# SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings now available!



## Ben (Apr 16, 2020)

After many requests it's finally here: *SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings!*
Reworked and optimized samples for better sound and greater playability + usability.
And it contains the same number of articulations as the original VI Solo Strings!
The pre-recorded runs and scales are now easier to use thanks to the time-stretching feature of the Synchron Player. You can even sync it to the tempo of your DAW.

2x Violins, Viola, 2x Celli, Double Bass. Over 150.000 Samples and many articulations to cover as many playing techniques as possible!

Introductory discount: 475€; regular 595€
If you own
- VI Solo Strings I Std: 290€
- VI Solo Strings I Full: 105€
- VI Solo Strings I Full + Solo Violin 2 + Solo Cello 2: 35€


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## jamwerks (Apr 16, 2020)

WOW! So much control !!!


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Apr 16, 2020)

Impressive how deep this is.


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## Zero&One (Apr 16, 2020)

So owning Solo Strings Full I Full, I would also effectively get Violin 2 & Cello 2 along with the Synchron goodness for 100€?


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## Ben (Apr 16, 2020)

Zero&One said:


> So owning Solo Strings Full I Full, I would also effectively get Violin 2 & Cello 2 along with the Synchron goodness for 100€?


Exactly!


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## Heartii (Apr 16, 2020)

If i have synchron instruments, do i still need VI instruments ?


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## wcreed51 (Apr 16, 2020)

And if you own all VI solo string it's only 40 bucks! What a treat!


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## jamwerks (Apr 16, 2020)

I bought the original Solo Strings like 15 years ago. Think it was EXS(?) at the time. Any upgrade possible?


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## Ben (Apr 16, 2020)

Please send such requests directly to [email protected]


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## Ben (Apr 16, 2020)

If you are still unsure if you should get these strings or upgrade to them, here is a list of new features:

*#1 Additional Instruments*

Solo Violin 2 and Solo Cello 2 are now included (GREAT for string quartets and it’s an additional choice in timbre!!), so you get more than 150.000 Samples for those 6 instruments!


*#2 More variety with the new Synchron Player Time-Stretching feature*

Time-Stretching will be great to use with short notes, portamento, glissandos, upbeats, scale runs… but also vibrato control becomes a very interesting topic, and all of this happens in real-time! 


*#3 Improved Release Samples*

For Short Notes like Detachés
MULTI SHORTS, our famous performance repetitions with an improved repetition logic (Our Synchron Player “gets” if a note is a starting note or part of a phrase). 
New Release Samples also for our dynamics: A great tool for more expressive and authentic articulations, as you can “exit” the dynamic progression at any time!

*#4 Improved Articulations: *

As with all SYNCHRON-ized products, we have done our very best to improve our sample database, which, in the case of our SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings, resulted in

Many additional looped patches for sustains, trills, tremolos....
Optimized Velocity XFading 
Dynamic Layers in our Multi-Shorts, to access even the smallest nuances in timbre, with up to 9 velocities
An improved calibration of the volume levels within the instrument itself and in correlation to all Synchron Series products. 

*#5 Sul Tasto / Normal / Ponticello XFade*

You even get Sul Tasto and Ponticello Legato, with a great possibility to blend between those playing techniques for all essential articulations!


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## Geomir (Apr 16, 2020)

Amazing... I am speechless...


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## José Herring (Apr 16, 2020)

Impressive


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## Zero&One (Apr 16, 2020)

Heartii said:


> If i have synchron instruments, do i still need VI instruments ?



Which Synchron instruments do you have? These have just been released and are the updated version of the VI Solo strings


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## Dewdman42 (Apr 16, 2020)

Really appreciate the pricing on this cross grade!


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 16, 2020)

Wow, this is perfect timing, as TODAY is the day that I wrap up FINAL PRODUCTION on two more songs from my upcoming jazz album (the quarantine version for Soundcloud; post-Coronavirus, I'll do a Bandcamp version with far less MIDI involved ), and the Solo Strings library features prominently on five out of the fourteen songs (I don't write traditional jazz ).

This is an auto-buy at the upgrade loyalty price, which is far below $50 (my current cutoff point for expenditures that aren't survival-based, while unemployed). I am astounded by this pricing scheme, considering what all we are getting in the way of extra features and sound shaping!


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## muziksculp (Apr 16, 2020)

Does the release of Synchron-ized Solo Strings mean there won't be actual Synchron Solo Strings, with new recording/sampling of solo strings in Synchron Stage ?


