It looks like several of the now former Sibelius folks, including Daniel, are now working for Steinberg. I wonder what this could mean?

http://www.steinberg.net/en/company/press/archive/2012/uk_rd_center.html

Hello Everyone,

I have a new 240Gb SSD that I would like to use for all my VSL products. They are already installed on a traditional disk. Is it safe to simply copy everything over and update my paths? Or is there more to this?

Thanks,

Chris

Despite the lack of time, I decided to install my new toys this morning just to try them out. The B-flat trumpet does indeed make nice, shiny, pretty trumpet noises :) 

I was actually rather impressed with it. All those extra samples really do make a difference. Now I'm looking at everything else I have and asking if I should be getting the extended libraries. Oh well. I'm sure the student discount will come around again next year...

Not really. I guess it depends on how you are using it. If you have one lone trumpet very exposed, I don't think it works well at all. If you have some thick background, the flaws are less noticable. 

Now, I say this having only used it with some cheap reverb. I've recently purchased MIR, but have not yet had a chance to use it. It may be possible that it works well in MIR (and may have even been created with that specific use in mind). I just don't know yet.

I think Dimension Brass was a good idea, and a good "first attempt" at such a product. I suppose Dimension Strings will turn out better now that they have some more experience under their belts, but given my experience with Dimension Brass, I just can't take the chance on the Strings (even with the great deal going on) without an opportunity to hear the rest of the string sections., 

Overall, Dimension Brass is the product that I was the least satisfied with. The low brass was useless for me. Had to buy the bass trombone and tuba separately to have something usable. If you are on the fence, I'd say get one of the standard brass bundles. But that's just my opinion... 

Thank you to all who replied. I ended up purchasing the B-flat trumpet. 

Virtually everything that I am using is VSL now. I have the Dimension Brass, and the C Trumpet from the special edition just didn't do anything for me, and so I wanted to get a good standalone trumpet. 

Being that I'm a full-time grad student in an area other than music, I won't get to play with many of my new toys until some time in January. Still, I'm looking forward to making good use of my recent purchases :)

Hello Everyone,

I am using Dimension Brass for ensemble parts, but I am looking for a solo trumpet. The obvious question is: C or Bb? And why?

I've listened to the audio demos, but if anybody has any examples of a a few identical lines being played by each of these trumpets, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks,

Chris

Agreed. I have no use (well, not much, anyways) for the other percussion instruments. However, I would gladly pay good money for the two Timpani. 

Well... they certainly seem prompt about moving threads from one forum to another :\

Hi Mike,

VSL seems to have this problem quite often, and often the answers they do give are unsatisfactory or vague (whether intentional or not). 

My gut feeling is that this might be a cultural and/or language thing. Perhaps they don't understand why people are getting upset. Maybe they think that this is perfectly normal? I don't know. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. 

I don't think it is malicious in intent, but I'll agree that it does make me nervous. 

Hello Everyone,

Sorry, I was under the impression that Ilio's prices on these products were somehow dictated by VSL. I'll follow up with them...

Paul: I've heard "licensing" and "technical issues" as reasons for thes upgrade paths, but I'm quite certain it comes down to "more money for VSL" :) Now, I don't have a problem with that, as you've all done some great work here. However, I cannot justify purchasing the extended Woodwinds I when I only need a single instrument in extended form, and I refuse to pay twice on something I already have. Getting "some money" from me is better than getting nothing, yes? 

I'm sure I'm not the only person out there in this situation. Please consider it for the future. All of that "little money" that you are missing out on can add up after awhile :)

Thanks again,

Christopher

Hello,

I am preparing to buy a few products (MIR PRO 24 bundle and some download instruments) using the student discounts that are currently available. I have a few questions:

1. Why are the products cheaper at Ilio than they are here on VSL? (I'm in the US, if it matters). 

2. It appears Ilio sells the full range of VSL products, including download instruments. However, their website only allows the student discount to be applied on software or instrument collections, not individual instruments. Why is this? It seems unfortunate that I have to pay a higher amoount through VSL just to be able to get the discount...

3. If I have the standard edition of an instrument collection, is there any way to upgrade just a single instrument to extended?

