I do not agree that the Synchron Series is a step forward. It's just different.

From my perspective, VI-series is what makes VSL unique, still to this day. Ever since the very beginning there have always been libraries that were recorded in some remarkable scoring stages and then marketed as "The Ultimate Film Scoring Library!". For many, many years VSL never fell into that trap and instead proved the VI-series to be the most detailed, versatile and flexible virtual instrument out there. It was not only for those with only film score in mind but also for everyone interested in orchestral music of different genres (not least, classical music).
I own them both and have different use cases for them, sometimes I mix them with great results.

However, if I had to pick I would always go with VI-series. I could replace the Synchron Series with other vendor products, but I could never replace the VI-superheros - there is just nothing like it.

You get what you pay for. IMO. If you are into VI-series you are in for the best. I can testify that MIR (and VEP) are essential for the VI user experience and performance.

If you are on a budget you get pretty far with BBO or Synchron, but we pros love our VI ;)

Nice one. Did you sync the VOL and EXP fader and used the same CC for both?

I did a similar one for VI some time ago but with varying CC input for VXF and EXP. Pretty useful when you are aiming at a spec. dB interval for your performances. I have gotten used to always trying to fit between approx. -18/-8 dB (depending on the dynamic depth of the performance) to get a good mix.

Hello,

I need a quick tip here. I am preparing to submit a lengthy project for mixing at a professional studio and while I was checking my controllers I started to doubt how I have come to use the VXF and EXP.

My main concern is that I might have used EXP as a “mixing tool” when I blend a lot of instruments, the same as a mixing engineer would do with volume automation. In the end I’ve kind of grown accustomed to almost “following” the VXF when that might prove very wrong.

 
Here’s two examples of a sustained viola line (using VI/Orchestral Strings):

 
EXAMPLE1 (solo):

Audio File: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mug6mcszdcou7pw/1.wav?dl=0

Automation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4bqgv0xjtas9691/1-1.PNG?dl=0

VSL loudness meter: https://www.dropbox.com/s/59h8r9pjprkgbwv/1.PNG?dl=0

 
EXAMPLE2 (solo):

Audio File: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q7i6opal7jz117p/2.wav?dl=0

Automation:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/uzy8iyddm1coj9y/2-2.PNG?dl=0

VSL loudness meter: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v1w15kopq9az7m7/2.PNG?dl=0

I have not touched the “VOL” controller but sometimes use the SFX/vibrato and FILTER.

NOTE! These examples make use of my own IR/PAN settings using MIR; other than that they are completely un-processed, no EQ/compression/filters etc. Before I send it off to the studio I’ll also disable all of my MIR settings hence they will go completely dry with only the programming (keyswitches and automation) to come along.

Which one is most appropriate to submit for a professional mixer to work with?

Thanks

Never mind. Noticed that I made a mistake on my own.

However, I will leave it to a question. Does the Synchron Strings Pro do anything different compared to the VI series in regard to VXF? I feel like the VI series seamlessly replaces samples to more and more expressive when moving up the VXF slider. Synchron Strings Pro feels more like additional samples are added on top of another moving up the VXF slider the same way.

Is there a difference here or is it just my interpretation?

Yes. It did not work very well I am afraid. Although it was a while ago I remember that it was not (at all) as touch sensitive as I imagned. It's all about pressure which made it very hard to be precise, or maintain a stable level/curve. It is simply not designed for details but more "Expressive" finger drumming to trigger digital sounds. I also remember that it was only good for sounds, or plugins that it were designed for, not for others.

Hornberg HB1 + faders (Fadermaster or Icon Platform X+) is the way to go IMO.

+1 I would love to see more VI-series products. I have not dug deep into the recording/production of the original series but I could only guess that there are new technical improvements available now? Better MICs or sampling equipment etc. which would allow even higher res. samples?
What about Dimension Strings HD? :)

On the Synchron side I would love to see VSL take a new shoot at a Synchron Voice Library. VI choir is great but there are better ones on the market... however none with the VSL finish and finnese.

As a VI user I feel the BBO stuff is lower tier.. so I definitely would love to see some more high end stuff. Synchron is great but not "better" than VI, just different.

Synchron Pianos however is a different story. Much better than the older Imperial library (in my opinion). Those are some great new releases!

I have not tried but I doubt it. It has built in settings for all major DAW as a mackie controller. I guess you could probably make it work somehow but not sure if it is worth the effort. Better to route all your VEP instances to different stereo outputs into your DAW and control the faders from there.

