# Cinematic Studio Strings v1.7 - Available August 30!



## Alex W (Aug 27, 2022)

*** Attention! The new version will be available via Native Access from 10am 30 August (UTC/GMT). *Please read this info carefully before installing this update*, as the new version of CSS is not compatible with any DAW projects saved prior to updating. To open those projects, you will need to back up the original version of CSS before updating - more info on that below.​​*Hi Everyone! I’m very excited to be able to share this new version of Cinematic Studio Strings with you. The new CSS “Version 1.7” is the result of 2 years of painstaking work. There are added features like runs and low-latency legato - almost every aspect of the library has been improved, from the sound quality itself, to the editing consistency and scripting, and much more.*​​More details on that below, but first, please read the following points carefully before proceeding with the update:​

This update is designed to completely replace the previous version, therefore your old projects will not work properly. *Do not update if you are in the middle of a project.*


If you would like to be able to open old projects, you will need to keep the previous version of Cinematic Studio Strings as a backup.


The easiest way to create a backup is to do a search for your current "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder, make a copy of it right next to it, and rename the copied folder to "Cinematic Studio Strings original". (See image)


After you have created the backup, run Native Access and locate "Cinematic Studio Strings" among your list of installed libraries. Right-click on Cinematic Studio Strings and select "Re-install".


Native Access will download the new version of Cinematic Studio Strings. When this is finished, you should be able to re-open Kontakt, load a patch as per normal, and begin using version 1.7! You'll know that you're using the new version if you can see two separate Spot mics on the mixer. (See image)

In Summary: You need to copy your current Cinematic Studio Strings folder and rename the copy to “Cinematic Studio Strings original” (or whatever name you choose). Then, right-click on “Cinematic Studio Strings” in Native Access and select "Re-install", and when that has finished, re-open Kontakt. Load a patch, it will be the new version (if there are mixer faders for “Spot 1” and “Spot 2”, you’ll know you’re using the new version).

If you ever need to open an old project that was saved prior to updating, please follow these simple steps:

Rename the newly downloaded "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder to "Cinematic Studio Strings new”
Rename the "Cinematic Studio Strings original" folder to "Cinematic Studio Strings”
Open your old project, it should load without issue.

What’s new in Version 1.7?​
*Marcato mode (including runs)*

The new marcato articulation is much more powerful - it’s punchy, full of energy and grit, and can easily pull off fast, agile phrases with minimal editing. Play harder on the keyboard for a more pronounced attack, or to exaggerate a note within a legato phrase. You can play a snappy series of short notes, or a slower, more grand series of accented long notes. Playing a fast legato line will trigger the runs mode - you don’t need to enable anything or switch anything on or off - just play fast, and the script will do the rest for great-sounding runs.

*Better sound*

The new mix mic is roomier, yet more detailed - lush, yet powerful. I spent a long time getting this balance right, and I feel that this mix should work well in a wide variety of styles and genres. Having said that, I really encourage you to experiment with the two spot microphones. These were mixed together into a single stereo track in the original version of CSS, but in version 1.7, you can now control them independently, allowing you much greater freedom to create your own customised sound.

*Low Latency legato*

I spent a (very) long time re-editing all of the legato transition samples, not only to significantly improve the timing, but also to ensure a more consistent volume envelope. This makes sequencing legato easier, particularly because it lessens the need for intensive “sculpting” of the dynamic modulation. In addition to these two factors, I also introduced a new “Low latency” mode, making it much easier to perform passages in real-time.

*Improved short notes*

All of the short notes in CSS, both bowed and plucked, have been re-edited to ensure better consistency of timing and length. I also improved the relative dynamic response between short note types, making it easier to switch between spiccato, staccatissimo (etc) without needing to pay as much attention to your playing velocity.

*Non-vibrato legato transitions*

Lastly, I have also improved the non-vibrato legato transitions. In the previous version of CSS I’d used simulated legato transitions, and while I didn’t record any new material for Version 1.7, I developed a technique to significantly improve the sound of these simulated transitions by editing the with-vibrato samples to create an all-new set of non-vibrato legato transitions. This not only sounds more realistic, but also makes the x-fade system more seamless and straightforward.

For more information on all these features please read the Release Notes.

Also, if you’re interested, check out these demos I made with v1.7 while you’re waiting:

On the Run
Together Again
Introduction / Brief tech video

I hope you enjoy the new version of Cinematic Studio Strings!

Alex


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## liquidlino (Aug 27, 2022)

Brilliant!!


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## polynaeus (Aug 27, 2022)

Awesome! Free update? Crazy. Seems like you should charge for 2 years of work!


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## andyhy (Aug 27, 2022)

Having played those demos I can't wait to do the update. Great job Alex.


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## NathanTiemeyer (Aug 27, 2022)




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## ZTYAAA (Aug 27, 2022)

WOW!


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## Casiquire (Aug 27, 2022)

I'm so grateful that you took the time to really think this out and make a great improvement. Out of curiosity, has the "sound" of the room or main mic changed at all? And are there differences in the sound of the low latency legato (or to ask a different way, is that yet another mode of legato?) Thanks, this is exciting


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## muziksculp (Aug 27, 2022)

Am I dreaming about this thread ? or is it for real ?


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## SoNowWhat? (Aug 27, 2022)

Fantastic! Can't wait to try this. Extremely useful strings library gets added features. Wonderful.


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Aug 27, 2022)

Thank you so much!


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## AMBi (Aug 27, 2022)

The new demos are absolutely gorgeous
Thank you for all your hard work, very much looking forward to this!


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## Mucusman (Aug 27, 2022)

After being on the fence for so long…looks like I may finally jump in the CSS pool this fall. What great, committed support for an already well-respected and well-loved product.


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## muziksculp (Aug 27, 2022)

Hi, and Thanks so much @Alex W  

I'm very excited, and looking forward to install CSS 1.7 when I'm back from my Summer vacation Sept. 3rd. You must need a nice Summer vacation to recover from all the hard work that went into developing this update. 

🍻
Muziksculp


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## Alex W (Aug 27, 2022)

Thanks everyone! I know it's not usual for us to announce something and then leave a few more days till release, but doing it this way gives users a chance to go ahead and back up their exisiting version and so on prior to updating.



Casiquire said:


> I'm so grateful that you took the time to really think this out and make a great improvement. Out of curiosity, has the "sound" of the room or main mic changed at all? And are there differences in the sound of the low latency legato (or to ask a different way, is that yet another mode of legato?) Thanks, this is exciting


Thanks! The core sound of each individual mic has not changed much, apart from noise reduction being applied to the ambient mics. However, separating the spot mics out is probably the most significant change to the sound. I really encourage people to experiment with the spot mics - they each have their own distinct character and can significantly change the vibe of the mix.

I may create a brief video on this - that will be a good way to show you the various kinds of mixes you can create. For example, you can disable spot 2 altogether and just use Spot 1 + Main mics - this gives you a very intimate sound, while using Spot 2 + Room mics is a much larger / wider sound. Both very different mixes, each will apply equally well depending on the project.


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## Duncan Krummel (Aug 27, 2022)

@Alex W, will this update affect CSSS as well? Or put another way, will the timings between CSS and CSSS be less consistent at drop, or are these changes to timing and legato small enough that it won’t affect this much?


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## Land of Missing Parts (Aug 27, 2022)

Out of nowhere, life just got even better!


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## Alex W (Aug 27, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Hi, and Thanks so much @Alex W
> 
> I'm very excited, and looking forward to install CSS 1.7 when I'm back from my Summer vacation Sept. 3rd. You must need a nice Summer vacation to recover from all the hard work that went into developing this update.
> 
> ...


Thanks! To be honest I'd settle for a summer in which I'm not trapped at home for a month by floodwaters. But I guess that's better than the 2019 bushfire hellscape... sort of?


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## liquidlino (Aug 27, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Thanks! To be honest I'd settle for a summer in which I'm not trapped at home for a month by floodwaters. But I guess that's better than the 2019 bushfire hellscape... sort of?


They say we are in for another summer of rain again in Sydney, still la Nina. Hopefully no floods this time.


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## Alex W (Aug 27, 2022)

Oops forgot to reply the legato part of your question, @Casiquire. Basically, I think that Low Latency legato will handle most of your needs, most of the time. I spent ages on this mode - its aim is to be as playable and realistic as possible, with minimal editing. I personally use it almost exclusively now, but I also left the original "Advanced" mode from the original version more or less 100% intact - there are still times when this mode sounds more appropriate / better for certain passages - especially slower material. Advanced has been renamed to "Expressive".

So in summary, Standard / Advanced has been replaced by Low Latency / Expressive.



Duncan Krummel said:


> @Alex W, will this update affect CSSS as well? Or put another way, will the timings between CSS and CSSS be less consistent at drop, or are these changes to timing and legato small enough that it won’t affect this much?



Yes, the timing between CSS's new Low Latency mode and CSSS's Standard mode is a bit different, therefore you may need to slightly adjust your workflow to achieve the "1st chair layering" technique. However, Expressive mode lines up perfectly with Advanced mode, so you could still use those two together without issue. You could also potentially use the "Classic legato" patches in CSSS if you want them to line up (timing wise) with CSS's Low Latency mode, as it's close enough to not be noticeable.

I'm hard at work on the CSSS update to implement Low Latency legato mode etc (you can hear the new solo violin 1 in the mid section of the Together Again demo. When that's ready it will line back up again perfectly with CSS, but for now the above workaround should be fine.


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## BassClef (Aug 27, 2022)

CSB 1.7 "in the works" 

More exciting news.

Thank you Alex!


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## liquidlino (Aug 27, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Oops forgot to reply the legato part of your question, @Casiquire. Basically, I think that Low Latency legato will handle most of your needs, most of the time. I spent ages on this mode - its aim is to be as playable and realistic as possible, with minimal editing. I personally use it almost exclusively now, but I also left the original "Advanced" mode from the original version more or less 100% intact - there are still times when this mode sounds more appropriate / better for certain passages - especially slower material. Advanced has been renamed to "Expressive".
> 
> So in summary, Standard / Advanced has been replaced by Low Latency / Expressive.
> 
> ...


Since you're here answering questions... What are your thoughts on future product lines? Do you ever see yourself doing libraries like tundra, chamber strings etc?


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## Alex W (Aug 27, 2022)

I've got a couple of exciting projects in the works at the moment, in addition to completing the updates for the rest of the series. I do fully intend to do more stuff with strings in the future, but I can't really expand on that yet.


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## Land of Missing Parts (Aug 27, 2022)

CSS was already the most consistently edited string library I own..._before the update_.


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## muziksculp (Aug 27, 2022)

Alex W said:


> I do fully intend to do more stuff with strings in the future, but I can't really expand on that yet.


Oh.. Now that's pure music to my ears.  🎻🎻🎻


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## liquidlino (Aug 27, 2022)

Alex W said:


> I've got a couple of exciting projects in the works at the moment, in addition to completing the updates for the rest of the series. I do fully intend to do more stuff with strings in the future, but I can't really expand on that yet.


Brilliant. Libraries with ultra high quality control like yours are the best. Humanization can be added if desired, but sloppy editing cannot be fixed in the daw.


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## Jdiggity1 (Aug 27, 2022)

Incredible work! I don't think I've been this excited for an ensemble patch before.


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 27, 2022)

Fantastic. Thank you Alex, gonna try this out as soon as it's available.


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## TomaeusD (Aug 27, 2022)

This is legendary. Congrats on the new update with so many exciting features, Alex!


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## Kony (Aug 27, 2022)

The marcato patch sounds amazing and looks so playable. Great demos and video btw - really looking forward to this!


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## Loerpert (Aug 27, 2022)

Amazing. Thank you Alex!


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## filipjonathan (Aug 27, 2022)

Sweet! Thanks Alex!


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## David Kudell (Aug 27, 2022)

Hey Alex, congrats and thank you on this exciting update. As someone who has used CSS on many projects, the replacing of the old version is a huge deal, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around how I’m going to deal with it. Is there any way to at least keep the old version intact and simply install the updated version as a separate library? This would be soooo much easier because the new version could be used yet all the old stuff would load without constantly having to rename the folders.

I mean, if this this would require new serial numbers from NI (with a cost to that) I’d totally be willing to pay for the convenience.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> Hey Alex, congrats and thank you on this exciting update. As someone who has used CSS on many projects, the replacing of the old version is a huge deal, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around how I’m going to deal with it. Is there any way to at least keep the old version intact and simply install the updated version as a separate library? This would be soooo much easier because the new version could be used yet all the old stuff would load without constantly having to rename the folders.
> 
> I mean, if this this would require new serial numbers from NI (with a cost to that) I’d totally be willing to pay for the convenience.


Hi David, I appreciate your situation - sorry but this is the only way I'm afraid. Creating a whole new product in NI would have been much more difficult for us, and I also feel that it would have lead to too much confusion. I expect that people will be happy to move over to the new version once and for all, when it's convenient for them.


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## Giscard Rasquin (Aug 28, 2022)

Congrats om the update Alex. Can’t wait to check it out!


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## David Kudell (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hi David, I appreciate your situation - sorry but this is the only way I'm afraid. Creating a whole new product in NI would have been much more difficult for us, and I also feel that it would have lead to too much confusion. I expect that people will be happy to move over to the new version once and for all, when it's convenient for them.


Cool, thanks Alex, and I can see how that could open a whole can of worms. For me actually I realized since I run it in VEPro, I can just keep the previous version installed on that machine for a while, and run the new version on my DAW machine. 😉

Oh, and by the way, amazing update! It sounds phenomenal.


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## jamwerks (Aug 28, 2022)

Thanks Alex, really excited! Of all the dozens of string libraries, you have the best sounding room. I wish you would do a few expansion packs, adding sul tasto, flautando, vari-speed trills m2nd to P4th, some more varied shorts, etc. And another string library of real sordino! Cheers


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## ZTYAAA (Aug 28, 2022)

jamwerks said:


> Thanks Alex, really excited! Of all the dozens of string libraries, you have the best sounding room. I wish you would do a few expansion packs, adding sul tasto, flautando, vari-speed trills m2nd to P4th, some more varied shorts, etc. And another string library of real sordino! Cheers


That's great！！！


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## QuiteAlright (Aug 28, 2022)

Thanks Alex for this fantastic free update. I love to see this type of dedication to a product, and I have no doubt that it will pay off with further sales.

Can you explain what we should expect from the low latency legato mode in terms of usage? Will it work similarly to "look ahead legato" in other libraries, or it be a standard type but with a smaller delay?


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## Henu (Aug 28, 2022)

Check out a walkthrough from CSW, that has it implemented. It's easier to see from a walkthrough video, but basically it's (more than) "good enough" legato mode without needing to offset notes.


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## Mr Sakitumi (Aug 28, 2022)

A solid update to an already rocking library…and free! Bigups to you Alex 🙌
Can’t wait.


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## thorwald (Aug 28, 2022)

Thanks so much Alex for this update, I am especially happy about the new mics.

Out of curiosity, is it possible to toggle the mics on/off via NKS in this new update?This was the only missing feature in an otherwise incredibly great line of products ☺️

If not, would it be possible to send certain CC messages to achieve this? I don't mind creating a script if it's the only option at the moment.

And now, someone wake me up please 😀


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

thorwald said:


> Out of curiosity, is it possible to toggle the mics on/off via NKS in this new update?This was the only missing feature in an otherwise incredibly great line of products ☺️


Sorry but no that's not possible, but I'll add it to the list for a future update.


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## Henu (Aug 28, 2022)

Speaking of future updates, do you think it could be possible to include a CC- based dynamic option for the shorts instead of relying only on velocity in the future? I'd love to have the option available but I haven't figured out any workarounds either.


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## Duncan Krummel (Aug 28, 2022)

Henu said:


> Speaking of future updates, do you think it could be possible to include a CC- based dynamic option for the shorts instead of relying only on velocity in the future? I'd love to have the option available but I haven't figured out any workarounds either.


Don’t know what it would take internally, but several DAWs handle CC -> Velocity transformations. That’s what I typically do if it’s beneficial to control shorts via CC.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Henu said:


> Speaking of future updates, do you think it could be possible to include a CC- based dynamic option for the shorts instead of relying only on velocity in the future? I'd love to have the option available but I haven't figured out any workarounds either.


Yep, cool idea - I will look at this at some point, but can't make any guarantees atm.


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## cqd (Aug 28, 2022)

DECENT!!!


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## axb312 (Aug 28, 2022)

BassClef said:


> CSB 1.7 "in the works"
> 
> More exciting news.
> 
> Thank you Alex!


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## thorwald (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Sorry but no that's not possible, but I'll add it to the list for a future update.


Awesome, thank you.

Even if it's not a dedicated on/off knob for each microphone, but something that depends on the volume knob (e.g. off when volume is at the minimum, on otherwise), this would be incredibly useful as there is currently no way that I know of to toggle, thus create custom microphone mixes.

Looking forward to the update.


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## pawelmorytko (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> *** Attention! The new version will be available via Native Access from 10am 30 August (UTC/GMT). *Please read this info carefully before installing this update*, as the new version of CSS is not compatible with any DAW projects saved prior to updating. To open those projects, you will need to back up the original version of CSS before updating - more info on that below.​​*Hi Everyone! I’m very excited to be able to share this new version of Cinematic Studio Strings with you. The new CSS “Version 1.7” is the result of 2 years of painstaking work. There are added features like runs and low-latency legato - almost every aspect of the library has been improved, from the sound quality itself, to the editing consistency and scripting, and much more.*​​More details on that below, but first, please read the following points carefully before proceeding with the update:​
> 
> This update is designed to completely replace the previous version, therefore your old projects will not work properly. *Do not update if you are in the middle of a project.*
> 
> ...


Hi Alex, thanks so much for all the time and effort you put into these products and updates, I can't even begin to imagine how daunting it is what you do to get these to perfection. Also loved the final demo piece at the end of the introduction video, beautiful writing.

Was wondering if you had used the same/similar technique for the runs in the new update for CSS as you did with CS2? It sounds to me like there are trill transitions layered for the runs to give them that blurry/blended sound just like in CS2 so was curious if it was a similar approach!


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## Adam Takacs (Aug 28, 2022)

This is amazing, thank you Alex!
Full control on RR reset is also a very useful feature.


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## Jerner (Aug 28, 2022)

Sounds great! Will the new low latency mode have a more unified predelay or does it still vary a lot depending on velocity? The big sudden jumps are what makes it cumbersome to use for me. 

Are you planning on updating CSP? It sounds fantastic but the key releases are so long they sound more like fade outs and prevent any real dry staccato playing.


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## ridgero (Aug 28, 2022)

Dear Alex, is this a free update???

I want to support your company and you in the form of a donation. 

You are fantastic! ❤️


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## Mr Sakitumi (Aug 28, 2022)

ridgero said:


> Dear Alex, is this a free update???
> 
> I would like to donate something to your company! You are fantastic! ❤️


You can buy me CSB 🤣


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## emilio_n (Aug 28, 2022)

Congrats @Alex W !
Thanks for all this hard work!


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

pawelmorytko said:


> Hi Alex, thanks so much for all the time and effort you put into these products and updates, I can't even begin to imagine how daunting it is what you do to get these to perfection. Also loved the final demo piece at the end of the introduction video, beautiful writing.
> 
> Was wondering if you had used the same/similar technique for the runs in the new update for CSS as you did with CS2? It sounds to me like there are trill transitions layered for the runs to give them that blurry/blended sound just like in CS2 so was curious if it was a similar approach!


Thanks very much, I appreciate that! In short, yes - the marcato runs share some similarities with the CS2 runs, the trills inserted between notes is one eg, but the CSS version is far more advanced in every other way. The effect is essentially a combination of several things happening at the same time every time you play a new note, and the intensity of this effect becomes more pronounced the faster you play. The new marcato is essentially designed for fast, agile energetic passages, and the fact that it can perform runs is just one part of that.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

ridgero said:


> Dear Alex, is this a free update???
> 
> I want to support your company and you in the form of a donation.
> 
> You are fantastic! ❤️


Thanks so much, but no donation required, sir - I'm just really happy to be able to finally share this update with you all.


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## Rambobinator (Aug 28, 2022)

The Wizard is Back.


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## Illico (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> *** Attention! The new version will be available via Native Access from 10am 30 August (UTC/GMT). *Please read this info carefully before*
> ...
> I hope you enjoy the new version of Cinematic Studio Strings!
> 
> Alex


Wow, thank you @Alex W and congrats for this great result. A Free update !

Awesome demos! The CSSS part on the "_Together Again_" sounds fantastic.
CSSS 1.7 and CSB 1.7 in the works... so great news.
The Cinematic Studio Series will still consistently.
The Marcato articulation looks like a "Load & Play" option, very playable.
Can't wait to play with the news Legato articulations.

*Any information about the size of the new library update?*
As @David Kudell said, the update is a big dilemma for us to keep the old projects alive.
But, I will probably make new versions of my old projects to take in hand this update.

I'm still happy. Your libraries are so so greats (I have all of them...wait don't have CS2).
Can't wait to download and play with this CSS 1.7 update.


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## Uiroo (Aug 28, 2022)

Wow this looks fantastic, CSS gets ever more tempting. @Alex W , are you planning on extending the list of articulations at some point? I realize this is outside of a free upgrade, but the only reason I'm still with SSW and SCS is the amount of articulations.

edit: Also can't wait for CSB 1.7, that library is amazing.


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## Vik (Aug 28, 2022)

What a pleasant surprise: a library that already is good (and popular) gets a free update which makes it sound better, gets an extra mic option and improvements that address feedback from users (in addition to the surprises). Amazing. Big thanks to Alex W (and the rest of the CSS team, if there is one)!


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## R10k (Aug 28, 2022)

Thankyou for the update!


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## Simon Ravn (Aug 28, 2022)

Nice!

However I don't get any "re-install" option in Native Access... Will try to see if it helps deleting the library altogether and re-enter the serial or something.


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## mybadmemory (Aug 28, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> Nice!
> 
> However I don't get any "re-install" option in Native Access... Will try to see if it helps deleting the library altogether and re-enter the serial or something.


Not out yet!


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## Simon Ravn (Aug 28, 2022)

mybadmemory said:


> Not out yet!


Oh...Weird. I got a mail saying it is out and how to download it. Premature I guess


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## mybadmemory (Aug 28, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> Oh...Weird. I got a mail saying it is out and how to download it. Premature I guess


“The new version will be available via Native Access from 10am 30 August”​


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## Roger Newton (Aug 28, 2022)

Does this get rid of all the so-called latency?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Uiroo said:


> Wow this looks fantastic, CSS gets ever more tempting. @Alex W , are you planning on extending the list of articulations at some point? I realize this is outside of a free upgrade, but the only reason I'm still with SSW and SCS is the amount of articulations.
> 
> edit: Also can't wait for CSB 1.7, that library is amazing.


Thanks! I may record additional articulations in the future, but it won't be until CSPerc is out, not to mention all the updates and so on.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> Nice!
> 
> However I don't get any "re-install" option in Native Access... Will try to see if it helps deleting the library altogether and re-enter the serial or something.


Hey Simon, no no, don't delete! It'll be "live" on August 30 (probably around 10am UTC / GMT)


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## jazzman7 (Aug 28, 2022)

This is good news! Thanks for being on the ball, Alex. I already have an embarrassment of riches with CSS, CSSS, and CSP . This is even more icing on the cake. Well done!


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## Denkii (Aug 28, 2022)

I have had my fair share of gripes with CSS but I will say that I am pretty excited about this update and I'm looking forward to seeing if the new version clicks with me.

I do want to mention that I find this introduction to the new version is very well presented. The video is top notch. The post explains everything concisely and gives helpful information. 
For as much lack of communication is shown during development time, it is nice to see that part of that time went into preparing the surrounding iformation and media for this change (which I feel can be quite unusual in the sample dev world, where things get released or pre-released and additional info just drips down later).
Just wanted to express and offer this appreciation because it's all I can do at this point.


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## Henu (Aug 28, 2022)

Duncan Krummel said:


> Don’t know what it would take internally, but several DAWs handle CC -> Velocity transformations. That’s what I typically do if it’s beneficial to control shorts via CC.


Sorry to hijack this topic for a second, but in Cubase it seems impossible. Velocity to CC can be done in multiple ways, but not the other way around. If anyone knows a workaround, I'd be delighted to know it!


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## Simon Ravn (Aug 28, 2022)

mybadmemory said:


> “The new version will be available via Native Access from 10am 30 August”​


Obviously I am not awake yet


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## Manaberry (Aug 28, 2022)

God bless you @Alex W 
Bought your stuff a while ago and it's money well spent. Thanks for taking care of us by updating our tools!


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## AdamKmusic (Aug 28, 2022)

Sounds great can’t wait!

Just a quick question re the disclaimer on the email etc. wouldn’t it just be a case of opening the new instruments in kontakt? I don’t get how it wouldn’t be compatible with previous projects using the current version of CSS


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## oxo (Aug 28, 2022)

Thanks for the update Alex! ...the only thing i never liked about CSS is the difference in room sound between legato and sustain. was that adjusted in the new v1.7 mix?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

AdamKmusic said:


> Sounds great can’t wait!
> 
> Just a quick question re the disclaimer on the email etc. wouldn’t it just be a case of opening the new instruments in kontakt? I don’t get how it wouldn’t be compatible with previous projects using the current version of CSS


There are many subtle yet substantive differences between the original CSS and v1.7. So if you open an old project, and simply swap out the old patches for the new ones, it won't sound right. The new legato mode (low latency mode anyway) has different timing, the short notes have a slightly different dynamic curve and so on. So please make sure you keep the original version for times when you need to open older pieces.


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## axb312 (Aug 28, 2022)

Thank you @Alex W


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## Henu (Aug 28, 2022)

What if we just (after duplicating) renamed the old folder back to original and rename the _new_ CSS- folder instead as, say, "Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7"?

Shouldn't it now work in a way that all older projects would search for the original folder while the new ones (which we haven't even started yet) would accept any path as it's a "new library"?

EDIT: One thing that popped to my mind later is that Native Access might be cranky about having two different install folders for the same library, so it may pose a problem.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Roger Newton said:


> Does this get rid of all the so-called latency?


The Low Latency mode has less delay than that of the previous version.


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## Denkii (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> The Low Latency mode has less delay than that of the previous version.


The new low latency mode is one consistent delay, right?
No jumping between different amounts of delay?


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## Scamper (Aug 28, 2022)

Thank you for this fantastic update!
The improvements sound really great and the marcato seems especially fun - can't wait to play around with that. And I would also pay for an update like that...


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## FinGael (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> There are many subtle yet substantive differences between the original CSS and v1.7. So if you open an old project, and simply swap out the old patches for the new ones, it won't sound right. The new legato mode (low latency mode anyway) has different timing, the short notes have a slightly different dynamic curve and so on. So please make sure you keep the original version for times when you need to open older pieces.


Hey Alex. Thank you very much for the update. 

I still have the original version (not updated at all). Do I need to install the earlier updates, or is it possible to upgrade straight to 1.7?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Henu said:


> What if we just (after duplicating) renamed the old folder back to original and rename the _new_ CSS- folder instead as, say, "Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7"?
> 
> Shouldn't it now work in a way that all older projects would search for the original folder while the new ones (which we haven't even started yet) would accept any path as it's a "new library"?


Hmm that's a good question. Honestly, this is the first library we've released via Native Access, so it's a bit of a learning curve for us too. I know that the process that I've outlined will work, but I can't guarantee the success of your option there, sorry!


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

FinGael said:


> Hey Alex. Thank you very much for the update.
> 
> I still have the original version (not updated at all). Do I need to install the earlier updates, or is it possible to upgrade straight to 1.7?


No, v1.7 is a complete replacement of any / all previous versions. This is why I recommend backing up whatever version you have, in accordance with the instructions on page 1. Thanks!


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## Henu (Aug 28, 2022)

No probs, I'm happy to try it myself when the time comes and report how it works.


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## axb312 (Aug 28, 2022)

Hi Alex ,

Could you please go into a little more detail about what Low Latency legato is?

I understood that the previous "Advanced" Legato in CSS has three transition types with varying attack times, selected by velocity.

What about the new Low latency legato?


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## Rob Elliott (Aug 28, 2022)

Land of Missing Parts said:


> CSS was already the most consistently edited string library I own..._before the update_.


True that. Brilliant Alex. Now take a freaking 2 month vacation!!!!!


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## osterdamus (Aug 28, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> Cool, thanks Alex, and I can see how that could open a whole can of worms. For me actually I realized since I run it in VEPro, I can just keep the previous version installed on that machine for a while, and run the new version on my DAW machine. 😉
> 
> Oh, and by the way, amazing update! It sounds phenomenal.


Seems like you have a solution, but just to elaborate on this: @Alex W in your explanation you’re basically swapping directories, as I understand it? Maybe some helper script could be made, one to swap from old to new and vice versa?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

axb312 said:


> Hi Alex ,
> 
> Could you please go into a little more detail about what Low Latency legato is?
> 
> ...


Hi there, low-latency legato is basically just the same concept as what's already there, except with less delay. I first introduced this in CSW, except I've improved the realism since then, and all of the other libraries (including CSW) will see the same improvements when they get their own "v1.7" release.


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## jamwerks (Aug 28, 2022)

So will low-latency legato be on the grid with the shorts? Is there a global track latency offset that you are recommending?


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## zedmaster (Aug 28, 2022)

Exciting stuff! A more "oomph"-y marcato + integrated runs mode sounds awesome. 

I'm most curious about the low-latency legato, as well. I guess it's similar to the fast legato, just ... "ultra fast"? so all legato notes still have to be nudged a little bit, compared to every first note of a phrase? 

Perhaps the low latency legato gets close to the -60ms delay of the shorts, so you could set your track to -60ms track delay and have the shorts + legatos in time if they were quantized to the grid (but the non-legato sustains would be a tad too early)?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

jamwerks said:


> So will low-latency legato be on the grid with the shorts? Is there a global track latency offset that you are recommending?


No, there's no global setting as such, but it certainly has more delay than the shorts. However I think that once you use it for a little while, you'll get used to the way it handles phrases in realtime. Any editing after recording should be pretty minimal, and if you do want to quantise it, I'm sure that would work fine too, as long as you nudge the legato notes back a bit afterwards (or apply a global delay to that track).


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## holywilly (Aug 28, 2022)

Any promo price on August 30th for new user? 

I’ve heard so many good things about css but never pull the trigger due to the latency in legato, the low latency mode makes me excited.


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## Paul Thiébaut (Aug 28, 2022)

Just wanna mention that you guys have the best customer service I've ever seen ❤️
And I'm so hyped for this update !


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## muziksculp (Aug 28, 2022)

Hi @Alex W ,

I would love it if you can provide Pitchbend control for the next CSSS Update. This will be a big help, and improvement to perform authentic vibrato instead of baked in/sampled vibrato. Those of us who use hand-gesture, breath, ring, and other types of external controllers can take advantage of them to generate our own expressive real time generated vibrato, with varying speed, and amount. Something the baked in/sampled option would not offer. 

Hopefully this is not too much of a feature to ask for in your CSSS Update. Solo Strings will sound super expressive and realistic if you can just add this little feature in the update. 

Thank You,
Muziksculp


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## RMH (Aug 28, 2022)

Thank you @Alex W!! A happy day comes after waiting. You did a great.


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## muziksculp (Aug 28, 2022)

holywilly said:


> Any promo price on August 30th for new user?
> 
> I’ve heard so many good things about css but never pull the trigger due to the latency in legato, the low latency mode makes me excited.


@holywilly ,

I can't believe you don't have CSS. This is the perfect time to get it, given the low-latency mode in the ver 1.7 update, plus all of the other improvements. Go for it. Of course, a promo price will be a no brainer, but even if there isn't one, I would highly recommend CSS, and CSSS (once it is updated). Including the other CS-Series (Brass, Woodwinds), not sure when the CSP will materialize.

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## spacewizmusic (Aug 28, 2022)

That's a great news. 
Really appreciate all the efforts and dedication by Alex and team. 
Can't wait !


