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  • Elite Strings: Annoying Breathy sound in lower Violas and 1st Violins

    After spending most of 2 days getting familiar with Synchron Strings 1 and Strings Pro (just wow!), I'm spending some time this evening with Elite Strings. Features are awesome, but...

    I noticed it first and most pronounced on Violas, their bottom 8 notes, C2-A2 -- there is lot of breathy airiness captured in the recordings. Seems to be in the 2-4k range as the filter fader (default setting of 2k) can get rid of much of it eventually by the mid-20s. 

    I notice it also on seemingly the entire 1st violin range. Most prominent areas are down low: G2 - A3 and up high: F5 and beyond. Yet, it's noticeably almost absent on the 2nd violins. It's there if you really listen, but maybe mixed in 6+dB lower, so it doesn't draw attention to itself.

    By contrast, I don't notice it at all being imposed on the cellos, and only barely on the Double Basses, and only at the bottom octave.

    Is this an acknowledged "problem" for this library?

    Is this considered an extablished "feature" for this library? To me, it doesn't add to "realness", it just adds noise. To my ears, it is very similar to turning on the "analog" button on many Waves plugins that are known simply for adding "noise". 

    Either way, is there a known way to get rid of it, or reduce it (other than the filter fader)? (like a simple "noise" button that can be deactivated?)

    To my ears, it's a significant distraction, in those noted places, and somewhat undermines otherwise simply gorgeous tone! At the moment, I would assign soft exposed 1st Violin parts to the 2nd Violins. But this can't be intended as a workaround...


  • Spoiler alert, dude man, small string sections like in Elite are gonna sound somewhat breathy and oftentimes a tad noisy. It's the nature of the beast. I happen to like the way my Elite strings sound.

    If thine ear offends thee, use filters. If you can't get that to work, open a ticket with VSL Support. Simples!