# CS (Cinematic Studios) legato delay value accuracy and methods for adjusting by ear



## VSTHero (Apr 19, 2022)

Hi folks, I've been working with all the Cinematic Studios libraries and using an adaptive script and track delays to compensate for the delays built into the samples, but I'm noticing, even with the timings of the delays provided by CS in the manual and the more specific times provided by others, it still sound to me like the attack times on the notes don't quiet line up across the various CS libraries- sometimes that's great as it adds some realism but with lots of voices it can sometimes sound off. I'm using CSSS along with CSS and CSW so I'm not sure if the string delays for CSS and CSSS are the same - I haven't found a separate set for CSSS. Anyway, I'm wondering if this is a common experience, that the delay values get you close but still need to adjust by ear.

I'm also curious, for manual adjusting, what strategies do folks use to keep adjusting from same reference point. Maybe a click track or rhythm track that has minimal delay? I need to develop a reliable approach and thought I'd see how wiser folks tackle this. I do like the idea of learning to have players hold back or play slightly ahead intentionally so happy to learn this better and would love to get comfortable enough to use other libraries like BBCSO in combination with CS.

Thanks and apologies for yet another post about navigating legato delay!


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## VSTHero (Apr 19, 2022)

Looks like composerdaniel actually was gracious enough to share his method a few month ago; I'm thinking of treating it a bit like instrument tuning and trying to line up the various longs and shorts to a reference click track and then comparing various combinations of samples together to test how well they line up and make further adjustments.


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## AndrewS (Apr 19, 2022)

One of my first tasks when just starting out as a tech was to update the predelays of my boss's giant (at least at that time) template. Pretty much the whole orchestra was off board on either Gigas or servers so basically every track needed some sort of a predelay to get everything playing in time, not to mention the fact that longs and shorts would need their own distinct predelays.

The way I was taught to do it is take something with a sharp transient like a snare or a kick triggered at max velocity, then get that lined up as close as possible by massaging the predelay and checking it visually against the click by printing both. Then you just work outward from there using your in-time kick/snare and listening back/checking visually. You could have the kick trigger on quarters for a couple bars while you play in and perfectly quantize a flute line, then play them both back and make sure the flute sounds/looks in-time with the kick. Repeat ad infinitum for your whole template, with longs and shorts getting separate predelays since the samples will generally speak differently and thus require different offsets.

In the end, rely mostly on your ears to set your offsets against your reference sample and you should be fine. It's mind numbing busy work, but it's 1000% worth it in the end.


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## VSTHero (Apr 20, 2022)

Thanks Andrew, this is really helpful - I'll use this method to start incrementally building out a template - it'll good ear training as well. I'm also grateful that Alex J. E. Vincent created a Kontakt multi script for CS libraries so you don't have to create separate tracks for every articulation, just need to update the delay values in the script that are triggered based on key switch or CC58. I like being able to work in score/notation so it'd nice to get to a place where this is mostly resolved and can stay focused on other areas while writing.


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