I recently bought the standard Orch Strings I & II library. I noticed that the standard part of the whole library seem to be really small compared to the extended. For example in the violins section i noticed that there were 23 odd standard patches and over 90 odd extended patches(I stopped counting after 90). Also out of 84 matrices for violins there were 3 standard and rest extended.
I understand that VSL lets us use 180 starts of the whole collection but in essence we are paying almost $1400 for about 20% of the library?
Can someone please correct me if I am wrong. I am really hoping I am wrong here.
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Standard Vs. Extended libraries
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By looking at the product pages (e.g. Orch Str I http://vsl.co.at/en/211/442/344/352/219.htm) you can see the number of samples for the standard and extended editions.
A quick calculation reveals that the Orch Str I+II standard edition contains aprox. 20000 samples, whereas the extended contains approx 65000 samples. The extended versions are only a bit more expensive. Perhaps you could argue that the standard version also includes the cost of the player. Or that the extended version is actually really cheap! [:)]
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Well there isn't much point in talking about individual samples because we don't have access to them, only patches and matrices. But having said that if the standard edition does have 20000 samples and the extended 65000, then it comes to about 23% of the whole library. I must admit I am s bit disappointed after saving up for 6 months for this and it doesn't help that they don't provide any academic discounts. And your comment about the player, it makes me feel like I bought a car only to find out that after 30 days they will take away the steering wheel and seats, but they will leave the engine cuz apparently thats all I paid for.
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That's a really bad analogy. You're paying for a car and for 30 days they'll throw in the use of a turbocharger for free! Afterwards you still have the car you paid for and it will still do all the things that a car is supposed to do...
But really, I understand your frustration, but you're thinking about it the wrong way. You're getting some fantastic samples here, and the standard patches will be ones you use the most - they're the mainstay of the library. So if you think of it that way the samples you're getting will be ones you use 75% of the time. You pay more for the extended library and you only use that 25% of the time!
Actually in my case the balance is more like 60/40 but you get my drift...
If you want more bang for your buck I suggest you look at the SE or perhaps the string download instruments (when they're released).
Regards,
Martin
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Thanks for your reply. I really don't see how I will only use the standard edition because almost every matrix has a L2 on it and about 80% of the patches have L2 on it. For example in the violins section there are only 3 matrices that don't have L2 on it, out of 84.
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Anyway I also have a question about the 180 starts. How exactly does it work? I noticed I'm already down to 164 in three days and I dont really remember loading the program 16 times. How exactly does it work?? Does it count down every time you load VI or every time you load a DAW or every time you start the computer?
I have registered the libraries that I have bought so it should not count down if I use specifically those programs right?
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Thanks for your reply. I really don't see how I will only use the standard edition because almost every matrix has a L2 on it and about 80% of the patches have L2 on it. For example in the violins section there are only 3 matrices that don't have L2 on it, out of 84.
I wouldn't worry about the matrices that use both levels for the moment. I don't think that I use any "factory" matrices any more, so you should just get used to the software, and then build your own. Then if you find you need an articulation you can upgrade to the Extended.
DG
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Firstly - some matrices contain very few patches and some contain very many so this is not an ideal way of comparing resources. When you compare standard and L2 patches you'll see that by and large the standard ones are the most useful - sustain, staccato, detache, trills, ponticello, flautando, pizzicato, harmonics - although it would be nice if you got some con sordino patches to get going. The L2 patches are more specialised and as a result are useful in fewer situations. Also, I believe you can extend your instruments one at a time once you have the standard package if that makes the financial hit any easier. Trust me, the standard articulations will get the job done - listen to the demos done with the Special Edition - it has less string articulations than the Orchestral Strings standard.
Here's the official line on the 180 starts - http://vsl.co.at/en/211/442/395/561/701/412.htm.
They shouldn't count down if you're only using packages you've registered, but I've had starts disappearing in the past - contact VSL support directly describing your problem and they should be able to help you out.
Regards,
Martin
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Thanks again for your reply. You must understand that this is the first time I have made such a huge purchase so I am being very picky. I don't think I can afford to buy Appassionata strings yet but there are actually 2 sets of these libraries, do you know what the main difference is? Just one of the libraries can be bought at the same price at Orch strings I & II but if I buy both it would be double.