# Spitfire vs. VSL Strings



## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

I recently purchased Spitfire Symphonic Strings. Of course as a fan of VSL products I wanted to compare the Spitfire Symphonic Strings (SSS) with the VSL Orchestral Strings (VSL OS). Both of these products feature full symphonic strings. For SSS there are 16 1st Violins, 14 2nd Violins, 12 Violas, 10 Cellos and 8 Basses. For VSL OS there are 14 Violins (the same samples are used for both 1st and 2nd Violins, a distinct disadvantage) 10 Violas, 8 Cellos and 5 Basses. While slightly different, the sizes are similar enough to be directly comparable, as opposed to comparing full orchestral strings with chamber strings for example. Both libraries offer a very diverse collection of articulations that should cover just about any traditional musical need. Of course, there are some contemporary techniques not covered, but in my case, I don't need or want that. SSS uses Kontakt and VSL OS uses the proprietary VSL sample player "Vienna Instruments" or the souped-up version "Vienna Instruments Pro".

Since I had recently created a midi performance of the first 1 minute of the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings, this was an easy choice for making a comparison. SSS was recorded in place in a London studio, Air Lyndhurst. VSL of course recorded dry. So to compare I used VSLs MIR Pro for space and reverb. These are, in my opinion, the two top full orchestra string libraries.

So, here are the results:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This thread is from 2017. I kept getting requests for these files, so I reposted them. See my post on page three for the links. I have purchased many other string libraries in the past three years, but for me, these are still the best full orchestral strings libraries.


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## pmountford (Aug 5, 2017)

Thanks for taking your time to do this. I don't have SSS (although I do SCS & VSL) so it was rather interesting to hear (even if only through the laptop) especially when compared to other orchestral recordings of this.


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

So after hearing the results, you can make your own decision as to which you prefer. This is the very first time I have tried a sample library in direct competition with VSL and clearly preferred the non-VSL alternative. It is just a shame that we can not use the Vienna Instruments Player with the Spitfire samples, as the VSL sample player is such a joy to use.

As I compared the library "sounds" I would describe the VSL OS as "smooth" and the SSS as "detailed". This is remarkable considering that the SSS is actually a slightly larger group of strings AND sampled in place in a studio. Both are of course "realistic" since both are samples of real players playing real instruments. However, another way I describe the soundscape in my own head is that the SSS sounds like I am sitting in the Air Lyndhurst studio listening, and the VSL OS sounds like I am in the middle of a large warm concert hall listening. The SSS just sounds more immediate. Of course the VSL OS is one of the companies oldest products, but is still very usable, and does an awesome job of creating a sound comparable to classical recordings by George Szell or Herbert Von Karajan.

I played cello for many years. I played this particular piece with university orchestra and have attended live concerts where this piece was performed, always sitting on the "cello" side of the hall of course. As I worked through the midi performance of each part starting with the 1st Violins, I was impressed by SSS. But when I heard the SSS cellos, I was really blown away by the sound.


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## Quasar (Aug 5, 2017)

Wow, cool. 
For want of a better word, the VSL sounds more traditionally "classical" whereas the Spitfire has some of that more florid sweeping sound you hear in old 1940-ish movies. I have none of the strings used here. There was I think one jarring velocity jump in the VSL, and two I thought I noticed in the Spitfire. I'm sure they would be easily fixable.

I like the combo rendition the best. Thanks for doing this.


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## Lotias (Aug 5, 2017)

The VSL example sounds much less clear than what I remember getting out of it - in fact, it sounds weirdly muffled. What kind of EQ/reverb are you using on it? Is the reverb at 100% wet, because I normally never do that.


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## JohnG (Aug 5, 2017)

it's hard to make these comparisons. Even with the best of intentions, one might appear to favour one over the other.

The Spitfire example sounds like it has an awful lot of vibrato, maybe even the maximum, which I don't care for. Not sure if that's in the score or not but it interferes with what otherwise sounds very good.

And even if you agree on one aspect, other choices such as mic positions make a dramatic difference as well.


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## Virtual Virgin (Aug 5, 2017)

Quasar said:


> Wow, cool.
> For want of a better word, the VSL sounds more traditionally "classical" whereas the Spitfire has some of that more florid sweeping sound you hear in old 1940-ish movies. I have none of the strings used here. There was I think one jarring velocity jump in the VSL, and two I thought I noticed in the Spitfire. I'm sure they would be easily fixable.
> 
> I like the combo rendition the best. Thanks for doing this.



