I've been extremely curious about the potential effects of adding soloist virtuosi to my Dim.String sections. So I've just bought Sy.SE1 to find out, and immediately added the two solo cellists to the Dim.Str factory Vc All Players preset to get a flavour.
And oh my goodness - it's as wonderful as I dared to imagine! The ear is somewhat seduced into believing all players in the whole section of celli are playing as beautifully and skilfully as the two virtuosi - or at least very nearly so. Also, like a top actor typically having an enhancing influence on the rest of the cast and crew in a drama production, these pro soloists inspire me to improve and take the best care I can in my midistrations.
Violin, viola and bass soloists will be added next. It's easy - just remember to add a new mixer strip for each soloist and assign the soloist's patches to the new strip (in Edit/Options panel while the patch is selected), then copy reverb and EQ from the other players' mixer strips if required. Humanisation is an option for the soloists of course, but right now I'm unwilling to do anything that might detract from their superb samples. Thus far I've encountered no compatibility problems, everything just works together. To make the most of the 'seduction' effect, the soloists may be given just a tiny tad more level than the other players in their section or subsection - while bearing in mind the soloists' sound already has somewhat enhanced presence, relatively.
In reality this would be an extravagantly expensive orchestra to run - impossible for most orchestras to afford; also a very unlikely employment ambition for six highly accomplished soloists. Ahh, the perks of the virtual world!
Now I'm more than ever minded to bide my time until VSL put the full Sy String Soloists collection in nice big fat sale. Then I'll be able to fill out the Sy.Dim.Strings presets with all the compatible articulations of the 6 soloists, as well as having the whole library of these superb musicians for proper virtuoso performances.