Ah. OK. I just did a system upgrade and was so sure that I had it working before :) Thanks for info!

Hello,

I've seen others have similar issues but not exactly with the 32-bit version of VEP7 (7.0.1056).

The problem is that I am unable to start both Synchron Piano and Synchron Player plugins inside VEP7 32-bit. I get the error message "toolkit: Could not open plugin". I just updated both Synchron players to the latest releases (1.1.1508 and 1.1.1987 resp.) but to no avail.

I've tried to add the (x86) VST2 folders in the plugins, rescanned etc. However I can't see any Synchron plugin listed there so I am guessing it's embedded some other way?

64-bit version works.

Am I missing something? Or do more users have this issue?

BR

Awesome! Thank you so much Dietz and the VSL software wizards!

Hello,

I've a slight problem with the Distance Depending Scaling option in MIR that it does not seem to save the settings for the instance. Whenever I re-load the instance I get the default setting from MIR options and the problem is that I use it for some instruments but not all. So either way I have to re-do this every time I load my instances.

Is there any way around this or do we need to hope for it in future updates?

I have been working on an orchestral concept album for a few years and is now getting to the final production stage before I will send of everything to a high-end professional studio for mix/master.

But before I do so I would love to find a mentor/teacher that are willing to listen to the album and give some feedback, criticism and suggestions that could help me evolve and possibly re-touch or change parts where I’ve either done technical or compositional mistakes.

You, who I am looking for should be either a schooled musician (preferably strings/piano) and/or a professional working composer, conductor or similar.

Of course, I am aware that perhaps the best thing would be to share it with all of you fellow VSL users, however I am reluctant to release the pre-production or demos publicly before the official release.

For anyone interested I am willing to pay a fee for the service. Please let me know though private message and we’ll discuss the details.

Awesome. Thank you so much for your reply, Paul. Actually I still have to check out the editor GUI. The thing is so well built that I quite enjoyed doing the settings on the box itself. But with lots of presets etc. I guess a GUI would work wonders.

PS. I can't see the settings that you so kindly attached. I should be able to view it in the thread, right? Please let me know if I am missing something DS.

I am using the Icon Platform X+ for to manage midi CC (EXP, FILTER, S-XF,HUMANIZER etc.) works very well as a stand alone controller. Not if you are looking at some other usage but if you're only looking to control midi then I can recomend the cheaper Platform X+. Some say that the software was lacking but I've not had any problems thus far.

Hello,

For long I've searched for a mod-wheel replacement and I finaly came to my senses and listened to Paul which always promote the Hornberg Research HB-1. For all those still questioning the price, well if you are serious about what you do then I can highly recommend it. The settings is the best I've ever felt on a breath controller. And it's so easy and fast to make a perfect take.

Thus far I've only limited myself to do the VXF even though it's now possible to manage multiple CC at the same time with different offsets. However, I wonder... Does anyone have any setting recommendations for recording the different instruments? As of now I am using the following settings for recording strings:

• DRIVE 7
• RELEASE 35
• ATTACK 20
• OFFSET 60

I know these are surely highly individual but I would love to know from people (especially Paul) with more experience than myself.

Originally Posted by: Seventh Sam

Do you play the notes in using a velocity sensitive MIDI keyboard? For short articulations, velocity XF isn't really necessary and can lead to, as you have experienced, mind numbing micro management. Often times, the act of simply playing in a staccato pattern on the keyboard gives enough variation in the velocity to lend the authenticity you're after.

Other tricks are to not quantize nearly as hard... or at all, even. In REAPER, you can select the notes you want, press H, and have it randomize the velocity and timing of those notes by a certain percentage with an optional seed-based bias. I'm certain your DAW has a similar feature and can produce a controlled inconsistency that will give you what you're after, especially if you draw the notes in on a grid.

If you're after a bit more nuance, automate the tuning amount so that the detuning and delay settings get applied more or less depending on the curve you draw/record. You can also automate the start offset and start offset attack a tiny bit to vary the amount and intensity of the attack you hear for ultra detailed impressions.

Does any of this help? Id be happy to clarify/provide examples if you need.

- Sam

• Kawai VPC-1 has the best piano-feel but is large (too large to hide under the desk) and have no features.
• Studio Logic SL88 Grand and the Doepfer-line have Fatar TP/40GH key-beds which feel good, and can hide under the desk… but are also very limited in feature.
• Native Instrument S88 MK2 can hide under the desk, it has ton of features… but a Fatar TP/100 (most likely, although not confirmed) key-bed which I am told do not come close to TP/40GH wood keys.

