Synchron worth it for my situation?

[lunar_28664]

Of course there has been quite a lot of discussion about the Synchron Special Edition and comparisons to the VI version. Despite reading what I could, I am still rather unsure if the new version is worth it for me so please allow me to ask a few questions about my own specific set up.

 I have VI SE vol. 1 complete so could upgrade for 2x €47. However, I also use VI Pro and have acquired the Vienna MIRx Mozart and Grosser Saal. It's clear going through the tutorials that the major differences with the Synchron Player is the addition of acoustics and much of the controlability of the Pro version of Vienna Instruments. I can't hear side by side when auditioning the individual instruments/articulations any significant difference between what I have in VI and what I hear on the Synchron videos. I should point out that I am now composing in Dorico so it's largely irrelevant what results you might get out of Cubase or Logic after much tweaking.

One thing that could be decisive is how the velocity crossfade works. Although it's becoming my preferred way to have this actually as the default volume control (with velocity as secondary) for most compositions in Dorico, there is of course some roughness on occasion in the transitions and I'm wondering whether better programming in the Synchron version gives a clear advantage?

Leaving aside completely the question of whether the upgrade is worth getting for the extra instruments --and they do sound good -- I'm trying to work out if there rally are a) any significant new articulations which I can't see and b) a way in which the whole orchestra comes together in a more musical way such as better dynamic balancing. This is what I can't test and I fail to find side by side comparisons with the two players performing the same score. Hoping someone, especially a Dorico composer, might be able to give some advice here.

many thanks, David

[lunar_28664]

Decided the best way to answer the question was to try it out.. First reaction was It seems it is only monotimbral i.e you need to load a new instance of the player for each instrument. Although this is certainly doable, it would seem strange that we are back a decade or so since before Vienna Ensemble first saw the light of day and made organisation much easier.

I understand that it's possible to spend more money to acquire VE Pro but it doesn't seem that the free version I have already used with the VI libraries is compatible? Is there a free equivalent to Vienna Ensemble for the Synchron player which I have somehow missed? 

[Paul]

Hi David, 

Vienna Ensemble works perfectly fine with our Synchron Player, you can insert the player like Vienna Instruments (only without the icon), select it from the list you find in the dropdown menu next to the VI  icon. 

Best, 
Paul

[lunar_28664]

Ah, I see it now. Under the "Channel" Menu, there's an "insert plug in" option! I'd completely missed that as of course you don't need it for VI as this is the default! Many thanks!

[lunar_28664]

In trying to work out the best control system for Synchron SE, I notice that the Sibelius soundset defaults to CC2 VelXF as the main controller. The crossfade is active throughout wind and brass but only active with some longer patches for strings? Is that correct what I'm seeing? Is this what you would suggest for other notation software like Dorico as it not the standard setting for when you load a preset which defaults to CC7 and no VelXF active.

David

[andi]

Hello David!

In general I would use Velocity XFade for long note articulations where the dynamic level gets changes during the note. For short notes, percussive notes and notes where the dynamic level doesn't get changed, I would rather keep Velocity XFade turned off. That's why the Sibelius sound set for the SYNCHRON-ized Special Editions turns Velocity XFade on and off for different types of articulations.

Best regards,
Andi

[lunar_28664]

thanks, makes sense.