I also noticed the jarring velocity jumps you mentioned (last one happens right at the close), but beyond that I do quite like the blend and tone of the Spitfire strings.


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## ctsai89 (Aug 5, 2017)

Spitfire was by far a whole lot more realistic sounding to my ears (this is my unbiased opinion)

Nice Mockup by the way Paul.


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## skythemusic (Aug 5, 2017)

I like the Spitfire better but the first and last notes are rough.


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

Lotias said:


> The VSL example sounds much less clear than what I remember getting out of it - in fact, it sounds weirdly muffled. What kind of EQ/reverb are you using on it? Is the reverb at 100% wet, because I normally never do that.


 
It is the default 50% wet MIR Pro Sage Hall One. No EQ except a low roll off at 75hz on the double bass to prevent rumble. That was used for both VSL OS and SSS. The MIR Pro venue makes a big difference in the sound. Here is the exact same midii performance but in the Teledex Studio, with the VSL Miracle reverb to enhance tail length added on the main stereo out.

https://app.box.com/s/ksotl31dgigbruq61ntox6bhcroqyaxl (Serenade VSL in Teledex)


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

JohnG said:


> it's hard to make these comparisons. Even with the best of intentions, one might appear to favour one over the other.
> 
> The Spitfire example sounds like it has an awful lot of vibrato, maybe even the maximum, which I don't care for. Not sure if that's in the score or not but it interferes with what otherwise sounds very good.
> 
> And even if you agree on one aspect, other choices such as mic positions make a dramatic difference as well.



Yes the vibrato is set to 100% on the SSS rendering, which I personally like, but of course it is easily controllable by CC. The amount of vibrato is not specified in the score. This is Tchaikovsky, late romantic era, fortissimo and forte (ff and f) full strings tutti so I think a very full vibrato would be typical, but that is just my opinion. And yes the SSS mic mix makes some difference in the color of the sound, and the VSL mic options and reverb venue can actually make a bigger difference in the sound of VSL instruments.

I paid for both libraries with my own funds and have no desire to favor one or the other. I do MUCH prefer the VSL proprietary Vienna Instruments Pro over Kontakt so if it was a tie in my ears, I would go with VSL for that reason. But both are very fine products.


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

Virtual Virgin said:


> I also noticed the jarring velocity jumps you mentioned (last one happens right at the close), but beyond that I do quite like the blend and tone of the Spitfire strings.



The last note jumps to fff fortississimo in the score and there are double stops (chord rips) in all but the double bass, which is about as much noise as stringed instruments are capable of making. So the jump in volume on the last note was for sure intended by Tchaikovsky for dramatic effect. The full score is available free at IMSLP.


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

skythemusic said:


> I like the Spitfire better but the first and last notes are rough.



The first three notes are marked with accents. There are also a few sforzando (suddenly louder) notes in the score. Double stops (more than one note played at the same time) will sound louder than the same music played divisi. Whenever there is a double stop the volume will appear to be louder. Tchaikovsky frequently used this technique for dramatic purposes.


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## Virtual Virgin (Aug 5, 2017)

Paul T McGraw said:


> The last note jumps to fff fortississimo in the score and there are double stops (chord rips) in all but the double bass, which is about as much noise as stringed instruments are capable of making. So the jump in volume on the last note was for sure intended by Tchaikovsky for dramatic effect. The full score is available free at IMSLP.



I understand that, but the timbre of that velocity jump here is a "tell". The change in dynamics gives the impression of stretching a velocity layer beyond its capacity. Do either of these libraries have a proper fff layer, or is it scaled up from a f or ff?


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## Rodney Money (Aug 5, 2017)

Hey Paul,

Congratulations on your new purchase! One day you might want to consider Cinematic Studio Strings also, and I know one day I would actually love to own Spitfire's Chamber Strings. I think here recently the more intimate chamber sound has been more appealing to me pulling at my heartstrings searching for an intimate connection with the ear. In your example, it sounded as though Spitfire sounded more live while VSL was more refine and choir-like, but I am loving how SSS's celli especially made you feel.


