Originally Posted by: William

Sorry if I am going over the top but this is the greatest string library ever created, it blows everything else off the map.

Not to curb your enthusiasm, but that was clearly way over the top.

There's a lot to like about this library, but to me, it's almost a letdown to be honest. I do love the tone and spacial depth, it truly is special. But just right now, it's kind of hard to justify the excessive ressource requirements considering the current shortcomings. At the moment, it's a string library that takes up way more space and eats through more RAM than any other string library, but in some ways, offers less.

The biggest problem are obviously the quite dysfunctional legato patches. For a library that was supposed to "re-invent legato", this is a big one.

The other thing is that considering how much excessive disk space and processing power it takes to run this thing, you're kind of left of with quite a bare bones set of articulations. While the shorts are indeed great, a modern string library really needs to offer more that just staccato. At least spiccato really should be in there.

The omission of portamento is a huge bummer, and personally, I miss Col Legno as well.

So bottom line ... greatest string library ever created? Most definitely not. More like a highly confusing product at this point. Soundwise, it has all the potential in the world, and the added dynamic layers do make a difference. The soft attack and lyrical vibrato patches are really beautiful, the pizzicato is great ... celli + basses shorts in octaves creates a deep and powerful sensation not present in other libraries. But just at the moment, there's some things missing and/or apparently broken, so it kind of sits on my drive like a petrified giant.

Really not trying to bash the library - there's already a quite disgraceful thread over at V.I. Control for that - but sharing my honest reservations as a long time VSL user. Synchron Woodwinds and Brass are on the horizon after all.

Originally Posted by: JimmyHellfire

Really not trying to bash the library - there's already a quite disgraceful thread over at V.I. Control for that - but sharing my honest reservations as a long time VSL user. Synchron Woodwinds and Brass are on the horizon after all.

Neither do I as I hope I made perfectly clear. But regarding that very long thread on VI-Control: Minus some of the usual noise from it quite an important read for the VSL team IMO ...

Originally Posted by: William

Finally began using the Synchron Strings and they are MIND-BLOWING!  Sorry if I am going over the top but this is the greatest string library ever created, it blows everything else off the map.  I am so excited by this sound!  I now want to do everything I recorded over again with Synchron (even though I love previous VSL strings). 

The sound is so perfect out of the box, and the variations of lyrical vibrato legato are sublime.  They are heartbreakingly beautiful.  It is like having the greatest players right in your room.  The real nature of delicately varied, sensitive string playing has been captured by this awesome library.   I have only started to audition it and I am just amazed.  It is a joy to use instantly.  All the instruments sound so perfect and characteristic of the rich and beautiful timbres of these great players.  It is a thrill to use these sounds.  Congratulations to the VSL for this incredible musical and technological accomplishment.  It is the best that has ever been done in the field. 

Without saying anything about the critical words, that are written in this thread, I want to say that I recognized myself in the reaction of William. All I can say this moment from my own experience is, that I love the overal sound of this library and are thankful for the choice I made, to be an "early bird".

Yes, I have to say there is much to love about the sound, but respectfully, the legatos in their current form are not realistic sounding, in my opinion, let alone “reinventing” legato as the marketing claimed. I still have high hopes that further developments are happening that will produce something that lives up to those claims.

Originally Posted by: Piotr Katzpersky

But it would be nice to get confirmation from VSL that indeed in current player not everything works as intended.

Hey,
good that you started to explain your concerns here in this forum, in a respectful way. Everything is said so far and I totally agree with it, especially on the legato issue. It does sound a bit synthy, because every player is totally in tune. Other libraries manage this in some way, I don't know why. I am not a string player, so I cannot judge for myself on the nature of a legato, but I have to confess that I am spoilt by all the other libraries in terms of their legato sound. Maybe VSL has a different thinking on what a real/true legato sounds like? Or are all these other libraries wrong in their thinking? I am just asking, I am not blaming anyone.

It would also be nice to know which type of legato it actually is. The terms "fingered" (slurred?) and "bowed" legato are in a way standardized. Are the regular legatos bowed ones, so they sound more detached, because VSL used to sample détaché on every other library, and now this articulation is missing?

For me (I have obtained the standard version) the list price is too high in relation to the articulations, and I am missing some "basic" articulations like spiccatos, and of course, some re-inventions as promised. I don't know if the emphasis lies on traditional or a more hollywood-like approach. I would rather prefer the second one and I hoped so, because VSL assembled this "Scoring Bundle" in one of their recent monthly offerings. I don't quite like to name other libraries here, but take Cinmatic Studio Strings (CSS) for example: They have spiccatos, col legnos, harmonics and a simulation of con sordino. Okay, this is Synchron Strings I, but it would help if one could get a hint of what to expect from the second volume? More articulations or a con sordino version? Maybe divisi?