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Hi @Alex W ,
> 
> I would love it if you can provide Pitchbend control for the next CSSS Update. This will be a big help, and improvement to perform authentic vibrato instead of baked in/sampled vibrato. Those of us who use hand-gesture, breath, ring, and other types of external controllers can take advantage of them to generate our own expressive real time generated vibrato, with varying speed, and amount. Something the baked in/sampled option would not offer.
> 
> ...


That's an interesting idea, but I'm afraid I won't be able to add pitch bending to our libraries, as it doesn't fit in with the design, and generally causes more problems than you might think in libraries recorded in a large, ambient space. I did actually look into this about 15 years ago - I tried implementing a faked vibrato system, but I ultimately concluded that it didn't sound good enough because of the nature of ambient recordings. I think you'd be better off trying this technique with libraries recorded in small / dry spaces, as you won't run into the issues that exist when applying blanket pitch bending to mic setups at varying distances from the sound source. Thanks!


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## kelvyn (Aug 28, 2022)

Bit of a brain teaser this one... Almost all my projects up until now have CSS in them. Has anyone come up with a time saving solution to avoid CSS old new ping pong? Mornings a new project where I would love to use the fantastic sounding update, later an older project, a little later a newer one. Phew!!! I really appreciate the hard work that’s gone into the 1.7 version... so thanks for that But it would be great if a more elegant solution for using old and new projects was possible.


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## muziksculp (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> That's an interesting idea, but I'm afraid I won't be able to add pitch bending to our libraries, as it doesn't fit in with the design, and generally causes more problems than you might think in libraries recorded in a large, ambient space. I did actually look into this about 15 years ago - I tried implementing a faked vibrato system, but I ultimately concluded that it didn't sound good enough because of the nature of ambient recordings. I think you'd be better off trying this technique with libraries recorded in small / dry spaces, as you won't run into the issues that exist when applying blanket pitch bending to mic setups at varying distances from the sound source. Thanks!


Hi @Alex W ,

Thanks for replying to my request. I didn't think about the ambience of the library (CSSS) could be problematic. 

Have you tried using a HW Gesture Controller with CSSS lately ? maybe with just the close mics ? 

One more thought about this, imho. Adding pitchbend control, will not change the way one uses these libraries, i.e. (CSSS) as they are intended, but offer the additional vibrato HW-Controller Gesture possibility for those who want to give it a try, so it's not going to break, or degrade the quality of the library in any manner. 

Anyways.. if you think it's not a good idea, I trust your judgement, and appreciate your hard work in updating the rest of your Cinematic Studio Series libraries.


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## Dayvi (Aug 28, 2022)

so i'm getting this right? 
The advanced legato patched did not change. 
Stuff changed are: Additional mixes, classic legato, marcato and shorts?
A session with an old version of css will not play at all? Or will it just sound different and/or with changed timing?


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## Scamper (Aug 28, 2022)

kelvyn said:


> Bit of a brain teaser this one... Almost all my projects up until now have CSS in them. Has anyone come up with a time saving solution to avoid CSS old new ping pong? Mornings a new project where I would love to use the fantastic sounding update, later an older project, a little later a newer one. Phew!!! I really appreciate the hard work that’s gone into the 1.7 version... so thanks for that But it would be great if a more elegant solution for using old and new projects was possible.


I'm not an expert on this, but wouldn't the following work?
Backup CSS old. 
Update CSS 1.7. 
Move the CSS 1.7 nki-files into a subfolder ("CSS 1.7" or so).
Move the old CSS nki-files into the new CSS folder.
Locate the appropriate samples, when you load the instruments and the sounds are missing.

Then you have old and new, just with the addition of a folder structure.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Hi @Alex W ,
> Have you tried using a HW Gesture Controller with CSSS lately ? maybe with just the close mics ?
> 
> One more thought about this, imho. Adding pitchbend control, will not change the way one uses these libraries, i.e. (CSSS) as they are intended, but offer the additional vibrato HW-Controller Gesture possibility for those who want to give it a try, so it's not going to break, or degrade the quality of the library in any manner.


Adding pitchbend control to legato transitions will not work properly, as both the "from" and "to" note will be affected by the bend. So you would be limited to using only close mics, with no legato, and fake vibrato, which takes away 90% of the goodness of the library. Don't get me wrong, I understand what you're trying to do, but CSSS is not the right library for this approach.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Dayvi said:


> so i'm getting this right?
> The advanced legato patched did not change.
> Stuff changed are: Additional mixes, classic legato, marcato and shorts?
> A session with an old version of css will not play at all? Or will it just sound different and/or with changed timing?


That's right, well actually, the session won't even load, as you will receive "missing samples" errors. Even if you skip past them, and then load the new patches in place of all the old ones, you would then need to do a bunch of tweaking / adjusting just to get it sounding roughly the same in terms of performance. But you'd still be left with a different sounding mix, so all in all, you'd be better off just keeping the original as a backup and just using it when you need to.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

kelvyn said:


> Bit of a brain teaser this one... Almost all my projects up until now have CSS in them. Has anyone come up with a time saving solution to avoid CSS old new ping pong? Mornings a new project where I would love to use the fantastic sounding update, later an older project, a little later a newer one. Phew!!! I really appreciate the hard work that’s gone into the 1.7 version... so thanks for that But it would be great if a more elegant solution for using old and new projects was possible.


I understand that it's not a particularly elegant solution, and I apologise for that, but it's the best solution I could come up with. I did consider various options, but I also figured that eventually folks would finish most of their older projects and spend the majority of their time on newer ones. The possibility is always there to open old projects if required, and it only takes a minute to switch names.


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## holywilly (Aug 28, 2022)

@Alex W 
I didn’t see “buy” button, does that mean I have to purchase it on Aug 30th?


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## polynaeus (Aug 28, 2022)

Thanks for keeping in mind the integrity of previous products. While at first I didn’t love the idea of additional hard drive space and just having two libraries, I’d rather be able to recall previous projects in the way they were intended.

Did you ever considered just having new NKIs and new sample files that sit next to the old ones but with new names while you maintain the folder structure and library? This way folks can access 1.0 NKIs next to 1.7 NKIs in the library browser?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

polynaeus said:


> Thanks for keeping in mind the integrity of previous products. While at first I didn’t love the idea of additional hard drive space and just having two libraries, I’d rather be able to recall previous projects in the way they were intended.
> 
> Did you ever considered just having new NKIs and new sample files that sit next to the old ones but with new names while you maintain the folder structure and library? This way folks can access 1.0 NKIs next to 1.7 NKIs in the library browser?


No, because the whole point is that I wanted v1.7 to completely replace the original version going forward. I've worked on this for 2 years and I'm confident that you won't need or miss the old patches / samples.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

holywilly said:


> @Alex W
> I didn’t see “buy” button, does that mean I have to purchase it on Aug 30th?


Yep, we opted to disable purchases temporarily so we don't get anyone purchasing the original version now, only to have to re-install the new version in another day or two.


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## Pablocrespo (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Adding pitchbend control to legato transitions will not work properly, as both the "from" and "to" note will be affected by the bend. So you would be limited to using only close mics, with no legato, and fake vibrato, which takes away 90% of the goodness of the library. Don't get me wrong, I understand what you're trying to do, but CSSS is not the right library for this approach.


Hey Alex, incredible work and customer service!
You are the best!

I would like to add to the pitch bend issue, that sometimes I would like to use it as an fx, on long notes, like a long bass glissando, and even if it sounds fake, I have delved inside kontakt to add pitch bend to other libraries and it works as a fake fx. Maybe you could add just the possibility of pitch bending as an fx only, with no realism in mind?


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## tc9000 (Aug 28, 2022)

Just wanted to say WHOOOO-HOO, the demo sounds great - love that piece at the end of the youtube walkthrough. I feel cheeky asking for more, but would you consider sharing the MIDI with the horns aswell? 

Oh - also (hehe) please can I also ask for real con sordino one day? It could be the lushest, darkest, smoothest con sordino ever!


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## Duncan Krummel (Aug 28, 2022)

For those asking about pitch bending, why not brute force it by using a pitch shifting plugin that’s MIDI CC automated? It shouldn’t be any different than pitch bend, and some even offer formant correction, conceivably a better option anyways. Plus, I’d imagine most DAWs have a way of assigning or transforming a CC to pitch bend.

If I’m off on the underlying process with pitch bend, do correct me.


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## AceAudioHQ (Aug 28, 2022)

osterdamus said:


> Seems like you have a solution, but just to elaborate on this: @Alex W in your explanation you’re basically swapping directories, as I understand it? Maybe some helper script could be made, one to swap from old to new and vice versa?


at least on the windows side it's only a few lines inside a .bat file, not that hard to do


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## Trash Panda (Aug 28, 2022)

@Alex W thank you for sharing all this info on such a substantive update. It looks and sounds very good!

I noticed you mentioned denoising as part of this update. Is that to get rid of the hiss?


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## procreative (Aug 28, 2022)

What version of Kontakt will the update run in as I am in a bit of limbo as my Mac is too old for the latest Kontakt 6.7 and if I have to use it means updating the system (which means new Graphic Card and probably Audio Interface as no new drivers), been putting it off...


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## muziksculp (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Adding pitchbend control to legato transitions will not work properly, as both the "from" and "to" note will be affected by the bend. So you would be limited to using only close mics, with no legato, and fake vibrato, which takes away 90% of the goodness of the library. Don't get me wrong, I understand what you're trying to do, but CSSS is not the right library for this approach.


OK. I get it, no problem. 

Thanks.


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## frioventus (Aug 28, 2022)

Thank you for the hardwork. This is gonna be the most stable library now.


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## jneebz (Aug 28, 2022)

Awesome news!! Thanks @Alex W !!


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## ka00 (Aug 28, 2022)

Thanks so much, Alex for making my favourite Strings library even better! Very excited about this!



Alex W said:


> The core sound of each individual mic has not changed much, apart from noise reduction being applied to the ambient mics.


When you say you denoised the ambient mics, is that Hall mics in particular or Room and Hall? Does this mean we can crank up the level of the lower dynamics and expect things to be less hissy/grainy?

Thanks!


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## Juulu (Aug 28, 2022)

@Alex W just curious, from the video demonstration you recently uploaded, during the shorts part it looked like the short lengths were being controlled by the length of the note. Am I misunderstanding, or are short lengths no longer determined by CC-level but instead controlled by how long you hold the note? The part I'm referring to is when the cellos and basses are playing short together.


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## whinecellar (Aug 28, 2022)

Had no idea this was in the works, and just stumbled on this thread. Then watched the 1.7 video. 

HOLY SMOKES Alex… you have taken the easiest-to-use, best bang-for-the-buck, jaw-dropping string library to new heights. And am I seeing right that this is a FREE update?!? You’re a crazy man. Simply unbelievable. Huge thanks for all your hard work… you have changed the game. Again.

Can’t wait to download the new version!


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## THW (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Yep, we opted to disable purchases temporarily so we don't get anyone purchasing the original version now, only to have to re-install the new version in another day or two.


Coincidentally I had the strings in my shopping cart last night -- tab still open! Very much look forward to it!


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## walkaschaos (Aug 28, 2022)

What a great company


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## Petter Rong (Aug 28, 2022)

Thank you for updating this, Alex! Critical post incoming, so I would like to clarify that I'm very happy for this update and appreciate your hard work to make this happen 🙂

With that said, I'm not totally on board with your philosophy regarding the pitch bend questions here. Why isn't this an option in the instruments? Who cares that it didn't sound realistic? Anything using pitch bend rarely sounds realistic anyways. It would not break your back adding a button to turn this on and off. Several of my other libraries also suffers from this over-clean approach, and a lot of others thankfully don't, which are the ones I often end up using, since it allows me freedom to do what I want without having to dive into the Kontakt wrench rabbit hole (which I can't do at all in my current version of CSS). Sometimes sounds like a crappy 80s synth? Sure does, but if that was what I wanted that day, then it's great. Options, that's all I'm asking for.


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## Composer 2021 (Aug 28, 2022)

Where are you all listening to demos and watching a video on it? I don't see a video anywhere. Were all of the CSS demos remade with the updated library?


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## ka00 (Aug 28, 2022)

Composer 2021 said:


> Where are you all listening to demos and watching a video on it? I don't see a video anywhere. Were all of the CSS demos remade with the updated library?


The links are at the bottom of the first post.


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## Pier-V (Aug 28, 2022)

@Alex W congratulations on the update, I'm really impressed by what I've been able to hear from the demos so far.

Considering the style I write in, the possibility to write legato lines without vibrato is really huge. And seeing what you were able to achieve with the new marcato version using only clever scripting and no new samples felt incredibly inspiring!

I have a question: will the 1.7 version of CSS occupy around the same amount of room on SSD? Of course I'm not talking about additional MBs, but GBs _could_ matter in my case. Thank you in advance!


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## Jackal_King (Aug 28, 2022)

This is very exciting and great job on the update! I'm looking forward to the low latency legato which would mean less time tweaking. Will the delay compensation remain the same with the legato and sustains patches?


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## muziksculp (Aug 28, 2022)

Just incase you missed this video link in the opening post of this thread.


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## ka00 (Aug 28, 2022)

Pier-V said:


> I have a question: will the 1.7 version of CSS occupy around the same amount of room on SSD? Of course I'm not talking about additional MBs, but GBs _could_ matter in my case. Thank you in advance!


It sounds like the close mic is now split into two separate signals: spot 1 and spot 2. If each of those is stereo that would increase file size. But if they are each mono signals, then I suppose there would be no change in file size from splitting them.

And the non-vib legato transitions are no longer scripted but their own custom transitions. So I would speculate that 1.7 is at least 20% bigger if not more. But let’s see what Alex says.


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## David Chappell (Aug 28, 2022)

So first of all, this sounds absolutely awesome and I'm immensely thankful to get such an update for free. CSS is easily the single best investment I've made and this update is only going to further cement that.

Question, though - can 1.7 coexist in a project alongside other instances of old (present) CSS? Currently deep into a project that would massively benefit from those 1.7 marcatos but I'm not entirely fancying reprogramming the whole thing


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## Loerpert (Aug 28, 2022)

David Chappell said:


> So first of all, this sounds absolutely awesome and I'm immensely thankful to get such an update for free. CSS is easily the single best investment I've made and this update is only going to further cement that.
> 
> Question, though - can 1.7 coexist in a project alongside other instances of old (present) CSS? Currently deep into a project that would massively benefit from those 1.7 marcatos but I'm not entirely fancying reprogramming the whole thing


Probably not possible with NI


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## David Kudell (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hi there, low-latency legato is basically just the same concept as what's already there, except with less delay. I first introduced this in CSW, except I've improved the realism since then, and all of the other libraries (including CSW) will see the same improvements when they get their own "v1.7" release.


So low latency mode still has variable delay times based on velocity? Or all they all the same time now? 

Either way is fine, as long as there’s consistency so there is still the ability to use negative track delay and quantize, once the velocity of the notes is set to a fixed value (ie, set to 70 for medium, 105 for fast, etc).


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## Giscard Rasquin (Aug 28, 2022)

Quick question.
Are the legato transition delays for the 3 different transitions in the new expressive mode the same as in the previous version advanced mode?
Currently mostly work with the advanced legato and have a macro in Cubase which sets back the 3 different legato transitions at once according to their velocity so if they are the same delays that would make for an easy transition although I’m curious about the low latency mode as well!

Also, are all the keyswitches the same in this version?

Thanks


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## theStyg (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> the new version of CSS is not compatible with any DAW projects saved prior to updating. To open those projects, you will need to back up the original version of CSS before updating - more info on that below.


Is it possible to copy the resource and instrument files and have them reference the same samples, or have those changed significantly too?


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## fiction (Aug 28, 2022)

whinecellar said:


> Had no idea this was in the works, and just stumbled on this thread. Then watched the 1.7 video.
> 
> HOLY SMOKES Alex… you have taken the easiest-to-use, best bang-for-the-buck, jaw-dropping string library to new heights. And am I seeing right that this is a FREE update?!? You’re a crazy man. Simply unbelievable. Huge thanks for all your hard work… you have changed the game. Again.
> 
> Can’t wait to download the new version!


This sums it up for me. 

I've always found CSS to be the most consistently scripted and easiest to use string library in my drive. 

Can't wait to download this update and try it out! 

Thank you very much Alex!


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## micrologus (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Honestly, this is the first library we've released via Native Access, so it's a bit of a learning curve for us too. I know that the process that I've outlined will work, but I can't guarantee the success of your option there, sorry!


Thank you for the great update! 
About Native Access: I'm a bit worried about it: the installation always requires a lot of free GB *on the main HD*, otherwise the library cannot be downloaded.


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## jaketanner (Aug 28, 2022)

I’m hoping this update will finally get me to use CSS. Lol. The over the top vibrato really put me off using them, and not thrilled with tone. So if these two things got an upgrade, I’ll be happy to try them again.


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## jaketanner (Aug 28, 2022)

micrologus said:


> Thank you for the great update!
> About Native Access: I'm a bit worried about it: the installation always requires a lot of free GB *on the main HD*, otherwise the library cannot be downloaded.


Yes!!!! I recently had the exact same issue. I’m hoping this is not the case because I really can’t make much more room.


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## Rudianos (Aug 28, 2022)

1.7 Intro Pricing  ???


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## ka00 (Aug 28, 2022)

Rudianos said:


> 1.7 Intro Pricing  ???


He's offering a 100%-off loyalty discount on v1.7 to owners of CSS. Not too shabby!


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## Vik (Aug 28, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> I’m hoping this update will finally get me to use CSS. Lol. The over the top vibrato really put me off using them, and not thrilled with tone. So if these two things got an upgrade, I’ll be happy to try them again.


Afaik the vib amount is the same, but the sometimes too intense vibrato can be controlled by avoiding the most intense cc1 and vibrato levels. (CSS has a dedicated CC for vibrato).


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## leon chevalier (Aug 28, 2022)

A bit late in the party ... but Alex ... Whooo! 
The best strings library become even better. It feel like Christmas 😍🤩🎅🎅🎅🎅
Thanks again for your hard work!


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## Vladimir Bulaev (Aug 28, 2022)

It would be cool to implement this magic script, Alex! It's so wonderful to write music to the beat. A dream! And any delay does not interfere, since you do not need to shift the notes. It works great. If you create such a button in the interface, it will be a masterpiece of world culture!
Thank you Alex❤️


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## TagoNug (Aug 28, 2022)

thanks for the birthday gift alex!!!


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## BassClef (Aug 28, 2022)

TagoNug said:


> thanks for the birthday gift alex!!!


We'll I know I am two days early but... HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tagonug!


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## Orchestrata (Aug 28, 2022)

Unbelievable sound and support. Reminds me of Novation bringing out killer free updates for the Bass Station 2 yeeeears after release. You've earned yourself a new customer.


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## Composer 2021 (Aug 28, 2022)

Who here is going to mock up the string runs from Hedwig's Theme right after downloading the update?


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## jaketanner (Aug 28, 2022)

Vik said:


> Afaik the vib amount is the same, but the sometimes too intense vibrato can be controlled by avoiding the most intense cc1 and vibrato levels. (CSS has a dedicated CC for vibrato).


Damn I thought they made it so that it’s adjustable. Not an on or off? Oh well. Lol.


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## Robert_G (Aug 28, 2022)

Vik said:


> Afaik the vib amount is the same, but the sometimes too intense vibrato can be controlled by avoiding the most intense cc1 and vibrato levels. (CSS has a dedicated CC for vibrato).


If @Alex W made CSSS vibrato adjustable like CSS......that would be fantastic.


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## procreative (Aug 28, 2022)

Can I ask what version of Kontakt this update runs on, as I am on Kontakt 6.6 still as 6.7 wont install on my Mac and the cost of upgrading involves new graphics card, new system and new audio interface due to incompatible drivers


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## jamwerks (Aug 28, 2022)

Robert_G said:


> If @Alex W made CSSS vibrato adjustable like CSS......that would be fantastic.


Probably not possible on a solo instrument.


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## gohrev (Aug 28, 2022)

Very, very excited about this _free _update. Cinematic Studios is my favourite VST developer by far!

*Question: *I notice that notes aren't overlapping in the legato section of your video. Are you using the sustain pedal instead to ensure connection between the notes?


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## NYC Composer (Aug 28, 2022)

micrologus said:


> Thank you for the great update!
> About Native Access: I'm a bit worried about it: the installation always requires a lot of free GB *on the main HD*, otherwise the library cannot be downloaded.


I’ve been unable to use my purchased 300 Grand for this reason. It’s unbelievable that this issue hasn’t been resolved after all this time.

Alex-thanks for all of your hard work!!


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## FrozenIcicle (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> That's right, well actually, the session won't even load, as you will receive "missing samples" errors. Even if you skip past them, and then load the new patches in place of all the old ones, you would then need to do a bunch of tweaking / adjusting just to get it sounding roughly the same in terms of performance. But you'd still be left with a different sounding mix, so all in all, you'd be better off just keeping the original as a backup and just using it when you need to.


Does this mean more hard drive space eaten up :(

But thank you for a free update. Your business is the poster child of how sample libraries should treat their customers. I just hope financially you can provide for these free updates. 

P.s we want more string libraries/shorts, maybe a larger string section this time, surely Sydney symphony orchestra is free again?


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## Robert_G (Aug 28, 2022)

Just finished watching the video posted. It demonstrates why I fully invested in the Cinematic Studios ecosystem. Having 1.7 across all the libraries shows the commitment to making Cinematic Studio libraries relevant into the future. If you like the sound (which I love), then this will be a relevant library for many many years.


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## Composer 2021 (Aug 28, 2022)

Wait, this CSS update will have to be downloaded on Native Access?? Oh no.....


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex, do you have time to list the CC values of where each dynamic layer enters?

I know I should just use my ears and all that, but it would make things easier if I could just know the correct values.


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## Lazeez (Aug 28, 2022)

gohrev said:


> Very, very excited about this _free _update. Cinematic Studios is my favourite VST developer by far!
> 
> *Question: *I notice that notes aren't overlapping in the legato section of your video. Are you using the sustain pedal instead to ensure connection between the notes?


Yes, in some of Alex's examples in previous videos he uses the sustain pedal as opposed to overlapping notes. Works great for rebowing too


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## muziksculp (Aug 28, 2022)

Composer 2021 said:


> Wait, this CSS update will have to be downloaded on Native Access?? Oh no.....


Yup. It would be wise to wait a few days until the download frenzy has slowed down, given the big number of CSS users that will be trying to download it as soon as the update is available, and the snail speed download from Native Access Servers.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Pablocrespo said:


> Hey Alex, incredible work and customer service!
> You are the best!
> 
> I would like to add to the pitch bend issue, that sometimes I would like to use it as an fx, on long notes, like a long bass glissando, and even if it sounds fake, I have delved inside kontakt to add pitch bend to other libraries and it works as a fake fx. Maybe you could add just the possibility of pitch bending as an fx only, with no realism in mind?


I hear you, but it's just not within the design of the library to have extra controls for pitch bend and so on. As I mentioned earlier, pitch bend "breaks" the whole legato system, so it would just feel out-of-place to me. As Duncan pointed out, you're probably better off using an external app like melodyne to add pitch bends to create interesting fx and so on. That way you'll be able to use formant bending - this usually sounds much nicer anyway.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> @Alex W thank you for sharing all this info on such a substantive update. It looks and sounds very good!
> 
> I noticed you mentioned denoising as part of this update. Is that to get rid of the hiss?


Thanks! Yep, hiss is gone.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

procreative said:


> What version of Kontakt will the update run in as I am in a bit of limbo as my Mac is too old for the latest Kontakt 6.7 and if I have to use it means updating the system (which means new Graphic Card and probably Audio Interface as no new drivers), been putting it off...


No worries - v1.7 will run on Kontakt 5.8.1


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## Trash Panda (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Thanks! Yep, hiss is gone.


Dancing days are here again!


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

ka00 said:


> Thanks so much, Alex for making my favourite Strings library even better! Very excited about this!
> 
> 
> When you say you denoised the ambient mics, is that Hall mics in particular or Room and Hall? Does this mean we can crank up the level of the lower dynamics and expect things to be less hissy/grainy?
> ...


Yep, totally


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Juulu said:


> @Alex W just curious, from the video demonstration you recently uploaded, during the shorts part it looked like the short lengths were being controlled by the length of the note. Am I misunderstanding, or are short lengths no longer determined by CC-level but instead controlled by how long you hold the note? The part I'm referring to is when the cellos and basses are playing short together.


Hi there, no I think this is just a coincidence - I must subconsciously feel like doing that actually makes a difference while I play, but it doesn't.  The bowed samples all play out in full, regardless of how long or short the MIDI note is.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Petter Rong said:


> Thank you for updating this, Alex! Critical post incoming, so I would like to clarify that I'm very happy for this update and appreciate your hard work to make this happen 🙂
> 
> With that said, I'm not totally on board with your philosophy regarding the pitch bend questions here. Why isn't this an option in the instruments? Who cares that it didn't sound realistic? Anything using pitch bend rarely sounds realistic anyways. It would not break your back adding a button to turn this on and off. Several of my other libraries also suffers from this over-clean approach, and a lot of others thankfully don't, which are the ones I often end up using, since it allows me freedom to do what I want without having to dive into the Kontakt wrench rabbit hole (which I can't do at all in my current version of CSS). Sometimes sounds like a crappy 80s synth? Sure does, but if that was what I wanted that day, then it's great. Options, that's all I'm asking for.


It's not about whether or not it sounds realistic, pitch bending breaks the legato system, so it just doesn't fit into the design of the libraries imo, sorry about that but it's the conclusion I've arrived at. I may create a more dedicated strings fx library in the future - I've had many ideas about this over the years, but for now you'll need to use other libraries if you wish to create material with pitch bends.


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## Igor Sena (Aug 28, 2022)

And this is why Alex is one of the best developers out there. Even tho CSS came out years ago he is still committed to improving it by listening to the users feedback, while also going out of his way to offer it for free.
More developers should have the same professionalism and generosity instead of listening only to their egos(although this part is understandable because our projects are our babies), taking their costumers money and abandon updates/improvements all together, even when you make valid points on why certain aspects would improve a library or charge you for what should have been in the library all along.

Thank you, Alex!

Now i just need a less cumbersome way of opening old projects vs making new. By less cumbersome i mean not having to have everything double in my already overfilled ssd´s =)

P.S. Few questions:

1 - Are there plans to update cinematic studio piano one day to give us more control over it? Maybe adding some snapshots (although it might go against the idea of these libraries) with specific names like Bright/Dark, Fantasy, Thriller, Horror, Ballad, Pop, etc?

2 - Are there plans to add control for vib and non vib in CSSS?

3 - Will new track delay suggestions/ms timings be added in a new manual?


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## Tremendouz (Aug 28, 2022)

For people asking about pitch bending, have you tried assigning Kontakt's tuning knob to MIDI CC? I once had some fun with that, trying to mimic a car engine sound. This was made with CSB by holding one note while riding the tuning knob up and down


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 28, 2022)

Based on the video, it seems like some of the short notes are hard quantized, while others are not - and the low-latency legato has variable grid placement. I hope the third-party KSP script can be updated with the new latency values since it seems there will still be variable latency across articulations?


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## Jackal_King (Aug 28, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> I’m hoping this update will finally get me to use CSS. Lol. The over the top vibrato really put me off using them, and not thrilled with tone. So if these two things got an upgrade, I’ll be happy to try them again.


Same about the vibrato. I'm that and the constant fiddling with the velocity, delay and slurred legato kind of kept this from being my #1 strings library. But maybe this will change after Tuesday.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Pier-V said:


> @Alex W congratulations on the update, I'm really impressed by what I've been able to hear from the demos so far.
> 
> Considering the style I write in, the possibility to write legato lines without vibrato is really huge. And seeing what you were able to achieve with the new marcato version using only clever scripting and no new samples felt incredibly inspiring!
> 
> I have a question: will the 1.7 version of CSS occupy around the same amount of room on SSD? Of course I'm not talking about additional MBs, but GBs _could_ matter in my case. Thank you in advance!


No, sorry - I should have put this in the release notes (I was going to but totally forgot). The new version requires about 13 more GB than the previous version. v1.7 takes ~48GB after installation, but you actually need ~125GB of free space on your target drive during installation - this is a requirement of the Native Access system.

If you have more than 48GB but less than 125GB of free space on your target drive, I believe it's possible to change the target drive in the NA options, then download to that drive, and then move the fully downloaded "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder over to its normal location. So, if you're like me and have a couple of large-yet-slow mechanical external drives for general backup purposes, you could use that to download the library to, and then move the entire CSS folder to where Native Access expects it to be afterwards.

I'll look into this some more and report back with further info. This is the first time we've distributed a library via NA, so I'll ask you to bear with me for the first couple of days while we figure it all out together.  Generally speaking though, as long as you have 125GB free on your target drive, you should be able to just right-click on CSS in NA, click "re-install" and NA should do the rest.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Jackal_King said:


> This is very exciting and great job on the update! I'm looking forward to the low latency legato which would mean less time tweaking. Will the delay compensation remain the same with the legato and sustains patches?


Yes the low-latency mode has less of a delay than the previous "Standard" mode which it replaces, so you'll need to account for that in your delay-compensation settings / scripts.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

ka00 said:


> It sounds like the close mic is now split into two separate signals: spot 1 and spot 2. If each of those is stereo that would increase file size. But if they are each mono signals, then I suppose there would be no change in file size from splitting them.
> 
> And the non-vib legato transitions are no longer scripted but their own custom transitions. So I would speculate that 1.7 is at least 20% bigger if not more. But let’s see what Alex says.


Yep, you're right, it's around a third bigger now, the installed size has increased from 35GB to 48GB. (Spot mics are both mono btw)


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Aug 28, 2022)

How come it’s free? It’s taken a zillion work hours for you, everybody can see that. Why not get that compensated via a suitable upgrade price? Nobody would object.


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## antames (Aug 28, 2022)

I agree. You deserve compensation for the hard work you have put in. No one should work for free, even out of goodwill. Please consider placing a price tag on this upgrade.


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## brett (Aug 28, 2022)

@Alex W have you included a ‘triplet’ measured trem sync option by any chance? 

Looking forward to the update


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

David Chappell said:


> So first of all, this sounds absolutely awesome and I'm immensely thankful to get such an update for free. CSS is easily the single best investment I've made and this update is only going to further cement that.
> 
> Question, though - can 1.7 coexist in a project alongside other instances of old (present) CSS? Currently deep into a project that would massively benefit from those 1.7 marcatos but I'm not entirely fancying reprogramming the whole thing


No, sorry that just won't work I'm afraid. They each use completely different sample sets (and patches). You'll need to finish off that project first and then move to 1.7 after that (or whenever it's convenient).


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## Living Fossil (Aug 28, 2022)

@Alex W : thanks a lot for this fantastic upgrade in advance!

One question: If I save the actual version as "CSS original" does it mean that if I open a recent project (with the older version) that it will ask for the samples? Or does it load the actual version and I have to manually reload the old samples?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> So low latency mode still has variable delay times based on velocity? Or all they all the same time now?
> 
> Either way is fine, as long as there’s consistency so there is still the ability to use negative track delay and quantize, once the velocity of the notes is set to a fixed value (ie, set to 70 for medium, 105 for fast, etc).


Yes that's right, there are still multiple speeds in low-latency mode - Medium and Fast. Medium will cover 90% of your phrasing, but every now n then if you need to add a slightly faster phrase, or even an ornament here or there, "fast" comes in handy for that, because it's a little bit more agile. There's not a huge difference between the two speeds, but you'll appreciate the functionality of having the fast mode there when you need it.

I should point out that generally speaking, the various legato "speeds" are not just about playing speed either - there are times when using fast instead of medium will just sound better for whatever reason, since each speed has a slightly different "feel" when it comes to the "attack" or dynamic curve of the beginning part of the legato transition. In other words, you may be writing a slow phrase, but still find that one note or another may sound slightly better / more pronounced when using a fast transition, which may be totally appropriate for that particular note. This is not something you need to overthink - but what I'm saying is you can think of the various legato speeds as being different "options" to create the most flowing phrase, as each speed has its own vibe, and there's no telling when one might sound better than the other for whatever reason. But again, not something to overthink - just another option to consider while sequencing.