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## Lotias (Aug 5, 2017)

Paul T McGraw said:


> It is the default 50% wet MIR Pro Sage Hall One. No EQ except a low roll off at 75hz on the double bass to prevent rumble. That was used for both VSL OS and SSS. The MIR Pro venue makes a big difference in the sound. Here is the exact same midii performance but in the Teledex Studio, with the VSL Miracle reverb to enhance tail length added on the main stereo out.
> 
> https://app.box.com/s/ksotl31dgigbruq61ntox6bhcroqyaxl (Serenade VSL in Teledex)


I never use the reverb part of MIR reverb (it sounds terrible to me a good 99% of the time) - I use MIRx just to get the EQ effect (turning the reverb itself down to 0) and then add a tail elsewhere. It helps when I want an instrument to sound farther away.


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

Virtual Virgin said:


> I understand that, but the timbre of that velocity jump here is a "tell". The change in dynamics gives the impression of stretching a velocity layer beyond its capacity. Do either of these libraries have a proper fff layer, or is it scaled up from a f or ff?



VSL OS has four velocity layers on all but a few articulations (p, mf, f, and ff). SSS has only three velocity layers on the primary articulations (p, mf, f).


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

Rodney Money said:


> Hey Paul,
> 
> Congratulations on your new purchase! One day you might want to consider Cinematic Studio Strings also, and I know one day I would actually love to own Spitfire's Chamber Strings. I think here recently the more intimate chamber sound has been more appealing to me pulling at my heartstrings searching for an intimate connection with the ear. In your example, it sounded as though Spitfire sounded more live while VSL was more refine and choir-like, but I am loving how SSS's celli especially made you feel.



I thought about Cinematic Studio Strings, or the predecessor product Cinematic Strings 2. I might try one of these at some point as I know they are both very popular on VI-Control. It is mostly a matter of time for me rather than money. At some point I need to start doing more midi-performances of my own compositions and quit playing around with different sample libraries. But buying sample libraries is so much fun! I always feel like a little kid with a new toy when I first begin to try out a new sample library.

I know you are building up your collection and I would recommend the Spitfire products based on the SSS I purchased. The programming is good and the Kontakt interface is logical and easy to use. I did not have any phasing issues despite only three velocity layers. Using CC1 for dynamic control seems to work well for both short and long notes and the legato is to me convincing. Not as good as VSL legato, but good enough.


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## vms (Aug 5, 2017)

Wow thanks for dong this
So apparently SSS has more high frequency
I guess they would sound quite similar if VSL is given a wide 8k Hz boost for 4-5dB


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## JohnG (Aug 5, 2017)

Paul T McGraw said:


> Yes the vibrato is set to 100% on the SSS rendering,



I think that is way too much to have at 100% for the entire passage, and the reason I bring it up is because at maximum it changes the character of the Spitfire Strings. I still prefer them, but I think they would sound better still if the vibrato were backed off.


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Aug 6, 2017)

JohnG said:


> I think that is way too much to have at 100% for the entire passage, and the reason I bring it up is because at maximum it changes the character of the Spitfire Strings. I still prefer them, but I think they would sound better still if the vibrato were backed off.


Don't quote me on this, but as I recall the vibrato slider on the Legato patches does almost nothing until ~50% where it crossfades to non vib. Not ideal for control.


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## JPQ (Aug 6, 2017)

I feel VSL sounds better what i imagined and Spitfire sounded poorer. difference is smaller what i imagined based how much many hate VSL and so many like Spitfire. Little offtopic: btw i itself dream i sell someday my own album if all oes well then i can imagine better tools for me.


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## ptram (Aug 6, 2017)

Paul, can you try to add more direct sound in MIR? That is, reducing the amount of wet signal in the mix. This should add more clarity.

Paolo


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 6, 2017)

ptram said:


> Paul, can you try to add more direct sound in MIR? That is, reducing the amount of wet signal in the mix. This should add more clarity.
> 
> Paolo



I can change the VSL wet/dry mix for you. Are you wanting to hear the Teledex or the Sage venue?


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## JohnG (Aug 6, 2017)

SimonCharlesHanna said:


> as I recall the vibrato slider on the Legato patches does almost nothing until ~50% where it crossfades to non vib



That's pretty true on my keyboard, Simon. There is a very narrow range that makes a dramatic, somewhat abrupt difference on the slider I have tied to cc21 (vibrato on many Spitfire patches). That narrow slider range, just as you say, is at about 50% or so.


