Installed the demo and ran through every instrument. How nice to be able to have a full demo of a sample library before purchasing!!!
I should say that everything VSL has been doing since the iLok transition has been fantastic. My only issues with the company have been with the bugs in VEP7. I'm guessing the iLok transition and Vienna Assistant and this product has dominated their attention in the meantime, which is understandable.
This product is really an outstanding value. Vibrato Cross-fade control, Marcato start legato runs, Sforzatissimo brass, the Agile shorts, all of these things make the library very realistic and responsive to play. I would have changed around the default presets to show these advantages off when you first boot up the player, because I can't see not using them by default. Of course, that's why I have VEP7 to make a template with my preferred arrangement ready to play.
In fact, the Epic Orchestra 2.0 that comes with VEP7 adds some missing parts to Synchron Prime, in the strings and some percussion articulations. Plus there are the HELLO free instruments, which will be adding Harp Glisses and Violin Runs soon according to Mr. Michelmore. So I pretty much have everything I need, other than First Chair Strings, which I suppose VSL hasn't produced yet. I have workable alternatives for those in the meantime.
This more or less leaves the subjective dimension. The VSL Synchron sound is quite neutral, shiny, fancy. You may love that, but of course, you may be one who pours too much cologne on yourself every day. Which is my sense of the demographic that would respond positively to the fanciness of the tone. OT Berlin Series and Spitfire offer a more contemporary, moody tone, that splashes too much reverb on itself. (Since I got the Kontakt Berlin Inspire I was able to dry out the patches a lot, but I would need the Pro level BBC to do it with Spitfire.) Those choices have a strong attitude that will either work, or not, while the more vanilla VSL may need more mix skill sculpting an attitude to fit.
Although, now that I play through a second time, the second chairs seem to be more "moody" and reverb'ed. So maybe try the Horn 2/Clarinet 2 etc (which Michelmore misinterpreted as two players rather than second chair) if you want a more Berlin-series tone. The Celestial Strings are a more Spitfire-like thing, you can blend them for some "pepper" texture on the other strings. That and the Epic 2.0 Flautando and you more or less have the range but within the VSL general tone.
Some of the criticisms of Synchron Prime have been lame...for instance, not offering vibrato on Clarinet or French Horn is simply because it's totally non-standard to have vibrato on those instruments. The Clarinet btw in Synchron Prime is truly awesome sounding and may be the best in the biz. The library doesn't have Marimba or Vibes but you can get those for $7 each at 8dio at the moment. The Sfz brass is totally brash and cinematic with everything cranked, there's no wimpiness here even if it is tuxedo attire sound out of the box.
One criticism that does land a bit is the legatos don't seem to be true legatos. But I think Berlin has also moved to a synthetic legato within SINE player. (Hey, sometimes I roll my own synthetic vibrato, so...) True, sample-based legato makes a library massive and hard to program. I've had to fix several Kontakt true legatos. So these are fake legatos, but they are typically OK enough, and the Legato articulation most certainly does not sound like the Long Sustains when played fast enough. True Legatos and multiple dynamic layers (which I'm not sure VSL even recorded) are factors that make a more expensive library an upgrade, but I'm not sure most productions will need them.
Synchron Player is outstanding, for instance the Sfzissimo brass has a bit too much "humanize" on it by default for me but I can easily tamp that down. The controls are useful for bringing emotive life into these samples. It's hard to imagine the same people made Synchron Player and VEP but I predict VEP will catch up soon enough.
Anyway outstanding product and I do plan to purchase before the end of the month. Vanilla is the most important flavor in the cart and you can take it anywhere. The competing products cost more than double this for realistic playable solo winds and brass, and you can defeat the reverb here almost entirely, blend them with any strings of your choice and a nice reverb and you've got any orchestra you need. Try the generous 30-day full demo.
