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