Originally Posted by: Spoilsman

Originally Posted by: muziksculp

Hopefully Synchron Strings 1 with the new Synchron Strings 1 Player will be out this month (May) ! With no more delays.

Synchron Strings I made s lot of money for VSL, but instead of looking after the early adopters they brought out two new products with Synchron Player, while leaving us waiting. We’ve already paid so they make us wait and tempt new customers with products that have the Synchron Player. Given how bad the legato is, and after half a year of waiting, all early adopters should be refunded. We were not given the product we paid for, and even if you release it tomorrow, legato was not reinvented, but taken back a decade or so. Really enjoying my HZ-strings this week. Spitfire are hit and miss, but these days, they totally outclass VSL.

I wish I could disagree, but I can't. I'd like a refund of Synchron Strings, too.

Bump.

Are there any plans to address this? At this point, it's less frustrating to use other company's reverbs as opposed to MIR Pro Standalone on a 4K monitor. I don't have scaling issues with a single one of my numerous other reverbs.

Hi Paul:

I'm away from my workstation today, but I'm using Windows 10 (Creator's Update, I believe), Cubase 9.0.20, latest VE Pro and latest Kontakt.

Perhaps I'm using terminology incorrectly, but VE Pro freezes and becomes unresponsive when using the parameter automation on a Kontakt plugin. It's VE Pro Server that is "crashing," not the entire system (I get a "[NOT RESPONDING]" notification in the VE Pro window title bar).

Thank you very much for looking into this, and for getting in touch with Native Instruments. Hopefully they'll have a fix out soon, as it would tremendously increase the usefulness of the Track Enable/Disable feature in VE Pro 6.

Somewhat related, I think it would be extremely useful if VE Pro 6 could be configured to enable a track once it received any MIDI activity from the DAW on that respective track's MIDI channel. Having to set up parameter automation for each track in each VE Pro instance isn't an ideal workflow (for me).

As of August 2017, this is an ongoing issue with Cubase 9 and latest VE Pro 6. Trying to enable or disable Kontakt tracks in VE Pro via parameter automation always results in a crash.

Due to the stability problems I'm having with VE Pro 6, I've been using MIR Pro in standalone mode. Unfortunately, the MIR Pro GUI doesn't scale on hi-res displays in standalone mode, making the interface difficult to read.

Is there a way to make MIR Pro scale on hi-res displays in the same way that it does within VE Pro?

Due to previous issues with Cubase 9 and VE Pro (presumably due to ASIO Guard), I had stopped using the latter.

Tonight I decided to give VE Pro 6 another go, and it's crashing hard on my system when re-enabling tracks. So back to Cubase I go.

But now Vienna Instruments Pro has disappeared from the list of VST instruments I can add to my Cubase project, replaced by VE Pro.

Am I going to have to uninstall VE Pro 6 again just so I can use Vienna Instruments Pro in Cubase?

Frustrated,

Symfoniq

EDIT:

Never mind. Figured it out. The difference between VST2 and VST3 instrument grouping in Cubase was throwing me.

Can't confirm because trying to enable a disabled tracks in VE Pro 6 is crashing hard on my system (Windows 10, Cubase 9).

It's crashing for me, too. I never had stability issues with VE Pro 5, but VE Pro 6 is crashing every time I try re-enable disabled Kontakt tracks.

So I jumped on the Synchron Percussion offer in part because of the free Synchron RoomPack.

Unfortunately, my reading comprehension must be poor, because I didn't realize there was a 30% discount on MIR Pro 24, and that I had to buy it with Synchron Percussion.

Is it possible for those of us who already bought Synchron Percussion (only two days ago in my case) to qualify for the 30% MIR Pro 24 discount?

Hi Paul:

Thanks for the quick reply.

This request is mainly borne out of workflow frustrations. I'm heavily invested in orchestral libraries from two companies, one of which is VSL. The other company's libraries switch articulations using CC32 set to specific values, currently between 1 and 112. This is convenient because it doesn't require keyswitches on my keyboard, and because I only have to edit one CC lane in Cubase to change articulations.

I understand how to use Program Changes in Vienna Instruments Pro, but there are a few aggravations. One is that the program change number doesn't seem to be customizable, so if I have five matrixes (1-5), then I have five barely different lines in the Cubase Program Change lane that are difficult to see and distinguish between.

Furthermore, if I use keyswitches or CCs to change articulations within a matrix, I now have to edit two different lanes in Cubase (Program Change and CC or piano roll) to change articulations.

