I agree. Factory pre-stretched presets would be a welcome addition. I've already tweaked the legato to be longer (slower) and the port to be shorter. Easy to do, but would be good to have them as part of the factory sets too.

Just read this from your link to my post so please count me in ;-)

Although i wouldn't usually compare the likes of Cinebrass or LASS to VSL, i do like the idea of having the control over these features and although i do like the timestretching option, i feel it's alittle to involved given the other options out there. I'd never want to sacrifice the realism i get with VSL over the functionality of the above mentioned libraries but i'd feel that extra bit special if this was incorporated within the VSL software.

DM

Yes, such extensive tweaking sets VI Pro in a league of its own. And I've never experienced anything like the Dimension Violins.

Then again, I think you shouldn't have to go under the hood to get a slow legato or a fast portamento. Such vital articulations should be available right out of the box. And this comes from a young person who is very keen on fiddling about with software (pun intended).

Anyway congrats on a visionary library, keep up the excellent work!

Thanks for your input Herb. I did find sul G legatos efficient (and beautifully warm) in the lower registers.

On higher registers though, especially with small intervals, I was only ever able to achieve a slower transition using stretched samples.

I have fast legatos covered with perf trills indeed!

Best

I agree, such transitions call for a portamento in the real word, but then call me stubborn, the only one duration the Dimension Violins offer is simply not enough to my taste.

I'm sure you know what I mean as we can find so many examples in the classical repertoire :)

Best

I think all some are asking for here are more legato transition times (without having to do the work themselves with time-stretching). The lack of a variable legato speed transition (which is a staple in LASS, to name another library), is missing from all VSL string libraries. There are only 2 speeds in VSL legato -- regular and port. I was hoping this would have been corrected/added with the new Dimension Strings. Unfortunately, Vienna Instruments Pro software does not have a variable "speed" knob, controllable by MIDI CC, as VSL's time-stretching method can't be calculated on the fly, or easily accessed as in LASS and some other libraries. That said, I've gone ahead and have created various presets with different cells with timestretching and am very happy with the results. But, it's a lot of work, and it would be nice if VSL gave us these different legato speed presets in their default sets, since user-created presets, over time, can get lost, etc.

+1 to that!!!

from a practical point of view, how challenging would that be for VSL to implement?

it seems like an obvious addition but I suspect it would take a lot of under the hood reprogramming.

but would offer so much more flexibility to the user!

DM

I raised the issue of legatos as soon as I bought Dimension strings, but the response was not terribly accomodating.

As a result I have rarely used them, especially for legatos.  For me the legatos are not 'legato' enough, certainly much less so than the Apassionatas.  I here very little transition between notes, just a new note starting, which doesn't deliver the right impression when trying to write expressive passages.   Subtlety is sometimes a good thing, but often a phrase needs a more pronounced legato feel.

The staccatos and short articulations are great, and I have used them for that purpose, but I second any motion to try and improve the legato/portamento performance on offer - however it's delivered.

Interesting, because for me the DS legatos work better than any other string collection we have produced.

best

Herb