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## Rob Elliott (Aug 28, 2022)

Jackal_King said:


> This is very exciting and great job on the update! I'm looking forward to the low latency legato which would mean less time tweaking. Will the delay compensation remain the same with the legato and sustains patches?





micrologus said:


> Thank you for the great update!
> About Native Access: I'm a bit worried about it: the installation always requires a lot of free GB *on the main HD*, otherwise the library cannot be downloaded.





antames said:


> I agree. You deserve compensation for the hard work you have put in. No one should work for free, even out of goodwill. Please consider placing a price tag on this upgrade.


I agree - there should be a charge!!!!! But in all reality - the not so bright OTHER half of composers on planet earth (who didn't previously buy in) are going to NOW buy this timeless library. Hopefully that covers 'some' of Alex's 2 years work to put this out. As an owner from day 1, I very much appreciate your painstaking measures to create such a masterpiece and THEN continue to improve it.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

antames said:


> I agree. You deserve compensation for the hard work you have put in. No one should work for free, even out of goodwill. Please consider placing a price tag on this upgrade.


That's very kind of you, and I appreciate that sentiment, but honestly, I love what I do, and I find it really satisfying to be able to increase the value of the library without increasing the price. Thanks very much for your support!


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Giscard Rasquin said:


> Quick question.
> Are the legato transition delays for the 3 different transitions in the new expressive mode the same as in the previous version advanced mode?
> Currently mostly work with the advanced legato and have a macro in Cubase which sets back the 3 different legato transitions at once according to their velocity so if they are the same delays that would make for an easy transition although I’m curious about the low latency mode as well!
> 
> ...


Yep, the delays for Expressive mode are the same as Advanced. Keyswitches are all the same except for the Legato keyswitch - it used to be A#0, but now it's G#0 by default, to line up with CSW. I'll be changing that for CSSS and CSB too for their v1.7 updates.

Also just a reminder about the legato keyswitch - you can change this by holding shift and clicking on the legato switch itself, on the GUI, then press the new key you'd like it to be (A#0 if you want to change it back to its original setting). Re-saving the patch after doing this will store the new keyswitch assignment.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Vladimir Bulaev said:


> It would be cool to implement this magic script, Alex! It's so wonderful to write music to the beat. A dream! And any delay does not interfere, since you do not need to shift the notes. It works great. If you create such a button in the interface, it will be a masterpiece of world culture!
> Thank you Alex❤️


Sorry, but the thought of adding delays, compensation, switches and settings to an already very complex script is truly the stuff of nightmares! So I'm not going to say "absolutely never", but I am going to say "probably never". Sorry about that!


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> Damn I thought they made it so that it’s adjustable. Not an on or off? Oh well. Lol.


Yes, vibrato in CSS is continuously adjustable, not just an on/off. The on/off vibrato only applies to solo instruments.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

procreative said:


> Can I ask what version of Kontakt this update runs on, as I am on Kontakt 6.6 still as 6.7 wont install on my Mac and the cost of upgrading involves new graphics card, new system and new audio interface due to incompatible drivers


v1.7 runs on Kontakt 5.8.1 onwards.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

gohrev said:


> Very, very excited about this _free _update. Cinematic Studios is my favourite VST developer by far!
> 
> *Question: *I notice that notes aren't overlapping in the legato section of your video. Are you using the sustain pedal instead to ensure connection between the notes?


Yep that's right, I use the sustain pedal like it's going out of style.


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## Batuer (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> I hope you enjoy the new version of Cinematic Studio Strings!
> 
> Alex



Hi, @Alex W , words not enough to say but thank you for your hard work and kind heart😉


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

brett said:


> @Alex W have you included a ‘triplet’ measured trem sync option by any chance?
> 
> Looking forward to the update


No, sorry - just the double mode. I'll add that to the list for a future potential addition.


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Composer 2021 said:


> Who here is going to mock up the string runs from Hedwig's Theme right after downloading the update?


Lol, funny you should say that, one of my testers literally sent this to me overnight: CSS Potter2


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## Ian Dorsch (Aug 28, 2022)

I can't believe how much this rules. I've been patiently waiting for this runs mode for ages, and now it comes out along with a comprehensive overhaul of pretty much every aspect of what is already my most used strings lib? And it's free? Thanks so much for this Alex, you are the best!


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## constaneum (Aug 28, 2022)

i wonder any plan to release Cinematic Studio Chamber Strings someday. It'll be a great addition. I'm loving the CS series thus far. I have all of them. Can't wait for Cinematic Studio Percussion


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## jaketanner (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Yes, vibrato in CSS is continuously adjustable, not just an on/off. The on/off vibrato only applies to solo instruments.


Really? Wow, I could have sworn that the vibrato adjustment was only in CSSS...I have both BTW. Thanks.


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## liquidlino (Aug 28, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Lol, funny you should say that, one of my testers literally sent this to me overnight: CSS Potter2


That's the best I've heard! Any chance of the midi getting shared for that as well, as a tutorial on the best way to do runs in the new CSS?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

Living Fossil said:


> @Alex W : thanks a lot for this fantastic upgrade in advance!
> 
> One question: If I save the actual version as "CSS original" does it mean that if I open a recent project (with the older version) that it will ask for the samples? Or does it load the actual version and I have to manually reload the old samples?


Thanks! Hmm, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "actual" version. Just to clarify, are you referring to the new version?


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## Alex W (Aug 28, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> That's the best I've heard! Any chance of the midi getting shared for that as well, as a tutorial on the best way to do runs in the new CSS?


No it was just a bit of fun really, but I am planning on creating some new MIDI tutorial material soon, since the previous MIDI files I released for the original version will no longer apply / work properly in v1.7.


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## Robin Thompson (Aug 28, 2022)

So.... what kind of timeframe are we thinking for the CSB/et al 1.7 updates? I know, I know, I don't expect anything remotely specific. Just wondering if you've been working on updating all the libraries in parallel and are trying to get them out pretty close together, or if we should expect a significant wait between each. And if the latter, in what order.

I'm also wondering just what the heck you could be updating in CSB. Timing seems plenty fast to me and the sound is gorgeous. How does it get better? The same mic splitting perhaps?


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## NYC Composer (Aug 28, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> Really? Wow, I could have sworn that the vibrato adjustment was only in CSSS...I have both BTW. Thanks.


So there IS a way to lessen vibrato amount in CSSS? I’ve been unaware of it if so.


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## Simon Ravn (Aug 29, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hey Simon, no no, don't delete! It'll be "live" on August 30 (probably around 10am UTC / GMT)





Alex W said:


> No, sorry - I should have put this in the release notes (I was going to but totally forgot). The new version requires about 13 more GB than the previous version. v1.7 takes ~48GB after installation, but you actually need ~125GB of free space on your target drive during installation - this is a requirement of the Native Access system.
> 
> If you have more than 48GB but less than 125GB of free space on your target drive, I believe it's possible to change the target drive in the NA options, then download to that drive, and then move the fully downloaded "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder over to its normal location. So, if you're like me and have a couple of large-yet-slow mechanical external drives for general backup purposes, you could use that to download the library to, and then move the entire CSS folder to where Native Access expects it to be afterwards.
> 
> I'll look into this some more and report back with further info. This is the first time we've distributed a library via NA, so I'll ask you to bear with me for the first couple of days while we figure it all out together.  Generally speaking though, as long as you have 125GB free on your target drive, you should be able to just right-click on CSS in NA, click "re-install" and NA should do the rest.


Unfortunately Native Access is seriously stupid - at least on Mac - and will as far as I know ONLY download to your boot system drive. No matter what you set in preferences.


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## Kony (Aug 29, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> Unfortunately Native Access is seriously stupid - at least on Mac - and will as far as I know ONLY download to your boot system drive. No matter what you set in preferences.


I've noticed it seems that only Mac users are affected - I've been able to redirect the downloads to whichever external drives I want them to on PC.


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## mgaewsj (Aug 29, 2022)

Wow, this is great. I never fell in love with CSS.
Perhaps this time will be the time it actually happens!


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## gohrev (Aug 29, 2022)

Low latency legato sounds great, just like the one we already have in CSW. 

Is there any reason one would prefer to use the Expressive Legato over the low latency one? I can't think of any..


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## AMBi (Aug 29, 2022)

gohrev said:


> Is there any reason one would prefer to use the Expressive Legato over the low latency one? I can't think of any..


For slower passages most likely, since you’ll get an earlier sample start on lower velocities and more of the pre-transition, so it can be a bit flowy-er.

I’ve noticed in CSW there’s occasionally some player noises during the earlier part of a transition while using close mics that can add a nice bit of intimacy, and they aren’t as apparent on Low Latency mode


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## gohrev (Aug 29, 2022)

AMBi said:


> For slower passages most likely, since you’ll get an earlier sample start on lower velocities and more of the pre-transition, so it can be a bit flowy-er.
> 
> I’ve noticed in CSW there’s occasionally some player noises during the earlier part of a transition while using close mics that can add a nice bit of intimacy, and they aren’t as apparent on Low Latency mode


Crystal clear, thank you!


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## Pier-V (Aug 29, 2022)

Alex W said:


> No, sorry - I should have put this in the release notes (I was going to but totally forgot). The new version requires about 13 more GB than the previous version. v1.7 takes ~48GB after installation, but you actually need ~125GB of free space on your target drive during installation - this is a requirement of the Native Access system.
> 
> If you have more than 48GB but less than 125GB of free space on your target drive, I believe it's possible to change the target drive in the NA options, then download to that drive, and then move the fully downloaded "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder over to its normal location. So, if you're like me and have a couple of large-yet-slow mechanical external drives for general backup purposes, you could use that to download the library to, and then move the entire CSS folder to where Native Access expects it to be afterwards.
> 
> I'll look into this some more and report back with further info. This is the first time we've distributed a library via NA, so I'll ask you to bear with me for the first couple of days while we figure it all out together.  Generally speaking though, as long as you have 125GB free on your target drive, you should be able to just right-click on CSS in NA, click "re-install" and NA should do the rest.


Thank you for the detailed explanation. Thankfully both the requirements aren't too much of a problem, I'll find a way to make room for the new samples. With such a comprehensive update it's definitely worth it


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## Stevie (Aug 29, 2022)

kelvyn said:


> Bit of a brain teaser this one... Almost all my projects up until now have CSS in them. Has anyone come up with a time saving solution to avoid CSS old new ping pong? Mornings a new project where I would love to use the fantastic sounding update, later an older project, a little later a newer one. Phew!!! I really appreciate the hard work that’s gone into the 1.7 version... so thanks for that But it would be great if a more elegant solution for using old and new projects was possible.


Sorry, only on page 5, while reading this.

My take is: the NKIs are saved into the DAW project, so no need for the old NKIs.
But what needs to be there is the old sample pool, if that one has changed, like: renamed samples, changed samples, etc…

So, if you load an old project, the only thing we need is the old sample directory.


----------



## Tomponist (Aug 29, 2022)

A bit late to the party, but Alex, thank you SO MUCH for all your work on this incredible library. I can't believe you're making this update available for free. Very much looking forward to playing around with it!


----------



## Alex W (Aug 29, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> Unfortunately Native Access is seriously stupid - at least on Mac - and will as far as I know ONLY download to your boot system drive. No matter what you set in preferences.


Oh okay, thanks for the heads up - I'm looking into this with NI and will report back as soon as I hear back from them about this.


----------



## cqd (Aug 29, 2022)

Anyway..
What's the story with CSP?..


----------



## I like music (Aug 29, 2022)

First, wow. Incredible library, and also super generous! 

Second, I just wanted to check something. For runs, is it just a case of using the new legato, or is the runs mode activated on the marcato articulation?


----------



## I like music (Aug 29, 2022)

cqd said:


> Anyway..
> What's the story with CSP?..


Cinematic Studio Patience!


----------



## Living Fossil (Aug 29, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Thanks! Hmm, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "actual" version. Just to clarify, are you referring to the new version?


Sorry, I used "actual" in two different meanings.... 

I try to put the question more clearly (since it's really important to me to be able to open older projects...):

If I save the version that I have right now (before the release) as "CSS original" does it mean that if I open a recent project (with the original version) that it will ask for the samples? Or does it load the new version and I have to manually reload the old samples?


----------



## Alex W (Aug 29, 2022)

Living Fossil said:


> Sorry, I used "actual" in two different meanings....
> 
> I try to put the question more clearly (since it's really important to me to be able to open older projects...):
> 
> If I save the version that I have right now (before the release) as "CSS original" does it mean that if I open a recent project (with the original version) that it will ask for the samples? Or does it load the new version and I have to manually reload the old samples?


Yes that's right - the project won't even load, as you will get many "missing samples" errors. After installing CSS1.7, to open a project, you'll need to:

Rename the newly downloaded "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder to "Cinematic Studio Strings new”
Rename the "Cinematic Studio Strings original" folder to "Cinematic Studio Strings”
Open your old project, it should load without issue.


----------



## David Chappell (Aug 29, 2022)

Alex W said:


> No, sorry that just won't work I'm afraid. They each use completely different sample sets (and patches). You'll need to finish off that project first and then move to 1.7 after that (or whenever it's convenient).


Argh, that's a pity. Suppose I can just do it the very primitive way and bounce out the stems and do whatever needs 1.7ing in a new project.

Nonetheless, thanks again for this incredible update. Really setting the bar higher and higher with everything you come out with.


----------



## Pablocrespo (Aug 29, 2022)

Maybe we can have the old version loaded in another instance of vienna ensemble pro (or a different computer altogether) to use on previous projects?


----------



## OHjorth (Aug 29, 2022)

When visiting your website there is currently no price information on CSS. I assume this is because it disappeared with the add to cart button until tomorrow?


----------



## Illico (Aug 29, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Yes that's right - the project won't even load, as you will get many "missing samples" errors. After installing CSS1.7, to open a project, you'll need to:
> 
> Rename the newly downloaded "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder to "Cinematic Studio Strings new”
> Rename the "Cinematic Studio Strings original" folder to "Cinematic Studio Strings”
> Open your old project, it should load without issue.


The fact is we only have ONE Native Access licence (Serial Number) that point to only ONE "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder.
But tomorrow, you'll have TWO versions of CSS structure. So if You want to keep both versions (for old project), you'll have to manage both directories (manually renamed, with a script to switch...).


----------



## Illico (Aug 29, 2022)

OHjorth said:


> When visiting your website there is currently no price information on CSS. I assume this is because it disappeared with the add to cart button until tomorrow?








Cinematic Studio Strings v1.7 - Available August 30!


That's an interesting idea, but I'm afraid I won't be able to add pitch bending to our libraries, as it doesn't fit in with the design, and generally causes more problems than you might think in libraries recorded in a large, ambient space. I did actually look into this about 15 years ago - I...




vi-control.net


----------



## Dirk Ehlert (Aug 29, 2022)

Correct me if I’m wrong but shouldn’t it be possible to have both versions in the same folder structure? To be more precise, what I think I want to do:
Rename CSS folder to CSS OLD
Download new 1.7 into Folder CSS
After download rename Samples folder to Samples New
Batch re-save 1.7 with Samples new folder
Rename Instruments folder in CSS Old to Instruments old
Move entire CSS Old folder into CSS folder
That should give me the following structure within the css folder
- Instruments
- Instruments old
- Samples
- Samples new 

Due to the batch re-save 1.7 instruments should load in a snap and opening old projects will not have to look for another folder.

Only theoretical of course will report back tomorrow if that actually works 😎


----------



## Mr Sakitumi (Aug 29, 2022)

Wow Alex, thanks for taking time out to answer everyone’s questions here 🙌
Get that man a beer 🍺


----------



## polynaeus (Aug 29, 2022)

Dirk Ehlert said:


> Correct me if I’m wrong but shouldn’t it be possible to have both versions in the same folder structure? To be more precise, what I think I want to do:
> Rename CSS folder to CSS OLD
> Download new 1.7 into Folder CSS
> After download rename Samples folder to Samples New
> ...


Yeah I more or less suggested this earlier on in this thread but Alex really wants people to move on from the old library. Which… doesn’t make sense. His official suggestion keeps the old library anyway, but I guess it doesn’t make it that accessible making it less likely that a user will reach for the old one.


----------



## jamwerks (Aug 29, 2022)

From Alek's video, seems clear to me that 1.7 sounds noticably better. And knowing how attached we all are to getting the best sound, I doubt people will continue using the old version. I know I won't save the old version, and will just touch-up 3 wip's the I used CSS on.


----------



## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 29, 2022)

so it's gonna be available on the 30th, is that 30th in australia? Would that be tonight for someone in the UK? lol


----------



## AdamKmusic (Aug 29, 2022)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> so it's gonna be available on the 30th, is that 30th in australia? Would that be tonight for someone in the UK? lol


Good point haha, guess i'll check NA at 3pm


----------



## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 29, 2022)

AdamKmusic said:


> Good point haha, guess i'll check NA at 3pm


I'm a little ashamed at how impatient i am hahahaha


----------



## Vik (Aug 29, 2022)

Pasted from post #1:
“from 10am 30 August UTC/GMT”​


----------



## Casiquire (Aug 29, 2022)

polynaeus said:


> Yeah I more or less suggested this earlier on in this thread but Alex really wants people to move on from the old library. Which… doesn’t make sense. His official suggestion keeps the old library anyway, but I guess it doesn’t make it that accessible making it less likely that a user will reach for the old one.


The point of backing up the old one was just for the sake of past projects.


----------



## Raphioli (Aug 29, 2022)

Wow, there was some updates (upgrades?!) in the list which I wasn't expecting.
All of this for free is insane. Thank you sir!


----------



## polynaeus (Aug 29, 2022)

Casiquire said:


> The point of backing up the old one was just for the sake of past projects.


Correct


----------



## TomaeusD (Aug 29, 2022)

My plan for using CSS 1.7 in current projects is to open those projects, delete the old patches within Kontakt but save the midi, update to 1.7 but keep original backed up in a separate folder, load 1.7 into those existing instances, see how wonky it sounds and either rerecord the midi data or adjust as needed. Does that sound feasible?


----------



## Illico (Aug 29, 2022)

TomaeusD said:


> My plan for using CSS 1.7 in current projects is to open those projects, delete the old patches within Kontakt but save the midi, update to 1.7 but keep original backed up in a separate folder, load 1.7 into those existing instances, see how wonky it sounds and either rerecord the midi data or adjust as needed. Does that sound feasible?


Yep, this is how I'll proceed


----------



## andyhy (Aug 29, 2022)

Out of curiosity was there ever a CSS v1.6? I can find nothing about a v1.6 and Native Access seems to think there's been no change since v1.5, the version it says I have installed. My memory must be slipping. Hopefully the v1.7 update will fix things.


----------



## OHjorth (Aug 29, 2022)

What is the standard price for CSS? Will there be an intro-price for the new update 😇


----------



## Batrawi (Aug 29, 2022)

Wait, you guys are really worried about past projects? As a VIC member I was more busy posting here rather than making projects since the CSS original release🤔


----------



## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 29, 2022)

Batrawi said:


> Wait, you guys are really worried about past projects? As a VIC member I was more busy posting here rather than making projects since the CSS original release🤔


yeah because I have thousands of unfinished tracks that I will definitely come back to at some point in my lifetime, I swear!


----------



## RogiervG (Aug 29, 2022)

@Alex W 
Since i cannot work with the current delay system in css, i've deinstalled it a long time ago.
as i understand from this thread, version 1.7 is downloadable via Native Access. Does this mean the whole library without needing to have the previous installed (as in native access doesn't look if you have a version below 1.7 on the system)?


----------



## madfloyd (Aug 29, 2022)

If you can't work with the delay system, then why ask about reinstalling?


----------



## Casiquire (Aug 29, 2022)

madfloyd said:


> If you can't work with the delay system, then why ask about reinstalling?


I know I'm not the one you asked, but my issue with the delay system was that there was a 300ms swing between delays within one single patch. The new mode brings that to under 100. It's a substantial difference


----------



## muziksculp (Aug 29, 2022)




----------



## David Kudell (Aug 29, 2022)

muziksculp said:


>



😂 I’m like “oh he got a preview version of the library!” Then I realized it’s a video of a guy reading a PDF. But stay tuned for my reaction video to his video reading a PDF!


----------



## Tomponist (Aug 29, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> 😂 I’m like “oh he got a preview version of the library!” Then I realized it’s a video of a guy reading a PDF. But stay tuned for my reaction video to his video reading a PDF!


Well, there goes me trying something new...  Looking forward to your reaction, so I have something new to react to! :D


----------



## madfloyd (Aug 29, 2022)

Casiquire said:


> I know I'm not the one you asked, but my issue with the delay system was that there was a 300ms swing between delays within one single patch. The new mode brings that to under 100. It's a substantial difference


Interesting, if Alex said that then I missed it. I understood that the timing was still going to vary by velocity but didn't think it had been reduced to that degree.


----------



## Drundfunk (Aug 29, 2022)

Thanks Alex. Looking forward to it!


----------



## Obi-Wan Spaghetti (Aug 29, 2022)

85 likes, 59 💕 and 7 wow! in a couple of days.


----------



## Casiquire (Aug 29, 2022)

madfloyd said:


> Interesting, if Alex said that then I missed it. I understood that the timing was still going to vary by velocity but didn't think it had been reduced to that degree.


The low latency is somewhere around 150ms, so with most of the library having some amount of delay, I can now get most of my work done with adjustments of under 100ms and that is something to celebrate!


----------



## GingerMaestro (Aug 29, 2022)

I don't want to appear rude, but I'm not quite sure why everyone is so confused about downloading the new version ?

Think of it as two completely separate string libraries :-
1) CSS 
2) CSS Super Doopa which you have been given for free.

Use 1) CSS for preexisting projects & 2) CSS Super Doopa for new projects.

If you want to use CSS Super Doopa in old projects, just add those patches on another track and copy the midi data across 🤷‍♂️ Simples....


----------



## polynaeus (Aug 29, 2022)

GingerMaestro said:


> I don't want to appear rude, but I'm not quite sure why everyone is so confused about downloading the new version ?
> 
> Think of it as two completely separate string libraries :-
> 1) CSS
> ...


Cuz Native Access... it can be confusing.


----------



## David Kudell (Aug 29, 2022)

Tomponist said:


> Well, there goes me trying something new...  Looking forward to your reaction, so I have something new to react to! :D


Haha…it’s all good, don’t mind me, I’m clearly just an old dude who doesn’t understand these newfangled social media thingys.


----------



## ka00 (Aug 29, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> 😂 I’m like “oh he got a preview version of the library!” Then I realized it’s a video of a guy reading a PDF. But stay tuned for my reaction video to his video reading a PDF!


Wait till there's a guy on YouTube reading this forum, thread by thread, post by post and reacting.

And when I do it, smash that like and subscribe button.


----------



## tc9000 (Aug 29, 2022)

ka00 said:


> Wait till there's a guy on YouTube reading this forum, thread by thread, post by post and reacting.
> 
> And when I do it, smash that like and subscribe button.


it will be the tiktok male AI voice. i just know it. oh god when that day comes <shakes fist>

View attachment inevitable.mp3


----------



## muziksculp (Aug 29, 2022)

I will most likely delete the current version of CSS, and install the new ver 1.7, don't have a need to keep the current version.


----------



## FrozenIcicle (Aug 29, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> 😂 I’m like “oh he got a preview version of the library!” Then I realized it’s a video of a guy reading a PDF. But stay tuned for my reaction video to his video reading a PDF!


Im looking forward to buying his new trailer music course covering off the pdf manual of damage 2


----------



## FrozenIcicle (Aug 29, 2022)

btw, I thought low latency mode would get rid of the need to start the midi note before the grid. In the video Alex still has it starting off the grid but not on the shorts :(


----------



## Alex W (Aug 29, 2022)

OHjorth said:


> What is the standard price for CSS? Will there be an intro-price for the new update 😇


The standard price is $399. There is no intro price, but once you have CSS all other libraries are 30% off due to our loyalty discount program. Cheers!


----------



## Saxer (Aug 29, 2022)

I already got the 1.7 info in Native Access on my laptop where CSS isn't installed. On my main music machine with CSS installed there's still version 1.0.0 listed.

At least something happens


----------



## andyhy (Aug 29, 2022)

Saxer said:


> I already got the 1.7 info in Native Access on my laptop where CSS isn't installed. On my main music machine with CSS installed there's still version 1.0.0 listed.
> 
> At least something happens


No sign of any change on my laptop where Native Access and CSS v1.5 is installed. Perhaps the update is being spread to reduce the server load. Tried deleting CSS but Native Access only asked me to relocate it again. Didn't offer to re-install. I must be patient. Update: Patience rewarded. Native Access re-instaling now. Thank you Alex.


----------



## TonalDynamics (Aug 29, 2022)

Alex W said:


> *** Attention! The new version will be available via Native Access from 10am 30 August (UTC/GMT). *Please read this info carefully before installing this update*, as the new version of CSS is not compatible with any DAW projects saved prior to updating. To open those projects, you will need to back up the original version of CSS before updating - more info on that below.​​*Hi Everyone! I’m very excited to be able to share this new version of Cinematic Studio Strings with you. The new CSS “Version 1.7” is the result of 2 years of painstaking work. There are added features like runs and low-latency legato - almost every aspect of the library has been improved, from the sound quality itself, to the editing consistency and scripting, and much more.*​​More details on that below, but first, please read the following points carefully before proceeding with the update:​
> 
> This update is designed to completely replace the previous version, therefore your old projects will not work properly. *Do not update if you are in the middle of a project.*
> 
> ...


Alex, I have one question:

Where have you been all my life?

Do you give motivational speeches to other developers perhaps? There's some Germans in *Berlin* I'd like you to sit down and have a chat with...


----------



## TonalDynamics (Aug 29, 2022)

Land of Missing Parts said:


> Out of nowhere, life just got even better!


He's not the hero we deserve, but certainly the one we needed.


----------



## dremin (Aug 29, 2022)

for now nothing showed up in my NA and reinstall is not clickable either, guess i have to wait


----------



## Juulu (Aug 29, 2022)

There's something I've always wanted to ask. Does anyone know if the RR's for the shorts are sequential or random? Just curious cause they never seem to get the machine gun effect that I hear in other libraries.


----------



## RMH (Aug 29, 2022)

I'm in Korea, can I update it now?


----------



## Land of Missing Parts (Aug 29, 2022)

Juulu said:


> There's something I've always wanted to ask. Does anyone know if the RR's for the shorts are sequential or random? Just curious cause they never seem to get the machine gun effect that I hear in other libraries.


CSS shorts are random rr. I believe Alex said the new version will have an option to reset the round robins.


----------



## Jackdnp121 (Aug 29, 2022)

Cinematic Studio Percussion next ... follow by Cinematic studio chamber string Plz ???


----------



## Geoff Grace (Aug 29, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> Unfortunately Native Access is seriously stupid - at least on Mac - and will as far as I know ONLY download to your boot system drive. No matter what you set in preferences.


I would amend that to say, "at least on _some_ Macs." I'm using an Intel Mac running Native Access 1.14.1 (R156) on Catalina 10.15.7, and I no longer have that problem.

Best,

Geoff


----------



## bdr (Aug 30, 2022)

Jackdnp121 said:


> Cinematic Studio Percussion next ... follow by Cinematic studio chamber string Plz ???


let the man have a vacation!!!🌴🌴


----------



## iMovieShout (Aug 30, 2022)

<SOLVED> Wow looks good. But I appear to have missed how I go about downloading the update.
Any ideas anyone?

Native Access has the update


----------



## tc9000 (Aug 30, 2022)

1 hour, 30 minutes to go....


----------



## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Hey everyone, update is live on NA now. Go get it! 

And one last reminder, *please backup your original copy!*


----------



## anton (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hey everyone, update is live on NA now. Go get it!
> 
> And one last reminder, *please backup your original copy!*


Still 1.5.0 here.... (Italy).


----------



## Wibben (Aug 30, 2022)

Yeah, still lists 1.5.0 here in Scandinavia


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 30, 2022)

It will say 1.5.0 until you actually install the updated version.
It also does not show in the "Updates" tab of Native Access.

In Native Access v2.4.0 - Find Cinematic Studio Strings in your list, it should now say "48.59 GB" next to it.
Click the three-dot menu to the right, and click Reinstall.
It will start downloading.


----------



## anton (Aug 30, 2022)

Jdiggity1 said:


> It will say 1.5.0 until you actually install the updated version.
> It also does not show in the "Updates" tab of Native Access.
> 
> In Native Access v2.4.0 - Find Cinematic Studio Strings in your list, it should now say "48.59 GB" next to it.
> ...


oK , done....waiting. Thanks.


----------



## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 30, 2022)

Jdiggity1 said:


> It will say 1.5.0 until you actually install the updated version.
> It also does not show in the "Updates" tab of Native Access.
> 
> In Native Access v2.4.0 - Find Cinematic Studio Strings in your list, it should now say "48.59 GB" next to it.
> ...


i can't download it this way for some reason


----------



## d4vec4rter (Aug 30, 2022)

Started the Re-install here almost an hour ago (around 9:30 am UTC). States v1.7 in Native Access. Tested with Alex's Intro demo. Sounds great! Going to enjoy playing with it more a little later on.

Thank you Alex. Customer Service at its best.


----------



## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 30, 2022)

for me, I changed the name of the OG path to Cinematic Studio String OLD and then duplicated it on my drive with extra space and called it Cinematic Studio Strings NEW. I relocated it to this new folder and it gave me the option to re-install. However, Native access attempts to install in the original folder where there isn't space and there is no way for me to redirect the download location even though NI access is routed to the new folder on the new drive. What do I do?


----------



## anton (Aug 30, 2022)

d4vec4rter said:


> Started the Re-install here almost an hour ago (around 9:30 am UTC). States v1.7 in Native Access. Tested with Alex's Intro demo. Sounds great! Going to enjoy playing with it more a little later on.
> 
> Thank you Alex. Customer Service at its best.


So, was it 1.7 in NA for you ?


----------



## d4vec4rter (Aug 30, 2022)

anton said:


> So, it was 1.7 in NA for you ?


After the reinstall...yes. 1.5 before I started.


----------



## anton (Aug 30, 2022)

d4vec4rter said:


> After the reinstall...yes. 1.5 before I started.


Oh yes ! Thank you !


----------



## N.Caffrey (Aug 30, 2022)

I think it was mentioned earlier, but how do you fix the not enough free drive space on mac? As I don't have 140gb free, and I'd like to just download it on a hard drive.


----------



## galactic orange (Aug 30, 2022)

N.Caffrey said:


> I think it was mentioned earlier, but how do you fix the not enough free drive space on mac? As I don't have 140gb free, and I'd like to just download it on a hard drive.


Has Native Access 2 alleviated need for absurd amounts of free hard drive space? I downloaded a library recently and was shocked when I could download without issue and freeing up more space wasn't necessary.


----------



## OleJoergensen (Aug 30, 2022)

Jdiggity1 said:


> It will say 1.5.0 until you actually install the updated version.
> It also does not show in the "Updates" tab of Native Access.
> 
> In Native Access v2.4.0 - Find Cinematic Studio Strings in your list, it should now say "48.59 GB" next to it.
> ...


Thank you for sharing!
It turned out I was using an old version of Native access and CCS 1.1…….


----------



## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

N.Caffrey said:


> I think it was mentioned earlier, but how do you fix the not enough free drive space on mac? As I don't have 140gb free, and I'd like to just download it on a hard drive.


I'm in touch with NI right now about this specific issue - I will report back the second I receive the answer.


----------



## Jackdnp121 (Aug 30, 2022)

Downloading..........


