VSL Solo Strings in the various packages - close mic'ed? Or dry and distant?

[hbuus]

You can listen to a piece of music made with "raw" VSL here, that is, VSL without added reverb of any kind:

Impulse response reverb demos - Samplicity

(scroll down to the demo made by Thomas J. Bergersen).

Here you can also hear what VSL sounds like when you add reverb from one of the Samplicity IR libraries.

I know you ask specifically about VSL solo strings, however as all VSL instruments are recorded in their special silent stage, I think listening to the above will give you an idea of what the VSL solo strings sounds like out of the box.

Hope this was useful!

Best regards,
Henrik

[foamboy]

I own the Standard Solo String set and they are VERY good. I am glad they were recorded dry. They can be VERY up front and intimate,or with a few mixing tricks can sound far away and ominus. I love this libarary and I am trying to save up to get the Extended library. VSL stuff is very nice. Good luck.

foamboy

[composingkeys3]

You may want to also check out the Chamber Strings from VSL for a more intimate but larger sound than Solo Strings. These are perfect when you don't want an epic sound.

Also, the Vienna Suite by VSL is a set of mixing and mastering plug-ins which can give you great starting points in the mixing process. The presets included cover a vast amount of instruments for their Vienna instruments so you can get some nice results fast. The Vienna Suite includes a EQ, Master EQ, Exciter, Compressor, Multiband Compressor, Power Panner, Convolution Reverb, and Analyzer.

[jamwerks]

With the "Strings Special Edition Plus" you'll get some Solo, Chamber, Orchestra, & Big Orchestra samples that will cover a lot of ground. Samples are bone dry and need a great reverb. Have a look at Altiverb if you can swing it. I think I remember reading of a close mic distance for the recorded samples (6-9 feet). That's real close for strings. You can easily push them back with verb, eq, etc. thumbsup

[mrhudson]

I could probably swing the $440 or so for the standard solo strings for a Christmas gift, so that might be the best path for me. I don't really need exotic articulations - just the basics, etc.. And, I'm certainly not budgeting for $1000 or so to start, which I'd need to spend to amp up to the full solo strings library.

Can you get a reasonable sounding approximation of the chamber strings by triple tracking (playing three times) lines using the solo strings, or is there something inherently different about the chamber recordings?

Special Edition strings extended I suppose would be the other contender. Only would get Staccato, détaché, sustained, sforzato, tremolo, pizzicato, Legato, portamento - any huge missing articulations that I don't yet know I might miss? I'm thinking solo cello lines with singer/songwriter kind of stuff, backing strings for pop/rock, that sort of thing.....

Thanks for the suggestions! A big help.....

[jamwerks]

If you are pretty sure that you won't want anything other than strings, go for the download version of the Special Edition strings. There you'll get Solo and Orchestral samples, and those articulations will probably be more than you will ever need. Then get the extended version (adding Chamber & Appassionata samples) later if needed. Maybe wait until they run a deal.

I'd stay away from the Solo strings package. I doubt that that is the sound in your head. Solo strings package is more for mocking a string quartet. There are way more articulations than you need and the solo sound works in some song settings, but I'd imagine that you'd use more often just Vl. I, Vl. II and Violas (orchestral samples) as pad-string sounds for songs.

There's really lots of helpfull info (demos, sample lists, etc.) on the VSL site. thumbsup

[mrhudson]

(If only the downloads weren't priced in Euros! ugh...... DVD collections are in US dollars, but not the downloads?)

[saovi]

They're recorded quite close. Which in a way is good in a way because you can fit them in just about any genre known to man. You can always push them back with a good wood room IR and a hall.

[C Heat]

Originally Posted by jamwerks

There's really lots of helpfull info (demos, sample lists, etc.) on the VSL site. thumbsup

It's not a very user friendly site IMHO.

Their product structure is also difficult to understand IMHO. I gave up and moved on - don't care how good they sound.

YMMV.

[composingkeys3]

Originally Posted by mrhudson

(If only the downloads weren't priced in Euros! ugh...... DVD collections are in US dollars, but not the downloads?)

If you go to our website (ilio.com) you will find the downloadable VSL products in US dollars. We are VSL's exclusive distributor for North America.

If you are looking specifically for the downloadable Vienna products you can go directly here: Vienna Downloads

Also, feel free to contact us by email or phone with any questions in regards to their products. The reason there are so many different Vienna products is so they can provide flexibility for their users. If terminology is confusing, don't hesitate to contact us!

[C Heat]

Originally Posted by composingkeys3

If you go to our website (ilio.com) you will find the downloadable VSL products in US dollars. We are VSL's exclusive distributor for North America.

If you are looking specifically for the downloadable Vienna products you can go directly here: Vienna Downloads

Thanks. Much, much, much better.

[mrhudson]

hmmmm.....but the total cost of the standard special edition download libraries still exceeds the cost in us dollars of the dvd standard special edition?

standard component downloads - strings std ($ 303) + woodwinds std ($148) + brass std ($148) + percussion std ($117) = $716

versus dvd special edition standard = $465 !!

so, there seems to be a 54% premium on the download editions over the DVD pricing, which seems to be euro driven on the downloads only. On the Vienna site, the downloads are priced in Euros, everything else in USD.

what i want to buy is the strings download, both std and extended, but not with a 50% or so euro-based premium.

Am I missing something?

[composingkeys3]

The Special Edition boxed product contains one license for all the instruments. The downloadable version is split up in to parts which each contain a license so you can for example put your Strings on one computer and your Brass on another. The download products are more money then the boxed version if you buy all of the instruments that make up the boxed version. It depends entirely on what you need. Also, because the Downloadable products are online the prices can change a bit by the day since the strength of the dollar isn't as great as the Euro right now.

If you plan to buy all the parts that make up the Special Edition and you don't need to spilt up the instruments on different machines, then it makes a lot of sense to purchase the boxed version.