# LASS is dry?



## mpalenik (Jan 9, 2012)

I remember before LASS came out, when they were still posting demos of an incomplete product, it seemed like it was advertised as "true legato with baked in reverb", or something to that effect, as opposed to VSL, which was dry. And it seemed like people treated it as somewhat revolutionary at the time, since there was still the idea that this was impossible. The LASS website also mentions how it was recorded on a soundstage and has a good sound out of the box.

It seems like as time went on, though, it became "LASS doesn't have much reverb, so you have to add some more," and then eventually "LASS and VSL are two examples of libraries recorded dry," and that LASS doesn't sound good out of the box without reverb and EQ. Lately, people seem to be treating it as if its on the same footing as VSL, in terms of dryness--which I realize is also recorded in a room that gives instruments at least some space to breath, and is not anechoic by any means.

So which is it? Is it as dry as VSL? Does it require as much manipulation as VSL? Does it sound good out of the box? Does it sound good with just the convolution reverb that it comes with applied in Kontakt?

edit: I know 2.0 has some features that allow you to control the stage sound, but I've been thinking about buying Lite, which doesn't have those features and am curious as to how it sounds out of the box.


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## noiseboyuk (Jan 9, 2012)

mpalenik @ Mon Jan 09 said:


> I remember before LASS came out, when they were still posting demos of an incomplete product, it seemed like it was advertised as "true legato with baked in reverb", or something to that effect, as opposed to VSL, which was dry. And it seemed like people treated it as somewhat revolutionary at the time, since there was still the idea that this was impossible. The LASS website also mentions how it was recorded on a soundstage and has a good sound out of the box.
> 
> It seems like as time went on, though, it became "LASS doesn't have much reverb, so you have to add some more," and then eventually "LASS and VSL are two examples of libraries recorded dry," and that LASS doesn't sound good out of the box without reverb and EQ. Lately, people seem to be treating it as if its on the same footing as VSL, in terms of dryness--which I realize is also recorded in a room that gives instruments at least some space to breath, and is not anechoic by any means.
> 
> ...



It's not as dry as VSL, it works well out of the box for a stripped down intimate soundstage. VSL always needs processing, even for a modest space. Most people want something more ambient though - something that sounds like, say, the space in Symphonic Orchestra, Symphobia or Spitfire libraries (which are all different I realise, but they are all examples of a more classic film score space). If you want a sound like that, you'll need reverb for sure. LASS Lite comes with Impulse Responses that I quite like, but none of the tails are as long as, say, the Spitfire libraries recorded at Air in London. You'll need your own Impulse Response reverb to load them in though.

The basic sound is quite hard. I kinda like it for some stuff, but no denying that most people prefer a warmer sound. In general, LASS sounds sweetest in the lower velocities.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 9, 2012)

LASS has more room sound than VSL but it needs reverb.


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## chimuelo (Jan 9, 2012)

LASS Lite gets a dedicated hardware reverb in my rig.
I love the sound of all of the String Libraries out there because I love dynamic instruments. But to have a baked in static effect defeats my purpose of having parameters modulated live.
Polyphonic Legato and realtime performance capabilities, and ART MIDI out are 3 big reasons for me to use LASS.
I will be upgrading so I can add more motion with the new Stage Color trick.
A small amount of reverb is all I need too. 
Want a good laugh...?
Go watch the local Philharmonic perform sometime and then congradulate the Conductor and ask him which Native Reverb Plug in he prefers.............. :mrgreen:


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## EastWest Lurker (Jan 9, 2012)

chimuelo @ Mon Jan 09 said:


> Want a good laugh...?
> Go watch the local Philharmonic perform sometime and then congradulate the Conductor and ask him which Native Reverb Plug in he prefers.............. :mrgreen:



Want another good laugh? Go watch the local Philharmonic perform sometime and then congratulate the conductor and ask him what his orchestra would sound like if they performed in a relatively dead room instead of his lovely concert hall.

Samples are not the real thing, they are a different beast, and trying to apply the same principles from library to library is operating from a false premise.They are conceptually different and require different approaches. EW is not wrong; Audiobro is not wrong; VSL is not wrong; they just approach it differently.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 9, 2012)

We all know this, but VSL's whole concept is the Silent Stage: a studio intended to have the early reflections of a stage so that you can then choose the rest of the space. And LASS does sort of the same thing, only it's recorded in a more traditional studio...and of course the smaller sections are part of the scheme.


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## EastWest Lurker (Jan 9, 2012)

Nick Batzdorf @ Mon Jan 09 said:


> We all know this, but VSL's whole concept is the Silent Stage: a studio intended to have the early reflections of a stage so that you can then choose the rest of the space. And LASS does sort of the same thing, only it's recorded in a more traditional studio...and of course the smaller sections are part of the scheme.



My point is is that smart users cannot have a "reverb philosophy" based on what strings sound like from a philharmonic in a concert hall and then try to impose it on all libraries consistently. Each was conceived with a different concept and NONE were executed in such a way as to be totally analogous to that.

But while LASS has more in common with VSL than HS my guess is that Andrew would still approach reverb with LASS somewhat differently that let's say Jay Bacal would with VSL and TJ would with HS. And all of them might be somewhat different from what they would do if recording a symphonic orchestra for a recording rather thank for a library since none of them were recorded in concert halls.


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## rgames (Jan 9, 2012)

mpalenik @ Mon Jan 09 said:


> Is it as dry as VSL? Does it require as much manipulation as VSL? Does it sound good out of the box?


It is dry, but not as dry as VSL. The rest of the questions are impossible to answer because they're subjective.

One thing I would guess is true, however, is that both VSL and LASS are more flexible than the other libraries with "baked in" sound. I have both and find that I can adapt each to the required sound - if you're writing an intimate track with light orchestration, the closer sound (often) is better than something with a big hall sound. LASS and VSL give you that option, plus you can always add the big hall sound.

However, if the big hall sound is baked in to the sound, it seems it would be really hard to remove it (I haven't tried because I don't have any of those libraries). So, again, I think the drier sound gives you more options. Bottom line is that I think it's easier to add the bigger sound than it is to remove it.

rgames


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## david robinson (Jan 9, 2012)

i love dry.
love the detail.
i like the bow grinding on the string.
resin.
worked with strings all my life, and yes, room enhancement can help when needed.
i really like the LASS ir's.
i don't expect too much from any library.
they are samples after all.
i basically agree with Mr Asher on this.
i've worked with the SSO here in Sydney, and they can, at times, sound less than stellar if not in the acoustics they are used to.
great players tho.
j.


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## mpalenik (Jan 10, 2012)

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Just out of curiosity, did I actually post this in the Kontakt programming & scripting section, or did it get moved? If I posted it here, I can't figure out why on earth I would have done that. I guess I was a bit distracted yesterday.


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