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AcousticSamples Vhorns

This is probably a better place to discuss/critique though than in their announcement thread however.

Especially if people want to compare it with other competing products.
 
The A-B comparisons were pretty impressive, the ensemble, not so much. I kept thinking maybe they should have applied their Xeroxing technique to a solo'd ensemble track. VHorns II?
 
I think it sounds pretty good by comparison. Probably not *quite* as good as Samplemodeling, but certainly getting there.

I mean there are some nit-picky things that could be mentioned, but I don't want to start attacking them right out of the gate.

I don't own them though (athough I do own SM and AM Brass), but it's probably a bit unfair to compare them just from the audio demos only.
 
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Ben H said:
Probably not *quite* as good as Samplemodeling
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Every bit as good as Sample Modelling. The mid and high registers of the trombone are even much better than the Sample Modelling one. Much better. The low register, on the other hand, is alas nothing much to slide home about: no body, no balls, no authority. Pity.

The two trumpets are very good too, at times spectacularly spot on even, although, after spending the better part of the day with them, it seems to me they’re both best served in smaller doses. Any solo exposure of considerable length while also remaining wholly believable is, I think, asking a bit too much from these two. (That said, I also stop believing the amazing SM Trumpet completely if it gets too much focus for too long.) But all in all, the two VTrumpets are really great. And the mutes (which didn’t impress me very much in the demos) are surprisingly good too. Fortunately, the Harmon is not another embarrassing attempt at a Miles Davis-soundalike (which, without exception, I deeply dislike in virtual trumpets). It’s simply a good 'standard' Harmon mute that I think would also work well in orchestral settings.

One other minor thing that might be considered a problem is that both the trumpets and the trombone at their brighest — high velocities combined with a modwheel yanked all the way up — produce a timbre which, I have a feeling, would be outlawed by the World Health Organization, if they knew about it, as being unfit for human consumption. Because it is an extremely piercing and grating sound. Borderline painful. Easy to avoid though, so no big issue.

On the plus side: sen-sa-tio-nal-ly expressive, unbelievably nimble and agile and offering even more control over the important performance details — such as subtle tuning instabilities, intonation precision of the attack, that lovely hint of flutter in the legato transitions which is so characteristic of brass, the nice dynamic vibrato, the brilliantly implemented half-valve effect, … — than the Sample Modelling instruments. Not that I’m anywhere near to discarding the Sample Modelling instruments, far from it, but they'll definitely be seeing considerably less use henceforth than they saw up until today.

The spatialization and mixing possibilities of the VHorns are also much more extensive than what you get with Sample Modelling. Not that you get something of the quality of IrcamSPAT with the VHorns, but you do get something pretty impressive sounding. Although it has to be added that the spatial concept of the software seems more geared towards small and medium-sized groups (in small and medium-sized venues) than towards large-scale orchestral productions. (With the right tools and know-how however, it’s no problem at all to transplant these instruments, very convincingly, in any virtual orchestral context you can think of.)

Oh, yes, the two Flügelhorns. They deserve a few words too. Well, mostly very good (if a touch generic-sounding perhaps) but with the unfortunate exception of the note A3 — or A4, depending on which note-naming standard you follow — in both instruments, where you can hear, especially at lower dynamics, the ‘compositing’ of the various soundwaves that make up the timbre. (A slight oversight on the part of the person(s) who balanced the timbral ingredients, I think. It’s perfectly judged in every other note, but not so in the A3. Easily corrected though, I assume.)

And below C3 (or C4), the notes of the Flügel2 are delivered with what sounds like an insane amount of spit nesting in the tube of the instrument. It’s almost a sort of gurgling sound you get. So much so, that you can only use this register very rarely at higher dynamics, or maybe as a comedy effect.
Still, I would suggest emptying the Flügel2 of its excess of saliva when work on the first update gets underway.

On the whole though: I’m very pleased with this VQuintet. I can imagine they might disappoint those who desire power, punch or massive epic majesty from their brass instruments — the VHorns, it seems to me, were not developed with that idiom in mind — and I fear they’re also not the best choice for ultra-tight, snappy, high-energy Tower-Of-Power-like brass parts or to simulate the brass explosions you frequently hear in, for example, Quincy Jones big band recordings, but barring those situations — and I’ve never heard any of these things done well with virtual brass anyway — there is little I can think of (in the way of music that features brass instruments) where the VHorns can’t make a truly wonderful, totally musical and more-often-than-not quite believable contribution.

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Ah yes, of course. Thanks for the correction. (For some reason, I've been ignoring the second trombone all day.)

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Quick add-on: pleased to report that the second trombone is much less testicularly challenged than the first one. Nice beefy timbre across the range. Apart from the note G#1 which also needs another look at as it doesn't sound very good.

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re-peat said:
One other minor thing that might be considered a problem is that both the trumpets and the trombone at their brighest — high velocities combined with a modwheel yanked all the way up — produce a timbre which, I have a feeling, would be outlawed by the World Health Organization, if they knew about it, as being unfit for human consumption. Because it is an extremely piercing and grating sound. Borderline painful.
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LOL .. :laugh:
 
Ok, I'm gonna post some thoughts about what I'm hearing in the demos.

1. The attacks in most of the demos sound mushy to me. Maybe it's a consequence of playing them in with a keyboard as opposed to using breath/windcontroller?

Not sure why they didn't include any breath/windcontroller demos either? Since they're supposedly setup for this.

2. The tone is lovely. Much better than the synthetic-ish sounding tone of the AM Brass IMO. I prefer the human-ness of the samples+modeling approach vs pure physical modeling (which is not quite there yet IMO).

I also like the tone of the flugels more than the Sample Modeling flugel.

3. The ensembles sound a bit thin when the instruments are stacked. Maybe because there aren't any saxes to fill out the middle of the horn section? Also, as re-peat noted, they're not very punchy or ballsy. Hopefully we get some louder dynamics in an update.

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I do LOVE the instrument placement feature...

I'm almost tempted to pull the trigger and buy this.

I already own SM and AM Brass though, so I don't really need another brass library?

Although, more options are always good. :grin:

Does anyone know Acousticsamples resale policy?
 
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I’m a sucker for jazz libraries and the flügelhorns blew me a way in one of the demos I heard. I may have to find the budget for this given the glowing reviews here. I thought I was going to get through BF with just updating Seventh Heaven to pro (assuming there is a sale).
 
Have played around with these for a couple of hours and I believe Acousticsamples have succeeded in their aim of making a great sounding instrument that is very easy to play. I don't like using breath controllers so for me being able to create parts with just modwheel is really pleasurable. They have been very clever in designing the instrument to be as simple as possible.

CPU use was surprisingly low on my overclocked i7 laptop. Very pleasantly surprised here.

Acousticsamples libraries to me always sound 'vibey' and lively and the same is true here. It doesn't have a 'modelled' sound character.
 
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