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 16, 2020)

I have a separate question, as I keep running out of SSD space and am running out of things I can bounce back to standard HDD.

For these SYNCHRON-ized editions, as there's just the original mics, do they really need to run on an SSD like the new Synchron Stage libraries do? Or maybe case-by-case, depending on complexity of the engine, as these SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings may be a little more needy than SYNCHRON-ized Elements (e.g.)?


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## Zero&One (Apr 16, 2020)

Having had a brief play, I'm really impressed with the Synchron Player now.
Makes life so much easier! Loving it, feels like an instrument.

@Mark Schmieder I can't comment sorry as I installed to an SSD. Luckily, I had just enough to squeeze them on. But I'm now eyeing up Chamber... so... I'll probably bounce the originals off if need be.


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 16, 2020)

I'll be buying and downloading as soon as I take care of bills and chores for the day, but right now my 2TB SSD is everything Synchron and SYNCHRON-ized, plus a few mega-piano libs from other vendors (C. Bechstein, Wavesfactory Mercury) and some of ISW's newer stuff that doesn't work well on HDD's.

I only have about 43GB free after having moved everything else back to HDD. SSD prices are still sky-high once getting past 2TB and haven't budged in 2-½ years; though I haven't checked since the Coronavirus emergency started.

Probably I won't be using the new Solo Strings features until tomorrow; I forgot that it's THU and not WED, so I need to focus on finishing up two songs whose only solo/lead instruments are flute and trumpet, before moving over to the ones with solo violin, viola, and cello. But the timing is still perfect, as otherwise I would have wound up doing all of that excrutiatingly detailed production work twice!


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## ptram (Apr 16, 2020)

Mark Schmieder said:


> This is an auto-buy at the upgrade loyalty price


I'm still thinking if I need it, and if I want to buy it. In the meantime, my credit card has sent me a message saying that the purchase was completed successfully.

Paolo


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## Ben (Apr 16, 2020)

The SYNCHRON-ized Libraries can run on HDD drives with high preload buffer sizes. I would not recommend it, but as a workaround it should work (If not turn up the preload size in the Player's settings).


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## maestro2be (Apr 16, 2020)

I have absolutely no stock in the company nor do I have any idea what their plans are. However, I feel like what they're doing is preparing us and making the old VI libraries easy to "layer" with the real ones that are coming down the line. It gives us a quick and dirty but usable immediate experience since most people always complained it's incredibly difficult to get great sounding VSL performances without a masters in engineering and mixing. I certainly do not want to feel like all of my past investments in them are trash. I still use them today.

I look at how they keep mashing out these BBO packages like hot cakes and the sound it produces. The brass in some of those packages are insanely great. It makes me believe there's no way in hell they wouldn't make us a dedicated library one day, and oh, while waiting for that, here's our current offering in a somewhat teaser, pre-panned and engineered fashion that oh yes, won't have to be thrown away since you can just layer them on top of the real thing later.

I own all of the VSL libraries minus I think the original electric guitar, and I just don't believe it's an "Accident" that the synchronized strings I have upgraded to seem to absolutely melt right into the real Synchron strings and yet, keeping some of their original sonic characteristics giving it a unique and closer sound. It's still got that "I was recorded dry and up close" sound in it that's impossible to get rid of. It makes it sound closer and more intimate to me.

I don't know, I guess I could be wrong but, they have shown time and time again that for the most part they don't throw anything in the trash. They just seem to find a way to "port over" everything they do to their new concepts. Then, as in the past, here came new advancements and products that used that new technology. Then, we port again, and here we are today speaking "Synchron" everything. If I had to be a betting man, more true Synchron Libraries are coming. Maybe sooner, maybe later. It might be harder to get everyone to "port over" if they just introduce everything true Synchron style now. I don't believe it's an accident, it has a plan. And my guess is when it's all said and done we will have both fully ported and newly created inventions. The latest release, showing they can and will actually take the time to port all samples and performances is promising. Shows they are listening and watching for what we want and would be willing to pay for.

Maestro2be


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 16, 2020)

Thanks, Ben. If I run out of space for SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings today then, I'll temporarily move SYNCHRON-ized Elements to the HDD and set the pre-buffer size if necessary. I think that library is probably the least resource-intense, as percussion tends to be simpler in note-to-note handling.


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 16, 2020)

Maestro2be, I will see if I run into articulation and/or timbre limitations as I did with a couple of the SYNCHRON-ized Woodwinds (specifically Flute II and Oboe II, but not so much with the others so far), as I really do make use of a lot of Extended Edition articulations from the Symphonic Cube, but each instrument family has its own challenges and qualities and workflows, so I am thinking that the new features in SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings will at the very least have me layering with the original edition even if I don't mothball that collection after today.