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## ctsai89 (Aug 6, 2017)

SimonCharlesHanna said:


> Don't quote me on this, but as I recall the vibrato slider on the Legato patches does almost nothing until ~50% where it crossfades to non vib. Not ideal for control.



That's for the performance legato patches. It's either Molto vib or non vib divided at 50%. Spitfire has admitted for scs that they didn't record anywhere in between lots of vib or non vib so the medium vib that exists on the "legato performance" patch is faked by combining Molto and non vib and crossfades


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## JohnG (Aug 6, 2017)

the vib / non-vib occupies a pretty narrow range on many Spitfire patches, I find. Doesn't bother me, but it is a narrow range and one has to be careful in adjusting to taste.


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## ptram (Aug 7, 2017)

Paul T McGraw said:


> I can change the VSL wet/dry mix for you. Are you wanting to hear the Teledex or the Sage venue?


Paul, I think insisting on the Teldex-Spitfire(Air) comparison would be interesting.

Another thing that I would try is to use the Wide Teldex in MIR, instead of the Center one. While the Center is brighter and more diffuse, the Wide seems to me a bit darker and more detaild (especially on the bass frequencies).

Paolo


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## Paul T McGraw (Aug 7, 2017)

ptram said:


> Paul, I think insisting on the Teldex-Spitfire(Air) comparison would be interesting.
> 
> Another thing that I would try is to use the Wide Teldex in MIR, instead of the Center one. While the Center is brighter and more diffuse, the Wide seems to me a bit darker and more detaild (especially on the bass frequencies).
> 
> Paolo



OK, the default wet/dry mix is 50%. For these two examples, the mix is 25% wet, 75% dry. 

Here is the VSL Teledex less wet narrow
https://app.box.com/s/khbvbwnn139kldwa1uzd36ut6qu53d1s

Here is the VSL Teledex less wet wide
https://app.box.com/s/rt1c9ojozbbjvmp8eah4yuez0g8m917r

I think I actually like this new, less wet, mix better. Now that I have tried with the less wet mix, I would say that the SSS and VSL OS are about a tie for me. I like the "crunch" of the bow on string captured by SSS in the marcatto patch, and I like the tone quality of the SSS cello and bass. Otherwise, using the drier mix, I think I like the VSL OS better. I certainly prefer the Vienna Instruments Pro sample player. Whoever designed that was a genius.

This has been a fun project. One thing great about the VSL instruments is that the sound can be placed in different venues so we have almost infinite flexibility in creating the sound we want. The advantage of Spitfire and other wet libraries is that you do not have to know much about engineering or mixing to get a good sound. We are very lucky to have so many really fine instruments to use.


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## ptram (Aug 7, 2017)

Thank you very much, Paul. That's very interesting. I find that the Spitfire orchestra is made for bigger sounds, at the boundary between huge late-Romantic, Walton/Elgar orchestra, and more modern film music. VSL remains more intimate, even when we are dealing with the Appassionata Strings.

Both the early SSS example you posted, and these VSL Teldex ones, sounds very good to me. I personally prefer the more compact sound of VSL. Adding some more direct signal made it sound more real and detailed. The default settings sound to me a bit exaggerate, as if you are listening on the door of the concert hall.

I usually prefer the Wide Teldex for smaller ensembles, but you used a full strings orchestra, so I admit the Narrow version is probably the best one. I'm probably a bit of a 'purist', and I would have let a string chamber orchestra play this piece.

As for The Sage: I'm still trying to understand if I really like it. I don't have it, but from the various demos I heard, I seem to understand it is full bodied, full of colors, very reverberant, yet really detailed. Compared to the Musikverein, that we have listened and loved in so many recordings, it is more controlled, deeper but a lot less resounding. Probably, the perfect British hall: inspired to the Continental traditions, yet with that controlled touch.

Yes, a very fun set of tests!

Paolo


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## Lotias (Aug 7, 2017)

Paul T McGraw said:


> OK, the default wet/dry mix is 50%. For these two examples, the mix is 25% wet, 75% dry.
> 
> Here is the VSL Teledex less wet narrow
> https://app.box.com/s/khbvbwnn139kldwa1uzd36ut6qu53d1s
> ...


