Unlike most of the available VSL sample libraries, the Orchestral Strings demos primarily showcase a few articulations, not actual compositions or mockups that use the library. Yes, there is a demo for Barber's Adagio, but it would be nice to hear a few more when trying to decide whether to spend $1,600+ USD.

Recently, the market has been flooded with new string libraries, and compared with Orchestral Strings, it is easier to hear what those competing products have to offer, because they have more audio demos (and even video walkthroughs).

Hi Symfoniq, 

I agree that this selection does not really cover the Orchestral Strings. 

The Orchestral Strings contain the most articulations of all our String Collections and are the backbone for most of the arrangements you hear in the bigger classical mock-up section. Of course our users also mix the various string ensembles in different ways (Chamber / Orchestral / Appassionata and now of course also the Dimension Strings), which makes it harder to find out what´s what. 

I´ll put that on my to-do list for more videos on the upcoming new website. 

What are you looking for, in terms of sound? 

The Orchestral Strings are often described as the most "european-sounding" string ensemble we offer, with a clear and elegant sound. 

You can also contact me at  so that we can find a solution. 

Best, 

Paul

Thanks for all the responses. This forum is always very helpful!

A fair point. It's hard to know sometimes what's really going on in the audio demos. Some of the video walkthroughs are a bit more transparent, though.

I currently own Dimension Strings and Appassionata Strings. I like them both, but sometimes want a sound that's larger than Dimension Strings but more defined than the Appassionata Strings. I can achieve this to some extent by layering the Dimension and Appassionata Strings, but that adds complexity to my workflow that I'd sometimes like to avoid.

My favorite VSL mockups include "Quiet City" and "Battle of the Heroes" if that helps (I was told the former uses both Appassionata and Orchestral Strings, though I'm not sure if they're layered or alternating). In fact, Copland and Williams are two of my favorite composers, and while they sound very different, they both have sounds I'd like to be able to reproduce.

You are absolutely right. Lack of flexibility in competing products is why I'm most heavily invested in VSL.

My main point is that the Orchestral Strings page advertises itself this way: "Both collections cover an enormously wide variety of playing techniques built on the foundation of the essential string orchestra, whether you’re recording Mozart’s 'Kleine Nachtmusik' or your latest movie score." So based on that, I'd expect the demos to run the gamut of styles. But it sounds like this issue is on Paul's radar, so I won't belabor the point.

And by the way, your Eine kleine Nachtmusik mockup sounds fantastic!

I have several string libraries and have auditioned many others.  I don't think there is anything better than Vienna.  Also, Vienna is much easier to use than some other products.  The matrix concept of loading sounds makes it fast and efficient to work with as many or as few articulations as you need.

Dimension Strings are incredible and I use them a lot; but I still love Vienna's orchestral strings.  They work for pop, orchestral, and film equally well.  They are more pristine and accurate than other companies' products and they sound large enough for anything without being overly epic.  I would also add that while they are not cheap, in the long run it is better to buy the gold standard product than to spend $500 or $1,000 over and over on different libraries hoping to get what you need.

Good luck.

P.S. I am not associated with VSL.  I am a songwriter and producer who loves strings and has some strong feelings about which work better. :-)

One big advantage of Vienna Symphonic Library over all other current sample libraries is they started more than a decade ago with the Orchestral Strings, which are still the "backbone of the orchestra" just as strings are normally considered.  This is completely because of one thing - the methodical sampling approach which is very thorough and covers a wide range of all playing styles.  As Beat Kaufmann noted, the other libraries can give you impressive sounds for one style - usually the "Hollywood" film score (which nevertheless VSL can do better than any others because of Appassionata)  but the others cannot even begin to compete with the range of different playing styles represented by the various string libraries within VSL.  And if you have Orchestral, Appassionata, Chamber, Solo and now Dimension strings, nothing else comes close to the expression and wide ranging sound contained within all those libraries put together. 

This is partly because of the historical facts of the development of VSL over time. They sampled a basic complete string ensemble articulation with Orchestral, but later added the various other sounds that a conductor/composer might want - such as closer, more "in-your-face" Chamber Strings, or the HUGE sound of Appassionata, or the Solo which still is unequalled for intimate complex musical performances. And with Dimension, you have a new level of control that has never been attempted elsewhere over each individual player within an ensemble.  Amazing!  I am still trying to get a grip on what is possible with Dimension - it is mindblowing.  Also because everything in VSL is "backward compatible" due to it all being based on real musical values - the detailed sampling of serious musical performance.   But anyway, the most thorough representation of all articulations of any of the libraries is in fact still found with the Orchestral Strings.  I think of it as the base of all the variations possible with real strings in an orchestra that the other VSL libraries complete.

I agree with Arbee and feel that VSL tend to sell themselves short.  Most of VSL's time is devoted to making great products while the least amount of their time is devoted to selling them.  This goes from making the website friendly to new users all the way down to the demos.  Maybe it's just because I've spent a lot of time in America now and I'm used to aggressive marketing.  But hey, that's the kind of market VSL's competing in, they should ramp things up a few notches ;o)

With regard to Demos, I think that the video demos of the libraries by Guy Bacos don't get enough attention.  I don't know if they were sactioned by VSL or Guy just did them out of the kindness of his heart and VSL posted them for everybody's convenience but they are so helpful in understanding how each articulation can be used.

For example:

http://www.vsl.co.at/en/211/442/344/350/1030/643.htm

On this page, Guy has a video demo of the solo Violin and it's almost like a Violin for Dummies demo because you hear the articulation and see it.  Before seeing these videos I would legato everything because I didn't know any better but the videos gave me, a none string player, an idea of how to use other articulations and how to combine them to acheive a more varied sound.

I know it would probably be a serious undertaking but more of these video demos would be nice.  Maybe put Guy on the payroll for a while and let him go nuts with each instrument and/or collections.  Or just feed him some free samples, I don't know but more of these type video demos would be great.  

I show some of them there and in Scoring Stages.