----------



## Scamper (Aug 30, 2022)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> for me, I changed the name of the OG path to Cinematic Studio String OLD and then duplicated it on my drive with extra space and called it Cinematic Studio Strings NEW. I relocated it to this new folder and it gave me the option to re-install. However, Native access attempts to install in the original folder where there isn't space and there is no way for me to redirect the download location even though NI access is routed to the new folder on the new drive. What do I do?


The way I understand it, what matters is what paths you have set up in your Native Access preferences.
What's important should be the download and content location, to determine where the temporary download files are put and where the library will be finally installed.
Have you tried moving this to your larger drive?





I wish NA would have a prompt before install to ask where you want to install, so I also have to change these settings for different libraries.


----------



## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 30, 2022)

Scamper said:


> The way I understand it, what matters is what paths you have set up in your Native Access preferences.
> What's important should be the download and content location, to determine where the temporary download files are put and where the library will be finally installed.
> Have you tried moving this to your larger drive?
> 
> ...


Oh that seems to have done it! Cheers, mate!


----------



## N.Caffrey (Aug 30, 2022)

galactic orange said:


> Has Native Access 2 alleviated need for absurd amounts of free hard drive space? I downloaded a library recently and was shocked when I could download without issue and freeing up more space wasn't necessary.


I don't have NA2, where can I download it?

By the way, I'm downloading the library! I found something that helped me a bit reducing the size needed on my hard drive.

On Mac, when you are using NA, at the top of the screen, click it, then below About click Preferences.

There you can change the path of the Download, Application and Content Location. I changed the Content and Download location to my hard drive, so instead of 140gb I only needed 30 or so. Hope this helps!


----------



## liquidlino (Aug 30, 2022)

Downloading. Question - as this is now NI delivered, do we still need to back up the files? (i.e. are these now infinitely re-downloadable from NI?)


----------



## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 30, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Downloading. Question - as this is now NI delivered, do we still need to back up the files? (i.e. are these now infinitely re-downloadable from NI?)


This is something I was gonna ask because for me it seems to be downloading the entire lib again. Wondering if I should delete the existing folder.


----------



## Saxer (Aug 30, 2022)

NI Access 2.4.0 now shows 48,59GB for CSS. So this seems to be the updated version.
CSS doesn't show up in the "Updates" Menu of NI Access.

Reinstall doesn't work here.
I get the message "Insufficient disk space to download or install. Check the Download Manager to check space requirements for each product". What is the "Download Manager"?

My system drive has 739,1 GB free and the current CSS drive 1,29 TB free. Shouldn't that be enough to install a 50GB library?

*EDIT* My fault! In preferences I have set a different drive as a download location. Probably for a former download which I didn't remember. It's downloading now.


----------



## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Okay I've heard back from NI. They said:

"Hey Alex,

They could set the download or content location to different paths in preferences. Often for big libraries I set the download path to an external drive.







NI also sent me a link (below) to this page with more info on how to deal with the "not enough space" issue. I'm going to try to get my head around this, and I also appreciate others chiming in with solutions. 



https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001284225-Native-Access-Error-Message-Installation-has-been-prevented-You-do-not-have-enough-free-drive-space-to-install-the-products-


----------



## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 30, 2022)

oh my download is 45gb not 48. Is this not likely the update? I don't have NI 2.


----------



## N.Caffrey (Aug 30, 2022)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> oh my download is 45gb not 48. Is this not likely the update? I don't have NI 2.


same here, but I'm downloading it anyway, and see if it's right.


----------



## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> oh my download is 45gb not 48. Is this not likely the update? I don't have NI 2.


Hmm, where are you seeing "45GB"? Are you referring to the size of the folder after CSS has fully downloaded? After the installation has completeld, the new "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder should be 48GB.


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## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hmm, where are you seeing "45GB"? Are you referring to the size of the folder after CSS has fully downloaded? After the installation has completeld, the new "Cinematic Studio Strings" folder should be 48GB.


It was the size it said in no access before I selected download.
EDIT: it says on the download progress bar 45.25gb


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## NeonMediaKJT (Aug 30, 2022)

N.Caffrey said:


> same here, but I'm downloading it anyway, and see if it's right.


only problem is it'll take 4 hours for me, so if it's not the update it'll be 4 hours of wasted time, lol.


----------



## Saxer (Aug 30, 2022)

Downloading! (see my *edit* seven posts above)


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## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Ah okay, interesting - perhaps the download is slightly smaller because the library is packed and compressed slightly.


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## AdamKmusic (Aug 30, 2022)

You can get native access 2 from the link below









Native Access 2


Native Access is a free app for downloading, installing, activating, and updating all Native Instruments and NKS-ready software, in one place.




www.native-instruments.com


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## I like music (Aug 30, 2022)

Stupid question but when I go into Native Access, I don't see CSS update options either in "not installed" or "Available updates"
Could it be that it is staggered, or should I already be seeing it?
Any help mightily appreciated, since it'll take me 10hrs to download.


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## AdamKmusic (Aug 30, 2022)

I like music said:


> Stupid question but when I go into Native Access, I don't see CSS update options either in "not installed" or "Available updates"
> Could it be that it is staggered, or should I already be seeing it?
> Any help mightily appreciated, since it'll take me 10hrs to download.


Click the 3 dots next to it & choose re install


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## abt (Aug 30, 2022)

d4vec4rter said:


> Started the Re-install here almost an hour ago (around 9:30 am UTC). States v1.7 in Native Access. Tested with Alex's Intro demo. Sounds great! Going to enjoy playing with it more a little later on.
> 
> Thank you Alex. Customer Service at its best.


Is there midi for the intro demo somewhere?


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## I like music (Aug 30, 2022)

AdamKmusic said:


> Click the 3 dots next to it & choose re install


Ahhhhhhhh! Amazing, thank you. Now, to my next problem. I only have 100gb left.
Anyone care to ship me a harddrive? Hehe.


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## pawelmorytko (Aug 30, 2022)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> only problem is it'll take 4 hours for me, so if it's not the update it'll be 4 hours of wasted time, lol.


I'm seeing the same thing, 45.25gb size on Native Access but the version is still 1.5, gonna try and reinstall anyways and see what happens so I'll update for anyone wondering the same


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## axb312 (Aug 30, 2022)

Post some user examples guys..


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## Sunny Schramm (Aug 30, 2022)

@Alex W and all:

Do you also have strong volume jumps in the ensemble legato patch (not in the normal sustains) when violins 1+2 are added? (F#3 to G3 to G#3 and above) ... I don't remember this being the case in version 1.5 🤔 If you disable Violin1+Violin2, the transition from bass to cello to viola is perfect with no volume jumps. Is it because of the new mic positions and panning while V1.5 was all centered? I have to lower the microphone volume a bit for violin2 and much more for violin1 to get a smooth crossfade. Unfortunately, I deleted V1.5 because I haven't done any important projects with it. So I can't compare it myself right now.


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## d4vec4rter (Aug 30, 2022)

abt said:


> Is there midi for the intro demo somewhere?


Yes, there's a link to it in the description of the video.


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## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Sunny Schramm said:


> @Alex W and all:
> 
> Do you also have strong volume jumps in the ensemble legato patch (not in the normal sustains) when violins 1+2 are added? (F#3 to G3 to G#3 and above) ... I don't remember this being the case in version 1.5 🤔 If you disable Violin1+Violin2, the transition from bass to cello to viola is perfect with no volume jumps. Is it because of the new mic positions and panning while V1.5 was all centered? I have to lower the microphone volume a bit for violin2 and much more for violin1 to get a smooth crossfade. Unfortunately, I deleted V1.5 because I haven't done any important projects with it. So I can't compare it myself right now.


That doesn't sound right, if you could please pm me an MP3 example that would be very helpful, I'll see if I can recreate what you're getting.


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## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

axb312 said:


> Post some user examples guys..


That would be very cool but I'd appreciate it if a separate thread could be posted for that, as any cool stuff will likely get swamped by technical questions here - thanks!


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## I like music (Aug 30, 2022)

@Alex W - I know it is getting late over there and all. Just wanted to check. My Native Access shows the update as "1.5"

Does that sound right?


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## N.Caffrey (Aug 30, 2022)

pawelmorytko said:


> I'm seeing the same thing, 45.25gb size on Native Access but the version is still 1.5, gonna try and reinstall anyways and see what happens so I'll update for anyone wondering the same


It was the same for me, after installing it, it says 1.7.


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## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

I like music said:


> @Alex W - I know it is getting late over there and all. Just wanted to check. My Native Access shows the update as "1.5"
> 
> Does that sound right?


Hmm, can you PM me a screenshot of what you can see? Also just to clarify, are you looking in the "updates" section? If so, that's not where you download 1.7 - it must be done by right-clicking on CSS and selecting "Reinstall".


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## Sid Francis (Aug 30, 2022)

For all being as dumb as me: You do not have to right click on the word "Cinematic Studio Strings" in Native Access but hover over the words "Full Version" on the far right. Then "Full Version" will turn to "Reinstall". Took me 10 Minutes to find out and I am am perhaps not the only one


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## I like music (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hmm, can you PM me a screenshot of what you can see? Also just to clarify, are you looking in the "updates" section? If so, that's not where you download 1.7 - it must be done by right-clicking on CSS and selecting "Reinstall".


I'll find you a screenshot (sorry back at work and the music machine is not accessible for a bit) but the 1.5 tag was indeed right under the "reinstall" section, and the library size was showing approx 45gb and not 48gb. I should have a screenshot with you in about 15 mins!


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## d4vec4rter (Aug 30, 2022)

Sid Francis said:


> For all being as dumb as me: You do not have to right click on the word "Cinematic Studio Strings" in Native Access but hover over the words "Full Version" on the far right. Then "Full Version" will turn to "Reinstall". Took me 10 Minutes to find out and I am am perhaps not the only one


This is the correct way.


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## N.Caffrey (Aug 30, 2022)

Another point about the size, I downloaded it with NA1 and it was 45gb, then I installed NA2 and now I can see the size is 48Gb.


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## RoHP (Aug 30, 2022)

Hello everyone. I would like to check something. I'm trying to update CSS and it says on the progress bar that the size is 45.25Gb. It's currently downloading. However, certain users have mentioned 48Gb and I want to make sure I'm downloading v 1.7 instead of the 1.5 all over again. The internet speed here in Myanmar right now is horrible and I don't want to spend 12 hours of download time only come back to v 1.5. Can someone help me out here? Thanks in advance.


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## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

RoHP said:


> Hello everyone. I would like to check something. I'm trying to update CSS and it says on the progress bar that the size is 45.25Gb. It's currently downloading. However, certain users have mentioned 48Gb and I want to make sure I'm downloading v 1.7 instead of the 1.5 all over again. The internet speed here in Myanmar right now is horrible and I don't want to spend 12 hours of download time only come back to v 1.5. Can someone help me out here? Thanks in advance.


Hi there - not to worry, you're definitely downloading the new one - the download is 45GB, because it's slightly compressed. (For peace of mind, the old version was never available via Native Access, so it cannot possibly be the old one)


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## Loerpert (Aug 30, 2022)

Damn the non vib legato sounds much much better. And the low latency feature is very playable. Love it!


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## RoHP (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hi there - not to worry, you're definitely downloading the new one - the download is 45GB, because it's slightly compressed. (For peace of mind, the old version was never available via Native Access, so it cannot possibly be the old one)


Thank you for the info Alex. I just became a CSS user quite recently and to say that I'm very impressed would be an incredible understatement. I love the library. And I can't wait to try out this update. Really appreciate the efforts of you and your team.


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## Jerner (Aug 30, 2022)

The new legato is so much more playable, absolutely loving it. All instruments' spiccati however have a very abrupt cutoff. Was this always the case and I'm just not remembering this from 1.5? Sforzando, staccato and staccatissimo tails are fine.


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 30, 2022)

Jerner said:


> The new legato is so much more playable, absolutely loving it. All instruments' spiccati however have a very abrupt cutoff. Was this always the case and I'm just not remembering this from 1.5? Sforzando, staccato and staccatissimo tails are fine.


You still have the original to compare this?


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## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Jerner said:


> The new legato is so much more playable, absolutely loving it. All instruments' spiccati however have a very abrupt cutoff. Was this always the case and I'm just not remembering this from 1.5? Sforzando, staccato and staccatissimo tails are fine.


Thanks very much for your feedback - I'm glad you like the new legato 

The spiccatos are a bit different now - allow me to explain. In the original version, I had layered them with the Staccatissimo samples playing behind them (at a lower volume), which gave them a bit more of a "hyped" sound, and the staccatissimo portion of the sound is what you're hearing "ring out". But as of v1.7, I disabled the stacking, so now you're just hearing the pure spiccato sample. Since the spiccato samples were spliced from phrases, which gives them more energy, it means that sometimes the ambience may end more noticeably when heard in an exposed context. Most of the time you won't notice this, especially during fast / repetitive phrases where they shine, but in times when you do notice (eg at the end of an exposed phrase), try triggering a staccatissimo sample instead - these samples have the entire ambience captured in isolation, and will ring out in full. Either that, or a splash of reverb also helps smooth things out in this regard.

So it's a slight adjustment, and may require that you alter your sequencing a little here and there, but I think the end result is much more authentic and realistic. Spiccato is much softer than on-the-string techniques like staccatissimo, staccato etc. Spiccatos now excel when you do what is done in a film score mix - crank up the spot mics a bit when you have a prominent spiccato phrase. Doing this will bring out all the improvements and detail in the sound, and the short notes (especially the spiccatos) sound more punchy, crispy and more realistic as a result, imo. I hope that helps!


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## abt (Aug 30, 2022)

In case it helps anyone - My install ended up in the "Native Instruments" folder as opposed to where I usually have it. I just copied it to the correct folder then updated the path in Native Access.


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## Jerner (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> -snip-


I see. Thanks for explaining.


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## TomaeusD (Aug 30, 2022)

A small tip for anyone running into space issues - uninstall your Steam games.


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## Simon Ravn (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Okay I've heard back from NI. They said:
> 
> "Hey Alex,
> 
> ...


OK so apparently this is for Native Access 2. I am still on 1 since I recall reading about potential registration problems with 2. But I will give it a go now and hopefully installing NA2 doesn't screw things up...


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## abt (Aug 30, 2022)

d4vec4rter said:


> Yes, there's a link to it in the description of the video.



Thanks! Right in front of me!


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## Stardog24 (Aug 30, 2022)

I encountered an install error multiple times in Native Access 1 on Mac.

Solution was to search for the ISO file, close Native Access then manually install from the ISO file to the directory I previously had CSS installed in. Native Access found it on next load.


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## Simon Ravn (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Okay I've heard back from NI. They said:
> 
> "Hey Alex,
> 
> ...


I set Download Location to a drive with 350GB free. I still get the message in Native Access 2 that there is not enough free space... Not your problem Alex, I know. Just incredible that NI still haven't fixed this despite them thinking they did!

EDIT: Disregard this. It was my install location that didn't have anough space. They ACTUALLY fixed it for NA2 - hurraaaaay!


----------



## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> I set Download Location to a drive with 350GB free. I still get the message in Native Access 2 that there is not enough free space... Not your problem Alex, I know. Just incredible that NI still haven't fixed this despite them thinking they did!


Sorry Simon, I'm still trying to figure this issue out. Quick question - do you have at least 125GB free on your system drive?


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## Simon Ravn (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Sorry Simon, I'm still trying to figure this issue out. Quick question - do you have at least 125GB free on your system drive?


Alex HOLD ON. It was my install DRIVE (not DRY!) that didn't have enough space. It works now that I changed it. Thanks! Looking much forward to your updated library!


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## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> Alex HOLD ON. It was my install dry that didn't have enough space. It works now that I changed it. Thanks! Looking much forward to your update!


Awesome!!


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## Batrawi (Aug 30, 2022)

nothing's showing in native access till now which I think isn't normal regardless where I am (I'm in Egypt anyway) - right? anyone in the same boat? Alex should I check this with support?


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## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Batrawi said:


> nothing's showing in native access till now which I think isn't normal regardless where I am (I'm in Egypt anyway) - right? anyone in the same boat? Alex should I check this with support?


Hi there, sorry to hear that - just to quickly check, are you saying that CSS does not appear in your list of "Installed products"?


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## Batrawi (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hi there, sorry to hear that - just to quickly check, are you saying that CSS does not appear in your list of "Installed products"?


Oops now I see it👍thx Alex


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## TomaeusD (Aug 30, 2022)

Everything is sounding and playing really great! The only issue I'm having is with spiccato - not just that the release is noticeably abrupt as @Jerner mentioned earlier, but the volume/dynamics of spiccato overlay are super quiet for the marcato patch at low CC1 values no matter what velocity. This means no more playable fanfares with one patch (at least not the way it used to work), and I'll need to keyswitch anytime you want to go from a stronger spiccato or any other short to a sustain. I get that the spiccato overlay probably needed to be adjusted to get string runs to work, but even with CSW marcatos the overlay velocity dynamics with modwheel all the way down are way more expressive. The more I test it out, the more I think I'll just need to get used to playing the marcato patch differently with modwheel higher and shorter notes. :D Again, it sounds amazing Alex - well done!

EDIT: I also noticed that in both full and lite ensemble the A0 bass release is sharing the cello C1 release. Is that a glitch on my end or did it not install correctly?


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## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2022)

NYC Composer said:


> So there IS a way to lessen vibrato amount in CSSS? I’ve been unaware of it if so.


there is the vibrato x fade...CC 2 in the settings


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## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2022)

Hi all..I can't free up any more space on my system drive, what is the work around here? 
this is freaking ridiculous...any work around? Any manual installs available? Thanks.


----------



## jamwerks (Aug 30, 2022)

May just be me but, I updated and opened one project with lots of marcati, shorts & runs, and didn't have to move any midi. Just seems to do what I wanted it to do even better!


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## d4vec4rter (Aug 30, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> Hi all..I am certain this came up already, but I haven't found the post...NA is insisting on downloading to my internal which there is no way I can free up 60 gigs...this is freaking ridiculous...any work around? Any manual installs available? Thanks.


Have you gone into the "Preferences" section of NA and specified a download location that has enough free space?


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 30, 2022)

jamwerks said:


> May just be me but, I updated and opened one project with lots of marcati, shorts & runs, and didn't have to move any midi. Just seems to do what I wanted it to do even better!


Interesting....


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## Tremendouz (Aug 30, 2022)

Basses vibrato x-fade seems to be tied to CC73 by default. Assuming this is just an oversight.


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## Trash Panda (Aug 30, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> there is the vibrato x fade...CC 2 in the settings


It's on/off in CSSS. No crossfade as that causes phasing issues.


----------



## OleJoergensen (Aug 30, 2022)

Stardog24 said:


> I encountered an install error multiple times in Native Access 1 on Mac.
> 
> Solution was to search for the ISO file, close Native Access then manually install from the ISO file to the directory I previously had CSS installed in. Native Access found it on next load.


Can yo explain how you did that?
I download for hours and installation failed (NA v. 2.4.0) and then it just started redownloading…

Edit: 2nd download and install worked.


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## Jackdnp121 (Aug 30, 2022)

maybe it is just me but CC1 velocity seems abit bumpy ...


----------



## Simon Ravn (Aug 30, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> Hi all..I can't free up any more space on my system drive, what is the work around here?
> this is freaking ridiculous...any work around? Any manual installs available? Thanks.


You using Native Access 2? That will make it work - at least it worked for me.


----------



## inthevoid (Aug 30, 2022)

Thank you Alex for an incredible update! Couldn't resist having a play around on some John Williams strings runs with it this morning...


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## BassClef (Aug 30, 2022)

FYI... I have a new Mac Studio. Native Access showed my version (the old one) as up to date. To get version 2.4, I had to delete my old version and download the new one. AND... they have two Mac versions... one for Mac and one for Mac M1. So I downloaded and installed the Mac M1 version and it is 2.4. I am now downloading CSS.


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## ThomasL (Aug 30, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> I set Download Location to a drive with 350GB free. I still get the message in Native Access 2 that there is not enough free space... Not your problem Alex, I know. Just incredible that NI still haven't fixed this despite them thinking they did!
> 
> EDIT: Disregard this. It was my install location that didn't have anough space. They ACTUALLY fixed it for NA2 - hurraaaaay!


Not really "fixed". I have NA 2 set to download to a drive with 1.26 TB available space. The path to the installed library of CS on a drive with 166 GB available.
Gives an error...
The "trick" is to ALSO setup the "global" installation path to another drive.
Quite silly actually.


----------



## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> You using Native Access 2? That will make it work - at least it worked for me.


will need to check, thanks


----------



## Harrisown (Aug 30, 2022)

Well the Marcato is sounding much more fluid than before IMO
I like the individual sections with the spot mics turned up like with the demonstration video. gives it a nice bite. 
Now about to dive into cubase to see how it handles things. 

Where was 1.6 all this time


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## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2022)

Simon Ravn said:


> You using Native Access 2? That will make it work - at least it worked for me.


Holy hell, it seems to be working...funny though, that in NA there wasn't any "updates" showing...would have saved me a lot of time..LOL. Anyway, thanks for your help.


----------



## Go To 11 (Aug 30, 2022)

inthevoid said:


> Thank you Alex for an incredible update! Couldn't resist having a play around on some John Williams strings runs with it this morning...


Stunning! Would you be able to share the MIDI?


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2022)

Is Native Access 2 recommended for this update ? 

I haven't installed NA2 yet, but wanted to check here about this.


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## Tremendouz (Aug 30, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Is Native Access 2 recommended for this update ?
> 
> I haven't installed NA2 yet, but wanted to check here about this.


NA1 worked without issue to me on Win11


----------



## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2022)

Tremendouz said:


> NA1 worked without issue to me on Win11


Thanks. I will check when I'm back in town. I'm guessing NA2 on Windows 10 should work fine as well.


----------



## RogiervG (Aug 30, 2022)

DOwnloading.. hope i can now actually work with CSS (the old latency system was tedious for me). 

Good work @Alex W 
Ps. awaiting the low latency treatment for the rest of the series (csss and csb), along with other improvements you can think of


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## Igorianych (Aug 30, 2022)

I still have 1.5... (Israel) I updated NA


----------



## RogiervG (Aug 30, 2022)

installed, and i see:


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## BassClef (Aug 30, 2022)

OK... Installed and working BUT...

I followed instructions on duplicating the original and renaming the duplicate "original". 
Then in Native Access 2.4 I reinstalled CSS.
Now, CSS is showing 83.07GB. 
The "original" is showing 34.51GB.


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## Spid (Aug 30, 2022)

no version 1.7 yet in the NA2 here in France on Mac M1...


----------



## filipjonathan (Aug 30, 2022)

BassClef said:


> OK... Installed and working BUT...
> 
> I followed instructions on duplicating the original and renaming the duplicate "original".
> Then in Native Access 2.4 I reinstalled CSS.
> ...


But did you delete the original folder after duplicating it? I did and had no issues.


----------



## filipjonathan (Aug 30, 2022)

Spid said:


> no version 1.7 yet in the NA2 here in France on Mac M1...


Guys, you need to read the previous posts. It says 1.5.0 but the size has changed which means that it's the new version. Just go ahead and re-install it.


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## Spid (Aug 30, 2022)

hmm.... it keeps saying 48GB


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## axb312 (Aug 30, 2022)

@Alex W Since I already use a script in Reaper to nudge notes based on velocity for the former advanced Legato, would there be any issues with playing notes in the Low Latency mode, quantizing and then using the script (with the keyswitch now changed to Advanced/ Expressive Legato)?

Also, will the woodwinds require a runs patch/ update (do they need them? - I'm not sure...)...


----------



## Sunny Schramm (Aug 30, 2022)

Spid said:


> hmm.... it keeps saying 48GB


48 is right for 1.7


----------



## Spid (Aug 30, 2022)

Sunny Schramm said:


> 48 is right for 1.7


oh my bad... I'm doing multiple things here, so I didn't read correctly, I thought it was meant to say 83GB. 

Thanks for the info, download almost done then


----------



## ka00 (Aug 30, 2022)

By the way, I don’t think it’s possible to download 1.5 by mistake. I doubt 1.5 is or was ever on NI’s servers.

What I did was move my CSS folder to another drive and label it old. Then when I load NA and scroll to the library, it says Repair. Click on that and choose reinstall.


----------



## BassClef (Aug 30, 2022)

filipjonathan said:


> But did you delete the original folder after duplicating it? I did and had no issues.


No. I kept the copy folder which is now named "Cinematic Studio Strings original" for use with older projects, per Alex instructions. So now I have both "Cinematic Studio Strings original" at 34.51GB and the new one "Cinematic Studio Strings" at 83.07GB on my drive. The new one is working fine (showing the two spot mics) but just wondering how/why it is showing 83GB when it should be 48GB.


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## JHughesMusic (Aug 30, 2022)

BassClef said:


> No. I kept the copy folder which is now named "Cinematic Studio Strings original" for use with older projects, per Alex instructions. So now I have both "Cinematic Studio Strings original" at 34.51GB and the new one "Cinematic Studio Strings" at 83.07GB on my drive. The new one is working fine (showing the two spot mics) but just wondering how/why it is showing 83GB when it should be 48GB.


Maybe it’s combining the two folder download sizes? (48 + 34.51 = Roughly 83)


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## Christof (Aug 30, 2022)

Quite confusing update process, but the update itself is great!
Somehow I didn't manage to keep the older version working, what I did is just replacing the 1.5 tracks in recent projects by the 1.7 ones.


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## BassClef (Aug 30, 2022)

JHughesMusic said:


> Maybe it’s combining the two folder download sizes? (48 + 34.51 = Roughly 83)


Yes... I added the two and saw that as well. Checking each folder in the directory for the new one, it's the size of the "samples" folder that is showing to be so large. If Mac is counting the GBs correctly, I do not want to waste 35GB unnecessarily, so perhaps I should just delete the new one a re-download it, rather than re-install it again. When re-installing, it did show the file to be 48.59GB, but I ended up with 83.07.


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## BassClef (Aug 30, 2022)

Christof said:


> Quite confusing update process, but the update itself is great!
> Somehow I didn't manage to keep the older version working, what I did is just replacing the 1.5 tracks in recent projects by the 1.7 ones.


I may do that as well.


----------



## Oakran (Aug 30, 2022)

That's a kick ass update. I can't believe it's out after all this wait ! The improved sound and playability is incredible. I can't wait to use it on my next projects.
Sincerely thank you so much Alex, we are fortunate to have developers like you who really spend a lot of time to improve their already godlike libraries and for free ! You nailed it.


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## imyself (Aug 30, 2022)

A very big Thanks to Alex for this amazing CSS update / But i will have to wait 24 hours (slow connection) before testing it... (it should have been a good idea from NI to give other link to be able to download the 48Go from my Portable phone which is 4x faster)


----------



## dcoscina (Aug 30, 2022)

Stardog24 said:


> I encountered an install error multiple times in Native Access 1 on Mac.
> 
> Solution was to search for the ISO file, close Native Access then manually install from the ISO file to the directory I previously had CSS installed in. Native Access found it on next load.


I cannot for the life of me find the ISO file.. I've had the same issue three times where NA says "installation failed". Looked at the target download folder and I cannot find it

Any suggestions?


----------



## lettucehat (Aug 30, 2022)

Igorianych said:


> I still have 1.5... (Israel) I updated NA


Is it just the two of us not seeing an update available, or anybody else? I just got NA 2 for this.


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## Igorianych (Aug 30, 2022)

lettucehat said:


> Is it just the two of us not seeing an update available, or anybody else? I just got NA 2 for this.


Hahaha! It seems so...
I didn't get an offer to upgrade


----------



## rottoy (Aug 30, 2022)

BassClef said:


> No. I kept the copy folder which is now named "Cinematic Studio Strings original" for use with older projects, per Alex instructions. So now I have both "Cinematic Studio Strings original" at 34.51GB and the new one "Cinematic Studio Strings" at 83.07GB on my drive. The new one is working fine (showing the two spot mics) but just wondering how/why it is showing 83GB when it should be 48GB.


Might I inquire as to whether the two new separate spot mics come with their own separate .nkx's?
I really liked how CSW separated the 'Mix' mic NKX from the other mics, to save space if one wanted to.


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2022)

For those who already installed ver 1.7, was the Native Access download speed decent ? or I should ask how long did it take you to download the new ver 1.7 ? 

Thanks


----------



## dksellou (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Thanks everyone! I know it's not usual for us to announce something and then leave a few more days till release, but doing it this way gives users a chance to go ahead and back up their exisiting version and so on prior to updating.
> 
> 
> Thanks! The core sound of each individual mic has not changed much, apart from noise reduction being applied to the ambient mics. However, separating the spot mics out is probably the most significant change to the sound. I really encourage people to experiment with the spot mics - they each have their own distinct character and can significantly change the vibe of the mix.
> ...


Alex, for orchestral Hollywood big sound what would you recommend? what mics?
Thanks!


----------



## NYC Composer (Aug 30, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> there is the vibrato x fade...CC 2 in the settings


It’s basically an on/off.


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2022)

NYC Composer said:


> It’s basically an on/off.


I think that's true for CSSS. But it crossfades the vibrato for CSS.


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## Takabuntu (Aug 30, 2022)

OSX related. I thought I had enough space on my SSD, but got a space error while trying to reinstall. Native Access calculates free space differently, it detracts the purgeable space (that is space from files that are deleted, but not reclaimed yet?) from the free space. So I had 77GB free space with 38GB purgeable. Native Access calculated therefore 39GB of free space which wasn't enough. The following trick helped me: Solve Purgeable Space Problems. After that the purgeable space was negligible and I was able to reinstall CSS. Downloading as we speak .


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## Rob Elliott (Aug 30, 2022)

axb312 said:


> @Alex W Since I already use a script in Reaper to nudge notes based on velocity for the former advanced Legato, would there be any issues with playing notes in the Low Latency mode, quantizing and then using the script (with the keyswitch now changed to Advanced/ Expressive Legato)?
> 
> Also, will the woodwinds require a runs patch/ update (do they need them? - I'm not sure...)...


Just may have already been answered but this is what I will be doing on the new Low Latency mode. I'll create one more logical preset (nudging legato transitions about -150 ms.) Of course I'll also assign a new key command to it) Like previous advance use in Cubase- this should take all of about 4.5 seconds.


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## Rob Elliott (Aug 30, 2022)

dksellou said:


> Alex, for orchestral Hollywood big sound what would you recommend? what mics?
> Thanks!


Alex is prolly sleep but try the 'mic 2's + Room'. For an even BIGGER sound double the midi in CS2.  (you'll have to move things a tad in CS2 but worth it for that HUGE soaring sound.)


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## Trash Panda (Aug 30, 2022)

@Alex W this is a trivial ask, but potentially not a trivial feature request to implement depending on how the scripting is implemented.

Is it possible to have legatos transition back to the original note if you hold down the prior note and release the new note?

For instance, if I hold down C, pressing D would trigger the legato transition to D and letting go of D would trigger the legato transition back down to C as long as C remains pressed at the time of the release of D.

This makes playing/sequencing ornaments and custom interval trills much easier.


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## BassClef (Aug 30, 2022)

rottoy said:


> Might I inquire as to whether the two new separate spot mics come with their own separate .nkx's?
> I really liked how CSW separated the 'Mix' mic NKX from the other mics, to save space if one wanted to.


I just moved the "original" to a different drive. Then I re-installed the new CSS again in Native Access 2.4. Again it showed that the download would be 48GB, but after installations it is AGAIN showing 83.07GB. VERY STRAGNE. 

I do have 32 "separate_mics" files. 17 are .nks type (numbered 0 through 16) and 17 are .nkc type (numbered 0 through 16)


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## Project Anvil (Aug 30, 2022)

rottoy said:


> Might I inquire as to whether the two new separate spot mics come with their own separate .nkx's?
> I really liked how CSW separated the 'Mix' mic NKX from the other mics, to save space if one wanted to.


