and they want everything right now.  It is for this very reason I stopped working for commissions.  I would get calls from prospective clients saying, "Hey I need a big orchestrated something or other and I need it yesterday what can you do for me?"  I would then point them to something in my pre-recorded library and say you might find something in there.  "No you don't undestand.  I need something original but It's just that I need it fast."  There's nothing original about block chords, arpegiated patterns and cliched orchestral overtones but if that's what you want maybe I can slap something together for you in about five minuttes while I'm sitting on the crapper. The ironic thing was, I charged ten times more than what that garbage was worth but because they wanted it fast..

Sorry. I think maybe I'm going off on a tangent.

Back to the point..

Unless I've completely misunderstood the whole point of Synchron, VSL has basically eliminated the step of fabricating a sonic environment so you can get the project out that much faster.  If that's what you need then okay but I'd rather shed some blood sweat and tears.  And Im sorry but I don't buy the notion that orchestral samples don't sound realistic unless they were recorded in a symphony hall with all the lush reverb that goes along with it.

My thoughts exactly... It used to sound like this: "pre-recorded reverb (like East West) is old news; static, limited and unoriginal. VSL has revolutionized virtual orchestration by recording it completely dry!"
And with the Synchron-lineup it's completely the other way around :P Very strange indeed... Obviously the quality delivered by VSL is uncontested. But I got into VSL because it was recorded dry, in superb resolution. I will not convert to Synchron, i rather make the Synchron sound myself using a mix of instruments and MIR. That way i can truly make my own sound.

I think it's odd what people are making out of this. Almost a quasi-religious discussion. Even more so considering the fact that the Synchron series so far has been still very much in line with VSLs "philosophy". Some people act as if the Synchron Strings were swimming in a sea of reverb and had this totally distinct, immutable sound, like it came straight out of a Hollywood movie.

Quite the opposite is true. SyS might be the driest "wet" library out there. It's not at all comparable to the Spitfire stuff or whatever. It has 100% VSL character - pristine, flexible, more "classical" - and has such a subtle reverb tail that would hardly get in the way of anything you might want to do. And the multi-mic setup is exactly what you need for the same flexibility you always had with VSL. If you need a closer, drier sound - what's the problem? Dial in the mics accordingly! It's easier and faster done than previously.

 The most notable change is that due to the realistic spatial depth, the samples simply sound more natural and "real" than the older libraries.

 It seems to me that some of the notions expressed here have more to do with tribal instincts and "choosing sides" than with using one's ears.

@JimmyHellfire said:

I think it's odd what people are making out of this. Almost a quasi-religious discussion. Even more so considering the fact that the Synchron series so far has been still very much in line with VSLs "philosophy". Some people act as if the Synchron Strings were swimming in a sea of reverb and had this totally distinct, immutable sound, like it came straight out of a Hollywood movie.

Quite the opposite is true. SyS might be the driest "wet" library out there. It's not at all comparable to the Spitfire stuff or whatever. It has 100% VSL character - pristine, flexible, more "classical" - and has such a subtle reverb tail that would hardly get in the way of anything you might want to do. And the multi-mic setup is exactly what you need for the same flexibility you always had with VSL. If you need a closer, drier sound - what's the problem? Dial in the mics accordingly! It's easier and faster done than previously.

 The most notable change is that due to the realistic spatial depth, the samples simply sound more natural and "real" than the older libraries.

 It seems to me that some of the notions expressed here have more to do with tribal instincts and "choosing sides" than with using one's ears.

I agree with you too. For me it's not black and white obviously. I just think that the switch in marketing and what made VSL unique from the get go is something that some of us will need to get used to.

I don’t wish to sound anything like a critic when I talk about VSL. These libraries have changed my life, really. And I am so grateful that VSL is continuing to evolve and release new products. I've gotten every penny I've invested worth and I bought the SYS FX1 on the day it was released. When the SYS Steinway is released I intend to get that one as well, no matter the cost or how happy I am with the Bosendorfer (playing a Steinway in my living room... just the thought).