Much better - this is why I rarely put the MIRx reverb higher than that.


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## LuCsa (May 4, 2018)

Hello Paul,

I would very much like to listen to the VSL (Sage), Spitfire and the VSL+Spitfire renditions, but the links are dead. Is there a chance you could re-upload them? 

Thank you very much,
Lukas


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## Eric G (May 4, 2018)

ctsai89 said:


> Spitfire was by far a whole lot more realistic sounding to my ears (this is my unbiased opinion)
> 
> Nice Mockup by the way Paul.



Well done Paul.

But Spitfire sounds Synthy to me


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## studiostuff (May 4, 2018)

Thank you for doing the comparison. I prefer the S'fire... but it could be confirmation bias as I own and really enjoy SSS.

To be just a little picky; I'd like to hear a comparison that was a little less chordal, more contrapuntal (sp?). One weakness with string samples, no matter how great they may be, is when they play certain chordal stuff. I usually try to bury that sort of string writing under some brass which seems to do that sort of thing a little better IMHO.


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## ctsai89 (May 4, 2018)

Eric G said:


> Well done Paul.
> 
> But Spitfire sounds Synthy to me



Your voice sounds fake to me


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## antcarrier (May 4, 2018)

The VSL version sounds a lot more realistic to me. I am surprised by how bad the SSS sounds in this example, when everyone raves about it so much. The fundamental tone is nice though. I haven't tried SSS myself.

I agree, MIR typically sounds best between 25-30% wet, although occasionally I do use more with the larger halls, depending on what sound I'm after.


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## Casiquire (May 4, 2018)

WOW, that wide Teldex makes a huge difference! I haven't played with Wide nearly enough. Thanks for this comparison too


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## Spike2000 (May 4, 2018)

Not sure if its programming or library, but just listening to the first few bars, each individual "chord" of SSS sounds big and beautiful, but sounds very stilted as a whole. VSL, while being smaller, sounds much more like a complete piece of music.


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## LuCsa (May 5, 2018)

Thanks for the update! 
Is there a chance we can hear the layered/combined rendition as well? 

Kind regards,
Lukas


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## Paul T McGraw (May 5, 2018)

LuCsa said:


> Hello Paul,
> 
> I would very much like to listen to the VSL (Sage), Spitfire and the VSL+Spitfire renditions, but the links are dead. Is there a chance you could re-upload them?
> 
> ...



Links are repaired. I never suspected people would be still reading this thread an entire year later.  But that was silly of me, of course people are still searching for information on these products.


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## Paul T McGraw (May 5, 2018)

LuCsa said:


> Thanks for the update!
> Is there a chance we can hear the layered/combined rendition as well?
> 
> Kind regards,
> Lukas



OK, I recreated the link for the combined VSL plus Spitfire.
https://app.box.com/s/zk4n6fdgcobmt0co5s06scrwwm40ou1k

As of this posting: Spitfire Symphonic Strings $700 and VSL Orchestral Strings $900 for a total of $1,600 worth of strings in that file.


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## LuCsa (May 5, 2018)

Paul T McGraw said:


> Links are repaired. I never suspected people would be still reading this thread an entire year later.  But that was silly of me, of course people are still searching for information on these products.



Thank you.


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## constaneum (May 6, 2018)

actually....between VSL and Spitfire? WHo has better cleaner sound and better consistencies? I personally find VSL sounds clean.


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## ctsai89 (May 6, 2018)

Depending on the product for spitfire tbh. Chamber string is the definition of the opposite of consistent.

sSS is actually much more consistent except for the spiccatos


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## Musicam (May 7, 2018)

For me, Spitfire always  Time gives me the reason, its my personal choice. Happy!


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## BlackDorito (May 7, 2018)

For those of us coming late to the party, thanks for all the work. My preference is for the Teldex wide and then the Gates Head (which is a little less bright, but in keeping with this music). I too am disappointed at the SSS rendition, a bit too big and less elegant in my view. This inspires me to download the 30-day demo of Roompacks 2 & 4 to check them out.


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## Casiquire (May 8, 2018)

BlackDorito said:


> For those of us coming late to the party, thanks for all the work. My preference is for the Teldex wide and then the Gates Head (which is a little less bright, but in keeping with this music). I too am disappointed at the SSS rendition, a bit too big and less elegant in my view. This inspires me to download the 30-day demo of Roompacks 2 & 4 to check them out.