Which one to choose….

Hello,

I've a general question to how to manage midi automation for different articulations. Obviously the legato, sustain, tremolo patches mainly focus on V-XF, EXP and in some case FILTER. But how do you guys manage short patches like the staccato, pizzicato, detache etc.?

I've gotten accustomed to micro manage them by doing very minor, detailed and controlled changes using V-XF to the point where the controller lane looks like a saw-pattern. I am trying to achieve a realistic movement of the bow in that the pressure on the string is not always even and depending on up- or down-strokes might start with more or less force.

However, this method is obviously very time consuming and also hard to perform during faster repetitions. Thus, I wonder if there are any other tricks to achieve the same or similar result? I've tried to automate the humanization features where I at least get a slight variation in tune and delay since I am normally quantizing pretty hard. But that does not impact the velocity for each stroke in a staccato repetition.

I made the following two samples that you can A/B (live performance to click without quant.)

1. Staccato without micro management, straight V-XF/EXP curves (DS/VI-DSK1)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/onya330hmselilv/staccato_without_micro-management.wav?dl=0

2. Staccato with micro management, saw V-XF straight EXP (DS/VI-DSK2)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h8svgxxef8deyg1/staccato_with_micro-management.wav?dl=0

And the follow up question. If micromanagement is a thing, how do you control it? I've been using the mod-wheel because of the low friction and rapid response...

Thanks,BR

Thanks for the tip. Good to know that SL88 seem like a very capable keyboard with great action. However, I was looking for a stand-alone Midi Controller that can be used togeather with a DOEPFER PK88 keyboard since it does not have any buttons or sliders.

However, I came across this little thing; Expressive E Touché. What if you could map the VXF with  a simple hand gesture and the EXP with actual pressure of the hand? and Slot-XF to control the vibrato with an actual vibrato gesture? I must try it! I'll let you know how it works if anyone is interested :)

Hello,

This idea just litteraly jumped on me so please bare with. Sometimes when I do really fast staccato runs (either scale or typical "Hans Zimmer" chords) I feel the need to detail each stroke with a small VXF variation just to get the feel that each touch on the strings is not exactly identical. I've been doing this for years and yes, it is a hassle to record such small variations. If the composition allows I'll sometimes lower the BPM just to get it right on. But what if the Humanizer also could do this automatically? I figure that it wont do much to sustains but doing that you could just zero the Humanizer VXF and run with the basic one.

Best Regards

Hello,

With the release of the Steinway I came to the conclusion that I must experience this with a high-quality midi-keyboard and has therefore decided to grab a DOEPFER PK88. I’ve previously been using a M-Audio Oxygen 88 but am not loving the key action on it. It’s way to sluggish action to feel anything like a real keyboard.
However, I do use some of the Midi controllers on it, such as the mod-wheel, and sliders for controlling my VXF, EXP, S-XF etc. and the DOEPFER PK88 is simply just keys. Do anyone have any recommendation on a good Midi controller that can be used to easy manage all the VSL controllers?

Best Regards

Hello,

I am just making this thread to let everyone know of a possible bug that I encountered. After switching to Win10, VEP6 and Cubase 9.5 I noticed that after a while of playing my Vienna Imperial instance started to sound blurry and un-EQ'd. Once I started troubleshooting I noticed that the in-player EQ had stopped modeling the sound. Moving the EQ to a VEP6 VI Suite Pro EQ is an easy fix but just to let everyone know this behavior exsist.

Did you update the download manager? I got the same problem when I tried to download FX strings without updating. Worked like a charm once I did it. Too bad I had to download the library twice before I noticed ;)

Originally Posted by: Paul

Hi musicbase. 

The Synchron Player is available with Synchron FX Strings I right now. 

We are preparing the download for the re-packed sample content for our other Synchron Series products, it will become available as soon as possible (in the next days). When the sample content is released, the access to the Synchron Player will be available for all Synchron Series users. Another download is necessary to make this combination work.
Of course you will be contacted as soon as this is the case. 

@jhohnny-erikssson: I wonder what's going on with Cubase there.... can you please send the crash report to ? No troubles on our test setups with Cubase, and these are the only reports so far...

Best,
Paul

@Paul Yes. I've sent in a case (276852) 6 days ago with the Cubase crash logs but I still have not gotten any reply :(

Hello,

I think you need to run the eLicenser Control Center and your DAW applications as administrator. Right click on the program and select properties -> compability. There you should have a box that says "Run this program as administrator". This should do it.

Best Regards

Jhonny Eriksson