At the upgrade price, I can't complain about ANY of these SYNCHRON-ized editions though. I'm just not yet sure that I'll be able to eliminate Symphonic Cube from my workflow and templates.


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## Ben (Apr 16, 2020)

@maestro2be Believe me, we are working on Synchron libraries 
These take more time to create, but more is on the way!

@Mark Schmieder Don't worry, I checked yesterday and as far as I have seen there are no articulations missing. The sample count is also higher, so it seems there is additional content included


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## Zero&One (Apr 16, 2020)

Remember to select the Full preset below the other 2. Unlike me


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## muziksculp (Apr 16, 2020)

I can get this library for 35 Euros, which is a great deal. But I don't think I need it.

I'm happy with the original versions for VI.


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 16, 2020)

Bought it an hour ago and should receive my codes soon (I went through Audio Deluxe due to having an unused coupon, but it never takes them more than 12-18 hours for follow through). Am busy making space on my SSD now.


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 16, 2020)

I am wowed. Be warned though, that on macOS, it takes 70.38 GB of disc space, which is 8GB more than the listed hard drive requirements, so it took me a couple of iterations of moving files and rebooting before dragging the installed folder from my placeholder area to the SSD thought it had enough disc space (macOS for some reason isn't good at seeing all newly available space on drives if stuff was deleted and cleaned up without a reboot). Afterwards, I have just barely 8GB free.


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## ptram (Apr 17, 2020)

Mark Schmieder said:


> macOS for some reason isn't good at seeing all newly available space on drives if stuff was deleted and cleaned up without a reboot


Do you have trim enabled? It works by dynamically reclaiming the deleted space on SSDs, so maybe it can help.

Paolo


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 17, 2020)

Thanks; macOS tends to undo my settings on updates, and then I forget to dig back into the command line and re-find my notes about tweaks. I'll give that a try tomorrow; it's almost 230am now. Just finished a long mixing session, only to decide right as I was about to master, that the song needed an intro, which I then composed and recorded.  I don't trust myself to do anything else tonight.


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## Zero&One (Apr 17, 2020)

@Mark Schmieder it's fantastic though isn't it


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 17, 2020)

Yep -- I did have enough time to quickly play with it on violin, viola, and cello (if the Double Bass is this good, I will be unexpectedly over-wowed as I have always had trouble with those in the mix, except for the separate Upright jazz bass). I expect to start using it this weekend on my jazz album initially, then some of my impressionistic classical chamber works.


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## Michael Antrum (Apr 17, 2020)

I've just got in after a full day at work (my first since the lockdown) and I'm a bit shattered, but I've just sat down and had a listen to some of the demos and watched the walkthrough video.

So am I just tired and worn out, or does this simply sound terrific ? It certainly looks so flexible and powerful. All those wonderful solo lines I hear in my head seem more than possible with this library.

I've just ordered a 12.9" iPad for Staffpad, and what with the current economic uncertainty the last thing I was needing to have something like this drop, but - well I my initial thought are that it's a very fine library indeed. 

The Guy Bacos demo is super, (but then he could make a plastic drainpipe and a packet of frozen prawns sound fabulous).....

@Ben - can you confirm when the introductory offer ends ?


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## Ben (Apr 17, 2020)

I don't know the exact date, but at least until the end of April (maybe also the first days of Mai)


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## Mark Schmieder (Apr 20, 2020)

The other SYNCHRON-ized strings are until 4 May so I'm guessing it's the same day?

I haven't quite gotten to my solo strings parts yet as I ended up extending some of the flute pieces first. Should I send something once done, so you have some examples in various jazz-oriented genres?


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## Mark Schmieder (May 4, 2020)

These are amazing; I began working with them tonight, and they retain the character of the originals, while also offering a wider palette of tone due to the Synchron settings. Articulations and transitions seem smoother, as expected, so it is clear that a lot of editing was done to improve what was already a great sample pool from the original Vienna Instruments edition.


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## method1 (May 5, 2020)

Mark Schmieder said:


> These are amazing; I began working with them tonight, and they retain the character of the originals, while also offering a wider palette of tone due to the Synchron settings. Articulations and transitions seem smoother, as expected, so it is clear that a lot of editing was done to improve what was already a great sample pool from the original Vienna Instruments edition.



