I don't know what politics has to do with this, and we're definitely not talking about science. We're talking about marketing, and the only 'facts' are sales figures - and the fact is that there will be numerous users who will not up/downgrade with the current pricing structure.

Well, only DM Brass. I really like that library and the crossgrade wasn't that expensive. I wouldn't touch the synchronised string crossgrades though - far too expensive for an inferior product.

Lately it almost feels as if VSL are brainstorming marketing ideas to push away their long term customers. I have certainly spent well upwards of $10K on VSL libraries and software in the 8 years or so that I have been a user. I am definitely a fan (especially of  their classic VI & MIR products), and a massive part of my workflow is based around VSL products.

Recent marketing strategies (sys preorder, synchronised libs, now this) however are leaving me disillusioned and increasingly tentative about purchasing new VSL products. I bought VEP6 under then impression that it would always include enough licenses to enable networking - that was part of the deal - networking is THE major feature of VEP. Had I been aware that VEP7 would be a functional downgrade - there is no way I would have bought VEP6.

It seems as if the synchronised libs were like VSL testing the waters to see how many old users would buy something that they alread have, again. Obviously that worked (I fell into the trap unfortunately - mostly out of fear that the superior VI Pro Player will eventually stop being supported), and now they have learned that they can make their old users re-buy things, presumably because it worked the first few times.

I'm not going to play this game anymore. As it stands, I will not be buying VEP7 unless the new features (that are not FX) are good enough to SIGNIFICANTLY improve my workflow (and my expectations for VEP7 are low - how good could it be if you don't even know what the features are). If it incuded 3 licenses, as I was under the impression that it would when I bought VEP6, I would most likely have bought it once the features become available. It is unlikely that I'll ever preorder anything from VSL ever again - DS3 would be the only exeption to this, as long as it wasn't a synchronised version.

Don't push away customers. That doesn't make sense.

I agree. I have no interest in EO2, either.

I recently bought VEP 6 & Vienna Suite Pro... so not seeing any point in upgrading (tbh I probably wouldn't have bought them if I knew this was coming). I will probably skip this, certainly if you need to rebuy each license individually - that would just be insane. The only difference I can see between VEP6 & 7 is the integrated suite FX, so I'm not sure why users of both have to pay at all for this, unless there's some other serious features under the hood.

The new update is great. I do agree though, a velocity curve editor would be the best addition to Synchron Pianos, & Vienna Imperial Player, that I can currently think of.

I have emailed support. Thanks Paul.

I can't get the pans to work in Logic. Is there a fix on the way?

Yes I am also using MIR. The delay seems to happen while MIR is loading.

Yes, I also have considerably longer project load times since the update. Logic X takes ages to load VI Pro compared to other plugs. I can't comment on VE.

On High Sierra 10.13.6

The new articulation feature is great. Just spent an hour or so making a set for Dimension Strings which was relatively easy.

Unfortunately, these articulation maps do not appear to be compatible with track stacks, which are fantastic for use with Dimension series instruments. I'm a bit torn because the articulation mapping would be super convenient. I expect though I will be sticking with keyswitches & track stacks for Dimension series, unless there is some way to pass articulation switches through a stack, that I haven't figured out.

Just thought I'd share, I found a work around to achieve the same result in logic X. You can use a summing stack to place each player on stage where you want them, but control them all at once from the main track stack. It is also easy to write divisi parts - all you have to do is open the stack folder. This method gets me the best sound I have ever had from dimension strings. Very heavy on resources, though.

Whoops accidentally deleted whatever my last post was and double posted in stead...

I have the standard 8 core model. I bought it used- I would have never have paid full price for one. It runs VSL well with acceptable latency, although I can see myself running out of ram eventually. I get the occasional overload during fast parts using dimension strings with a full orchestra, especially if I use sample modelling brass or other cpu intensive plugins such as Diva or Equilibrium, which can bring it to its knees easily. Sometimes I get the red 'too many voices' line in VI pro even without maxing out the cpu, which is strange - although this could be related to external SSD streaming speed? I may sell it and buy a real mac pro when it is released next year, but this does the job nicely in the meantime.

+1!

I am far more interested in more VI Pro/Silent Stage libraries and MIR Roompacks than in anything synchron - although I can understand the appeal of the synchron series for new users (being all-in-one), and I do really enjoy the synchron stage MIR roompack. Personally I have zero interest in any synchron-ized libraries.

This is my biggest wish:

I feel that there is no single best MIR venue, and its best to have a collection to suit different pieces of music.

I have them all but my favourites are:
The Sage hall 1
Synchron stage
Pernegg
Mozartsaal
Teledex
Studio Weiler

MIR Pro and Dimension Strings are the ultimate VSL products IMO.

I see that this can be done, but currently I can only figure how to send an entire matrix to the multi-out, on the leff panel in VI Pro. I'm not really sure why you would want to do that. What I would like to do is, send each payer individually to the multi out from the mixer area, as fahl5 suggested.



