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Solo Violin BF decision: Spitfire Artisan, VSL Solo 2, or Friedlander

musicalweather

Senior Member
Going crazy with all the Black Friday offerings... I'm looking at three solo violins at a special sale price: 1) Friedlander (today only! 40% off) 2) VSL Solo 2 and 3) Spitfire Artisan. I don't know whether I should grab one of these or spend my money on other things while I take more time to look at a broader range of solo violin libraries.

Realize it's probably ridiculous to compare these three, as they're so different. I really loved the Friedlander when I first heard it, but some have said it has kind of a rough edge to it, and I'm beginning to hear that. On the other hand, it seems to offer many articulations and controllable vibrato.

VSL Solo 2 is the most expensive of the bunch (though it's slightly discounted for BF). No controllable vibrato (I think) but lots of articulations and a nice tone.

Spitfire Artisan Violin has an appealing tone and some nice features. The ability to change the length of the shorts using the Time Machine Articulations patch is pretty cool. Very hard to find any audio demo of only this violin, though. I've heard it only combined with other instruments.

Do any one of these seem a no-brainer? Other thoughts?

Sorry to post one more thread about solo violins...
 
Not VirHarmonic Bohemian Violin?
Yes, I'm considering it, but it's not currently on sale. The sale prices are what is driving my attention to the three listed above. But by no means to I have to buy any of one of them. If I draw the conclusion that the Bohemian Violin is the one I should get, I'll buy it... at a later time.
 
Don't forget the Virharmonic is going to go up in price when they release the expansion so 149
is technically a sale price (that's what I'm telling myself while I consider getting it).
 
It's currently about double the price of Friedlander so trying to listen to as much of each one as possible to judge if it's worth the difference
 
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I haven't used it myself, but the Chris Hein Solo Violin looks and sounds like one of the best solo violins I've ever seen. Unbelievably flexible instrument with a mountain of articulations and modes of controlling even the most nuanced performance details. I'm really surprised there hasn't been more talk about this since it was released (in April of this year, I believe). It's worth checking out the overview video for sure.

 
I haven't used it myself, but the Chris Hein Solo Violin looks and sounds like one of the best solo violins I've ever seen. Unbelievably flexible instrument with a mountain of articulations and modes of controlling even the most nuanced performance details. I'm really surprised there hasn't been more talk about this since it was released (in April of this year, I believe). It's worth checking out the overview video for sure.



The Friedlaner is terrific, but I bought the Chris Hein this month and was just FLOORED. It is a tremendous instrument. It's a tough choice between those two imo.
 
The Friedlaner is terrific, but I bought the Chris Hein this month and was just FLOORED. It is a tremendous instrument. It's a tough choice between those two imo.
Yeah, I own the Friedlander already, so I'm not dying for a new solo violin right now. But if I didn't already own Friedlander, I think I would buy the Chris Hein in a second.
 
Looks like Chris Hein has already released the solo violin and viola with the cellos (two different cellos) and bass coming soon. Listen to the cello in this video. It's a live player in the video, but the sound is the MIDI data from the sample library. Unreal!

 
Yeah, I own the Friedlander already, so I'm not dying for a new solo violin right now. But if I didn't already own Friedlander, I think I would buy the Chris Hein in a second.

It's hard to go wrong with Embertone imo. As far as the solo cello and bass, I'll be all over them when they're out :)
 
When i can afford it the Chris Hein stuff will be a definite purchase, the demos are incredible. For now I think I'll get the $75 Embertone Cello.
 
The Chris Hein seems to be very nice. It seems like you can go very deep with the choice of how you want to make it sound and how you want it to play. Whereas Virharmonic seems to be more about being immediate and automatic. There is a lot to be said for both approaches. I like having both options and it seems that a few others here are taking a similar approach. The Friedlander also looks very nice and my impression is that perhaps it's somewhere in between the two. That's why personally I chose to go with the Bohemian and now with the Chris Hein. Between those two I have more than enough to work with. As I write this, I think you have five more days to decide re the Chris Hein before the price goes back up. In the meantime, you can and probably should review the videos at Best Service to see if the Chris Hein is what you are looking for.

Here is a video of one person using it:



As well as another:




What impresses me about both of these is the use of additional controllers. So regardless of which way you decide to go. I think it may be worthwhile to also explore how you intend to "play" it.
 
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Nobody mentioned VSL Solo Violin 2? Anyone bought it yet and care to share their overall experience with it so far. It was recently released.
 
There seems to be some chatter about the sound Chris Hein solos as of late on multiple threads here. Might be worth looking into .
 
Spitfire Artisan owners, do you think it's of a good use for ethnic, latin stuff? Judging by the walkthroughs, it sounds somewhat exotic. And it's not that expensive actually.
 
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