It’s just the strings… they made the Dimension, Orchestral and the rest so got damn good that for now, SYS Strings is just an abundance (for me). I am still learning. And thank god (VSL) for that.

"The most notable change is that due to the realistic spatial depth, the samples simply sound more natural and "real" than the older libraries." - Jimmy Hellfire

That is totally false. Apparently, you've never heard MIR. Or have you and you are tone-deaf? You are saying MIR has no realism or spatial depth?

" I think it's odd what people are making out of this. Almost a quasi-religious discussion. " JimmyHellfire

What? Quasi religious? That is ridiculous. It is simply some statements posted here honestly by users.

" It seems to me that some of the notions expressed here have more to do with tribal instincts and "choosing sides" than with using one's ears." - JimmyHellfire

That is again B.S. - I have no "side." I always use my ears and am simply pointing out some aspects of the libraries.

I find this weird - this person JimmyHellfire who never posts any music previously totally contradcited me when I was praising Synchron Strings. Now he contradicts me when I say something contrary to that previous post. Even though I have repeatedly said Synchron is a great library. But having first started using VSL in 2003 and doing a number of their demos here, I have really loved the instruments they created. To you apparently though, everything is just fodder for your posts here, scoring points here and there.

BTW - "JimmyHellfire" - where is your music? I have never heard one note you ever did. All you do is post obnoxious comments and contradictions of people. But what music do you actually do? Post one piece of music, and if it is good, I will shut up. You can hear my stuff anytime - right here in the VSL demos, at Production Music Online, on my website, Amazon, etc. But I am very interested to hear what music you actually do when not contradicting people here on the VSL Forum.

WILLIAM KERSTEN

www.williamkersten.com

It's always the same with Billy Baloney. 😃

And the same with you - no music, just hot air.  I asked you this before and you were too scared to put anything up.  You still are.  

Well since you really want to know, I'm gonna explaint it to you William, but don't cry afterwards.

I'd never lower myself to playing that particular game with you, because it's nonsensical, anti-intellectual and an unsavory exercise in disingenuousness.

The finer points:

1) We're talking primarily technical details here. Whether you'd like my style of writing, my mockups or whatever does not play any functional role in this at all. What you're doing is a classic example of trying to discredit the person and what they do because you don't have jack to say regarding the actual matter. You're merely trying to feel better about yourself by childishly dragging the discussion down to a level you're fully certain that nobody will follow you to, because they're smarter than that and you're 100% aware. You're pulling up a smokescreen of condescending nonsense to hide behind.

2) Therefore, it is fully clear and inevitable that I could present to you the most magnificent music thinkable, but your wounded ego would find a way to drag it down because there's no other way. You're diverting the topic to a different level, that's the whole point of your query and there's no possibility or sense in you doing anything else than that.

3) I don't have to vindicate myself in front of some affronted and bellicose stranger, and most certainly not by his own boorish and futile criteria.

4) Needlees to say, I'm sure I'd find my music way more colorful, spirited and enjoyable than yours, so explain to me again what's in there for me?

5) Finally, in the usual egocentric fashion, you managed to spin what I wrote as something that apparently is solely tailored to aggravate, challenge and contradict you and whatever you may think or say. Truth be told, I wasn't even thinking of you at all when I made the post in question. But your reaction is normal for people who are in that certain headspace where they feel that others are doing things just to spite them. It's all about them. Everyone's against them, they're the center of the world with all their anguish.

Settle down, William! Please. We can talk about a libraries and stuff without acting up.

And you call me sarcastic - that is amusing.  And you're still wrong - I would totally respect you if you actually posted some music and maybe I would like it.  I don't try to hate anybody's creative work   I like hearing new stuff and comment positively on composer's work - something you never do.  And you never post any music.   I don't trust people here who never post any music.