For example, I have Woodwinds 1 Standard. I cannot justify (or afford) Woodwinds 1 Extended simply to get access to the extended clarinet samples (I may not need extended for the other instruments). I could buy the standalone clarinet download instrument, but I cannot just buy the extended. It only gives options for Standard or Full. Seems silly to pay ~$70 for samples that I already have. I fully understand if there is some matter of fees with eLicenser or something of that sort that requires a licensing fee for the standard download, but surely there has to be another way?

Thank you for all the fine work. I'll probably have a few more questions over the next day or so :)

-Christopher

Yes, as a plugin. This would be something I could do with just the regular version of VE, no?

Hello Everyone,

I'm just about to buy a license for the VE5 and MIR PRO 24 bundle, and I've discovered that MIR PRO 24 can be used as a standalone plugin now. My question is: should I get VE5 anyway?

I'm not a working composer (I compose primarily for my own enjoyment and exploration). I do most of my work in Sibelius with primarily VSL samples using VI PRO. Nothing weird or modern, just traditional 18th-19th century classical type material. 

Is VE5 likely to make my life substantially easier? Are there useful features that I'd be giving up? 

Thanks,
Chris 

Oh... ok. The combination of cards (suggesting a game of chance) along with the wording suggested otherwise. 

Hello,

I've seen the banner for the new special edition packages, and it includes the phrase "Royal Flush! Play to win with Vienna Special Editions". 

I've followed the links, but all I see is the introductory pricing. There is no information about a contest, drawing, or other means of winning anything. Have I misread the meaning of the banner?

I don't think that VSL does enough to make their policies obvious. I don't know if it is intentional or not. If it is, then that is a problem. However, there is enough information about this on the web that one should be performing a bit of research before spending thousands of dollars here. 

With that said, I do not agree with the lost key policies, but I also do not believe that people should be given freedom from responsibility. If your key was stolen, and there was a police report, that is one thing. If you lost it, it isn't VSL's fault. *You* lost it. 

I think a fair policy would be:

1. First time the key is lost, you pay for a new key, the cost of generating a new license (I'm assuming that Steinberg charges VSL per key generated), and reasonable "idiot" fee for having lost it. This fee should never exceed 25% of the original cost, at most. 

2. After that, you get one more shot. You pay for everything again, in full. Anything beyond a second time, no more VSL for you. 

I kinda prefer everything about the LASS demo. The Holywood demo was ok, but not great. The Appasionata demo sounds alright, but it starts off sounding a bit weird to me in terms of dynamics. 

Just curious, why Appasionata and not the regular VSL orchestral strings? Don't the Appasionatas lack many of the articulations of the orchestra strings package? Not sure if this makes it a fair fight or not. 

Thanks for posting it though. I love hearing straight comparisons. 

... and percussion? I'd love a timpani (or two)...

Hi Paul,

Thank you for the prompt reply. I'll admit that I am not aware of all the technical details, but as a software developer myself, I can't imagine what kind of 'logistic' details would require this type of 'all or nothing' approach. 

It seems to be that you already have a mechanism in place for providing discounts on products based upon what has already been purchased. Would it not be possible to grant users of a DVD standard product a discount on the standard download libraries for those instruments equivalent to the full purchase price of the standard download instrument (or for a considerable percentage of it, if you need to account of any licensing fee from Syncrosoft)?

For example, as Woodwinds 1 contains the Standard Flute 1, it seems reasonable to provide a discount so that users that have Woodwinds 1 can get the download Flute 1 standard for free (or nearly so), allowing them to then pay for the upgrade to the extended version of just that instrument. 

I use all of my Woodwinds 1 Standard, so I don't plan on returning it. I just don't see myself ever needing extended versions of the ensemble instruments that are included.

Anyways, if this is something that is truly not possible at the moment, please consider it for the future. 

Thanks again,

Christopher

Hello,

I've currently purchased the Special Edition, SE Strings Plus, Solo Strings 1, Dimension Brass, Woodwinds 1 (standard), and an small assortment of download instruments. I was under the impression that because the instruments in Woodwinds 1 Standard contain a superset(?) of the woodwind samples in the standard download instruments, I would be able to simply purchase the extended version for a particular instrument to augment what I have.

