...sorry if I am adding to your confusion - to clarify my personal position, I have bought an Xserve (with Win XP64, NOT OS X) purely as a VSL server to feed into my Mac Pro running Logic 8...

Spike

Just picked up a used quad xeon Apple Xserve with 8Gb memory and plenty of disk space. Perfect for my machine room rack and a bit of a bargain too.

I'm going to stick XP64 on in it. Anyone had experience with this? - Any pitfalls to watch out for?

Thanks

Spike

Thanks dagmarpiano - music to my ears!

No, that's cool - just trying to get a feel for how much I can expect to use. Thanks

Thanks for your reply DG. Question about your string template - is that a very full complement of articulations in every section, or a 'most used' economy version?

Hey guys

I know this thread is getting slightly old now but a couple of quick questions from those of you in the know. I've been using VE3 for a few weeks now and I love it. My main machine is a 2008 Mac Pro 8 x 3.0ghz with 16Gb RAM running Logic 8. I have multiple VE3's running fine n' dandy alongside Logic within the Mac Pro, and also use my older Dual 2.3 G5 (6Gb RAM) to run another VE3 instance. I don't use VSL instruments for brass or woodwinds (don't shoot me!) - just selected strings VI's.

The poor old G5 is obviously not up to running VE3 with any serious intent, so I am about to get myself a 64 bit PC just for my VSL string collections. It's the PC spec I want to clarify. All the posts here are concerned with XEON processors and RAM amounts. CM did state in his earlier posts that a decent core 2 duo or quad my do the job well, but they struggled to find such that sat on a mobo capable of holding more than 8Gb RAM - but I'm questioning if this is a problem or not for my situation.

I'm in the middle of a studio refit and there are LOTS of things to spend money on, so I'm not looking to break the bank with a monster PC. For my needs (strings only) should I go for an older quad or dual Xeon (on maybe something like a HP OR Dell server) or a new 9400 quad or similar? These newer machines can go up to 8Gb no problem fairly cheaply. Do I need more than 8gb RAM just for strings? (I can still share the strings with my Mac Pro if need be too...)

Any insights most welcome

Thanks

Spike

Jack don't you agree though that the new mutes are actually quite a lot brighter than the old library? - which kind of makes a bit of a nonsense of them being muted...

I've been working with Chamber strings since they came out - first on Giga samples then on VI. I've always liked their inimate sound, so when Ch Str 2 was announced I jumped straight in (esp. with the extended set offer). The new collection is recorded with mutes, filling in a vital missing part of the original set.

After working with them for a week I have to report that the sonic qualities of the new collection surpasse the original Chamber Strings VI by a considerable margin. Now this is obviously a very good thing, however Chamber strings 1 now sounds so dull and old by comparison, that I have been using this set as the muted section, not the new one!

I would love to hear what other users are making of the comparison. To my mind, if the new Chamber Strings 2 set was recorded with mutes, then VSL should seriously look at re-recording the original collection afresh, without mutes, to achieve parity between the collections.

Chamber Strings 1 is seriously showing it's age...