Now that would be a useful feature, I can't wait! :)


If both these things could be done at once, that would be a huge time saver, not to mention reduce some serious screen clutter. Having 32 instances of VI Pro open just for the strings also seems to use a lot more CPU than 1 instance per section.
I just wish there was a fast way to compose for a full dimension ensemble, while all the players are individually spaced out where you really want them on the MIR stage, without all the copy pasting every time you write a part. This would reduce the need for copy pasting and also the need to remix stuff when you write divisi if you are using MIR presets such as "dimension violins 6 players" when drafting for a full ensemble.

Hi,

Is it possible to send each dimension player to its own output via VI Pro, to place in MIR pro? As far as I can tell, this doesn't happen.

If not, please consider this a feature request. I can't emphasise enough how useful this feature would be.

Cheers!

I hope that after the disappointing Synchron Strings, that VSL will return to focusing on the Dimension series as their flagship line. If DS had the positives of SyS (increased velocity layers etc) it would destroy everything else on the market even more than it does already.

In my opinion the Synchron line should be limited to percussive instruments, pianos etc. Anytime Xfades or legatos are needed, dry libs are the way to go. MIR Synchron Stage sounds great, and the different lines can be easily merged in this way.

I still prefer the versatility of the silent stage for percussion/keyboard instruments though, despite how good as Synchron percussion/pianos sound and how playable they are.

I would happy trade my SyS license for a preorder deposit on DS3, even if I have to continue to wait for a few more years lol.

Thanks mate! Yep I'd be stuck without DS :p



No worries! :)

Hi Jos! I am glad you got some enjoyment from this :)

Yeah it doesn't feature Dimension Strings as heavily as I typically do, I was looking to do something completely different with this one, and have synthetic sounds take most of the focus. Still, I find that DS blends really well with anything, so I probably could have put in some more acrobatic string playing - probably will for my next project :)

The flute solo isn't actually a flute at all. Its a wavetable synth patch I made for LinnStrument in UVI Falcon, using a wavetable I made in Xfer Serum's wavetable editor. Aftertouch sweeps through the wave index and a filter, and also adds formant filtered noise to emulate breath. Each note press also adds a velocity sensitive burst of noise in the background to simulate woodwind keys being pressed. I was hoping it would sound semi-synthetic, but still quite lifelike. It is definitely the most expressive LinnStrument sound I have made so far.

Hi fellow composers!

I have just finished mixing a song that mixes psychedelic, jazz, classical and prog rock. It's all mixed in MIR Pro which blends everything together like no other reverb could! It's also featuring Dimension Strings which IMO is the best string library known to man. I cannot think of any other string library that could fit so seamlessly into seemingly unrelated genres.

There is also lots of LinnStrument and fretless guitar.

I hope you enjoy!
Jon

https://soundcloud.com/jonny_lawson/digital_life

Oh yes! Dimension Strings 3 is by far my greatest wish for anything new from VSL.

I have a good chunk of VSL's offerings, and in my experience DS stands head and shoulders above the rest in it's capacity to emulate realism. I consider it to be the greatest sample library ever made (from any developer) - it's a composer's dream to have that much control over each player. Its also versatile enough to seemlessly fit in a mix in any genre - be it classical, jazz, electronic - I even use it over metal riffs and it works great! Not many libraries can do that ;) The way that it enables imperfections of timing and pitch of individuals is also a big advantage.

Obviously it would be hard to augment it, because you'd have to set it all back up with the same players with the same instrument in the same position. However, it would absolutely benefit from more velocity layers, quieter velocities in particular. More articulations, such as flautando, would be useful, as would additional variations of existing articulations, for example legato/sustain variations with different vibrato speed and intensity. I'm actually wishing I had a 'muted no vibrato' option in DS 2 at the moment.

But in spite of what potential there still is to make DS even more betterer than everything else - it already is the best anyway. It's an amazing time to be alive as composers :)

Dimension Strings FTW!
I have SyS & Dimension. In my experience, DS + MIR is the king, easily. If only it had more velocity layers like SyS - it would be mind blowing!

I'm well overdue a new computer, my current mac pro is from 2008, so it can't even install synchron, it's too old for the installer to run (although I'll be sticking with DS/MIR anyway). Not to mention that it overloads left right and centre, and crashes regularly and I lose my progress on projects, lol.

I would have bought an iMac Pro had the ram been accessible for user upgrade. I have no idea how they oversaw such a basic requirement for a supposedly 'pro' machine. With the factory installed ram at 80% mark up, I'll be saying no-thanks (would have gone for 128 gig which is around 3 grand here in Australia IIRC. The only thing stopping me from jumping to PC land is the work that would be involved moving my projects into another DAW, as I'm tied to logic at this point. I hate apple more every year haha. Worst thing they ever did for pros was invent the iphone.

Also unfortunate timing for the imac pro with spectre/meltdown just happening.

I use mir pro for everything, not just orchestral instruments. It works great for any genre really. I've used it for metal and it sounds good :)
I just use the plug, don't have VEP.