My final thought is: If Synchron Player will improve the legato sound and other issues, why do VSL let us fumble with VI Pro knowing that it is not sounding good? Or are they convinced of their sound? Then, actually, I expected way too much, and I think I can expect more in relation to what other libraries developed over the years in terms of legato, usability and innovation. A simple marcato overlay is no innovation for me, sorry. When I read "different bowstroke attacks" I expected some Spitfire (or Orchestral Tools) behaviour as in their Performance Legato.

I hope I was respectful, I actually always want to be. The overall sound of the samples is gorgeous, especially on the lowest velocities (= the room as an instrument). And I want this library to be great, it has definitely GREAT potential.

I wish a happy New Year 2018 to everyone! :)

Hi William,

do you mean that the legato of other libraries actually is wrong or even worse? 

A lot of people (inlcuding me) are accustomed (or even spoilt) to the sound of these "hollywood" slurred legatos. Nearly every other library nowadays sounds like this, so I guess it has become a "standard" in some way. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not a string player, and cannot judge on the nature of a legato, but I have to confess that I do prefer the competition.

Originally Posted by: JimmyHellfire

At the moment, it's a string library that takes up way more space and eats through more RAM than any other string library, but in some ways, offers less.

The simple solution is to use a single mic position - sure, not ideal, especially if you are going for an Atmos mix, but this is really no different from any other multi-mic library.  I played around with the different mic options, and the Room mix, and found the Main L+R to be just fine, and easier to pan wider to fit with my mix and other libraries.  Disclaimer here - I typically take a single mic and mix my own templates anyway to fit the overall sound I am going for, and I've spent a lot of time finding the best ways to do this.  I know for users who want to pull up all mic positions and have the "out of the box" mix options available, yes, you need more RAM.  That's the tradeoff - more options require more resources. 

I have the full Synchron library, with all cells active, all articulations, single mic position, loaded with my template and all other sections on my host PC within 64G of RAM (several SSDs for streaming), no problem.  It is easier to mix a single mic position with other libraries; and it is easier to write with all arts than trying to fake a missing articulation.

Originally Posted by: JimmyHellfire

It's not bad. It should be within a sophisticated libraries' repertoire. But the problem with Synchron Strings legato isn't the characteristics. There seems to be something inherently odd, maybe even off in the scripting and/or editing. It's not that is sounds "different", it doesn't sound or behave quite "right".

Thanks, your answer helped a bit understanding. :)

I noticed that, too. There seems nearly no hearable transition at all compared to e. g. Orchestral Strings. Even those could be a bit longer, in my opinion. I think Synchron Player will fix this. I still keep on citing those "innovative algorithms" over and over again. But re-invention? When they are only referring to velocity layers and their new recording procedure, than I'm disappointed.

Originally Posted by: JimmyHellfire

@dterry, I really don't think that the point of a multi-mic library is to not use them. I could also save system ressources by not using half of the articulations. Or using Violins 1 only. You get the point.

Generally, with multi-mic libraries, I don't think that using a single mic position is good or desirable most of the time. Not with Spitfire, not with Orchestral Tools, Cinematic Studio series OR Synchron.

No, the articulations single-sections analogy isn't valid here - two very different tradeoffs. 

Of course the point of multi-mic is to provide options, but it doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't use a single mic if needed, or if multiple mics simply are not necessary.   I'm not sure what you are suggesting VSL give up to allow you to run all articulations and mics.  Velocity layers make a noticeable difference when using velocity crossfade via cc fader.  How much RAM are you trying to fit this into?

I would think anyone buying libraries with these options would be well aware of the need to configure systems, and mixing options, to make use of them, or be willing to compromise.  Surely users don't think they can run a full Synchron orchestra template on a 32G, or even 64G PC with all mic options.  I wouldn't consider building a new system with less than 128G at this point, even before Synchron. 

Fwiw, OT's Berlin strings work fine with a single mic, if you use the right one, or have the score mixed by a score mixer (done that before).  What sounds good "out of the box" doesn't necessarily work as well in a mix, especially with other libraries in a complex score, at least when these are not just for mockup reference. 

To bring something positive back to this thread - Synchron is a new standard, at the very least for the surround/Atmos options. Every library requires some work and skill to get convincing results, if you write for the music instead of the samples.  There isn't much VSL, EW, OT, Spitfire or anyone else can do to change that.