# VSL 's Vienna Suite effects plug-ins. Opinions ?



## muziksculp (May 1, 2010)

Hi,

Any 'VSL Vienna Suite effects' users on this forum ? 

http://vsl.co.at/en/211/497/1686/1673/115.htm

I would be interested in reading your opinions, comments, ..etc. regarding this bundle. Especially for orchestral applications. They seem to cover all the basic grounds, and more. They are also 64-bit for both Mac and PC platforms. I read a few magazine reviews, which gave them high marks. 

i.e. How is their convolution reverb compare to other popular alternatives ? 

The Vienna Suite effects include :

Convolution Reverb, EQ, Master EQ, Compressor, Multiband Compressor, Exciter, Power Pan, Limiter, Multi-band limiter, Analyzer. 

Any feedback on the quality of these effects plug-ins would be very helpful. 

Thanks.


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 1, 2010)

Thumbs up. No time for a detailed post, but they're highly underrated.


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## muziksculp (May 1, 2010)

Nick Batzdorf @ Sat May 01 said:


> Thumbs up. No time for a detailed post, but they're highly underrated.



Thanks Nick. 

I wonder why they are highly underrated ? It could be the price, or something else. Although compared to many other high-end plug-ins i.e. Waves, UAD2, and others, they are quite competitively priced. The lack of a positive buzz in many forums, including this forum, makes them harder to evaluate. 

But... I'm guessing they should be great plug-ins, hence my interest 

Also, being a VSL product, that is designed with orchestral instruments in mind, you would think that they should offer a lot of quality sound sculpting/editing qualities, that are perfectly in-line for orchestral/scoring projects. Although I wouldn't want to restrict using them for orchestral material only, they should be able to work with any type of genre.. (Pop, Rock, Electronica, Jazz, Folk, World, ...etc.)

The question remains, should I go for this package, or should I consider another plug-in bundle option, that offers similar high-quality effects plug-ins, and is 64-bit on both Mac and PC ?


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## lee (May 2, 2010)

Maybe you´ve already read these, but there seems to have been at least some buzz about the vienna suite:

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... enna+suite
http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... enna+suite
http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... enna+suite

/Johnny


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## Tanuj Tiku (May 2, 2010)

muziksculp,

Vienna Suite are very high quality plug ins. I use them on a daily basis - everything they offer is absolutely top notch and at par with any other plug in suite.

The Exciter, Master EQ, Compressor, Multiband Comp. are all really good.

For the price its a no brainer!

They are not as popular but they have been rated very high everywhere - check Sound on Sound review - Computer Magazine etc.

The only other suite similar to this I can reccommend is Sony Oxford - but they are much more expensive.


For orchestral music (OR ANY OTHER MUSIC actually) Vienna Suite is a winner all the way - because of their presets. There are hundreds of presets to start from and then make them their own.

They are one of the cleanest plugins on the market.


Best,

Tanuj.


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## Stephen Baysted (May 2, 2010)

vibrato @ Sun May 02 said:


> muziksculp,
> 
> Vienna Suite are very high quality plug ins. I use them on a daily basis - everything they offer is absolutely top notch and at par with any other plug in suite.
> 
> ...



+1. Vienna Suite is stunning.


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## muziksculp (May 2, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback. 

Nice to know that you like them. But imho, the 'Vienna Suite' has not been one of the most talked about plug-in bundle on the market lately, so they surely don't have the positive buzz that UAD-2, or Waves, Sonnox, FLux, and others have been getting. 

I wonder, are the Vienna Suites (EQ, Compressor, Limiter, ...etc) on the same level of quality as the Sonnox (EQ, Compressor, Limiter, ..etc) ? or better ? and would they be good to use on any type of musical material (not just orchestral) ? 

I also like the fact that Vienna Suite is available in VST3 format. 

What would be an alternative suite of plug-ins to consider at the same price, and quality, that is currently 64-bit for both Mac and PC ? 

Too bad Sonnox is not yet 64-bit ready for PC or Mac.


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## Tanuj Tiku (May 2, 2010)

Sonnox is great and it works under 64-bit windows environment just fine.


Why dont you download demos for Vienna Instruments and Sony?

I can say for sure that as far as quality is concerned - Vienna Suite is right up there with the best. 

There is no 'better' as such. Its always to your taste - both Sony and Vienna Suite are available as demos - get them - see which suite you like better and how much you want to pay for it.

The advantage with Vienna Suite is the presets if you are not so savy with effects processing. 

And finally you dont really need to worry about 64-bit too much - you can use Jbridge - it works very well - even with Powercore plug ins. 


I have used Vienna Suite on guitars, electronic music, percussion and I have also used the reverb on a lot of instruments - it sounds really good. 

Again - for the price, its a no brainer.


Tanuj.


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## Mahlon (May 3, 2010)

Just theorizing here, but one of the reasons Vienna Suite may be less ubiquitous in the market place is that people not closely involved with the sampling world (expecially orchestral sampling) might believe that they only work with Vienna Instruments. Of course, we know better 

Mahlon


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## PasiP (May 4, 2010)

I have Vienna Suite and they are my go-to plugins. 