The samples folder has:

```
CSStrings_001.....CSStrings_017.nkx/nkc
Mix mic_0.....Mix mic_5.nkx/nkc
Separate mics_0.....Separate mics_17.nkx/nkc
```


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## axb312 (Aug 30, 2022)

Rob Elliott said:


> Just may have already been answered but this is what I will be doing on the new Low Latency mode. I'll create one more logical preset (nudging legato transitions about -150 ms.) Of course I'll also assign a new key command to it) Like previous advance use in Cubase- this should take all of about 4.5 seconds.


I'm asking why the extra preset/ script is needed? Low latency is the playable mode. Expressive is supposedly the Creme with the extra transitions for particularly slow/ expressive parts. 

Just wondering what other issues may come up when writing in Low Latency and then quantizing, switching over to Expressive and using a script/ preset.


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## Rob Elliott (Aug 30, 2022)

axb312 said:


> I'm asking why the extra preset/ script is needed? Low latency is the playable mode. Expressive is supposedly the Creme with the extra transitions for particularly slow/ expressive parts.
> 
> Just wondering what other issues may come up when writing in Low Latency and then quantizing, switching over to Expressive and using a script/ preset.


In most use you are right. I would only use the logical preset if I used quantizing to grid.  In reality and the heat of getting cues out - they will mostly just get played in.


Also if you want to double another instrument's track with strings and just would grabbed that 'on grid' midi, key command CSS 1.7 and all is right as rain....


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## stigbn (Aug 30, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> For those who already installed ver 1.7, was the Native Access download speed decent ? or I should ask how long did it take you to download the new ver 1.7 ?
> 
> Thanks


My download and install took less than an hour. No problems.


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## josephwmorgan (Aug 30, 2022)

I'm sorry if this has already been answered (20 pages is a lot of info to sift through!), but is there any way to do this update that will result in me still being able to use the older and latest version of CSS within Kontakt? 

CSS is hands down my favorite string lib and EVERY session I work on utilizes it, so I'm a little nervous about diving into this update and being unable to go back to sessions pre-update.


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## BassClef (Aug 30, 2022)

Project Anvil said:


> The samples folder has:
> 
> ```
> CSStrings_001.....CSStrings_017.nkx/nkc
> ...


That's what I have in the "samples" folder along with...
CSS.nkc
CSS.nkr
CSSS.nkc
CSSS.nkr
Cinematic Studio Strings.nicnt

That's 87 files and my Mac says that "samples" folder is 83.2GB.


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## PerryD (Aug 30, 2022)

I commit most tracks to rendered audio, so I just deleted CSS to download the new 1.7 version. Worked great here on Win10. It took about an hour to download but I was anticipating a longer wait, being a first day downloader. Great work Alex! ♪♫♪♫


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## Christof (Aug 30, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> @Alex W this is a trivial ask, but potentially not a trivial feature request to implement depending on how the scripting is implemented.
> 
> Is it possible to have legatos transition back to the original note if you hold down the prior note and release the new note?
> 
> ...


You mean like a monophonic Moog synth for example?
Very cool suggestion!


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 30, 2022)

josephwmorgan said:


> I'm sorry if this has already been answered (20 pages is a lot of info to sift through!), but is there any way to do this update that will result in me still being able to use the older and latest version of CSS within Kontakt?
> 
> CSS is hands down my favorite string lib and EVERY session I work on utilizes it, so I'm a little nervous about diving into this update and being unable to go back to sessions pre-update.


There's no need to look through 20 pages, the answer is in the opening post on page one. In that post, *Alex* gives instructions on how to make both versions available.

Best,

Geoff


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## josephwmorgan (Aug 30, 2022)

Geoff Grace said:


> There's no need to look through 20 pages, the answer is in the opening post on page one. In that post, *Alex* gives instructions on how to make both versions available.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Geoff


That's helpful- thanks! I guess I'm wondering if there's a solution that doesn't require editing/changing file names every time you want to switch back and forth.


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## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2022)

I've managed to get it to download, the at install it fails...three times now...any ideas? I have plenty of room on the drive.


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## Saxer (Aug 30, 2022)

Here the installation (after finishing the download) was hanging for 20 minutes. After a restart I had to do the download again but then it finished the installation.

NI is the new Microsoft.


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## Sebanimation (Aug 30, 2022)

My "Full Version" doesn't turn into reinstall when I hover over it. I can't find it anywhere. Some libraries change to reinstall, some don't. Why?


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## sathyva (Aug 30, 2022)

Has anyone here tested CSS 1.7 with the script CSS Control Panel by Alex Vincent ?
Was about to update to 1.7 but as i can not live without this script, i prefer waiting for some advices from you guys 
thanks.


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## jadedsean (Aug 30, 2022)

Can anyone here confirm that the update is still not released in Germany?


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## dcoscina (Aug 30, 2022)

I have tried 3 times downloading and once it completes and moves to the installation it fails. Then the ISO file disappears from the folder so I'm not able to locate it... this is rather frustrating.


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## Sebanimation (Aug 30, 2022)

I am here hovering with the mouse over "Full Version" but it doesn't say reinstall. What do I have to do in order to update? It works with all Native Instruments libraries but not with 3rd party libraries...


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## jamwerks (Aug 30, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> I am here hovering with the mouse over "Full Version" but it doesn't say reinstall. What do I have to do in order to update? It works with all Native Instruments libraries but not with 3rd party libraries...


I pressed on "Full version".


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 30, 2022)

josephwmorgan said:


> That's helpful- thanks! I guess I'm wondering if there's a solution that doesn't require editing/changing file names every time you want to switch back and forth.


My understanding is that we're supposed to treat these as we would any two separate libraries, ideally phasing out the old in favor of the new. 

*Alex* has been great about answering questions in this thread. I imagine he'll respond once he wakes. (It's still nighttime down under.)

Best,

Geoff


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## OleJoergensen (Aug 30, 2022)

dcoscina said:


> I have tried 3 times downloading and once it completes and moves to the installation it fails. Then the ISO file disappears from the folder so I'm not able to locate it... this is rather frustrating.


The installation failed the 1st time for me. 2nd attempt I restarted Mac and NA, redirected to the CCS folder(even it was the same) and download and installation worked. It could just be a coincidence…..


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## Sebanimation (Aug 30, 2022)

jamwerks said:


> I pressed on "Full version".


That doesn't work. Nothing happens at all. Neither is it clickable nor does it change to reinstall.


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## tc9000 (Aug 30, 2022)

I had a blue screen during installation, then another one (my drives are all red and this is an aging and long suffering machine). Then I started changing the directories in NA preferences. A few more failed attempts. More changing of directories in NA preferences. I thought I'd better have a look over my drives... I just found CSS 1.7 has been sat in one of my drives for an hour and a half . So yeah - well worth surveying your drives if things got a bit messy with the install - you might already have it.


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## Igorianych (Aug 30, 2022)

Damn, maybe my CSS 1.5 somehow registered incorrectly? My NA 2.4.0 still does not see the update. How can I fix this???


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## Go To 11 (Aug 30, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> That doesn't work. Nothing happens at all. Neither is it clickable nor does it change to reinstall.


Are you in Native Access 2? Try the three dots to the right. Hit Reinstall.


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## Igorianych (Aug 30, 2022)

Go To 11 said:


> Are you in Native Access 2? Try the three dots to the right. Hit Reinstall.


Don't wait for an update on the left column, start reinstall, right?
Yes, I am in NA 2


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## Trash Panda (Aug 30, 2022)

If you are on Windows, you can open the Registry Editor and delete the Cinematic Studio Strings folder from the following two paths:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER > SOFTWARE > Native Instruments
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Native Instruments

Once you have done this, launch Native access and CSS should show under the "Not Installed" area with install option available.

If you're not keeping the old CSS version, you can just delete it before doing the install of the new version.


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## Igorianych (Aug 30, 2022)

Thanx, guys! Im on MAC, but you are help me


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## Go To 11 (Aug 30, 2022)

Igorianych said:


> Don't wait for an update on the left column, start reinstall, right?
> Yes, I am in NA 2


Just hit reinstall. NI only holds the new version 1.7. They never had the older versions to download; it was direct with CS before.


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## Sebanimation (Aug 30, 2022)

Go To 11 said:


> Are you in Native Access 2? Try the three dots to the right. Hit Reinstall.


I was in NA 1... just updated but now all libraries are missing... uh oh what a mess


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> I was in NA 1... just updated but now all libraries are missing... uh oh what a mess


Ooh... I was planning to update to NA2 from NA1, but reading this is scaring me to update to NA2.


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> I was in NA 1... just updated but now all libraries are missing... uh oh what a mess


There must be a way for easily fix this. (I'm guessing).


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## Igorianych (Aug 30, 2022)

Yes, I start reinstall! Thanks for support!


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## lettucehat (Aug 30, 2022)

Go To 11 said:


> Just hit reinstall. NI only holds the new version 1.7. They never had the older versions to download; it was direct with CS before.


While I did totally overlook the 're-install' part in the instructions, I still think something is weird on my end. Because CSS is listed as 1.5.0 in NA2 for me. Making me a little doubtful the update will be correct.


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## Sebanimation (Aug 30, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Ooh... I was planning to update to NA2 from NA1, but reading this is scaring me to update to NA2.


I downgraded again to NA 1. My libraries are back, but I still can't reinstall.


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## Project Anvil (Aug 30, 2022)

josephwmorgan said:


> I'm sorry if this has already been answered (20 pages is a lot of info to sift through!), but is there any way to do this update that will result in me still being able to use the older and latest version of CSS within Kontakt?
> 
> CSS is hands down my favorite string lib and EVERY session I work on utilizes it, so I'm a little nervous about diving into this update and being unable to go back to sessions pre-update.



if you keep a copy of the old version (as per Alex's instructions on the first page) you can still load the old instruments through the File browser/tab in Kontakt. This is different from being able to load old projects (that requires the name change), this is just about being able to run the old and new versions alongside each other.


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> I downgraded again to NA 1. My libraries are back, but I still can't reinstall.


Make sure you have 125 GB of Free Space on your SSD. Did you check if you have this much, or more space available ?


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## Sebanimation (Aug 30, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Make sure you have 125 GB of Free Space on your SSD. Did you check if you have this much, or more space available ?


Yes, have nearly 500 GB of free space. I can reinstall Native Instruments stuff like Massive but no 3rd Party libraries like CSS, Albion by spitfire, Vocalise by heavyocity. They don't even have that option. By now I updated Native Access, reinstalled it, changed preferences, checked storage.. nothing helped... I don't know what else to do. 

But I really appreciate you taking your time and trying to help!


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## Go To 11 (Aug 30, 2022)

lettucehat said:


> While I did totally overlook the 're-install' part in the instructions, I still think something is weird on my end. Because CSS is listed as 1.5.0 in NA2 for me. Making me a little doubtful the update will be correct.


Others have reported that. My screenshot shows that. Just hit Reinstall...


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> Yes, have nearly 500 GB of free space. I can reinstall Native Instruments stuff like Massive but no 3rd Party libraries like CSS, Albion by spitfire, Vocalise by heavyocity. They don't even have that option. By now I updated Native Access, reinstalled it, changed preferences, checked storage.. nothing helped... I don't know what else to do


Oh.. that's not good. I'm out of town, and have no access to my studio, I wish I can help you to fix this. Maybe do some Googling regarding this type of issues. Also check the NI Kontakt Forums. Also @EvilDragon is very knowledgable about Kontakt, he might be to help as well.


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 30, 2022)

Update done without any issues, gonna test it out now!!


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 30, 2022)

I REALLY like the sound of the new mix mic compared to the old one!!


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## Robert_G (Aug 30, 2022)

Bluemount Score said:


> Update done without any issues, gonna test it out now!!


I really appreciated you sharing your mic set ups with CSS. If you change them up, perhaps you could share them again.


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 30, 2022)

Robert_G said:


> I really appreciated you sharing your mic set ups with CSS. If you change them up, perhaps you could share them again.


Yes will do, for now the mix mic sounds great but I will make use of the new spot mics as well and share my experiences


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## Gingerbread (Aug 30, 2022)

Has anyone tried @Henu 's idea of leaving the original version as the default, and the new version as the re-labeled one?


----------



## NoamL (Aug 30, 2022)

josephwmorgan said:


> I'm sorry if this has already been answered (20 pages is a lot of info to sift through!), but is there any way to do this update that will result in me still being able to use the older and latest version of CSS within Kontakt?
> 
> CSS is hands down my favorite string lib and EVERY session I work on utilizes it, so I'm a little nervous about diving into this update and being unable to go back to sessions pre-update.


I store both copies of the library in one VI directory like this:






if I need to open an older mockup, I rename the folders - first like this:






and then by removing " ORIGINAL", it turns into:






if I now open an older mockup, it will hook up to the library's older version. No need to mess with Native Access or anything.

Then, once I want to go back to using new CSS, I just reverse those naming changes.

I haven't found a better way of doing it yet, and no way of using the libraries side by side (although that would be feasible with a multi-computer setup - where your VEP machine was dedicated to the newer library and you kept the older one on your DAW machine, for instance).

You are right to hesitate about taking the plunge, (IMO) the entire point of Alex giving us several days warning before he released the update was to give us a heads up about this.

1. Backwards compatibility is LIMITED at best. The new version of the library has a new mix, hotter overall volume, different legato keyswitch (G#0), and pretty considerable reprogramming of the legato response and the spiccatos/staccatissimos. Any older mockups will need the MIDI reprogrammed and you may also notice the new mix fits differently into your tracks.

2. Because of that it is a VERY GOOD idea to back up the older version of CSS to playback older projects.

3. I think it's really not a good idea to update mid project, I'd take that warning seriously.


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## Robert_G (Aug 30, 2022)

The more I play with these patches, I don't think the old version is that needed to keep around. It only takes a few minutes to move the midi to the new CSS 1.7 tracks and the difference for me is mostly improved. I have yet to find anything that has sounds bad by replacing the old with the new.


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## Rob Elliott (Aug 30, 2022)

Worth noting the obvious if you had a project that was largely 'emotive' using the previous 'Advanced' - 1.7's 'expressive' works great with little or no new programming changes. On another matter, I'll probably settle on some custom mic mix but dang the default mic mix is pretty darn good. I for one would be curious though of what folks are settling in on with 'emotional' mic mixes and maybe 'shorts' mic mixes.


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## Scamper (Aug 30, 2022)

Gingerbread said:


> Has anyone tried @Henu 's idea of leaving the original version as the default, and the new version as the re-labeled one?


There are multiple ways to do this and you don't need to do any folder renaming.

*1. Backup CSS old and install CSS 1.7, so you have both folders*
(CSS 1.7 will be the main folder now, that's connected to Kontakt)

*2. within CSS 1.7/Instruments create a subfolder "1.7" and put the 1.7 instruments and .nki-files in there*
(now you have to be a bit careful about the "Samples" folder, because by standard, the CSS patches are looking for the samples on: [parent-folder]/Samples. So, the patches in the "Instruments/1.7" folder will look for the samples in "Instruments/Samples", which doesn't exist)

*3. rename the "Samples" folder of CSS 1.7 (to "Samples 1.7" or anything else)
4. copy the old CSS instrument files in the new CSS 1.7 "Instruments" folder
5. copy the old CSS "Samples" folder in the new CSS 1.7 folder
6. batch resave the whole Cinematic Studio Strings folder and locate the missing samples in the right place *
(in this case, the 1.7 instruments are probably missing samples and you have to choose the renamed "Samples 1.7" folder)

Then you have seamless backwards compatability and can access the new instruments in the "1.7" subfolder.
Personally, I don't care much about the older projects and have it the other way round. The new instruments in the main folder and 1.5 in the subfolder, just in case.


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## NoamL (Aug 30, 2022)

Yes, legato-based cues will be the least affected I suppose.

When I first got the update I tried @Christof 's famous "The Robber" mockup and my own old mockup of a Henry Jackman action cue from Jumanji.

In both cases I was disappointed. On the Jumanji cue, the runs sounded quite different because the programming had updated, and some legato runs didn't playback correctly because the keyswitch moved from A#0 to G#0.

On Christof's cue, he gave the CSS spiccatos a real workout! But in v1.7 the spiccatos are no longer "layered spiccato attack with stacc'ssmo" as Alex outlined earlier today. They're now really the sound of the bow bouncing on the string with no faked overlay, as such the dynamic range is louder and low velocity is now much quieter.

The improvements in v1.7 are incredible - particularly that change to the spiccato articulation, it gives so many more options for creating realistic sounds - but I just want to warn you all that if you write a lot of action music I am CONFIDENT you'll notice mission-critical differences; you'll need to tweak any mockup made with the older library to respond better to the different programming & velocity layers of v1.7.


----------



## Rob Elliott (Aug 30, 2022)

Scamper said:


> There are multiple ways to do this and you don't need to do any folder renaming.
> 
> *1. Backup CSS old and install CSS 1.7, so you have both folders*
> (CSS 1.7 will be the main folder now, that's connected to Kontakt)
> ...


Holy - 'I need a slide rule' Batman - how in the heck did you figure this out???  Alex, this would seem to work. Care to chime in on this when you awake?


----------



## NoamL (Aug 30, 2022)

If that works (without causing any scripting errors??) it would be awesome!


----------



## Scamper (Aug 30, 2022)

Rob Elliott said:


> Holy - 'I need a slide rule' Batman - how in the heck did you figure this out???  Alex, this would seem to work. Care to chime in on this when you awake?


Being a programmer, I think you get a feel for how this works when using Kontakt and see what's going on, when patches are looking for missing samples. Without all the renaming and multiple folders, it's quite simple. The patches in the "Instruments" folder are looking for samples in "[parent-folder]/Samples". If they're not there, you have to locate the correct folder.

For me, this works without any issues so far and I can use them side by side.

Heck, if you want to get wild, you can add patches from EVERY OTHER Kontakt instrument in there.
You can create a Cinematic Studio superfolder, if you just connect all the right Sample folders.


----------



## Dirk Ehlert (Aug 30, 2022)

NoamL said:


> Yes, legato-based cues will be the least affected I suppose.
> 
> When I first got the update I tried @Christof 's famous "The Robber" mockup and my own old mockup of a Henry Jackman action cue from Jumanji.
> 
> ...


Can confirm on my end, full backwards compatability without any renaming needed. Works like a charm


----------



## duringtheafter (Aug 30, 2022)

Perhaps a dumb question, but won't the programming in CSS1.7 not handle the instruments/samples from CSS1.5 in exactly the right way? E.g., what happens to the spot mics when you load a CSS1.5 patch? Or when you load a CSS1.5 patch, are the legatos still marked "Low latency & Expressive" or do they say "standard & advanced"?
Does everything play correctly in both libraries?
Or is it possible 80% is fine but the major library tweaks in the new version will screw up how some of the old sounds are handled?


----------



## Igor Sena (Aug 30, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> For those who already installed ver 1.7, was the Native Access download speed decent ? or I should ask how long did it take you to download the new ver 1.7 ?
> 
> Thanks


It was extremely fast for me. DO IT =)


----------



## Emmanuel Jacob (Aug 30, 2022)

Hey all...

Here's a guide to have 1.7 and the old one working side by side. (TESTED).

1. Make a backup of the old one either by renaming it in the same folder or by copying/moving it anywhere else... (and maybe you wanna keep that backup like... Forever? to a safe place).
2. Download the new one (1.7). *Make a quick backup of the Instruments folder by zipping it in there. You'll have an Instruments.zip file, ready if anything goes wrong.* Rename all the *.nki (Instrument files) inside the Instruments folder by adding 1,7. For example: *CSS 1st Violins 1,7.nki*
3. From the Samples folder, since the sample packages *.nkx files have already different names (thanks Alex), the only files you want to rename are the CSS.nkr and CSS.nkc. Again, just add 1,7 to the filename...e.g. *CSS 1,7.nkr / CSS 1,7.nkc*
4. Open up Kontakt and make a full batch re-save and when is asking for CSS.nkr and Pure Impulse.wav just search the file and choose the renamed one: CSS 1,7.nkr.
5. Once finished with re-saving, just load all patches and check they load properly.
6. Go back to the old CSS folder and move or copy the Samples and Instruments folders inside the new Master folder of CSS. If everything is done correctly in the previews steps, you won't have any messages of overwriting files.
7. You end up having both versions in the same path and the old one untouched for your old projects.






Hope it helps...


----------



## Igor Sena (Aug 30, 2022)

Dirk Ehlert said:


> Correct me if I’m wrong but shouldn’t it be possible to have both versions in the same folder structure? To be more precise, what I think I want to do:
> Rename CSS folder to CSS OLD
> Download new 1.7 into Folder CSS
> After download rename Samples folder to Samples New
> ...


Did this work for you, Dirk? Are you able to open old projects without the constant folder renaming method? If so, that would be so amazing!


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## Igor Sena (Aug 30, 2022)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> It was the size it said in no access before I selected download.
> EDIT: it says on the download progress bar 45.25gb


I also have this value on my fully downloaded 1.7 version. Any idea on why this is? Maybe compression? Or is it something missing?


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## Igor Sena (Aug 30, 2022)

N.Caffrey said:


> Another point about the size, I downloaded it with NA1 and it was 45gb, then I installed NA2 and now I can see the size is 48Gb.


Weird. I installed with Native Access 2 and before installing it said 48gb but now it´s 45.2 installed lol


----------



## josephwmorgan (Aug 30, 2022)

Scamper said:


> There are multiple ways to do this and you don't need to do any folder renaming.
> 
> *1. Backup CSS old and install CSS 1.7, so you have both folders*
> (CSS 1.7 will be the main folder now, that's connected to Kontakt)
> ...


this is exactly the type of solution i'm after


----------



## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2022)

dcoscina said:


> I have tried 3 times downloading and once it completes and moves to the installation it fails. Then the ISO file disappears from the folder so I'm not able to locate it... this is rather frustrating.


YES!!! Me too...4 times, and nothing. hours wasted downloading then it disappears.


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## RMH (Aug 30, 2022)

inthevoid said:


> Thank you Alex for an incredible update! Couldn't resist having a play around on some John Williams strings runs with it this morning...


Agile! Just agaile! Don’t need any words.


----------



## THW (Aug 30, 2022)

Removed -- user error


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## dcoscina (Aug 30, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> YES!!! Me too...4 times, and nothing. hours wasted downloading then it disappears.


Jake, are you on an M1 Mac? I tried it on my Mac Pro trashcan and it FINALLY worked. Can’t figure out why it was being such a pain on the Mac Mini..


----------



## Alex W (Aug 30, 2022)

Hi guys, I'm doing my best to keep up with what's happening here, but I've been distracted by the tech support emails. It's getting kind of tricky to keep up with both at the same time, especially since some users have posted both here while simultaneously opening tech support tickets. That's fine of course, and I'll do my best to keep up, but bear with me. Really appreciate the helpful vibes going on in here, don't worry - we'll get there!


----------



## proxima (Aug 30, 2022)

Downloaded and installed 1.7 (after backing up 1.5), but I was surprised it broke even my simple template. You really must re-select the instrument from Kontakt, so what Alex described as "not compatible" is more than just the plugin working and sounding different, but just straight up loading different.

I'm sure Alex released this version this way for a reason, and my guess is that a different product name (e.g. Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7) that lived alongside CSS classic would have involved more money to Native Instruments. I'm hoping that the instructions above will actually let me use both versions side by side without renaming folders. 

Also, it seems many (most?) of us don't have Native Access overwriting our original location, but instead putting the library in the Native Instruments folder. I had to move mine to where I put my Cinematic Studio series.

I thoroughly appreciate the update and look forward to working with it. It's rare to get a meaningful free update to virtual instruments, and I'm happy that CS* are my core libraries. Money well spent.


----------



## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2022)

dcoscina said:


> Jake, are you on an M1 Mac? I tried it on my Mac Pro trashcan and it FINALLY worked. Can’t figure out why it was being such a pain on the Mac Mini..


I have a 2018 mini...I've tried it now 5 times and nothing. I trashed the old CSS to make room for the new one, that should not have affected the install ...I am frustrated and pissed I'm wasting all this time.


----------



## proxima (Aug 30, 2022)

Emmanuel Jacob said:


> Hey all...
> 
> Here's a guide to have 1.7 and the old one working side by side. (TESTED).


Does this work having re-defined where Native Access/Kontakt think the library is? When I followed these instructions with the addition of relocating the library in the library browser, old projects won't load, complaining that they're looking for samples in my "1.7" folder. The Kontakt Player libraries have this additional layer, no?


----------



## Trash Panda (Aug 30, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> I have a 2018 mini...I've tried it now 5 times and nothing. I trashed the old CSS to make room for the new one, that should not have affected the install ...I am frustrated and pissed I'm wasting all this time.


Do you have a PC with space? Download to that one and copy it over to your Mac.


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## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Do you have a PC with space? Download to that one and copy it over to your Mac.


LOL. I just need this to work. NA 2 is at least allowing me to download it to my external rather than my OS drive...but then it keeps failing. I'm at a loss...5 times now.


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## Emmanuel Jacob (Aug 30, 2022)

proxima said:


> Does this work having re-defined where Native Access/Kontakt think the library is? When I followed these instructions with the addition of relocating the library in the library browser, old projects won't load, complaining that they're looking for samples in my "1.7" folder. The Kontakt Player libraries have this additional layer, no?


My solution has no 1,7 folder, Scamper's has.

First, just move your old CSS folder outside of any NI folder just to be sure you won't get confused with folders.

Install the 1,7 from Native Access, if it installs it to a destination you don't want, then move it where you need it to be and then open again Native Access and locate it. Then, follow my instructions from Step 2, skipping the installation process as you already have done that.


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## proxima (Aug 30, 2022)

Emmanuel Jacob said:


> My solution have no 1,7 folder, Scamper's has.


Oh I totally read this too quickly - yours has both libraries coexisting in the exact same folders. Thanks!


----------



## Emmanuel Jacob (Aug 30, 2022)

Alex W said:


> Hi guys, I'm doing my best to keep up with what's happening here, but I've been distracted by the tech support emails. It's getting kind of tricky to keep up with both at the same time, especially since some users have posted both here while simultaneously opening tech support tickets. That's fine of course, and I'll do my best to keep up, but bear with me. Really appreciate the helpful vibes going on in here, don't worry - we'll get there!


Hi Alex.
1st, thank you for that update and for your hard work. :D

2nd... Well yes, 2nd, Violins compared to the old ones but with the 1st Violins 1.7 as well, seems like they are missing the lower dynamic layer or the dynamics curve is like being compressed. They enter abruptly.

Can you confirm this? Or anybody else?

Thank you.


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## Casiquire (Aug 30, 2022)

This update is fantastic now that it's in my own hands. Really gorgeous and playable and the mic options are really nice, very different sounds.

Also, that marcato patch is probably the only thing I'll reach for in the future if I need a run that I don't have pre-recorded somewhere. I've also never heard anything as good as that patch for those extra quick little turns and grace notes, even getting more aggressive. It all works well together


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## Jackdnp121 (Aug 30, 2022)

Emmanuel Jacob said:


> Hi Alex.
> 1st, thank you for that update and for your hard work. :D
> 
> 2nd... Well yes, 2nd, Violins compared to the old ones but with the 1st Violins 1.7 as well, seems like they are missing the lower dynamic layer or the dynamics curve is like being compressed. They enter abruptly.
> ...


Happens to me yes

playing slow fade in with strings … the sounds seems to appear suddenly instead of fade-in … mostly cc1


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 30, 2022)

Anybody run into an installation error in NA2? I downloaded it via the Re-install option, but the installation failed with no further info and it also deleted the iso file from my drive, so I have to re-download it all over.


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## Saxer (Aug 30, 2022)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Anybody run into an installation error in NA2? I downloaded it via the Re-install option, but the installation failed with no further info and it also deleted the iso file from my drive, so I have to re-download it all over.


Same here. Installation has to be done via Native Access. Not by double clicking the .dmg-file.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 30, 2022)

Saxer said:


> Same here. Installation has to be done via Native Access. Not by double clicking the .dmg-file.


Did you resolve it?


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## Saxer (Aug 30, 2022)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Did you resolve it?


2nd download did it. Had a reboot in between. NI Access installed it after finishing the download.


----------



## Dorrus (Aug 31, 2022)

Hi there
I have just successfully installed the new 1.7. version and noticed that in Kontakt "Quick Load" my saved patches from the old version are still available?
Maybe this is a simple way to use them side by side?


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Aug 31, 2022)

So I installed V1.7 and loaded up a mockup I made with V1.5...WOW. No more boominess from DB and VLC!

Edit: Oh, I had Ozone 9 'Remove Mud' on the Master bus hehe  Even without it, the basses and cellos seem less boomy on first listen though.


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## Dirk Ehlert (Aug 31, 2022)

Igor Sena said:


> Did this work for you, Dirk? Are you able to open old projects without the constant folder renaming method? If so, that would be so amazing!


Yes it’s pretty straight forward. I’ll probably put up a quick video on my channel


----------



## tc9000 (Aug 31, 2022)

PS - I'm guilty of all of these


----------



## cqd (Aug 31, 2022)

Still isn't showing up for me..


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 31, 2022)

cqd said:


> Still isn't showing up for me..


You need to hit "reinstall" and it will download 1.7. It won't ever show up in the "updates" section of NA.


----------



## Dirk Ehlert (Aug 31, 2022)

Did a quick video on how I set up the new and the old to work side by side.


In short:

Rename CSS folder to CSS OLD
Download new 1.7 into Folder CSS
After download rename Samples folder to Samples New
Batch re-save 1.7 with Samples new folder
Rename Instruments folder in CSS Old to Instruments old
Move entire CSS Old folder into CSS folder
That should give me the following structure within the css folder
- Instruments
- Instruments old
- Samples
- Samples new

Due to the batch re-save 1.7 instruments should load in a snap and opening old projects will not have to look for another folder.


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 31, 2022)

Emmanuel Jacob said:


> Well yes, 2nd, Violins compared to the old ones but with the 1st Violins 1.7 as well, seems like they are missing the lower dynamic layer or the dynamics curve is like being compressed. They enter abruptly.
> 
> Can you confirm this? Or anybody else?


Hm, gonna have to check that out later today.

Yesterday I almost only used the Full Ensemble patch as I got somewhat lost in how much I prefer the new mix mic sound over the old one. For me, Alex changed it into pretty much the exact direction I was hoping for and to my surprise the difference was very much noticeable at the first chord I played, without need to compare it to 1.5
It of course still is a studio sound - you can't expect a symphonic hall here, even though it's more roomy. But it definitely is a studio sound more to my likings.


----------



## Francisco Lamolda (Aug 31, 2022)

Saxer said:


> 2nd download did it. Had a reboot in between. NI Access installed it after finishing the download.


So when the file appears (image below), do I have to wait and not click on the Setup? I've tried like four times to install it with the Setup and I always get the same error withouth explanation.





Edit: I did wait and it worked!!


----------



## Sunny Schramm (Aug 31, 2022)

Francisco Lamolda said:


> So when the file appears (image below), do I have to wait and not click on the Setup? I've tried like four times to install it with the Setup and I always get the same error withouth explanation.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


yes - installing runs in the background (here with Native Access 2).


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## dcoscina (Aug 31, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> LOL. I just need this to work. NA 2 is at least allowing me to download it to my external rather than my OS drive...but then it keeps failing. I'm at a loss...5 times now.


I feel your frustration. I was lucky enough to have my MP 6,1 running an almost identical set up- except it’s an intel cpu not silicon. I didn’t know if that was a factor. 

I was going to do what Ole recommended if that last attempt didn’t work which was go into the NA preferences and point all downloads tothe existing CSS folder. That might work. It did for him.


----------



## dcoscina (Aug 31, 2022)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Anybody run into an installation error in NA2? I downloaded it via the Re-install option, but the installation failed with no further info and it also deleted the iso file from my drive, so I have to re-download it all over.


Yup I did it 5 times and had to switch computers for it to ultimately successfully download.


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## Igor Sena (Aug 31, 2022)

Dirk Ehlert said:


> Yes it’s pretty straight forward. I’ll probably put up a quick video on my channel


Great! 

Just woke up and saw your video on my feed so i'm saving it to watch as soon as i get home =) 

Thank you for taking the time to reply and keep up the good work!