Do you think it's worth having both this and the original?
I'm in the market for some solo strings & considering the full bundle VI version which obviously has more content at this point.


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## Mark Schmieder (May 7, 2020)

I've been hesitant to respond, because I was pretty sure Ben had already clarified elsewhere that the string libraries are 100% carry-overs to the SYNCHRON-ized world (and then some), but someone in another topic already claims this is not true for the Chamber Strings (I don't have mine yet, so can't check).

I will be working on finalizing my solo strings tracks on some songs I am on the verge of publishing over the next few days. Are there some specific aspects or articulations that you have reason to think got cut from the SYNCHRON-ized version of Solo Strings, that I should keep my eye on, while I switch my VI tracks to Synchron versions?


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## Ben (May 7, 2020)

Some people like the VI player more, so they want to have both (at least thats my impression).

As said, the SYized Solo Strings have all articulation and even more added (adding 17.672 samples in total). You can expect that the next SYized libraries will also include all articulations where possible, and we will update the Appassionata, Chamber and Woodwind libraries, adding the missing articulations (no ETA).


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## method1 (May 7, 2020)

@Ben - Am I correct that the SYized Solo Strings contains the content from Solo Strings I?
Part of the reason I'm interested in the VI bundle is that currently it seems to be a more complete package with the muted strings and v2 solo instruments. I do get a bit confused with these SYized versions vs. the VI equivalents, would be great if there was a chart comparing content between the older and newer generations.


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## Ben (May 7, 2020)

I hope that this is not necassary for each product, as soon as all articulations are ported over with updates. We are currently working on improving this to resolve these kind of confusion. Here are some inforamtion about the general differences: https://www.vsl.info/en/tutorials/guides/buyers-guide

The muted Strings are not included in the SY-ized Solo Strings, but Solo Violin 2 and Solo Cello 2 are.


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## ptram (May 9, 2020)

I have both versions, and the reasons why I like to have both is that:

1) The VI version still fits in my usual workflow, heavily based on the VI player and the hard-made presets and maps.

2) The Sync'd version is easier for experimenting with the various articulations on the keyboard, and is ready for entering the Synchron Player workflow. Solo strings are useful a bit everywhere, from orchestral music to sophisticate electric pop.

Making presets and templates for Sync'd instruments would require some more years. So, I don't see myself getting rid of the VI version anytime soon.

Paolo


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## Ben (May 31, 2020)

Reminder: The sale is ending in a few days!


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## StillLife (May 1, 2021)

How content are people with these solo strings, a year after release? From the youtube video's I think they sound incredible, and the player is huge bonus. I am wondering if they are a good fit for the Elite Strings, which I have purchased last week and am slowly falling in love with. I can't believe VSL flew under my radar for so long...

There are two reasons I hesitate to jump on the synchron-ized solo strings: 1) they are not 'full synchron', and Elite strings are. Feels like a step back, technology wise and who knows when they will come out with a Synchron Solo library that might be even better? 2) they don't pop up that much in discussions here, even though they seem to be remarkable (in sound, in sheer number of articulations). Is something wrong with them?


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## Steve Martin (May 1, 2021)

Hi Ben,

these sounds just awesome!


Ben said:


> If you are still unsure if you should get these strings or upgrade to them, here is a list of new features:
> 
> *#1 Additional Instruments*
> 
> ...


Hi Ben,

just listening to Paul's Video. This sounds just great! I really also like the sound of the scales which use extracted intervals. Would be a great overlay library using these as layers over the larger string library sections.Thanks for the details you've provided here. best, Steve


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## Mark Schmieder (May 2, 2021)

The VSL Solo Strings to me are the cream at the top of the library. I'm able to use them convincingly in klezmer, jazz, pop, rock, classical, etc. I find them more versatile and expressive, as well as easier to use without hours of elbow grease, than anything else. After that come the woodwinds.


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## StillLife (May 2, 2021)

Mark Schmieder said:


> The VSL Solo Strings to me are the cream at the top of the library. I'm able to use them convincingly in klezmer, jazz, pop, rock, classical, etc. I find them more versatile and expressive, as well as easier to use without hours of elbow grease, than anything else. After that come the woodwinds.


Do you mean the originals, or the synchron-ized version?


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## Mark Schmieder (May 2, 2021)

Both, but I haven't had a chance to re-track stuff yet so that I can do thorough comparisons of old vs. new; nor any time to do comparisons against the section leads in Elite Strings (though my guess would be that those are not for virtuoso solo playing as are the Solo Strings).


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