While I realize that I can set articulations within a matrix using a range of CCs, it'd be nice to be able to (as an example) right-click on a cell and set it to a specific CC value. That way I could use the same CC values that my other non-VSL libraries use. Because VI Pro supports a maximum grid size of 12x12, I can't specify a CC range smaller than 10, and my non-VSL libraries might contain 10 different articulations in that large of a range.

I hope that makes sense, and thank you for your consideration.

Either I'm missing something, or it isn't possible to switch articulations in Vienna Instruments Pro 2 using a specific value, but only a range of values. It would also be useful to be able to switch matrixes by specific CC articulation. Please consider this as a feature request for Vienna Instruments Pro.

What makes it even more frustrating is that I'm using two QHD monitors, and the VI Pro window is so small that it can be hard to read sometimes. 25-27" monitors are common now, so it'd be nice to see Vienna Instruments take advantage of them.

I have set up a fairly complicated matrix in Vienna Instruments Pro. By default, VI Pro only shows four letters of the cell name, which isn't enough in a complicated template. Is there a way to make the cells larger so that they show more of the cell name?

Yes, it's here!

So after giving it a lot of thought, I made the leap and acquired VSL Orchestral Strings 1 and 2 (Full). This was no easy decision for the reasons I mentioned in my original post. Purchasing Orchestral Strings meant not purchasing (at least for now) some competing, newly released libraries that cost less and have more demos.

After using the VSL Orchestral Strings library for a couple of weeks, my only regret is not getting it sooner (or perhaps even starting with this library). The Dimension and Appassionata Strings fill their roles well, but these Orchestral Strings seem the most versatile. They can sound intimate and defined or big and lush. For me, the Orchestral Strings section sizes are perfect 80% of the time. And the programming is top-shelf. So, thank you for this amazing library, VSL team. I just wish you'd tried harder to sell it to me.

Since it's better to help solve problems than merely complain about them, here's a short cue I put together using only the VSL Orchestral Strings. No doubt Guy Bacos or Jay Bacal would do better, but I'm pretty happy with the result:

January Strings

I have the "snapback" issue as well on an iPhone 5 running iOS 7.

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!

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).

I've reached the point where integrated audio and ASIO4ALL just aren't cutting it anymore. I want to invest in an audio interface with good drivers, but don't need a lot of inputs (I'll rarely be recording any audio). This interface would be used almost strictly for virtual instruments. I would prefer an external (USB) solution.

What interface can you personally recommend?

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Thank you for your responses.

I definitely have my eye on Vienna Suite. I'm just waiting for my wallet to catch up with my appetite. However, it only just occurred to me that I could probably learn quite a bit about EQing orchestral instruments from studying VSL's presets. That makes it even more appealing.

I really appreciate your insight, William. Fascinating stuff. That kind of information can be hard to find. If there's a book out there that is to orchestral mixing what Piston and Forsyth are to orchestration, I'd love to hear about it.

That said, MIR is an incredible product, and has taken most of the guesswork out of achieving a fantastic mix. Every time I use this software, I'm astounded at what it can do, and grateful to live in an age where such miracles are possible. So, thank you, VSL team.

Hopefully this is the right place to post this:

Does anyone have any favorite EQ settings for the Dimension Cellos? I spent some time working on the sound yesterday and this morning, and kept coming back to a (pretty drastic?) high pass around 200 Hz. Not being an EQ expert, I thought someone else might have a more refined favorite setting.

Ahh, my bad. I thought I read that page twice and still somehow missed "This offer does not apply to Bundles."

Thanks for the clarification (and your patience)!

I just want to make sure I understand the VSL Holiday Offer correctly:

If I buy Appassionata Strings II Full Library, does that count as two products?

If I buy Orchestral Strings Bundle Full Library, does that count as four products?

Finally, the promotion says: "Please note that the price of any of your free products must not exceed the price of the most expensive product you’re purchasing."

How does this work in regards to bundles? For example, if I buy the Orchestral Strings Bundle Full Library (which I'm thinking is four products), and then I want to pick Chamber Strings I Standard as my free library, what price is it that Chamber Strings I must not exceed? The price of Orchestral Strings Bundle Full Library, or the price of the individual products it contains?

It sounds like Dimension Brass might be the best tool for your particular needs, since all four horns were recorded individually, and can be used that way or in unison. The ensemble horns are indeed for unison parts. Using the ensemble horns patch for four individual horn parts will sound like 16 horns are playing instead of four.