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## Igor Sena (Aug 31, 2022)

I'm having a problem with 1.7 where i'm playing something just to test things out and all of a sudden CSS plays other articulations or seems to cut off although i'm not changing anything, just playing around. I thought it was my DAW/Template but this happens in standalone as well.
The cut off part might be because the patches take a bit to fully load into memory but the rest i don't know why it happens.


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## David Kudell (Aug 31, 2022)

Emmanuel Jacob said:


> Hey all...
> 
> Here's a guide to have 1.7 and the old one working side by side. (TESTED).
> 
> ...


Hey my friend, thank you for this! I’m thinking about doing this, the only thing holding me back is if Alex releases updates to fix issues through Native Access (and there are a few bugs it sounds like) then it won’t update because everything is renamed to 1.7. But I guess if you took out the 1.5 patches, removed all of the 1.7s from the names then it might update?

Or I could do what you did instead with version 1.5, that way I can still access the old library on the same machine but I’d have to replace the instruments manually in old projects.


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## axb312 (Aug 31, 2022)

@Alex W Will the woodwinds require a runs patch/ update (do they need them? - I'm not sure...)...


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## Andrajas (Aug 31, 2022)

I dont even see my update in Native Access. What have I missed here?


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## Nimrod7 (Aug 31, 2022)

Andrajas said:


> I dont even see my update in Native Access. What have I missed here?


It will not see the update automatically,

Alex describes the process in the first post: 

"After you have created the backup, run Native Access and locate "Cinematic Studio Strings" among your list of installed libraries. Right-click on Cinematic Studio Strings and select "Re-install".


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## Andrajas (Aug 31, 2022)

Nimrod7 said:


> It will not see the update automatically,
> 
> Alex describes the process in the first post:
> 
> "After you have created the backup, run Native Access and locate "Cinematic Studio Strings" among your list of installed libraries. Right-click on Cinematic Studio Strings and select "Re-install".


ah forgot about that line! thanks!


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 31, 2022)

I rebooted, restarted NA2 - installation failed again. Tried to redo the installation and it seems frozen. This is a really poor experience. I deleted 1.5 off my drive to make space and now am stuck with nothing.


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## bobster (Aug 31, 2022)

Andrajas said:


> I dont even see my update in Native Access. What have I missed here?


Same here - 1.7 update is not appearing in Native Access (NA shows CSS version 1.5 as installed). I logged out and back into Native Access. Quit are restarted it. Clicked the "refresh" button multiple times. Tried the old version of NA and version 2 - same result.

EDIT: I didn't realize the only way to install the update is to select "Re-Install". I tried that, and after downloading for a while, it failed. Tried clicking the retry icon, then also tried quitting and re-launching Native Access twice and selecting "Re-Install." It failed every time.

Native Access and Monterey 12.5.1 are current.
M1 Max Mac Studio


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## lettucehat (Aug 31, 2022)

Dirk Ehlert said:


> Did a quick video on how I set up the new and the old to work side by side.
> 
> 
> In short:
> ...



small q probably from my poor understanding - but while the sample aspect makes perfect sense to me, how will older projects correctly load the old instruments when they have identical names / are in a 1.5 subfolder? would projects not look at the 1.7 instruments and load them instead? thanks for this fix, looking forward to trying it.


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## Dirk Ehlert (Aug 31, 2022)

lettucehat said:


> small q probably from my poor understanding - but while the sample aspect makes perfect sense to me, how will older projects correctly load the old instruments when they have identical names / are in a 1.5 subfolder? would projects not look at the 1.7 instruments and load them instead? thanks for this fix, looking forward to trying it.


Old projects do not recall the instruments (the nkis) from their physical location on the drive, the NKI is already within the instance of Kontakt in your old projects. What it recalls upon loading is the sample path. This applies to enabled and disabled instruments. 
The 1.5 folder is practically not necessary, it's only there for convenience in case you'd like to load an old version additionally.


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## lettucehat (Aug 31, 2022)

Dirk Ehlert said:


> Old projects do not recall the instruments (the nkis) from their physical location on the drive, the NKI is already within the instance of Kontakt in your old projects. What it recalls upon loading is the sample path. This applies to enabled and disabled instruments.
> The 1.5 folder is practically not necessary, it's only there for convenience in case you'd like to load an old version additionally.


ok great, I was hoping this was the case (but have never really looked into). thanks for the help!


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## paulmatthew (Aug 31, 2022)

20 minutes to download and I think I got it to batch resave properly to have both versions working side by side. Thanks Dirk for the video that explained it a little better.


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## muziksculp (Aug 31, 2022)

Any specific reason to keep both versions (1.5 and 1.7), if you have no need to work with older 1.5 projects ? Especially given that Alex W. has worked very hard to improve all aspects of CSS in 1.7 ?


----------



## Henu (Aug 31, 2022)

So, was this mentioned somewhere if there's a fix? I just literally reinstalled the old library- downloading v1.5 again from Native Access. So it's definitely possible to get the old version too from their servers. Now the question is, what the hell should I do now?

EDIT: LOL stupid me. It didn't reinstall on top of the old version, that's still intact. It was a complete new install into the _download folder_....


----------



## Go To 11 (Aug 31, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Any specific reason to keep both versions (1.5 and 1.7), if you have no need to work with older 1.5 projects ? Especially given that Alex W. has worked very hard to improve all aspects of CSS in 1.7 ?


Not that I can think of. New version is improved in all the ways I was hoping for.


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## muziksculp (Aug 31, 2022)

Go To 11 said:


> Not that I can think of. New version is improved in all the ways I was hoping for.


OK. Thanks. 

That makes sense to me. I just wanted to double check, since I will be deleting the 1.5 folder, but will also copy it to an external backup drive just to have a copy available if I ever need it. (although I doubt it). I will just install 1.7 and call it a day when I'm back in my studio.


----------



## lettucehat (Aug 31, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Any specific reason to keep both versions (1.5 and 1.7), if you have no need to work with older 1.5 projects ? Especially given that Alex W. has worked very hard to improve all aspects of CSS in 1.7 ?


not saying i agree, but some in the audio examples thread are saying they might prefer the sound of the older version and the layered spiccato, even the legato (although the expressive/advanced legato should be the same). perhaps that the de-noising had an effect and the old version might sound nicer as long as you don't stack too many CSS tracks together?


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## paulmatthew (Aug 31, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> OK. Thanks.
> 
> That makes sense to me. I just wanted to double check, since I will be deleting the 1.5 folder, but will also copy it to an external backup drive just to have a copy available if I ever need it. (although I doubt it). I will just install 1.7 and call it a day when I'm back in my studio.


Might be best to try it for yourself first. You might find there is something about 1.5 that you don't want to lose in the sound or tone. Remember the update is denoised , sounds brighter and some are saying they preferred the spiccato in 1.5 since it was built in layered with a staccato. If I find I like the new update better and will only use that then just delete the 1.5 items.


----------



## ender7 (Aug 31, 2022)

Also having issues with Native Access 2 saying installation failed with no explanation. Really weird and awful experience given the download size.


----------



## Lazeez (Aug 31, 2022)

Emmanuel Jacob said:


> Hi Alex.
> 1st, thank you for that update and for your hard work. :D
> 
> 2nd... Well yes, 2nd, Violins compared to the old ones but with the 1st Violins 1.7 as well, seems like they are missing the lower dynamic layer or the dynamics curve is like being compressed. They enter abruptly.
> ...





Bluemount Score said:


> Hm, gonna have to check that out later today.
> 
> Yesterday I almost only used the Full Ensemble patch as I got somewhat lost in how much I prefer the new mix mic sound over the old one. For me, Alex changed it into pretty much the exact direction I was hoping for and to my surprise the difference was very much noticeable at the first chord I played, without need to compare it to 1.5
> It of course still is a studio sound - you can't expect a symphonic hall here, even though it's more roomy. But it definitely is a studio sound more to my likings.


I just tested this out with 1.5 and 1.7. 1.5 allows the the sound of all sections (not just violins 1) to get quieter than 1.7 at the lowest CC1 values. For example, CC1 value = 1 is louder in 1.7 than in 1.5. Not by too much but its certainly noticeable enough to feel abrupt when riding the very bottom of CC1 (CC1 values 0 to 1, 1 to 2 etc...). So while the dynamic layers are all there, it looks like the dynamic curve at the very bottom has been modified to be slightly steeper. A slow and smooth "to niente" will now require the use of CC11. 

I personally *love* the lowest dynamic CSS sound especially at very low CC1 values because, to me, its very close to sounding like flautando. However, the steeper curve means that I will now have to use CC11 more extensively to avoid the bumps at the bottom. Not too much of a big deal, especially given the plethora of awesome enhancements made to an already stellar strings library.

@Alex W , thank you for all the incredibly hard work and for creating some of the most brilliant sample libraries out there... and also for being an awesome person  This update goes way above and beyond a lot of our expectations! You have a customer for life in me.


----------



## Vik (Aug 31, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Any specific reason to keep both versions (1.5 and 1.7), if you have no need to work with older 1.5 projects ? Especially given that Alex W. has worked very hard to improve all aspects of CSS in 1.7 ?


I'll definitely download 1.7 soon and hope I won't miss the previous version, but I'll keep it – due to some reports from various users. Here are some of them.






__





Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


Stunning piece! Loved listening to this. Thank you @Go To 11! Very kind of you.




vi-control.net









__





Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


Stunning piece! Loved listening to this. Thank you @Go To 11! Very kind of you.




vi-control.net









__





Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


Stunning piece! Loved listening to this. Thank you @Go To 11! Very kind of you.




vi-control.net









__





Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


Stunning piece! Loved listening to this. Thank you @Go To 11! Very kind of you.




vi-control.net









__





Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


Stunning piece! Loved listening to this. Thank you @Go To 11! Very kind of you.




vi-control.net










__





Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


I often layer other strings libs with CSS! As mentioned CSSS has been the no-brainer layering lib, but I also often layer with Adagio/Agitato if I need shorts with more bite or schmaltzier legatos. I also really love the sound of Tokyo Scoring Strings violins layered with CSS, for a little...




vi-control.net









__





Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


(25 minutes here 😯) That's very fast given it's Native Access. Did you use NA1, or NA2 ? Thanks




vi-control.net









__





Cinematic Studio Strings v1.7 - Available August 30!


Hi Alex. 1st, thank you for that update and for your hard work. :D 2nd... Well yes, 2nd, Violins compared to the old ones but with the 1st Violins 1.7 as well, seems like they are missing the lower dynamic layer or the dynamics curve is like being compressed. They enter abruptly. Can you...




vi-control.net






---





__





Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


Hey, could anyone help me test this: Set dynamics control to CC2 on vi, vii and va and play a three note chord with notes assigned accordingly, that goes from 0-127. Use non-vib. In my setup v2 kicks in at a higher volume from around 0-5 and then is balanced out when reaching 100. Can anyone...




vi-control.net


----------



## Henu (Aug 31, 2022)

Hey, I did some tricks and probably managed to f**k it up with batch resaving, because none of the con sordino patches work, I'm just getting a no sound instantly when I switch that on. Most likely pointing to wrong (old) samples now, but as I can't check a locked library, I can't be sure.

Could anyone be so kind and throw me unmodified versions of the 1.7 instruments so I wouldn't have to download the whole 45 GB again for that? :D

EDIT: I managed to get it working. If anyone else has the same problem, it was easily solved. Renaming the old "samples"- folder revealed me that it was indeed using the sordino samples from that old folder. Then I just batch resaved the new instruments again, this time pointing to the _new_ folder and now they work!


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## muziksculp (Aug 31, 2022)

Vik said:


> I'll definitely download 1.7 soon and hope I won't miss the previous version, but I'll keep it – due to some reports from various users. Here are some of them.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hopefully another CSS 1.7 update will fix/improve these issues posted. I'm guessing they have also been emailed to Cinematic Studio Strings Support. So, they have a log of all the reported issues.


----------



## Gerbil (Aug 31, 2022)

Wow these are fantastic. i can't stop playing them. Massive thanks and thumbs up


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## Vik (Aug 31, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Hopefully another CSS 1.7 update will fix/improve these issues posted.


Sure. Some of these may not be considered issues though, but changes: Maybe it's simply impossible to achieve everything that the previous version could do due to changes in the samples (not thinking of the Advanced/Expressive mode now, but the normal legato). In any case, it's an impressive upgrade!


----------



## muziksculp (Aug 31, 2022)

There is always some resistance to change, I think some of the posts here demonstrate that fact.


----------



## jadedsean (Aug 31, 2022)

Sorry if this has been asked before but, it states in Native Access that the download should be 48gb but i only have 45gb, is that right?


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Aug 31, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> There is always some resistance to change, I think some of the posts here demonstrate that fact.


There is a very real difference in taste for a few of us in favor of the “old” CSS for some of the audio examples posted. At the same time I think everyone I’ve seen post this say there is much to love about CSS 1.7 and that they’re gonna use both.

So resistance to change, no.


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## muziksculp (Aug 31, 2022)

Henrik B. Jensen said:


> There is a very real difference in taste for a few of us in favor of the “old” CSS for some of the audio examples posted. At the same time I think everyone I’ve seen post this say there is much to love about CSS 1.7 and that they’re gonna use both.
> 
> So resistance to change, no.


I think ver 1.7 requires a bit of a different approach, and feel using CCs, mic mix combos , and velocity. Due to the changes Alex made. He also mentions, and recommends not rushing to conclusions, given that more time is needed to get very acquainted, and comfortable with using ver 1.7 , I feel more time is needed for users to begin using it optimally.

I would be more interested in hearing demos produced a week from now using CSS 1.7, I think they will sound much better than most of the ones being produced a day after CSS 1.7 release.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 31, 2022)

ender7 said:


> Also having issues with Native Access 2 saying installation failed with no explanation. Really weird and awful experience given the download size.


Yeah same - I have no idea how to fix it.


----------



## bbrylow (Aug 31, 2022)

I am not even seeing this show up in Native Access.


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## jbuhler (Aug 31, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Any specific reason to keep both versions (1.5 and 1.7), if you have no need to work with older 1.5 projects ? Especially given that Alex W. has worked very hard to improve all aspects of CSS in 1.7 ?


I mean you know that some are going to insist (are already insisting) that 1.5 is better and 1.7 is new Coke compared to 1.5’s Coke Classic, right? So if you don’t see yourself captured by the desire for what was it’s safe to delete, but if you are one to be bugged by that loss, best to keep both around.


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## gprok1 (Aug 31, 2022)

Do we need the really last version of Kontakt to play this update??

thanks so much!!


----------



## Bluemount Score (Aug 31, 2022)

bbrylow said:


> I am not even seeing this show up in Native Access.


It doesn't show up as an update. Simple reinstall CSS via NA. There you have 1.7


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 31, 2022)

gprok1 said:


> Do we need the really last version of Kontakt to play this update??
> 
> thanks so much!!


Not the latest, it is Kontakt 5.8.(something) and above


----------



## Illico (Aug 31, 2022)

I had an "*Installation failed*" message on *Native Access 2 (2.4.0)* on my *PC.*
I tried the same process multiple times without success (I'm located in France).
I don't know if there are a log file of the NA.

So I* extracted the *.iso downloaded* file from the NA Download Location directory, then I manually install the packages with the "*Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7.0 Setup PC.exe*",
I click "refresh" on Native Access, then I could see "Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7.0 48.59GB"
The installed folder size is 45,2Go (48.59GB with 72 files and 5 subfolders) and play fine!


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Aug 31, 2022)

jbuhler said:


> I mean you know that some are going to insist (are already insisting) that 1.5 is better and 1.7 is new Coke compared to 1.5’s Coke Classic, right? So if you don’t see yourself captured by the desire for what was it’s safe to delete, but if you are one to be bugged by that loss, best to keep both around.


I give up. Apparently some people insist on misinterpreting/mis-quoting what’s been said several times now. So, have your ”truth”. There


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## Igor Sena (Aug 31, 2022)

jadedsean said:


> Sorry if this has been asked before but, it states in Native Access that the download should be 48gb but i only have 45gb, is that right?


Hey!

Same here. 45.2gb but in Native Acess it said 48gb. Some other people have the other way around (had 45 in NA and 48 after installing). Weird.


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## muziksculp (Aug 31, 2022)

I wonder if Alex W. decided to have the 1.7 Update downloadable via the PULSE downloader, many here would have a much smoother updating experience. I really like using PULSE to install libraries, and updates. Easy, and Fast. I haven't downloaded 1.7 yet, since I'm out of town, but PULSE Downloader imho. would have been a better option to using NA.


----------



## Illico (Aug 31, 2022)

The Reverb knob seems to have effect only on the Mix mic.
No Reverb effect with Spot1/2/Main/Room mics enabled
(No problem for me, I don't use the Reverb)


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## jbuhler (Aug 31, 2022)

Henrik B. Jensen said:


> I give up. Apparently some people insist on misinterpreting/mis-quoting what’s been said several times now. So, have your ”truth”. There


Wow, touchy aren’t we, especially in a comment that wasn’t even addressed to you.


----------



## proxima (Aug 31, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> Hey my friend, thank you for this! I’m thinking about doing this, the only thing holding me back is if Alex releases updates to fix issues through Native Access (and there are a few bugs it sounds like) then it won’t update because everything is renamed to 1.7. But I guess if you took out the 1.5 patches, removed all of the 1.7s from the names then it might update?
> 
> Or I could do what you did instead with version 1.5, that way I can still access the old library on the same machine but I’d have to replace the instruments manually in old projects.


If an update comes down, you could do the (inefficient) thing and let Native Access reinstall the thing by moving away the library again.


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## Emmanuel Jacob (Aug 31, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> Hey my friend, thank you for this! I’m thinking about doing this, the only thing holding me back is if Alex releases updates to fix issues through Native Access (and there are a few bugs it sounds like) then it won’t update because everything is renamed to 1.7. But I guess if you took out the 1.5 patches, removed all of the 1.7s from the names then it might update?
> 
> Or I could do what you did instead with version 1.5, that way I can still access the old library on the same machine but I’d have to replace the instruments manually in old projects.


Exactly... If you remove the old *.nki and CSS.nkr/nkc and nkx files, then rename the 1.7 files by removing "1,7"... Your installation will be ready for update.

One thing you can do is to zip the current state of Instruments folder of the 1.7 Installation as it is untouched after the "re-install process through NA, along with the CSS.nkr & CSS.nkc that are in Samples Folder to a different destination folder, as a back-up... Then proceed with my workaround and once everything works with the renamed files, just before you put back in the old version files, make another zip of backup with the renamed files, so you just have to delete and recover anytime you need it.


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## Emmanuel Jacob (Aug 31, 2022)

Lazeez said:


> I personally *love* the lowest dynamic CSS sound especially at very low CC1 values because, to me, *its very close to sounding like flautando.*


Exactly my friend... One of the strong points of this library is that the lowest dynamic layer is almost like flautando or like sul tasto. That's why is one of the few Strings library that offers that transition in cross-fading dynamic layers, without the actual need of layering it with a sul tasto or flautando string library.

From a personal experience, OT, improved their string libraries to that matter, by adding a cut off filter while you can control the range of it, which removes high frequencies as you turn down the modwheel. And it works really, really well.


----------



## Henrik B. Jensen (Aug 31, 2022)

jbuhler said:


> Wow, touchy aren’t we, especially in a comment that wasn’t even addressed to you.


Sorry  I’m cranky because it seems like several people think it’s not okay to actually prefer some 1.5 demos to their 1.7 versions currently, meaning, when we all get to know 1.7 then who knows, maybe we will all prefer that


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## jaketanner (Aug 31, 2022)

dcoscina said:


> I feel your frustration. I was lucky enough to have my MP 6,1 running an almost identical set up- except it’s an intel cpu not silicon. I didn’t know if that was a factor.
> 
> I was going to do what Ole recommended if that last attempt didn’t work which was go into the NA preferences and point all downloads tothe existing CSS folder. That might work. It did for him.


The issue is that I deleted the css folder to make room for the update. I just want a fresh install. It’s technically a fresh install because it doesn’t overwrite the old version. Not sure why it’s not working. 5 times already and always fails.


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## dcoscina (Aug 31, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> The issue is that I deleted the css folder to make room for the update. I just want a fresh install. It’s technically a fresh install because it doesn’t overwrite the old version. Not sure why it’s not working. 5 times already and always fails.


yeah I changed my old folder name halfway through the initial download (figuring it was saving to a new folder anyhow). That really messed it up and I could not get it to download on the Mac Mini. I'm just lucky I have the Mac Pro running a similar system (though it's still on Catalina whereas the Mini is on Monterey).


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## jaketanner (Aug 31, 2022)

dcoscina said:


> yeah I changed my old folder name halfway through the initial download (figuring it was saving to a new folder anyhow). That really messed it up and I could not get it to download on the Mac Mini. I'm just lucky I have the Mac Pro running a similar system (though it's still on Catalina whereas the Mini is on Monterey).


I’m on Big Sur. NI is slow as all hell getting back to me about this. CS isn’t replying here to this issue either and I’m out of ideas. Has to be something wrong along the way. I might try downloading and installing it in a different folder. Who knows, might just work. Lol


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## NoamL (Aug 31, 2022)

Illico said:


> The Reverb knob seems to have effect only on the Mix mic.
> No Reverb effect with Spot1/2/Main/Room mics enabled
> (No problem for me, I don't use the Reverb)


I can confirm the same issue, but...

it's not the 4 mics that causes the problem, but rather the issue is caused when I route them to outputs other than "Def." If you route all mics to Def, the verb works.

Guessing it's because the on-board reverb is actually a convolution IR that is sitting on Kontakt's default output channel. So when you route to the multi-outs, it bypasses it. Just the same as the Kontakt volume slider in the top right, and how it has no effect when you route (any Kontakt instrument's!) mics to the multi-outs.

I kinda feel it's a non issue. If you're using the multi-outs in Kontakt you're very likely an advanced user and hosting Kontakt in a DAW; every DAW now has decent free reverb options.


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## bobster (Aug 31, 2022)

SUCCESS!

I was getting "Installation Failed" errors when I selected "Reinstall" in Native Access v2 (on macOS 12.5.1).

I submitted a support ticket to NI, but then out of curiosity I tried the old Native Access (version 1.14).

"Reinstall" worked, successfully updating CSS v1.5 to 1.7.

Hope this helps.


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## muziksculp (Aug 31, 2022)

I find it quite odd that NI has kept NA1, while they have NA2. Is NA2 a beta of some sort ? Why don't they make it a must to install NA2, and put NA1 to rest ? Having two installation applications is bound to create confusion, this thread is a good example.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Aug 31, 2022)

For those on Mac getting the installation failed issue, I was able to resolve it by ensuring Native Access had Full Disk Access permissions in Security & Privacy —> Privacy settings.


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## bobster (Aug 31, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> I find it quite odd that NI has kept NA1, while they have NA2. Is NA2 a beta of some sort ? Why don't they make it a must to install NA2, and put NA1 to rest ? Having two installation applications is bound to create confusion, this thread is a good example.


According to a post I saw at Motunation a while back, NA 2 is missing features available in NA1. I don't recall the specifics, but it was enough for me to keep a copy of NA 1, and I'm glad I did.

I agree it's odd to have two versions out in the wild. I also wonder why the released v2 as a separate app instead of as an update to 1, and why it lacks the full feature set of v1. It's confusing and frustrating.


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## muziksculp (Aug 31, 2022)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I wish @Alex W would switch to the PULSE downloader, and not bother using NA for installs, and updates. NA is only adding more headaches to Alex's support activities that are totally unnecessary. It's enough he has to deal with library related issues, and requests.


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## AHM (Sep 1, 2022)

For the ones with the NI Access 2 Problem (Not installing due to permission problem...) Here's my Solution:
for Monterey on Mac m1!! so far


Go to the app NI Access 2 and right click
Click on show package contents
Go to Contents->Resources->daemon->mac
Here is the installer: NTKDaemon Installer Mac.pkg
Install. During the install you are asked for the right given permissions, what not happens during the regular install
After Install restart (so i did)
For me it works. Don't blame me if it doesn't work for you. Hope this helps.


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## thorwald (Sep 1, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> As I mentioned in an earlier post, I wish @Alex W would switch to the PULSE downloader, and not bother using NA for installs, and updates. NA is only adding more headaches to Alex's support activities that are totally unnecessary. It's enough he has to deal with library related issues, and requests.


If he pays NI, they might as well host his libraries as part of licensing. With Pulse, I believe this would be an extra fee, on top of what he has to pay to NI.


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## muziksculp (Sep 1, 2022)

thorwald said:


> If he pays NI, they might as well host his libraries as part of licensing. With Pulse, I believe this would be an extra fee, on top of what he has to pay to NI.


Yes, I believe that's true. But he could also charge us a fee for the update to cover the cost of the PULSE downloader. Anyways.. It is what it is now. We need to just hope NI improves NA.


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## lzcmusic (Sep 1, 2022)

No need for Pulse Downloader, Native Access is fine and it downloads the same way as NI's own library. Please use the latest version of Native Access 2, I hope other Cinematic Samples libraries will also be released with Native Access.


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## thorwald (Sep 1, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Yes, I believe that's true. But he could also charge us a fee for the update to cover the cost of the PULSE downloader. Anyways.. It is what it is now. We need to just hope NI improves NA.


I have nothing against Pulse, but if Alex theoretically charges for the update, I think he should be the one getting that extra money, rather than Pulse for the bandwidth ☺️ We have to suffer because of NA anyway, one more library doesn't really matter much.

Here's hoping NI will improve the NA experience as well.


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## muziksculp (Sep 1, 2022)

thorwald said:


> I have nothing against Pulse, but if Alex theoretically charges for the update, I think he should be the one getting that extra money, rather than Pulse for the bandwidth ☺️ We have to suffer because of NA anyway, one more library doesn't really matter much.
> 
> Here's hoping NI will improve the NA experience as well.


Agree. He could also charge so some of that charge goes to his effort to update the library. Which doesn't happen very often.


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## thorwald (Sep 1, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Agree. He could also charge so some of that charge goes to his effort to update the library. Which doesn't happen very often.


Yeah, I would be honestly okay paying for updates, especially if the mics could be toggled either via CC or Komplete. Those spotlights with short articulations are delightful and I can't unhear them now 😭


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## Sebanimation (Sep 1, 2022)

So I managed to get my libraries to show up in Native Access 2. But there's still no reinstall option for me. Does nobody else have this issue?


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## bobster (Sep 1, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> So I managed to get my libraries to show up in Native Access 2. But there's still no reinstall option for me. Does nobody else have this issue?


If you haven't tried NA 1, it might be worth a try. It worked for me when v2 didn't - though I didn't have your specific issue.



https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000407909-Native-Access-1-Legacy-Installers-for-Older-Operating-Systems


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## bobster (Sep 1, 2022)

Native Instruments is aware of M1 Mac activation issues with Native Access 2 and has instructions on keeping both versions:



https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/4785955318673



Now they're aware of "Reinstall" issues too.

(h/t to James at Motunation)


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## saxmand (Sep 1, 2022)

This is absolutely incredible @Alex W.

Looking so much forward to try the 1.7 version!!

To me CSS redefined what a (string) library should/could be. Consistent, good sounding, inspiring and amazing to program. I've used CSS on countless of projects and afterwards I've often experienced string players or other composers reactions being "are those strings really not recorded live?" I think that's more than you could ever wish for in a library. Before CSS I often avoided orchestra stuff cause it just didn't sound good enough!

I believe it is the length of the transitions that sells the realism and "fools" people. And making a library with a consistent delay is what really redefines everything especially cause it makes it much easier to program.
I have track delay and using a multi script, which allow me to have everything quantised. So when I need to make sheets of the music, there's basically no note editing needed in Dorico. It's just import midi, add dynamics and print. All those things makes CSS my go to library!

Been super excited about the "run mode" ever since it was shown in the CSW video, and have been one of the few places CSS have fallen me short up to this point.
All the other improvements also seems amazing.

Thank you thank you for making this library 
I can't wait for any future libraries coming from you! Cheers from Denmark


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## ender7 (Sep 1, 2022)

I was finally able to get it to download by downgrading to the previous Native Access version (V1 from V2). As people have mentioned the error was most likely due to it not having write permissions to external drives on MacOS. Inexplicably during first run of the app it does not ask for external hard drive permissions, which is a requirement from the app developer side. Worst of all it doesn't even give a proper error message to point you in the right direction. Even their V1 product handled this correctly.

Giving the app full disk admin access is NOT the way to go, that is a security failure.

NI products are complete shit, from hardware to software to support, all down the line. I regret every hardware purchase I've made from them (komplete audio, komplete kontrol). It's all buggy as hell and they spend years not fixing the issues. This experience is par for the course. Here they are years late releasing an updated Native Access riddled with problems and only officially supporting MacOS 11 when MacOS 13 is mere weeks away.


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## gprok1 (Sep 1, 2022)

Bluemount Score said:


> Not the latest, it is Kontakt 5.8.(something) and above


thanks very much!!!!


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## dksellou (Sep 1, 2022)

Rob Elliott said:


> Alex is prolly sleep but try the 'mic 2's + Room'. For an even BIGGER sound double the midi in CS2.  (you'll have to move things a tad in CS2 but worth it for that HUGE soaring sound.)


Do you mean spot 2? Also by "doubling the midi" what do you mean? Thanks


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## laudmusic (Sep 1, 2022)

Anyone share their experience with the update and DP? I'm having some annoying side effects when opening up old projects and new ones using my current template. From what I expected from the above directions, it would/should find everything.


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## jaketanner (Sep 1, 2022)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> For those on Mac getting the installation failed issue, I was able to resolve it by ensuring Native Access had Full Disk Access permissions in Security & Privacy —> Privacy settings.


Thanks for the tip


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## artomatic (Sep 1, 2022)

So I have 205 GB free on my system drive and this is the message I get!
Any suggestions?
Mac 7,1 96 GB ram
MAC OS 12.5.1
Native Access 1.14.1


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## jaketanner (Sep 1, 2022)

artomatic said:


> So I have 205 GB free on my system drive and this is the message I get!
> Any suggestions?
> Mac 7,1 96 GB ram
> MAC OS 12.5.1


There are nothing but problems with this update and install. I have other issues yet to be resolved.


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## Takabuntu (Sep 1, 2022)

artomatic said:


> So I have 205 GB free on my system drive and this is the message I get!
> Any suggestions?
> Mac 7,1 96 GB ram
> MAC OS 12.5.1
> Native Access 1.14.1


Hi @artomatic, perhaps it is the same problem I had. Do you have a large chunk of purgeable space on your install disk? Native Access calculates free space differently, it detracts the purgeable space (that is space from files that are deleted, but not reclaimed yet?) from the free space. So I had 77GB free space with 38GB purgeable. Native Access calculated therefore 39GB of free space which wasn't enough. The following trick helped me: Solve Purgeable Space Problems. After that the purgeable space was negligible and I was able to reinstall CSS. Hope that helps.


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## Saxer (Sep 1, 2022)

artomatic said:


> So I have 205 GB free on my system drive and this is the message I get!
> Any suggestions?
> Mac 7,1 96 GB ram
> MAC OS 12.5.1
> Native Access 1.14.1


I had the same issue (with NA 2.4.0) but I could address my download/install drives in the preferences of Native Access. That solved the problm.


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## artomatic (Sep 1, 2022)

Takabuntu said:


> Solve Purgeable Space Problems. After that the purgeable space was negligible and I was able to reinstall CSS. Hope that helps.



Thanks for this. I tried the suggestions there a few times. I must be doing something wrong because this did not work for me




Saxer said:


> I had the same issue (with NA 2.4.0) but I could address my download/install drives in the preferences of Native Access. That solved the problm.



Thanks, @Saxer . I tried to update to 2.4 but there's an on-going issues installing this for some users, including me. I cannot install this version. Contacted support for a hopeful solution.
The installer gets stuck and never goes beyond this screen. Native Access is a mess!


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## Saxer (Sep 1, 2022)

Had the same screen too. I quit and restarted. Second time it worked.
It's a kind of steeplechase. I believe at NI they are watching these threads and laugh their ass off.