Roompack 2 is fantastic. I've only had it for about a month but it seems to have the best of all worlds: the small booths up to the wide halls. I tried the demo for Roompack 4, but I feel like I came away more impressed by 2 overall.


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## antcarrier (May 8, 2018)

I have all the room packs, but 2 & 4 are the best IMO. 2 is probably the most versatile. 4 is amazing for when you need a hall - it sounds very "live" but doesn't get muddy.


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## Casiquire (May 9, 2018)

antcarrier said:


> I have all the room packs, but 2 & 4 are the best IMO. 2 is probably the most versatile. 4 is amazing for when you need a hall - it sounds very "live" but doesn't get muddy.



I chose 1 over 4, but both are really good. I just can't do without that Mozartsaal. I also love church acoustics so I may be back for 3. I think I have a problem.


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## antcarrier (May 9, 2018)

Casiquire said:


> I chose 1 over 4, but both are really good. I just can't do without that Mozartsaal. I also love church acoustics so I may be back for 3. I think I have a problem.



Lol I am using Mozartsaal on my latest project, and used Pernegg (from 3) on my last. They are all good really


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## constaneum (May 9, 2018)

Mozartsaal better then Teldex? hhaha


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## antcarrier (May 9, 2018)

constaneum said:


> Mozartsaal better then Teldex? hhaha



No. But for some applications, yes.


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## constaneum (May 9, 2018)

ah. saw the description that it's a chamber sized hall which i reckon it'll be more suitable for chamber orchestral only.


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## Casiquire (May 10, 2018)

constaneum said:


> Mozartsaal better then Teldex? hhaha



Teldex is 2, which I do own, and I'd never give up my Teldex! 4 is The Sage Gateshead, and if you already have 1 and 2, then 4 doesn't really feel like it's necessary, at least in my opinion.



constaneum said:


> ah. saw the description that it's a chamber sized hall which i reckon it'll be more suitable for chamber orchestral only.



I actually find it good for all orchestral use, in fact it's even a bit big for chamber music in my opinion. Maybe in person inside the hall itself it is a better fit for chamber music, but in practice when using MIR it has a full-sized orchestra sound to me.


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## constaneum (May 10, 2018)

Casiquire said:


> Teldex is 2, which I do own, and I'd never give up my Teldex! 4 is The Sage Gateshead, and if you already have 1 and 2, then 4 doesn't really feel like it's necessary, at least in my opinion.
> 
> I actually find it good for all orchestral use, in fact it's even a bit big for chamber music in my opinion. Maybe in person inside the hall itself it is a better fit for chamber music, but in practice when using MIR it has a full-sized orchestra sound to me.



I ended up getting only roompack2 for its teldex to blend other instruments with my berlin woodwinds. They even have synchron roompack now. lol


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## Casiquire (May 10, 2018)

constaneum said:


> I ended up getting only roompack2 for its teldex to blend other instruments with my berlin woodwinds. They even have synchron roompack now. lol



I think you made a brilliant choice there. You have many more rooms than you would with the Synchron pack ranging from small and bone dry to big and juicy. The only things you're really missing are big orchestral performance halls and churches, and you may not even need those. I think you made the best choice.


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## Pier (Nov 27, 2019)

The links are broken again! 

@Paul T McGraw do you think you could upload those files again?


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## Tyler Hawes (Dec 24, 2019)

Registered just so I could come here and +1 the request to repost the files. I own VSL and am curious about Spitfire after watching so many of their YouTube videos with famous composers. @Paul T McGraw , after reading through this thread I'm dying to hear what you did! If you need a free and permanent place to host them, I can make a web page for them and park it on my domain (with credit given / link to you or whatever you like).


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## Paul T McGraw (Dec 24, 2019)

@Tyeler Hawes and @Pier Bover I created new links for you. These files are in WAV format (lossless) I guess I will just leave them up for good.

Here is the Spitfire version:








Serenade for Strings Spitfire.wav | Powered by Box







app.box.com





Here is the VSL version:








Serenade for Strings VSL.wav | Powered by Box







app.box.com





Here we have Spitfire + VSL combined:








Serenade for Strings Spitfire + VSL.wav | Powered by Box







app.box.com





For the Spitfire Strings, I used 50% close mic, 100% tree mic, and 85% ambient mic.

