I like to work the same way, though I don't use as many computers. You're right that this is an example of CP being a problem.

- Mike Greene

I was wrong about the shipping dates. When I asked today, they said most , if not all the strings would ship in a few weeks. The rest would gradually come out over the course of the next two or three months. I don't know how I got it wrong yesterday, but there it is. And don't quote me on these new estimates. It's all from memory and I visited a LOT of booths.

Keep in mind, I'm just some guy wandering the halls and often getting stuff wrong or pushing for answers developers aren't ready to commit to. I try to be accurate when I post, but everything I say should be treated as "rumor." My NAMM reports over on NS were really only intended as fun.

- Mike Greene

I should have set up the gag better, but it was indeed supposed to be a joke (I did put a big grin right after the line.) I was answering a question by Lee Blaske, who I knew preordered during the earlybird sale.

I can't imagine VSL would really screw up that badly and need months after the release to straighten it out. Still, i obviously caused some stressful confusion and I sincerely apologize for that. I've edited the original post at NS to be more clear.

Edit: The part about everything shipping by the end of February is not a joke. That's what I was told. I'm a little nervous that the word "everything" may not have been used when I asked, but the main parts are expected to ship by then.

- Mike Greene

Excellent. Thank you, Herb!

- Mike Greene

Hmmm . . . I can see how more than 4 ports could be very useful. Even more importantly, I didn't realize Gigapulse was not in the Ensemble version. Looks like that's what I'll do!

Thanks very much for the advise!

- Mike Greene

I know this is a very basic question, but installing is a long process, so I just want to be sure.

I have the First Edition Complete Orchestra on one PC and I bought anouther PC as well as the Pro Edition Upgrade.

I'm getting ready to start copying files onto the new PC. It looks like the "Upgrade" disks are actually the full Pro Edition, rather than just the material not in the First Edition. In other words, these are all I will need to install and I won't need my First Edition DVDs any more. This would certainly make installation easy. Am I correct on this?

- Mike Greene

Wish I could help, Jim. In a couple weeks, I'll have exactly the setup you'd need, since I intend to sidegrade to EXS from Giga. Plus I have a studio you could use as well. If your project gets moved back a few weeks and you still haven't found anything, let me know.

- Mike Greene

I assumed that as a VSL Pro Edition owner, I would of course need to buy GigaStudio Orchestra, but as I was getting ready to order, I noticed GigaStudio Ensemble (for almost $200 less) has 160 voices, the same as my previous GigaStudio 160 (on a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz PC) which has always chugged along just fine.

Is the power of GigaStudio Orchestra really necessary? I'll be on a Pentium 4 3.2Ghz machine, so will it be able to handle more than 160 voices anyway? Or is there some other reason besides polyphony for getting Orchestra instead of Ensemble?

- Mike Greene

Ah, now that's a handy link! The tiny forum window was driving me nuts!!! Thanks for the tip, Polar Bear!

- Mike Greene

Plowman and PolarBear, that's very helpful input! I really appreciate it!

Sounds like I'd be fine with Pro for EXS and First for Giga, but the full package for both isn't that much more. Hmmm . . . all I know is I'd better decide fast before my wife notices our checking account has enough in it for a $2k purchase!

- Mike Greene

I didn't know about that! That may be just the ticket!

So, if I understand correctly, I could get Pro Editions for both Logic and Giga for $1610 (upgrade price) plus $491 (10% of Pro Edition price.) Do I have this right? Thanks for the info!

- Mike Greene

This doesn't work with Logic 7, but I remember when I was on Logic 6 with OS9, once Logic was booted up, I could pull out the dongle and Logic would continue working fine. Might be worth a try.

- Mike Greene

I have the VSL First Edition for Gigastudio already, but this 30% off sale is too tempting to resist, so I'm going to upgrade to the Pro Edition. I run Logic, so it sure would be nice to have VSL running internally on EXS. Then I wouldn't have to turn on that dang external PC so often.

As luck would have it, VSL let's you do a "crossgrade" for the same low, low upgrade price, which is nice of them (EW take note.) In other words, for the same upgrade price, I can get a whole new EXS version of the Pro Edition.

I like the idea of having VSL on my Logic rig, but even with a dual 2.5ghz G5, I know there will be times when it can't do it all internally. But an additional external EXS rig requires another Logic EXS dongle, plus another fast Mac. That'll get expensive!

So tell me if this scenario make sense in the real world: Have VSL Pro Edition on the Mac (EXS.) I'll still have the First Edition on a Giga computer, so when the Mac starts wheezing, I can farm out some tracks to the cheap Giga PC, maybe even buy another Giga rig for extra super deluxe songs.

My concern is that my external Giga rigs will only be able to run the "lowly" First Edition. Or are the "Pro Edition only" instruments generally used rarely enough that this won't matter?

Thoughts? Thanks!

- Mike Greene