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## jaketanner (Sep 1, 2022)

@ALittleNightMusic thank you!!!!! The permission thing worked! YOU should work for NI because no one was able to tell me to try that. unreal...thanks man!


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## artomatic (Sep 1, 2022)

Saxer said:


> Had the same screen too. I quit and restarted. Second time it worked.
> It's a kind of steeplechase. I believe at NI they are watching these threads and laugh their ass off.



So I "uninstalled" 2.4, trashed prefs. 
Trashed prefs to 1.4.1 then reinstalled 1.4.1. 
Launched NA. The "Reinstall" prompt for CSS 1.7 gave an option to a location (external drive) where I wanted to download it.
I never knew that that was an option pre-NA 2!
It was just so ridiculous that NA, in this case, needed 309 GB of free system drive space to install a 45 GB library!!

Gotta love NA even after all these years!!


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## ALittleNightMusic (Sep 1, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> @ALittleNightMusic thank you!!!!! The permission thing worked! YOU should work for NI because no one was able to tell me to try that. unreal...thanks man!


I can't take credit - NI themselves state this as a possible solution for Native Access errors https://support.native-instruments....-Error-Message-Download-Failed-Unknown-error-


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## jaketanner (Sep 1, 2022)

r


ALittleNightMusic said:


> I can't take credit - NI themselves state this as a possible solution for Native Access errors https://support.native-instruments....-Error-Message-Download-Failed-Unknown-error-


regardless...NI has been emailing me once a day for the last two days...they wanted to send me a manual link to download...they could have just mentioned this trick...LOL. Well thanks anyway! CSS sounds great.


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## Raphioli (Sep 1, 2022)

artomatic said:


> Thanks for this. I tried the suggestions there a few times. I must be doing something wrong because this did not work for me
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not the exact same issue, but I had an issue where NA2 would just stop loading.
Same window as you but with a different message.
Did a lot of trouble shooting, but couldn't make it to work so I contacted NI and all they said was to revert to NA1 lol
I was like whaaa?, but I didn't want to waste time anymore, so I just reinstalled NA1 and it worked perfectly.


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## JF_Composer (Sep 2, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> r
> 
> regardless...NI has been emailing me once a day for the last two days...they wanted to send me a manual link to download...they could have just mentioned this trick...LOL. Well thanks anyway! CSS sounds great.


Having problems with NA1 and NA2, I hope the support will reply soon and send me those manual links, it's quite a headache to get this update for me so far..


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## muziksculp (Sep 2, 2022)

Just reading some of the update nightmare experiences here is giving me Update-Phobia.

I'm hoping to update to CSS v1.7 , using NA1 , (not NA2) on Sept. 3rd. Fingers crossed that it goes well. I'm on Windows 10.


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## JF_Composer (Sep 2, 2022)

Good luck mate... Good luck....


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## cqd (Sep 2, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Just reading some of the update nightmare experiences here is giving me Update-Phobia.
> 
> I'm hoping to update to CSS v1.7 , using NA1 , (not NA2) on Sept. 3rd. Fingers crossed that it goes well. I'm on Windows 10.


Meh..I set the content location to where css was..downloaded and installed in 20 minutes..


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## MA-Simon (Sep 2, 2022)

I can't update, for some reason NI needs about 70GB on C, but my old CSS library is installed on F. I can't free up more on my C Drive and can't select a different folder. I might have to reset the whole thing. Kinda dreading it a bit. So I might update "later".


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## WindcryMusic (Sep 2, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Just reading some of the update nightmare experiences here is giving me Update-Phobia.
> 
> I'm hoping to update to CSS v1.7 , using NA1 , (not NA2) on Sept. 3rd. Fingers crossed that it goes well. I'm on Windows 10.


I’m having the same update phobia (especially since I’m on Intel Mac and have my libraries on external drives, and evidently the latter is a problem for Macs when using NA2 if I am following this correctly … I haven’t even installed NA2 and have gotten along with NA1 until now). I’d rather have CSS 1.5 than nothing at all or a big mess on my sample drives, so for the moment I feel better staying on the sidelines of this one. It’s disappointing though, as I’d been looking forward to the runs update for quite some time.


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## Vik (Sep 2, 2022)

WindcryMusic said:


> I’m having the same update phobia (especially since I’m on Intel Mac and have my libraries on external drives, and evidently the latter is a problem for Macs when using NA2 if I am following this correctl


I'm also on an Intel Mac and use NA2 – can't remember having had any problems with it so far (but haven't been reinstalling CSS yet). Which OS are you on? Or rather which OS (and Mac hardware) are those who have reported problems using?


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## WindcryMusic (Sep 2, 2022)

Vik said:


> I'm also on an Intel Mac and use NA2 – can't remember having had any problems with it so far (but haven't been reinstalling CSS yet). Which OS are you on? Or rather which OS (and Mac hardware) are those who have reported problems using?


I’m still on High Sierra for now. I don’t know the answer to what versions NA2 has been having problems with.


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## Vik (Sep 2, 2022)

I’m no NA expert, but it seems they can co-exist on Mac:



https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/4697682604049-Native-Access-2-FAQ


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## micrologus (Sep 2, 2022)

I updated to Native Access 2.4.0. It's sooooo long the startup of this application... > 2 minutes!


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## micrologus (Sep 2, 2022)

I changed this setting in Native Access 2: "Download Location" and this: "Content Location" and finally I can download the library!  In Native Access 1 (on Mac) it didn't work, even with an external SSD.


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## micrologus (Sep 2, 2022)

Vik said:


> I’m no NA expert, but it seems they can co-exist on Mac:
> 
> 
> 
> https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/4697682604049-Native-Access-2-FAQ


Yes, I can confirm that they can co-exist!


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## Sheridan (Sep 2, 2022)

micrologus said:


> I updated to Native Access 2.4.0. It's sooooo long the startup of this application... > 2 minutes!


It’s exactly the same for me. Does anyone on Mac get it to launch faster than 1-2 minutes?


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## cqd (Sep 2, 2022)

It's slow AF on Windows too..


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## RogiervG (Sep 2, 2022)

inital loading is a bit slow-ish.. but once it has loaded, everything else is smooth sailing (download speeds, searching, etc)


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## synthnut1 (Sep 2, 2022)

If anyone has gotten this update to work on a similar system as mine, please let me know what version of native access, and as detailed as you can please

My system

iMac ….Catalina 10.15.7…..downloaded ver 2.40 native access and it FINALLY spit out my Kontakt programs

I can’t get any part of this setup to allow me to update the new Cinematic Strings….Thanks, in advance….Has anyone gone back to Na Access 1 with a system like mine and had any luck ?….again…Thanks….I’m worn out !


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## JeffvR (Sep 2, 2022)

Does anyone know what the Room mics actually are? Are they "roomy" surround mics or more a wide stereo (AB) mic setup. Or to call it in Spitfire terms: are they ambient mics or outriggers?


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## muziksculp (Sep 2, 2022)

Hi,

I finally arrived back home, and was able to download, and install CSS 1.7 without any issues.

I used NA1. on Windows 10

Here is what I did :

Since I don't need 1.5 , I made a backup of the 1.5 folder on an external backup drive, just in case I do need it, but I doubt it.

I then pointed NA1 to a new larger SSD drive, for both download and content locations. Clicked on Reinstall. and that's it.

The Download took 50 Min. , and actual install process took around 10 min. so, 1 hr. in total to have CSS 1.7 installed.

I'm going to be testing it, and posting some feedback in the next few days. Super happy to have had no issues with my update procedure.





Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## BassClef (Sep 2, 2022)

Native Access 2.4 (for m1 Macs) works fine on my Mac Studio with my VI libraries on an NVMe SSD on an external Thunderbolt enclosure. However it does take a long time to load each time.


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## Composer 2021 (Sep 2, 2022)

Where is the download link for Native Access 2 for an Intel Mac?


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## BassClef (Sep 2, 2022)

Downloads







www.native-instruments.com


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## makimakimusic (Sep 3, 2022)

I just wanted to share my experience.
I use an Intel Mac mini, an external hard drive and NA 2.
I tried to install CSS 1.7 from NA 2 the first time. The download went through normally but the installation failed. 
I deleted everything in my download folder and then restart my computer.
After restarting the Mac, the installation went well and the library is now ready.

Hope that'll help some of you.


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## Studio E (Sep 3, 2022)

Sorry for being late to the game, but I don't see the update available in Native Access 1 or 2 on my PC. What am I supposed to see? It's times like these I really miss having an account option with a vendor.


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## Bluemount Score (Sep 3, 2022)

Studio E said:


> Sorry for being late to the game, but I don't see the update available in Native Access 1 or 2 on my PC. What am I supposed to see? It's times like these I really miss having an account option with a vendor.


Third time for me writing this in this thread, but will gladly mention again that there is no visible update, you need to click "reinstall" in NA and it will download CSS 1.7 :D


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## Studio E (Sep 3, 2022)

Bluemount Score said:


> Third time for me writing this in this thread, but will gladly mention again that there is no visible update, you need to click "reinstall" in NA and it will download CSS 1.7 :D


Sorry to be that guy, haha, but thank you. I really appreciate it!


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## jaketanner (Sep 3, 2022)

JF_Composer said:


> Having problems with NA1 and NA2, I hope the support will reply soon and send me those manual links, it's quite a headache to get this update for me so far..


They reply once a day, early morning to me...this is not a way to conduct business...because answering questions once a day back and forth will take days or a week...and now the weekend so you need to wait more. It's really ridiculous for such a large company.


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## jaketanner (Sep 3, 2022)

To further clarify because it is a bit confusing...it is NOT an update, but a totally new download. So if you delete the entire CSS folder, you can use the reinstall option and get it all sorted out...it doesn't replace the old one. So if you want to delete the folder (as I did), go ahead...personally I haven't used CSS much in the past that requires me to save the old folder also...but it is a clean install as if you purchased it for the first time.


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## Casiquire (Sep 3, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> ... for such a large company.


It might not be so large, and they just released a massive update that's causing a lot of confusion to their most popular product. They're probably overwhelmed right now.



jaketanner said:


> To further clarify because it is a bit confusing...it is NOT an update, but a totally new download. So if you delete the entire CSS folder, you can use the reinstall option and get it all sorted out...it doesn't replace the old one. So if you want to delete the folder (as I did), go ahead...personally I haven't used CSS much in the past that requires me to save the old folder also...but it is a clean install as if you purchased it for the first time.


That makes sense. I think there would be way less confusion if so many people here weren't so determined to keep both versions. All i did was hit "reinstall" and then opened it up and played. It worked perfectly.

If memory serves, kontakt can't do an "update" above a certain file size and I think that threshold is quite low, like less than 2gb. With effectively three new mic positions, I'm thinking a full reinstall was one of very few options. It's sad to see a really good update almost overshadowed by all the confusion but I think given a couple months most people will be as enthusiastic about it as I am


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## Casiquire (Sep 3, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Hi,
> 
> I finally arrived back home, and was able to download, and install CSS 1.7 without any issues.
> 
> ...


Have you had a chance to mess with it yet?


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## Haakond (Sep 3, 2022)

I had some problems using Native Access 1 to download the update. It said I needed 22 GB more free space to update. I deleted some files and got about 30GB more space. Still, it said I needed 22 GB more.

Download Native Access 2, and it worked right away. 

I tested it a bit, compared with the old version etc, and it seems the new update can go both louder and more quiet. Short notes feels more tighter and can play more aggressive without playing too loud. Marcato feels better and more musical. Non-vib legato works way better. 

With the mix mic, it sounds roomier, but still very detailed. I also liked the option to use two different close mics. They sound different to each other, and I can see myself use them for pop music and other genres where I need more intimate strings. 

Very impressed so far with the update


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## jaketanner (Sep 3, 2022)

Since I deleted my old CSS I can’t compare the two in terms of tone. Has anyone done a side by side yet?


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## Faruh Al-Baghdadi (Sep 3, 2022)

We wonder if there are gonna be similar updates for Brass and Woodwinds libraries?


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## muziksculp (Sep 3, 2022)

Faruh Al-Baghdadi said:


> We wonder if there are gonna be similar updates for Brass and Woodwinds libraries?


Yes, also for CSSS. They will all have the new Low-Latency Mode.


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## muziksculp (Sep 3, 2022)

Hi.

Here is my first little feedback on CSS 1.7

I know the legatos are the main attraction of CSS around here, but I was testing the short articulations of ver 1.7 with the new Spot 1 & 2 , and Main Mics, with Sordino enabled, and adding a bit of Seventh Heaven Reverb. They sound fantastic. I'm in love with these sordino shorts, and I know the sordino is a filter emulation of the real thing, but that doesn't matter here, they just sound so real, and agile. 

If you haven't tested this, I recommend you give it a try. 

I will be testing the legatos in the coming days, and will post some more feedback/my opinion about them once I had a good amount of testing done. 

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## Rob Elliott (Sep 3, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> Hi.
> 
> Here is my first little feedback on CSS 1.7
> 
> ...


Nice reminder to test this - had it for days and hadn't done it yet. Thanks.


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## I like music (Sep 4, 2022)

I recommend that everyone check out the other CSS 1.7 thread (audio examples) because Alex posted on there about the sound, legato, and a couple of updates he's planned. 

(Sorry if he posted on here and I missed it, but I'm skimming it)


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## muk (Sep 4, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> Since I deleted my old CSS I can’t compare the two in terms of tone. Has anyone done a side by side yet?


You're kidding, right? Have a look here, you'll find a few dozen examples:






Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion


Hi everyone, In the announcement thread, Alex Wallbank asked that any audio examples and demos be kept out of that thread and added into a different one. Given that people have probably just finished downloading their shiny new CSS update/library, I thought we could start a new thread...




vi-control.net


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## Sovereign (Sep 4, 2022)

Lazeez said:


> of CC1 (CC1 values 0 to 1, 1 to 2 etc...). So while the dynamic layers are all there, it looks like the dynamic curve at the very bottom has been modified to be slightly steeper. A slow and smooth "to niente" will now require the use of CC11.
> 
> I personally *love* the lowest dynamic CSS sound especially at very low CC1 values because, to me, its very close to sounding like flautando. However, the steeper curve means that I will now have to use CC11 more extensively to avoid the bumps at the bottom. Not too much of a big deal, especially given the plethora of awesome enhancements made to an already stellar strings library.


Totally agree on this. Vlns2 have changed though, at (very) low CC1 values the p layer is gone.


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## Casiquire (Sep 4, 2022)

Lazeez said:


> I just tested this out with 1.5 and 1.7. 1.5 allows the the sound of all sections (not just violins 1) to get quieter than 1.7 at the lowest CC1 values. For example, CC1 value = 1 is louder in 1.7 than in 1.5. Not by too much but its certainly noticeable enough to feel abrupt when riding the very bottom of CC1 (CC1 values 0 to 1, 1 to 2 etc...). So while the dynamic layers are all there, it looks like the dynamic curve at the very bottom has been modified to be slightly steeper. A slow and smooth "to niente" will now require the use of CC11.
> 
> I personally *love* the lowest dynamic CSS sound especially at very low CC1 values because, to me, its very close to sounding like flautando. However, the steeper curve means that I will now have to use CC11 more extensively to avoid the bumps at the bottom. Not too much of a big deal, especially given the plethora of awesome enhancements made to an already stellar strings library.
> 
> @Alex W , thank you for all the incredibly hard work and for creating some of the most brilliant sample libraries out there... and also for being an awesome person  This update goes way above and beyond a lot of our expectations! You have a customer for life in me.


Good observations about the lower layers. I'm not a fan of forced niente because I need control at the bottom; it would be nice to have an option to disable it, and to adjust the dynamic range as a whole


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## Vik (Sep 4, 2022)

Lazeez said:


> A slow and smooth "to niente" will now require the use of CC11.


Which IMO is just the way it should be – for realism. The lowest level I want to hear from these instruments are the most quiet they can play – I actually never want an additional "fade down from the lowest they can play to full silence". Violins can't do that anyway. 

I understand that this is sometimes desirable, but it happens automatically if you pull down a fader or modwheel a millimeter too much, it will be a lot harder to get that realistic reduction that is the only one that string players can play.


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## Casiquire (Sep 4, 2022)

Vik said:


> Which IMO is just the way it should be – for realism. The lowest level I want to hear from these instruments are the most quiet they can play – I actually never want an additional "fade down from the lowest they can play to full silence". Violins can't do that anyway.
> 
> I understand that this is sometimes desirable, but it happens automatically if you pull down a fader or modwheel a millimeter too much, it will be a lot harder to get that realistic reduction that is the only one that string players can play.


I agree so strongly!


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## BassClef (Sep 4, 2022)

Vik said:


> Which IMO is just the way it should be – for realism. The lowest level I want to hear from these instruments are the most quiet they can play – I actually never want an additional "fade down from the lowest they can play to full silence". Violins can't do that anyway.
> 
> I understand that this is sometimes desirable, but it happens automatically if you pull down a fader or modwheel a millimeter too much, it will be a lot harder to get that realistic reduction that is the only one that string players can play.


Exactly... and also true for wind instruments. As a French Horn and Saxophone player... there is a limit to how quietly you can play and still maintain a steady tone. And that level is NO WHERE NEAR silence.


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## jaketanner (Sep 4, 2022)

muk said:


> You're kidding, right? Have a look here, you'll find a few dozen examples:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks...I was on the road and searching with my phone is terrible..LOL. Thanks though


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## Vik (Sep 4, 2022)

BassClef said:


> there is a limit to how quietly you can play and still maintain a steady tone. And that level is NO WHERE NEAR silence.


This. And it's not only about a steady tone, it's about – a tone!  

There are a few libraries which offer, as an option, a way to give the lower range a 'taller range', in order to make it easier to make changes around the PP range which sounds realistic. 

A Niente button could also be helpful, which makes it easy to enable/disable 'forced niente'. 

But the best solution is the one that almost no libraries offer: away to enable/disable each of the dynamic layers in a way which automatically spreads the remaining layers across the full CC (1-127) range. I hope I'll live long enough to see all libraries offer this option, but I doubt it strongly! 

However, since there already exists several known ways to achieve niente/full silence in all libraries (CC7, CC11, automating mic positions for more detailed control etc etc), the most important thing IMHO is to include a non-niente option – one which hopefully reacts the same way for all the 5 (4) string instruments.


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## Casiquire (Sep 4, 2022)

Vik said:


> This. And it's not only about a steady tone, it's about – a tone!
> 
> There are a few libraries which offer, as an option, a way to give the lower range a 'taller range', in order to make it easier to make changes around the PP range which sounds realistic.
> 
> ...


I thought I was the only one who feels this way about niente because a lot of people here seem really focused on it. I'm always scratching my head like "why not just pull down CC7/11 and duck it into the mix rather than make the bottom layer, where so much expression hides, super finicky to play?"

Another good option for libraries would be a niente release keyswitch or CC, similar to a soft release. Best of both worlds.


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## Lazeez (Sep 4, 2022)

Vik said:


> Which IMO is just the way it should be – for realism. The lowest level I want to hear from these instruments are the most quiet they can play – I actually never want an additional "fade down from the lowest they can play to full silence". Violins can't do that anyway.
> 
> I understand that this is sometimes desirable, but it happens automatically if you pull down a fader or modwheel a millimeter too much, it will be a lot harder to get that realistic reduction that is the only one that string players can play.


Agreed. As you say, violins can't play silence  In my mind though, the problem isn't the silence. Its the transition to silence.

A user controlled setting can be added giving the user 2 choices as to what happens when they move CC1 to 0:
1. Play at the the softest possible level
2. Play the softest release sample

This would avoid the sound going from softest to immediate silence when moving from 1 to 0.


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## Stevie (Sep 5, 2022)

Lazeez said:


> Agreed. As you say, violins can't play silence  In my mind though, the problem isn't the silence. Its the transition to silence.
> 
> A user controlled setting can be added giving the user 2 choices as to what happens when they move CC1 to 0:
> 1. Play at the the softest possible level
> ...


Exactly this, the transition to silence is the "issue". Somehow, an orchestra manages to go from a tone to silence in a very natural way. With samples, this takes a bit more effort to get a realistic sounding result.


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## Vik (Sep 5, 2022)

Stevie said:


> Somehow, an orchestra manages to go from a tone to silence in a very natural way


First of all, this isn't an either/or situation! Nobody are categorically against a niente solution AFAIK. But since strings never go from a tone to silence (but to the 'most silent' level they can play): I agree with Casiquire (if that's what you mean, C?) in that a solution with a natural fade down (not to full silence), followed by release (from the current, very soft level) to niente would offer the best of both worlds.


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## Jura Puclin (Sep 5, 2022)

jaketanner said:


> Since I deleted my old CSS I can’t compare the two in terms of tone. Has anyone done a side by side yet?


It seems like the new is just slightly brighter. And some resonant low mid frequencies are toned down.. it’s nicer sounding overall🤩


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## Jura Puclin (Sep 5, 2022)

Anybody has a problem where if you have longer midi note and you start the playback from anywhere other than the beginning of that note it will not play until the next note comes and is triggered?


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## duringtheafter (Sep 5, 2022)

Jura Puclin said:


> Anybody has a problem where if you have longer midi note and you start the playback from anywhere other than the beginning of that note it will not play until the next note comes and is triggered?


Yes have experienced this. Not a major problem but an unfamiliar inconvenience.


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## Jura Puclin (Sep 5, 2022)

duringtheafter said:


> Yes have experienced this. Not a major problem but an unfamiliar inconvenience.


Yes exactly. Other than that I absolutely love it👌


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## Casiquire (Sep 5, 2022)

Vik said:


> First of all, this isn't an either/or situation! Nobody are categorically against a niente solution AFAIK. But since strings never go from a tone to silence (but to the 'most silent' level they can play): I agree with Casiquire (if that's what you mean, C?) in that a solution with a natural fade down (not to full silence), followed by release (from the current, very soft level) to niente would offer the best of both worlds.


Exactly. And it might need to be a different release sample from normal to make it sound natural. Maybe that's why nobody's doing that.


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## sourcefor (Sep 5, 2022)

I haven’t pulled the trigger on CSS yet, but do I even need it if I already have Modern Scoring Strings?


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## Duncan Krummel (Sep 5, 2022)

Jura Puclin said:


> Anybody has a problem where if you have longer midi note and you start the playback from anywhere other than the beginning of that note it will not play until the next note comes and is triggered?


This is how MIDI works. If your DAW has a MIDI chase function, turning it on should allow it to catch the note in the middle, but it will stay as though re-triggering the note from the start.


Stevie said:


> Exactly this, the transition to silence is the "issue". Somehow, an orchestra manages to go from a tone to silence in a very natural way. With samples, this takes a bit more effort to get a realistic sounding result.


I have repeated this many times before, but I don’t understand why so many say strings can’t play to silence. Yes, from a physics standpoint there is a threshold at which sound either is or isn’t, but that happens so quietly that it is - in effective - a proper niente. String players CAN play to and from silence. So can clarinetists. So can very capable saxophonists and some brass players even. It’s not uncommon in literature, and it’s not difficult, but there seems to be a large swath of people who are convinced it’s impossible. It isn’t. I’ve had violinists and cellists demonstrate it for me sitting only a few feet away. I’ve heard orchestras pull it off easily. It’s a thing.


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## duringtheafter (Sep 5, 2022)

Duncan Krummel said:


> This is how MIDI works. If your DAW has a MIDI chase function, turning it on should allow it to catch the note in the middle, but it will stay as though re-triggering the note from the start.


Understood, but something is wrong with how 1.7 is processing this. All other instruments I use--including CSS1.5--will sound a note even if starting in the middle of it. 1.7 plays silence if starting a note after its trigger, and starts "speaking" only when the next note is triggered. That's not a MIDI issue if the DAW is able to do it correctly with everything else on the sequence.


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## Vik (Sep 5, 2022)

BassClef said:


> Exactly... and also true for wind instruments. As a French Horn and Saxophone player... there is a limit to how quietly you can play and still maintain a steady tone.





Duncan Krummel said:


> String players CAN play to and from silence. So can clarinetists. So can very capable saxophonists and some brass players even. It’s not uncommon in literature


It's not uncommon in literature, of course – and with real players, the situation is _very_ different from a string library. I agree that real players – and maybe a sample library with a lot more dynamic layers than 4-5 – can create something which sounds like they go to full silence. I have noticed that when they get close to where to tone starts to get unsteady, they speed up the down-'fading'. 

But what matters (IMO, and in this context) is how playing to/from niente sounds with string libraries – which usually have max. 4 or 5 dynamic layers. The legatos in Synchron Strings Pro has only two dynamic layers. 

_With so few layers, the lowest available level isn't a recording of the lowest possible level one can achieve with real players. _In one way or another volume reduction needs to be added – and the further way the lowest dynamic level in the sample library is from silence – the more artificial this fake 'to niente' transition will sound.

Since we normally want what BassClef calls a steady tone, and since we want the end result to sound as real as possible, a solution which forces niente upon the lowest dynamic layer will easily create trouble when someone simply wants to pull the fader which control dynamic X-fade down to it's minimum level without adding a scripted niente? Why? Because doing that means that we will have to figure out how far away from position zero on the fader we need to stop pulling it downwards.

That's all – and that's why we need two solutions – one for those who want to avoid that 'MIDI fader sound' which we'll get if we change volume instead of fading into the lowest possible level, and one for the situations where one wants to fade down to total silence with one single fader movement. The latter can already be done in all relevant libraries by combining x-fading between the dynamic layers and adding eg. CC11/CC7.

None of us are against adding scripted niente, we just want to have a way to avoid it when needed. A simple Niente on/off button would do the trick, but any solution which doesn't force niente upon us when we don't want it shoud be usable for all of us.


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## gohrev (Sep 6, 2022)

I spotted a rather loud humming noise in the *G#3 - G#4 range*. I managed to isolate it with Fabfilter ProQ at roughly *106hz*. Easily fixed with a narrow -12db dip for that specific frequency.

Just thought I'd share


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## Duncan Krummel (Sep 6, 2022)

Vik said:


> None of us are against adding scripted niente, we just want to have a way to avoid it when needed. A simple Niente on/off button would do the trick, but any solution which doesn't force niente upon us when we don't want it shoud be usable for all of us.


Right, and I’m not against the option to have it disabled; I’m just attempting to clarify a seemingly commonly misunderstood function of all strings. To and from niente is a fully possible dynamic range of real strings. As for whether or not this is captured by sampling is a different discussion, and I definitely agree that many workhorse libraries do not record these subtler dynamic changes. However, I’ve yet to - and I understand this is a matter of opinion - have an issue with CSS and a few others in this regard. To each their own, though.


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## Pablocrespo (Sep 6, 2022)

Jura Puclin said:


> Yes exactly. Other than that I absolutely love it👌


I am having the weird "first note of a phrase doesn´t sound sometimes" on playback start. Never got it with 1.5 but happens lots of times with CSW

@Alex W is this something you are looking at?


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## Peacock (Sep 6, 2022)

Pablocrespo said:


> I am having the weird "first note of a phrase doesn´t sound sometimes" on playback start. Never got it with 1.5 but happens lots of times with CSW
> 
> @Alex W is this something you are looking at?


I noticed exactly the same. When I stop my DAW (Sudio One) and start playback very quickly - I cannot hear the first sounds recorded in midi. Immediately after stopping my DAW, I also can't hear the sounds played from the midi controller for a while. I have this problem in CSS 1.7 and CSW, nothing like that happens in 1.5.


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## Pablocrespo (Sep 6, 2022)

Yes, it´s a shame, because CSS is my workhorse string library and now it has this issue that was exclusive to CSW (also, hanging notes in CSW)


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## Bluemount Score (Sep 6, 2022)

Peacock said:


> I noticed exactly the same. When I stop my DAW (Sudio One) and start playback very quickly - I cannot hear the first sounds recorded in midi. Immediately after stopping my DAW, I also can't hear the sounds played from the midi controller for a while. I have this problem in CSS 1.7 and CSW, nothing like that happens in 1.5.


Oh, I thought it was something that was wrong with my DAW / machine / whatever


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## Jura Puclin (Sep 6, 2022)

Duncan Krummel said:


> This is how MIDI works. If your DAW has a MIDI chase function, turning it on should allow it to catch the note in the middle, but it will stay as though re-triggering the note from the start.


It never happened with CSS 1.5.
I could start the playback wherever and it would catch the note immediately..like other libraries..
Now the new CSS won’t work like that anymore. So i guess my daw is setup correctly 🤷‍♂️


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## Akarin (Sep 6, 2022)

I've never been a fan of CSS due to the hiss so when 1.7 came out, I had to test it. And yes! It's gone. Here's a test track using CSS 1.7 only for the strings, no layering:



I've also tried to blend it with other libraries in this track as using the other Cinematic Studio Series libs would be cheating. I hope that the mix is to your liking.


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## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2022)

Akarin said:


> I've never been a fan of CSS due to the hiss so when 1.7 came out, I had to test it. And yes! It's gone. Here's a test track using CSS 1.7 only for the strings, no layering:
> 
> 
> 
> I've also tried to blend it with other libraries in this track as using the other Cinematic Studio Series libs would be cheating. I hope that the mix is to your liking.



Very nice track @Akarin . Thanks for sharing. 

So, now that 1.7 has no hiss, are you a big CSS fan ?


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## Akarin (Sep 6, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> So, now that 1.7 has no hiss, are you a big CSS fan ?



I like it much better. I will learn it a bit more and see if I integrate it in my template. For now, the legato-ey slow pieces that I do are covered by Spitfire Appassionata while the aggressive shorts are taken care of by Berlin Strings. 

Soon, I'll make a video on CSS 1.7.


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## Hat_Tricky (Sep 8, 2022)

How big should 1.7 be? I copied my CSS folder, renamed it CSS original (like the email from Alex said) and then had the Native Inst downlaoded reinstall. Now my 1.7 CSS is 109GB large (!!!) and the CSS original is 65gb! This doesn't sound right, is this consistent with the rest of you?


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## muziksculp (Sep 8, 2022)

Hat_Tricky said:


> How big should 1.7 be? I copied my CSS folder, renamed it CSS original (like the email from Alex said) and then had the Native Inst downlaoded reinstall. Now my 1.7 CSS is 109GB large (!!!) and the CSS original is 65gb! This doesn't sound right, is this consistent with the rest of you?


This is what CSS 1.7 size shows up on NA1 , and it is what the size of the folder residing on my SSD for CSS 1.7


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## studioj (Sep 8, 2022)

Peacock said:


> I noticed exactly the same. When I stop my DAW (Sudio One) and start playback very quickly - I cannot hear the first sounds recorded in midi. Immediately after stopping my DAW, I also can't hear the sounds played from the midi controller for a while. I have this problem in CSS 1.7 and CSW, nothing like that happens in 1.5.


Hmm this is unfortunate... I have seen this issue with CSW (using PT here) and I always wondered what the deal was... haven't had a chance to submit a support ticket. That's a drag that it is happening with CSS now with the update. I hope Alex can take a look.


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## BassClef (Sep 8, 2022)

Hat_Tricky said:


> How big should 1.7 be? I copied my CSS folder, renamed it CSS original (like the email from Alex said) and then had the Native Inst downlaoded reinstall. Now my 1.7 CSS is 109GB large (!!!) and the CSS original is 65gb! This doesn't sound right, is this consistent with the rest of you?


I had a similar problem... Original was about 35GB and new is about 48GB. But when I did the rename/reinstall, he new one was about 83GB... tried 2-3 times... same thing. Then I actually MOVED the original CSS to a different drive. Then I did a reinstall and all is well! It's like Native Access actually merged the new and old into the same folder.


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## Hat_Tricky (Sep 8, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> This is what CSS 1.7 size shows up on NA1 , and it is what also the size of the folder residing on my SSD for CSS 1.7


Yeah my Native app is also saying 45.25GB for my install, yet the folder is 109GB! In the new 1.7 folder, i'm noticing 2 of every file - things like CS Strings, Mix, extra mics all have 2 of each "number"

ex. CSStrings_001.nkc and there's also a CSStrings_001.nkx.