For example, my Woodwinds 1 Standard contains solo French Oboe. I'd think that I should be able to purchase the extended solo French oboe download instrument to complete it, but it appears that the website first requires me to purchase the standard French oboe download. This seems to me as though I am paying twice for the same thing. Yes?

I hope I am misunderstanding something. I am more than willing to pay for upgrades on the specific instruments that I need. I will not spend money on the same product twice, or pay for extended samples of instruments I won't use. 

Thank you,

Christopher

Hi Andi,

I'm very sorry. I had had read that document when I first installed the Special Edition, and had glossed over the part about Dimension Brass because I did not have it. Now that I have purchased it, it never occured to me to go back and re-read the document. I'm rather embasrrassed...

Sorry for the trouble, and thanks again for the quick response!

Thanks,

Chris

Hello,

I've purchased the Dimension Brass, and I am having difficulty getting it to work correctly with Sibelius. I am using the VSL House Style, and I've loaded the correct sound set.

In VI Pro, what specifically should I be loading (ie. a preset? a matrix? which ones?). Do I assign separate midi channels for each? My goal is to notate in Sibelius in traditional brass scoring format (for example, 4 horns on two staves), and have it play back correctly. 

At the moment, I cannot consistently get my articulations to swtich, and it often switches to a matrix cell in which no sound is loaded.

Thank you,

Chris

Hello,

Thanks for the response.

I should have given more information about my exact requirements. I'm not writing this material for commercial purposes. I'm not a film scorer, working composer, etc. While I was a music major once upon a time, I am now a graduate student in computer science and mathematics. I write for my own pleasure, and intend on making my scores freely available for performance in exchange for a recording of the performance. 

As I am not making any money from this (in fact, I've no doubt that I will never break even), and given my limited discretionary income, purchasing any VSL material is back-breakingly expensive. And so I have to pick and choose carefully. I'd love to buy it all, but I can't. A student discount package would be awesome though ;)

Anyways, with the Woodwinds I, I'm getting a reasonable amount of samples of the solo instruments and their ensembles (at least, enough for my purposes at the moment). The reason why I listed most of those download instruments is because I will only have those in Special Edition form. I don't plan on using those particular instruments much in any extended solo fashion, but primarily for their role in supporting the woodwind section of the orchestra. 

Perhaps the better question is: in a supporting role within an orchestra, would the lesser samples of say, a contrabassoon from Special Edition, really be noticeable in comparison to the fuller sample set? (Assuming it isn't a 'featured' instrument in the piece)

Thanks,

Chris

Hello Everyone,

I'm looking to add a few new toys to my collection of samples. So far, I've purchased the Solo Strings 1 (great) and the Special Edition. SE started off great, but I feel like I've quickly found the limitations of it, and am starting to expand. I've since added the Special Edition Strings Plus (considered going with a bigger string package, but I'm sure something newer will be coming around in the near future, this will do for now).

I plan on purchasing Woodwinds I Standard and the Dimension Brass (soon, hopefully). My question is about download instruments. I've purchased the English Horn, and I'd like to buy 2 more and pick up the freebie. Woodwinds 1 gives me the standard woodwinds and the ensembles, but not the piccolo, bass clarinet, or contrabassoon. I'm tempted to choose these 3, but since I'm not sure how much use I will get out of the extra samples, I'm asking for suggestions based on your experiences with these instruments.

What I am writing is mainly orchestral and chamber works, ranging in style from early 1800's to maybe very early 1900's. 

I'm leaning towards any 3 of (I think the freebie can be an extended version of one of these if I also have the standard):

Piccolo

Alto Flute

Bass Clarinet

Bassoon 2

Contra bassoon

Euphonium

Piccolo Trumpet

Trumpet (Bb)

(Yes, I know I have a big gap for saxes. Not planning on writing for them at the moment)

Thanks,

Chris

Hi Andi,

Thanks for the quick reply. This seems like something that could be easily automated by a plugin for Sibelius. Has any thought been given to such a plugin?

Thanks,

Chris