I tend to use the Master Equalizer in all of my tracks that need EQ treatment. I use the convolution reverb as my main reverb and I'm thinking of buying the L96 IR pack from Samplicity in the near future.

Overall these plugins are great and I'm going to use them a lot in the future.


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## muziksculp (May 4, 2010)

PasiP @ Tue May 04 said:


> I have Vienna Suite and they are my go-to plugins.
> 
> I tend to use the Master Equalizer in all of my tracks that need EQ treatment. I use the convolution reverb as my main reverb and I'm thinking of buying the L96 IR pack from Samplicity in the near future.
> 
> Overall these plugins are great and I'm going to use them a lot in the future.



Thanks for the feedback. 

Q. You mention that VS has become your go to plug-ins, so.. what were your go to plug-ins before VS ? 

As far as buying additional IR packs for VS-Convolution reverb, VSL has also some of their own IR collections, and I'm guessing that the VS-convolution is pretty flexible in loading third party IR collections (Correct ?) 

Well... I'm getting more enthusiastic about getting Vienna Suite plug-ins with every additional positive review. The fact that they are in the league of Sonnox, and Waves, and possibly better, is a very good sign. 

Cheers.


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## PasiP (May 4, 2010)

muziksculp @ 4.5.2010 said:


> Thanks for the feedback.
> 
> Q. You mention that VS has become your go to plug-ins, so.. what were your go to plug-ins before VS ?
> 
> ...



Before Vienna Suite I used free plugins and Cubase's own plugins. Vienna Suite convolution reverb is very flexible on loading third party IR's.

As others have said: for the price it's a no-brainer deal.


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## brianmusic (May 5, 2010)

outstanding and very easy to use!
you'll never regret!


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## muziksculp (May 5, 2010)

brianmusic @ Wed May 05 said:


> outstanding and very easy to use!
> you'll never regret!



Thanks for the feedback.

Slightly off topic, but.... I'm also considering 'Aether 1.5' algorithmic reverb http://www.2caudio.com/products/aether/index.html, anyone using Aether 1.5 ? 

Would it be a good reverb alternative, or possibly, an additional option, to convolution based reverbs for orchestral projects ? I'm very impressed with the quality of some of the audio demos I heard of Aether 1.5 , Aether 1.5 sounds very rich, transparent, and very natural sounding to my ears !


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## Tanuj Tiku (May 5, 2010)

Aether is simply the best sounding algo reverb on the market for its price. The only other one its comparable to are the new Lexicons. But Aether has its own unique sound and it actually gives great results with orchestral music also.


I have just done a test with Aether and Vienna Convolution - All Vienna Suite plug ins and VSL samples.

You can check it out here: 

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=212743&no=1#212743



Tanuj.


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## muziksculp (May 5, 2010)

vibrato @ Wed May 05 said:


> Aether is simply the best sounding algo reverb on the market for its price. The only other one its comparable to are the new Lexicons. But Aether has its own unique sound and it actually gives great results with orchestral music also.
> 
> 
> I have just done a test with Aether and Vienna Convolution - All Vienna Suite plug ins and VSL samples.
> ...



Thanks Tanuj. Your demo sounds wonderful, the reverbs are very transparent on the strings o/~ . Did you use one instance of Aether 1.5 for this demo, or more, and how many instances of VS Convolution ? Just trying to figure out what's the more prominent reverb sound in this piece. But they sure blend very nicely. 

Looks like having (VS + Eather 1.5) is a winner combo.


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## Tanuj Tiku (May 5, 2010)

I am using Vienna Convolution for Early Reflections and Aether for the tails. 

So I am using 4 Aether and 4 Vienna Convolution instances for Tails and ER's. 

And then one Master Reverb (also Aether) for an over all wash.


Vienna Convolution reverb is great for tails too - but in my recent tests I have found that Aether on tails - just gives a very clear and smooth sound - with excellent low end clarity - giving celli and bass the much required depth and wonderful rounded bass sound. 

Of course, I am using stuff for mastering also. One of them is the SPL Vitalizer - which also gives amazing clarity in low end information.

Also - Aether has great controls to handle the reverb - and has seperate ER and LR (Late Reflections) controls - including Reflection widh, spread and great eq controls. 

I think a blend of Convolution and Algo verbs - gives a much more complex reverb sound. 

Finally, with modulation period and depth controls in Aether - your tails will never be static - which is good I think for sample based music - which are dead in some ways.



Best,


Tanuj.


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## muziksculp (May 5, 2010)

Thanks vibrato, 

For the additional insight you provided regarding 'VS' and 'Aether 1.5', and how you used them in your audio demo . Your feedback has been extremely helpful. 

It's also very valuable to know that the option of modulating the reverb tail in Aether 1.5 is a great feature, it surely makes it sound very lively, rather than dead, I hear this lively characteristic in all the Aether demos, at the same time, Aether sounds very transparent. LOVELY !

I think using, and experimenting with both convolution, and algorithmic reverbs together can be very rewarding, and lots of fun, experimenting with various ways of configuring them could be very interesting as well. 

Cheers.


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