The nkc files are small - all less then 1MB, and the nkx files are all over 2GB - so i'm guessing they aren't copies or compressed versions, and both are supposed to be there - plus the old CSS folder looks simliar, just without any "mix" or "seperate mic" files.

There a total of 17(34 with the doubled numbers) CSStrings files, 5(10) Mix files, and 17(34) seperate mic files.

My OLD CSS folder, that I copied, is still 65GB - has the same "double named file" thing as above, so i can't figure out where all the bloat is coming from. Plus, when i just select all the files in the folder, it reads over 30GB LESS then if i just look at the folder properties. Manually selecting the files, it says about 70GB. The folder, however, reads as 109GB. lmao.


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## Hat_Tricky (Sep 8, 2022)

BassClef said:


> I had a similar problem... Original was about 35GB and new is about 48GB. But when I did the rename/reinstall, he new one was about 83GB... tried 2-3 times... same thing. Then I actually MOVED the original CSS to a different drive. Then I did a reinstall and all is well! It's like Native Access actually merged the new and old into the same folder.


Thanks! I might try this, but RIP my drive space already (have to uninstall some stuff just to make roomt o move) and RIP my download quota lmao


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## muziksculp (Sep 8, 2022)

As you can see above, my version of CSS 1.7 shows as 45.25 GB, the GUI reflects what 1.7 should look like, showing, and loading the two Spot Mics, with no issues, I also did a batch-resave, with no errors, or missing files.

Everything seems to work fine, I wonder if it should show 48. GB in Native Access ? Any feedback on this ?

Thanks.

@Hat_Tricky ,

I would recommend deleting your current CSS 1.7 folder, and re-installing a fresh one. You shouldn't have duplicates in the CSS 1.7 folder. At least that's what I would do if I had your issue.


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## galactic orange (Sep 9, 2022)

BassClef said:


> I had a similar problem... Original was about 35GB and new is about 48GB. But when I did the rename/reinstall, he new one was about 83GB... tried 2-3 times... same thing. Then I actually MOVED the original CSS to a different drive. Then I did a reinstall and all is well! It's like Native Access actually merged the new and old into the same folder.


The same happened to me. About 83GB in the new 1.7 folder. I compared to the copied files of the old version on the same drive and just deleted files from 1.7 sample folder that obviously remained from older install of 1.5 (also comparing install dates).


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## Scamper (Sep 9, 2022)

The best way to update should be by not just duplicating, but renaming the 1.5 folder. It's really odd how the installation still combines the 1.7 and 1.5 folder that way.



muziksculp said:


> Everything seems to work fine, I wonder if it should show 48. GB in Native Access ? Any feedback on this ?


About the 48GB/45GB confusion, that's just about how size is measured.
The actual folder size is 48.599.695.851 Bytes.
If you say a Kilobyte is 1000 Bytes, and a Megabyte 1000.000 Bytes and so on, it's simple:
48.599.695.851 Bytes / 1000 / 1000 / 1000 = 48.59 GB

If you say a Kilobyte is 1024 Bytes, which is still typical for Computers and the way Windows measures size, you get:
48.599.695.851 Bytes / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 = 45.26 GB
That's what Windows and Native Access 1 shows. Apparently they changed that calculation with the new Native Access.


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## muziksculp (Sep 9, 2022)

Scamper said:


> The best way to update should be by not just duplicating, but renaming the 1.5 folder. It's really odd how the installation still combines the 1.7 and 1.5 folder that way.
> 
> 
> About the 48GB/45GB confusion, that's just about how size is measured.
> ...


Thanks


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## Sebanimation (Sep 10, 2022)

I still couldn't find a solution to why my Native Access doesn't show a "reinstall" option. In the NI forums they told me that because CSS is a 3rd party library, I have to download from CSS directly as Native Access is only to register the products. 

But still, it seems to work for everyone here?


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## erodred (Sep 10, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> I still couldn't find a solution to why my Native Access doesn't show a "reinstall" option. In the NI forums they told me that because CSS is a 3rd party library, I have to download from CSS directly as Native Access is only to register the products.
> 
> But still, it seems to work for everyone here?


I am having the same issue. My Native Instruments still says 1.5 for CSS.

I think for Audio Imperia updates we needed to do some registry hacking to get it to update, but not sure if this is the case here for CSS. Cant find those old guides either.

EDIT: I am on Windows and was still using Native Access v1 apparently. I was able to re-install with v2.


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## philthevoid (Sep 10, 2022)

erodred said:


> I am having the same issue. My Native Instruments still says 1.5 for CSS.
> 
> I think for Audio Imperia updates we needed to do some registry hacking to get it to update, but not sure if this is the case here for CSS. Cant find those old guides either.
> 
> EDIT: I am on Windows and was still using Native Access v1 apparently. I was able to re-install with v2.


It WILL say 1.5 until you install it. Don't worry about the version number for now. No need to play in the registry either.

Although the update went swimmingly for me, if I did run into issues I would go the extra mile and not just rename the old library folder but also move it to a different location, THEN launch Native Access and install it from there.



Sebanimation said:


> I still couldn't find a solution to why my Native Access doesn't show a "reinstall" option. In the NI forums they told me that because CSS is a 3rd party library, I have to download from CSS directly as Native Access is only to register the products.


It USED to be that way but CSS is now downloaded directly from NA and will stay that way from now on. Make sure your old CSS folder is out of the way (rename it, even move it if you can) and then launch NA and click on "Repair" (or something similar, can't remember the wording). The option to install it should be there.

Don't be afraid to use the search feature on this forum. A lot of users were having similar issues and found solutions. If all else fails, contact support. Alex has been really helpful and quick to answer as far as I know.

Good luck! 😄


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## BassClef (Sep 10, 2022)

Sebanimation said:


> I still couldn't find a solution to why my Native Access doesn't show a "reinstall" option. In the NI forums they told me that because CSS is a 3rd party library, I have to download from CSS directly as Native Access is only to register the products.
> 
> But still, it seems to work for everyone here?


Are you saying that (inside Native Access) when you click on the three dots to the right of Cinematic Studio Strings, there is no option for "reinstall" there? If so, have you emailed CS support or NI support?


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## José Herring (Sep 10, 2022)

MA-Simon said:


> I can't update, for some reason NI needs about 70GB on C, but my old CSS library is installed on F. I can't free up more on my C Drive and can't select a different folder. I might have to reset the whole thing. Kinda dreading it a bit. So I might update "later".


I think all you would have to do is set the default sample drive to "F" in Native Access.


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 10, 2022)

Ok just got CSS, what's your fav mic settings for a traditional orchestral mix y'all? Do you just use mix?
Usually with CSW I mix the main and the OH but CSS just has two spots, maybe mix one of them with the main?


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## Trash Panda (Sep 10, 2022)

The default positions are what are used for the mix mic.


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 10, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> The default positions are what are used for the mix mic.


Right on, I’m just seeing if anyone has any favorite combinations. Similar to how people like blakus like to use outrigger and mid on Appassionata etc. 

Time to experiment.


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## muziksculp (Sep 10, 2022)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Ok just got CSS, what's your fav mic settings for a traditional orchestral mix y'all? Do you just use mix?
> Usually with CSW I mix the main and the OH but CSS just has two spots, maybe mix one of them with the main?


Smart move, Congrats !  

Enjoy CSS 1.7 It's an awesome sounding strings library. 

With regards to the mic options, it all depends on what you have going on, I don't have a magic recipe, and would rather just experiment, and try what works, use your ears is the best advice I can give you.


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## muziksculp (Sep 10, 2022)

@Baronvonheadless ,

You might want to check this https://vi-control.net/community/th...es-and-general-discussion.129290/post-5178682


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 10, 2022)

Here's my first test with CSS, CSW, and Cinebrass Core.

How's this sound balance wise?


Edit: hold on, for some reason when I bounce the mp3 there's no audio...hmmmm. It's playing fine in my daw.
I am unable to bounce this project with any audio and I'm not sure why. I just tried bouncing a separate project and it worked just fine. 

Anyone have this before?
Only VST's loaded are the ones mentioned above and BBC timpani.

Not a great first impression haha


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 10, 2022)

^^I reloaded every single instance of Kontakt, (all 20 for this demo) and chose the mix mic's instead of individual ones and then bounced it and it finally worked.

Here's what I came up with, I'll try with my mic selections again soon.


View attachment CSS first test new .mp3


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## muziksculp (Sep 10, 2022)

Baronvonheadless said:


> Here's my first test with CSS, CSW, and Cinebrass Core.
> 
> How's this sound balance wise?


Was it recorded at the edge of silence ? 

EDIT : Oh, Audible now.  

I like it. I love the fast strings. Maybe a very little bit more room /hall reverb would suite this type of music. (just what my ears are telling me). 

Hopefully you can get the other mics to sound as well. 

Thanks for sharing.


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 10, 2022)

OK here we go, this is using the 'main' mics at 0 and 'spot 1' mics on about -10 for CSS.

And 'main' at 0 and 'oh' at -6 for CSW.


View attachment CSS first test 2.mp3


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 10, 2022)

^^& then the same but the room mic's added at about -6 for strings.


View attachment CSS first test 3.mp3


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## muziksculp (Sep 10, 2022)

Baronvonheadless said:


> ^^& then the same but the room mic's added at about -6 for strings.
> 
> 
> View attachment CSS first test 3.mp3


I like this one better than the one above, the room mics in this mix help. Also the Brass, and Perc. in the demo above is too loud, and pops out a bit too much, sounding better in this one.


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## Baronvonheadless (Sep 10, 2022)

muziksculp said:


> I like this one better than the one above, the room mics in this mix help. Also the Brass, and Perc. in the demo above is too loud, and pops out a bit too much, sounding better in this one.


^^Thank you, good tips. How's this one sound?

I used the room on a few of the strings but not all, but then I lowered the volume and took off a couple mics from bbc timpani so it fit a bit tighter and lowered the brass a hair.
Kind of a bit less cinematic and more classical in hopes?


View attachment CSS first test 4.mp3


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## MarkKouznetsov (Sep 11, 2022)

Anyone having legato transition bumps with 1.7?
Happens in the mid layer, at 0:19 and onwards.
I tried switching to expressive legato, same results.
May not be evident in the mix, but sure is on its own. Sounds like all instruments have some volume bumps in the mid dynamic layer, right before the next note starts, despite even moving the mod wheel down during the transitions.

I've also noticed, with some instruments (Violin I, was it?), when you hold a very long note, there's some kind of a dynamic arc (really noticeable crescendo, even if you don't move your modwheel). So I had to really pull the modwheel down (by like 20%) to compensate the volume gain. A bit weird, but that's a whole another topic.

View attachment css.mp3


Basically:

0:20 - bump
0:22 - bump
0:24 - bump
0:26 - bump
0:28 - bump
0:30 - bump
0:32 - bump

Each time there is a transition. Most obvious in Vl. I, but I checked, it's all the instruments. I can swear this was not the case with 1.5 for some reason. I'm pretty familiar with this cue, heard it a hundred times and today was the first time I've tried it with 1.7 and I immediately noticed that, I wasn't even looking for it.


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## Xabierus Music (Sep 11, 2022)

MarkKouznetsov said:


> Anyone having legato transition bumps with 1.7?
> Happens in the mid layer, at 0:19 and onwards.
> I tried switching to expressive legato, same results.
> 
> View attachment css.mp3


Try switching the sustain pedal on, i think 1.7 has this bug that goes away with the sustain pedal on, from what i read on this forum i think alex is already fixing it at the time


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## MarkKouznetsov (Sep 11, 2022)

Xabierus Music said:


> Try switching the sustain pedal on, i think 1.7 has this bug that goes away with the sustain pedal on, from what i read on this forum i think alex is already fixing it at the time


Hmmm... Interesting. I know there is/was a bug when you use repetitions, and you're not using a sustain pedal it will play the same note but an octave higher, i didn't know it was also a thing for a volume boost. I'll try it, thanks.

P.S.: Nope, it's not the sustain pedal.


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## Xabierus Music (Sep 11, 2022)

MarkKouznetsov said:


> Hmmm... Interesting. I know there is/was a bug when you use repetitions, when you're not using a sustain pedal it will paly the same note but an octave higher, i didn't know it was also a thing for a volume boosts. I'll try it, thanks.


Yes, try and please if i was wrong and this is a new issue please share it with alex so he can fix it too in the next update, i hope it is not a new one 😁


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## Vik (Sep 12, 2022)

Here's something I just posted in another thread – which could be relevant for some of those who've had problems with installing CSS 1.7:

Based on this page, "only the latest versions of the following software products are supported on macOS 12 Monterey" – and Kontakt 7 is not on that list (6.7.0 is). Also, after a list of various hardware devices, they write that "Other Native Instruments software and hardware products are not currently supported on macOS 12 Monterey". Also, "Our products are not yet compatible with the MacBook M1 Max / Pro".

The latest version of Native Access in now 2.5.

On another page they write that "Currently, Native Instruments products are not supported on computers with Apple Silicon M2 processors".


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## Oldsicord (Sep 13, 2022)

Alex W said:


> *** Attention! The new version will be available via Native Access from 10am 30 August (UTC/GMT). *Please read this info carefully before installing this update*, as the new version of CSS is not compatible with any DAW projects saved prior to updating. To open those projects, you will need to back up the original version of CSS before updating - more info on that below.​​*Hi Everyone! I’m very excited to be able to share this new version of Cinematic Studio Strings with you. The new CSS “Version 1.7” is the result of 2 years of painstaking work. There are added features like runs and low-latency legato - almost every aspect of the library has been improved, from the sound quality itself, to the editing consistency and scripting, and much more.*​​More details on that below, but first, please read the following points carefully before proceeding with the update:​
> 
> This update is designed to completely replace the previous version, therefore your old projects will not work properly. *Do not update if you are in the middle of a project.*
> 
> ...


Hello,
What a great update... Thanks Alex for your work.
I will thank you for this by buying the woodwind and the brass as soon as possible.


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## Igor Sena (Sep 22, 2022)

MarkKouznetsov said:


> Anyone having legato transition bumps with 1.7?
> Happens in the mid layer, at 0:19 and onwards.
> I tried switching to expressive legato, same results.
> May not be evident in the mix, but sure is on its own. Sounds like all instruments have some volume bumps in the mid dynamic layer, right before the next note starts, despite even moving the mod wheel down during the transitions.
> ...


Beautiful composition, Mark. I'd love to hear the full version.


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## Peter Hirdes (Sep 23, 2022)

Hi there, just installed 1.7. Installation went smoothly but now I see a seize of 83 GB on my SSD. I'm a bit surprised because Native Access only shows 45.25 GB. Even in the specs on Alex's website I only find 48.6 GB. Is the size ok? the samples folder looks fine to me anyway.


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## BassClef (Sep 23, 2022)

Peter Hirdes said:


> Hi there, just installed 1.7. Installation went smoothly but now I see a seize of 83 GB on my SSD. I'm a bit surprised because Native Access only shows 45.25 GB. Even in the specs on Alex's website I only find 48.6 GB. Is the size ok? the samples folder looks fine to me anyway.


No... a few of us had this problem. Your SSD SHOULD NOT show 83GB. my solution was to completely move version 1.5 to another drive. Then do a new 1.7 install rather than update. Then the proper size was showing on my SSD. Then I moved 1.5 (renamed) back to it's regular SSD. All is well! If you can not move 1.5, just delete it, and "if you still want it" contact Alex. He will link you to a download site for 1.5.


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## jooba (Sep 23, 2022)

Igor Sena said:


> Beautiful composition, Mark. I'd love to hear the full version.


Me too


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## Peter Hirdes (Sep 24, 2022)

BassClef said:


> No... a few of us had this problem. Your SSD SHOULD NOT show 83GB. my solution was to completely move version 1.5 to another drive. Then do a new 1.7 install rather than update. Then the proper size was showing on my SSD. Then I moved 1.5 (renamed) back to it's regular SSD. All is well! If you can not move 1.5, just delete it, and "if you still want it" contact Alex. He will link you to a download site for 1.5.


Yes, it worked!Thanks a lot!


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## jcrosby (Sep 24, 2022)

Vik said:


> Here's something I just posted in another thread – which could be relevant for some of those who've had problems with installing CSS 1.7:
> 
> Based on this page, "only the latest versions of the following software products are supported on macOS 12 Monterey" – and Kontakt 7 is not on that list (6.7.0 is). Also, after a list of various hardware devices, they write that "Other Native Instruments software and hardware products are not currently supported on macOS 12 Monterey". Also, "Our products are not yet compatible with the MacBook M1 Max / Pro".
> 
> ...



All current software in Komplete 13 runs totally fine on M1 Max MB's, even if not on the list. I've had mine since early July and everything from KU13 has been running without issue. Kontakt 7 will be AS native. Not only would it be strange that 6.7 were but 7 weren't, support confirmed it will be. (The rest of the product line I have no idea. But everything runs fine under Rosetta 2.) It seems pretty safe to assume that anything running under Monterey in K13 will run in K14 - I'm not saying it's 100% guarantee, but it seems a bit strange that NI would achieve compatibility in K13 and not have K14 Monterey ready for M1/M1 Max on the day of release. M2 I'd imagine is a different story...

That said I wouldn't be surprised if some products will still require Rosetta 2 in the short term. I personally find Rosetta more stable than native still (regardless of developer). People have blown Rosetta's CPU needs way out of proportion, it's lean and surprisingly efficient. I'm in Logic and Live however, so the experience may be different in other DAWs... Especially something like Cubase which doesn't host AU.

Native Access 2 however may be quirky (not using it here). If anything might be a stumbling block, I'd imagine that _might_ be it...


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## ketomiu (Oct 1, 2022)

Thank you for the update. But installing is being a terrible experience. Native Access reinstalled the new css on my system hard drive !!!(instead of the sample libraries external ssd where the original css was installed)!!!. I followed the instructions given, but this happened without native acces asking anything... Now I have to copy all again to the ssd. Terrible!!! I dont knmow if this is a mistake by css or by natiev access....Also no information how to copy and use the updated css on a second computer system....Do I have to redownload all again??? Or there is a workout to just copy the folder on the nwe system and let native acces know that it is the updated version??? Thank you for any advice!


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## proxima (Oct 1, 2022)

ketomiu said:


> Thank you for the update. But installing is being a terrible experience. Native Access reinstalled the new css on my system hard drive !!!(instead of the sample libraries external ssd where the original css was installed)!!!. I followed the instructions given, but this happened without native acces asking anything... Now I have to copy all again to the ssd. Terrible!!! I dont knmow if this is a mistake by css or by natiev access....Also no information how to copy and use the updated css on a second computer system....Do I have to redownload all again??? Or there is a workout to just copy the folder on the nwe system and let native acces know that it is the updated version??? Thank you for any advice!


Breathe.

Native Access, by default, will install to the location you specify in its preferences (the "Content Location"). If you want to move a library, just move the folder and re-start Native Access. It will give you the option to locate the folder.

Supposing you want to use it on a second computer, simply copy the folder to the computer, then load Native Access, look for CSS, select the "..." menu, and select "locate". I haven't tested this myself, I'm inferring from other uninstalled packages.


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## AceAudioHQ (Oct 16, 2022)

I'm having a problem with 1.7 that the first note of a phrase is not sometimes triggered at all, but when the second note comes, everything starts playing, but sometimes it works right off the bat, anyone had anything like this?


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## Illico (Oct 16, 2022)

AceAudioHQ said:


> I'm having a problem with 1.7 that the first note of a phrase is not sometimes triggered at all, but when the second note comes, everything starts playing, but sometimes it works right off the bat, anyone had anything like this?


Which DAW?


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## AceAudioHQ (Oct 16, 2022)

Illico said:


> Which DAW?


Well Renoise 3.4.2 at least, I haven’t tried on others yet, everything worked fine before 1.7


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## Pablocrespo (Oct 16, 2022)

AceAudioHQ said:


> I'm having a problem with 1.7 that the first note of a phrase is not sometimes triggered at all, but when the second note comes, everything starts playing, but sometimes it works right off the bat, anyone had anything like this?


Yes, it is a known problem in several DAWs and Alex is working on it for the next update


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## WindcryMusic (Oct 30, 2022)

I finally got around to downloading this (having been fearful of Native Access problems). I moved the old version first, and it seemed to go okay. And I do really like most of the updates.

However, I'm having one huge problem that I haven't seen discussed here ... in that after I mapped the mic mix keyswitches to my four controllers (CC 22 thru 25) and set up a custom microphone mix, I'm finding that more often than not when I use the key switches to change to any articulation other than the sustains, the first three mic levels jump back to maximum (or the first four in the case of the ensemble patch), which are CCs 22 through 24 in all cases. I've checked the ensemble, violins and cellos thus far, and they are all doing this. I have restarted Logic from scratch and reloaded the template, and it still happens.

Am I the only person who has encountered this? The library has become entirely unusable in my template now, which is a real gut punch.

(I’m hosting the library in the latest Kontakt 6 version, if that matters.)

UPDATE: I think I’ve solved it. It appears the 1.7 version of the plugin may now be using CCs 22 thru 24 (and maybe others … I don’t know) internally during articulation changes. I moved my assignments to the 25-28 range and all now seems to be well. Also note that this is very possibly only an issue when sending the keyswitch note values to change articulations, as opposed to changing articulations via any other methods.

BTW, Alex already reached out to me about my support email … once again showing why we all love him so.


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## Markus Kohlprath (Oct 31, 2022)

WindcryMusic said:


> I finally got around to downloading this (having been fearful of Native Access problems). I moved the old version first, and it seemed to go okay. And I do really like most of the updates.
> 
> However, I'm having one huge problem that I haven't seen discussed here ... in that after I mapped the mic mix keyswitches to my four controllers (CC 22 thru 25) and set up a custom microphone mix, I'm finding that more often than not when I use the key switches to change to any articulation other than the sustains, the first three mic levels jump back to maximum (or the first four in the case of the ensemble patch), which are CCs 22 through 24 in all cases. I've checked the ensemble, violins and cellos thus far, and they are all doing this. I have restarted Logic from scratch and reloaded the template, and it still happens.
> 
> ...


I wanted to use cc21 instead of cc2 for vibrato since all SF libraries do this and had the same problem. The solution which Alex provided me was to use the transformer plugin in Kontakt which transforms every incoming cc to another one. Works like a charm. Just in case somebody else might want to do so as well.
And also an example of very helpful and fast support from Alex.


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## Daniel James (Nov 3, 2022)

Finally got a gap between projects to update this. Fucking incredible stuff! I am still spooked about loading old projects and hope its not too much of a ballache when I go back. I couldn't resist those new features any more tho 

-DJ


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## Markus Kohlprath (Nov 3, 2022)

Daniel James said:


> Finally got a gap between projects to update this. Fucking incredible stuff! I am still spooked about loading old projects and hope its not too much of a ballache when I go back. I couldn't resist those new features any more tho
> 
> -DJ


You can easily load the old version via the files tab in Kontakt if you didn't delete it. No need to worry. It's like every other non player library afaict.


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## WindcryMusic (Nov 3, 2022)

I‘m happy to report that, having solved my controllers issue and having more time to play around with CSS 1.7, this update has catapulted CSS back to the front of the line when I am choosing amongst my string libraries. A truly game-changing level of improvement, especially for someone like me who likes to make heavy use of non-vib articulations for strings.


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## Harrisown (Nov 11, 2022)

I just got the 11th November patch via Native Access 2. Is it me or is the release of the sustain legato very abrupt. It just stops, very unnaturally.


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## Rudianos (Nov 11, 2022)

Harrisown said:


> I just got the 11th November patch via Native Access 2. Is it me or is the release of the sustain legato very abrupt. It just stops, very unnaturally.


can we hear it ?


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## Rob Elliott (Nov 11, 2022)

Rudianos said:


> can we hear it ?


I bet the control for release somehow got dramatically shortened. check that - maybe a slider got moved.


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## Harrisown (Nov 11, 2022)

it might just be me, it's been a little while since I used it but I don't remember the ambiance or room tails just stopping before.
Its only when it's triggering legato so I guess it's that.
Ignore me until you pros have your own opinion.


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## madfloyd (Nov 12, 2022)

Harrisown said:


> I just got the 11th November patch via Native Access 2. Is it me or is the release of the sustain legato very abrupt. It just stops, very unnaturally.


Wow. Not only did I not realize that 1.71 had been released, I had no idea there was a new version of Native Access!


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## Harrisown (Nov 12, 2022)

madfloyd said:


> Wow. Not only did I not realize that 1.71 had been released, I had no idea there was a new version of Native Access!


It’s was a straight to DVD release. I only heard about it a month ago and it’s been out a year.


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## philthevoid (Nov 12, 2022)

Harrisown said:


> It’s was a straight to DVD release. I only heard about it a month ago and it’s been out a year.


and @madfloyd 
Get ready to be amazed. They actually released version 3 a couple weeks ago! 🤯








Official update status - Native Access (current version: 3.0.0)


This thread provides information about upcoming patches for Native Access. It will be updated whenever new information becomes available.




community.native-instruments.com


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## madfloyd (Nov 12, 2022)

philthevoid said:


> and @madfloyd
> Get ready to be amazed. They actually released version 3 a couple weeks ago! 🤯
> 
> 
> ...


OK, so I have v3 now and it's slow as molasses compared to v1... other than 'dark mode' is there any advantage to it?


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## Vik (Dec 7, 2022)

Have any of you ever gone back to a pre 1.7-version for other reasons than opening 'old' projects?
I'm asking because I don't have any old projects I need to be compatible with now. Therefore, I could go directly from 1.6 to 1.7.1 - but there's something with the old CSS sound I like too – see Soundcloud example below.

While I assume that I can equalize myself back to the 1.6 sound when/if needed, I'm not 100% convinced. That's the only thing which holds me back from not uodating to 1.7.1 right now.


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## Robert_G (Dec 7, 2022)

Vik said:


> Have any of you ever gone back to a pre 1.7-version for other reasons than opening 'old' projects?
> I'm asking because I don't have any old projects I need to be compatible with now. Therefore, I could go directly from 1.6 to 1.7.1 - but there's something with the old CSS sound I like too – see Soundcloud example below.
> 
> While I assume that I can equalize myself back to the 1.6 sound when/if needed, I'm not 100% convinced. That's the only thing which holds me back from not uodating to 1.7.1 right now.



I'm using both if needed. I just put the old CSS on another drive and access it from the 'files' tab.


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## Vik (Dec 7, 2022)

Robert_G said:


> I'm using both if needed. I just put the old CSS on another drive and access it from the 'files' tab.


Thanks – interesting. I'm wondering if you need to the older version for earlier projects, or because it's easier to find back to old sounds than to recreate them with a slightly different sound, or something else?


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## Robert_G (Dec 7, 2022)

Vik said:


> Thanks – interesting. I'm wondering if you need to the older version for earlier projects, or because it's easier to find back to old sounds than to recreate them with a slightly different sound, or something else?


Mostly earlier projects. I find 1.7 almost flawless.


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## Vik (Dec 9, 2022)

How long is the actual installing process (1.5-1.71) take? Native Access 3.01 has been saying 'Installing' forever, and there are no signs of progress.


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## madfloyd (Dec 9, 2022)

Vik said:


> How long is the actual installing process (1.5-1.71) take? Native Access 3.01 has been saying 'Installing' forever, and there are no signs of progress.


I think NA v3 takes forever to do anything.


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## Haakond (Dec 9, 2022)

Native access 3.01 is the worst and slowest software I have ever used.


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## Vik (Dec 9, 2022)

Yes, extremely slow. But the main problem seems to be that it hasn't been downloading all the needed, new files. I guess I need to remove the files it has found (or the whole library) and try to install yet another time?


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## Chris_B (Dec 30, 2022)

Purchased CSS yesterday and am still downloading. Have a relatively slow Internet connection. Native Access 3 drops into "Waiting for connection" mode if the transfer rate drops below some undefined threshold and unfortunately never resumes without my manually hitting the resume "circle with arrow" icon. Apparently auto-retrying the connection is beyond their coding abilities LOL. This makes the idea of slower downloading overnight worthless.


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## JohnG (Dec 31, 2022)

I have Native Access v3.1.0 and it's failing on the installation, reporting that it doesn't have enough room for installation. I deleted the old library completely and there is 145GB of space free, but still no luck.

I'm trying to install on a Windows 10 machine, on an SSD other than the boot drive. Tried the "reinstall" function multiple times but keeps reporting same problem of insufficient space.


any suggestions? I must be doing something wrong.


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## Saxer (Jan 1, 2023)

JohnG said:


> I have Native Access v3.1.0 and it's failing on the installation, reporting that it doesn't have enough room for installation. I deleted the old library completely and there is 145GB of space free, but still no luck.
> 
> I'm trying to install on a Windows 10 machine, on an SSD other than the boot drive. Tried the "reinstall" function multiple times but keeps reporting same problem of insufficient space.
> 
> ...


In preferences of NA you can choose the download destination. It's not the same as the library destination.


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## JohnG (Jan 1, 2023)

Saxer said:


> In preferences of NA you can choose the download destination. It's not the same as the library destination.


Thanks Saxer -- that's a good thought but I'm confident that NA is aimed at the correct location. I'm wondering if it's something to do with the new edition of NA? It looks completely different from the previous version I had.

I'll check it again anyway.


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Jan 1, 2023)

In the settings for which place to download, try going up 1 level and then try again.

So i.e. instead of C:\Cinesamples\Cinebrass it should just be C:\Cinesamples

I swear that solved it for me one time where I got that error message. So maybe you’re lucky it works too.


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## HelloGoodbye (Jan 2, 2023)

JohnG said:


> I have Native Access v3.1.0 and it's failing on the installation, reporting that it doesn't have enough room for installation. I deleted the old library completely and there is 145GB of space free, but still no luck.
> 
> I'm trying to install on a Windows 10 machine, on an SSD other than the boot drive. Tried the "reinstall" function multiple times but keeps reporting same problem of insufficient space.
> 
> ...


It’s because NA doesn’t separate “purgeable” disk space from what is actually available… chances are you have a bunch data stored as Purgeable data (time machine does this automatically); if you go into disk utility you can see the amount of purgeable data that has accrued (subtract that number from your normal/non-purgeable disk space, and that # is what NA is seeing). You can purge that data with some simple terminal commands (google “terminal commands to delete time machine purgeable disk space”)… then you should be good to go!

this is assuming you’re on a Mac 

I had to do this myself for the 1.7 update.

hope this helps

Edit: whoops, just saw you’re on windows.. probably same issue, but I don’t know the process on windows


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## JohnG (Jan 2, 2023)

Hi all,

Problem solved after a bit of tinkering.

Thank you everyone for suggestions!

John


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## tim727 (Thursday at 12:11 PM)

I'm about to install the update finally, but just had a quick installation question. So currently I still have v1.5 in my template. If I copy/rename the original lib and reinstall using Native Access to get the updated one ... what will happen when I open the CSS instruments already in my template? So for instance if I have the CSS violins in there, then when I open the Kontakt instance for the violins will it just load the v1.7 violins automatically? Or would there be some kind of error because it's still trying to load the v1.5 but wouldn't be able to find them?


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## jazzman7 (Thursday at 4:04 PM)

tim727 said:


> I'm about to install the update finally, but just had a quick installation question. So currently I still have v1.5 in my template. If I copy/rename the original lib and reinstall using Native Access to get the updated one ... what will happen when I open the CSS instruments already in my template? So for instance if I have the CSS violins in there, then when I open the Kontakt instance for the violins will it just load the v1.7 violins automatically? Or would there be some kind of error because it's still trying to load the v1.5 but wouldn't be able to find them?


I don't know the Specific answer since I have not tried to do that. I am aware that it will not open 1.5 stuff if you install the new one according to the website. You would have to rename the folders and point native access back to the old folder for it to load old project files. Perhaps you could copy over the old MIDI to a new instance and adjust accordingly. The website warns us not to download the new version if we are still working on old projects with 1.5


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