For the VSL Orchestral Strings, I used MIR Pro "Teldex" at 25% wet/dry.

I love both of these libraries. I prefer the ease of use of the VSL, as they are remarkably consistent in volume and response among all of the many articulations and all of the sections. Personally, I find that while the sound of the VSL Orchestral Strings is good, I prefer the sound of Spitfire, it is just hard to beat the sound of Ayr Lyndhurst Studio. I continue to use both, and sometimes I use them combined.


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## Tyler Hawes (Dec 24, 2019)

Very interesting, and thank you for reposting them! I wish I didn't, but I prefer the sound of the Spitfire (which I don't own). Mostly it is because of the acoustic space / imaging of it. The VSL sounds all wide, everything coming from far left/right, without any anchoring in the center and therefore lacking depth to the soundstage or a "being there" imaging like with a fine real recording. The Spitfire has all of that which is missing in VSL. 

I have to wonder if this is just my personal preference on what MIR space is used, that I might like the VSL better in something other than Teldex, something narrower and deeper. Even though I've owned VSL SE for a while, I never really had time to play with it as much as I'd like (not my day job) and only recently upgraded to the Symphonic Cube (Black Friday) and am about to give it some serious time. 

All that said, what is clear to me is they are both excellent, but also that neither one will kill the desire to hear real humans perform your music if given the chance.


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## mscp (May 25, 2020)

Is the Synchron stage apparent in the VSL libraries? I love that room.


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## ptram (May 25, 2020)

Phil81 said:


> Is the Synchron stage apparent in the VSL libraries? I love that room.


In Synchron or Synchronized libraries, it is heard with the source sound. With the former it is recorded, with the latter it is added as a convoluton reverb, based on their MIR technology.

Paolo

(PS: I'm happy you reopened a post created by Paul. It is sweet to know he is still with us...)


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## Michael Antrum (May 25, 2020)

Just saw this thread pop up with Paul‘s avatar, and it gave me rather a start.

I do miss seeing him round here and elsewhere. He was a such pleasant guy, full of encouragement and always unfailingly polite and helpful.


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## mscp (May 25, 2020)

Do VSL libraries blend in easily with Spitfire's or not quite? I wanted to get the woodwinds and appassionata ones.


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## daviddln (May 25, 2020)

Phil81 said:


> Do VSL libraries blend in easily with Spitfire's or not quite? I wanted to get the woodwinds and appassionata ones.



It blends well with Spitfire's Studio Orchestra. It's more difficult with SSO.


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## barteredbride (May 25, 2020)

Michael Antrum said:


> Just saw this thread pop up with Paul‘s avatar, and it gave me rather a start.
> 
> I do miss seeing him round here and elsewhere. He was a such pleasant guy, full of encouragement and always unfailingly polite and helpful.


Yes, like many others I didn´t know him personally but read many of his very helpful threads and posts. 

He did like his brass!!


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## José Herring (May 25, 2020)

Curious to find out if they ever fixed any of the issues with Synchron Strings. 

I love the sound of the stage.

I'd like to have that sound with samples in that room but I heard the VSL synchron strings didn't really come out that great. The demos are a mixed bag but they are from the first release. I'm sure there's been updates.


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## Ben (May 25, 2020)

josejherring said:


> Curios to find out if they ever fixed any of the issues with Synchron Strings.


Yes, they were updated, improving many of the issues.


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## holywilly (May 26, 2020)

Phil81 said:


> Do VSL libraries blend in easily with Spitfire's or not quite? I wanted to get the woodwinds and appassionata ones.


VSL Synchron Strings blends very well with BBCSO Strings.


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## holywilly (May 26, 2020)

Ben said:


> Yes, they were updated, improving many of the issues.


Maybe it’s time for the 2nd volume with more articulations, and “true” Sfz.


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## LostintheBardo (Nov 17, 2021)

I prefer the timbre of the Spitfire ones but they feel oddly inconsistently dynamically/volume wise to me...


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## dunamisstudio (Nov 17, 2021)

This is an old thread to pop up.



holywilly said:


> VSL Synchron Strings blends very well with BBCSO Strings.


Don't tell me that, I've avoided buying BBCSO with success since it came out.


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