I only have Berlin Studio (but I've demoed the normal MIR a while ago), so I will only give my view on that one:
First of all, I think that listening to an orchestra in a good concert hall in a good positioned seat is among the greatest experiences one can have. However, over the years I found out that I'm not so fond listening to an orchestra that was recorded from that position.
(I made this experience on several occasions where my music was performed and I did a "safety" recording from my seat and later compared it to the recordings that the broadcast company did)
The live experience consists of uncounted details that can't be captured by a recording. Also: the brain interacts with the room one is in. If filters out muddiness after some minutes once it gets aware of the spatial dimensions of the room. And by looking at an instrument it can alter the dynamic of that instrument by appr. 4 dB. - the latter is e.g. often an important thing in the case of violin concertos.
And the results of conventional convolution reverbs usually reminds me of these flaws of a live situation that isn't live any longer.
So I have to say that when I listen to recordings of orchestras I really love the aesthetic concept that has been established during the past decades. It doesn't capture the real constellation, but it enhances details in a way that isn't perfectly natural, but compensates the lack of the live experience.
And that's where Berlin Studio does exactly what I was always looking for. You can mix your direct signal (which I tend to love) with a Decca, an AB-constellation and a surround (which I also love).
The workflow is convenient and the sound extremely amzing and inspiring.
This is an excellent observation... "recorded sound" is something we have become accustomed to.
But really I think this "recorded sound" is possible with either product and also with neither of them. Its simply a matter of engineering it. Sometimes we get a little into the weeds with discussions about "stage positioning", etc, but really there is no rule that says we need to position our orchestral instruments in a room such as teldex with a traditional orchestral stage layout. We can position players anywhere such that the recorded sound, sounds great! One nice thing about Mir is that you can move the players anywhere and have them facing any direction too. And let's not forget it also provides width controls for each track in addition to position and direction. And you can move the two mic arrays around all over the venue, as close or far away as you want, to the left or the right, off axis, or whatever you want. And on top of that you can play around with different mic array configurations as well! All of that is possible because MirPro is not a simple set of static IR's, its a much more complex engine of ambisonic processing. MirPro is really the inevitable conclusion of smart engineers trying to figure out the best way to simulate rooms in a flexible manner, VSL is
way ahead of everyone in this regard.
The frustrating part is that many people find MirPro difficult to deliver the sound they want. They dive down the rabbit hole of all that flexibility and it turns out that with many options, its not always straight forward to get the sound you want. With a more limited product such as BS, well it delivers one basic kind of sound...in a relatively easy manner.. As long as that is the sound you are hunting for...then I like "relatively easy manner". But if you want more flexibility, there is simply nothing that compares to MirPro..especially if you are interested in really playing around with stage positioning.
for "recorded sound", I sometimes question about the stage positioning approach in general. That is what people have to do with real players in real recording sessions, so it is mimicking that approach of orch recording, but when it comes to sample libraries and DAW's...well...we aren't using real players on a stage. There are no rules that say any particular stage positioning is "correct" or authentic per say..unless you're trying to recreate a concert setting of course. and really I think BOTH of these products, BS and MirPro...are more about recreating a real-player scenario...which is fascinating and MirPro provides all the flexibility to really get just about any sound you want out of it, providing you put the time in to engineer it....but what I'm trying to say is that...I think a recorded sound may sometimes be easier and more straightforward to get just by using some simple IR plugins with ER's and tails and basically create that recorded sound you want...with no reflection of reality whatsoever..other then just a cool recorded sound. Sometimes I feel that these products that focus on replicating real players on a real stage...end up just creating more complexity and getting in the way.
But I think most people are just trying to find an
easy way to get "that sound" without having to engineer it or think about it so hard. That is why wet libraries such as Synchron, EWHO, BBCSO, etc have become so popular IMHO. They are by design less flexible, but more immediate. I see BS as being along the same lines, to accommodate dry libraries quickly and easily... Its not as flexible as MirPro. And yet its also a bit more involved perhaps then simply using some IR's to make your recording sound "cinematic". I mean if you are after a traditional sounding arrangement of players on a stage...and you want to hear that stage positioning, the depth...with the horns, in back, etc.. then BS is an easy way to get one particular sound... And MirPro can get that same sound....along with 1000 other sounds....but its more involved....
So pick you poison really...
I purchased those Numerical Sound IR's a while back...and they do absolutely NOTHING to attempt to create any authentic stage positioning, but using them as designed produces some excellent recorded sound with the focus more on clarity of instruments, spaciousness, etc...rather then attempting to replicate an authentic stage.
... as well as all kinds of additional tools for mixing, of course.)
