Vienna Symphonic Library Forum
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  • Is full version of Vienna Instruments same as Pro Edition?

    I have Pro Edition complete orchestral package, Giga. Is the full version of Vienna Instruments equal to Pro Edition? In other words if I decided to discontinue with Giga and go completely virtual with a Mac G5 quad, would the full version of Vienna Instruments cover all my bases previously covered by Pro Edition complete orchestral package? I'm a little confused on the discount calculater, what would it end up costing me? Is converting from Giga to Virtual worth it? Is the wave of the future and better in the long run?

  • Yes... if you get the Extended Vienna Instruments (not the standard) you get everything and more than Pro Ed.

    Is it worth it? Well...its definately better - no doubt. But if its really worth it depends on your cash flow I would say... If you have to sacrifice too much I would say no. If you can upgrade without having to pay off a loan and live in a shed the next 5 years then yes.

    Vienna Instruments is by far the best sample library (and sampler) on the market today. But it IS indeed very expenssive, on the point of being too expenssive when you keep in mind that you have a majority of instruments in the first place.

    To be blunt you are paying for a new (very innovative and efficient) player, and all the 1000's of man hours its taken the VSL team to convert and reprogram everything. The new content alone is not worth it IMHO... BUT...

    One of the things which I am most happy about VI, which many people dont really focus on is its efficiency. You can load TWICE the amount of samples on the same machine. That to me is single biggest selling point, and is what to me makes the upgrade worth it.

  • [*-)] Wow! Twice the amount of samples! I'm able to load about 24 on my Giga system now. How many do you think I'll be able to load on a G5 quad with 4Gigs of Ram??
    I figured out my discount and considering that I already own Pro Edition full orchestral package and Solo Strings, my price is still over 6k! BUT, my dream is to have my rig running off one machine with only a 61 key midi keyboard and a compact control surface plugged in to it, so this is REALLY tempting!
    If there's anything else you want to rave about this, Vienna Instruments, please do so. And that goes for anyone who reads this thread!! Now, what if, instead, and I know I receive no discount, go for the standard library for Vienna Instruments. How close to my Pro Edition full orch package is that. Would I be missing anything from Giga Pro??

  • I can't give you the details... But you would be missing some of the dynamic samples (pfp, Sffz)... You would have the basics though, but depending on how much you use of Pro Ed you would likely be missing some stuff. Ofcourse if you only use Legato, sustains and staccatos then you would not notice.

    My guess is that VI standard only holds maybe 60-70% of Pro Ed.

    Besides

    a) You would miss some of the new cool recording
    b) You would be insane not to get Extended since the upgrade price would be minimal... like $500 or something silly like that. So if you go for the VI you would need a slap over the head not to go all the way when your a Pro Ed user.

    Also a dislaimer.. I'm not a Mac user. So I have no idea if anything I have said about efficiency goes for Mac. But a VI PC can load twice the samples of a Giga PC.

  • Thanks for that info! Most of my scores use pfp, sffz, a lot, so yeah, if I'm going to do this, the Extended version is the way to go. It looks like I'd get Chamber Strings with that, right?? I've been wanting to get that to act as my 2nd violins section.
    If anyone has any info on how all of this runs on a Mac G5, I'd love to hear from you!!

  • Yup - you do indeed get Chamber Strings [:)]