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Most Disappointing Library Purchase?

CGR said:
I have the Cinesamples Abbey Roads pianos. I first experienced playing the Abbey Roads Challen upright on a recording session. The producer had tried a few different sampled pianos and we all decided this had the best tone for the track. I didn't have any problems putting down my part with it using my Yamaha CP4 stage piano, although we had to do some MIDI timing correction, due to the slight latency and variation - not a big deal though.

I ended up buying it on sale last year, and am happy I did. They sound very authentic and raw, and the different mic positions give a big variation in ambience and image so I most times don't need to reach for extra reverb to give them depth. They do play like old pianos and in my opinion that's OK. If you can adapt your playing to them (just like with a real acoustic piano) and play to their strengths the results and authenticity of tone & character can be hard to match with any other sample piano I have.
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Thanks man... :) I've played piano since I was... 2? Anyway, I totally get what you're saying. Thanks for taking the time to explain. I may get it since it'll be discontinued soon, and I like the sound of those uprights....
 
CGR said:
I have the Cinesamples Abbey Roads pianos. I first experienced playing the Abbey Roads Challen upright on a recording session. The producer had tried a few different sampled pianos and we all decided this had the best tone for the track. I didn't have any problems putting down my part with it using my Yamaha CP4 stage piano, although we had to do some MIDI timing correction, due to the slight latency and variation - not a big deal though.

I ended up buying it on sale last year, and am happy I did. They sound very authentic and raw, and the different mic positions give a big variation in ambience and image so I most times don't need to reach for extra reverb to give them depth. They do play like old pianos and in my opinion that's OK. If you can adapt your playing to them (just like with a real acoustic piano) and play to their strengths the results and authenticity of tone & character can be hard to match with any other sample piano I have.
Click to expand...
Thanks man... :) I've played piano since I was... 2? Anyway, I totally get what you're saying. Thanks for taking the time to explain. I just decided to get the deal before it's gone forever... Glad I did... The main Challen piano is solid and Mrs Mills works on the mid-high end. The lower notes on Mrs Mills are a little off, but it's an ancient upright and not entirely unexpected. The Challen alone is worth this 'exit' price. First experiment was to draw a soft velocity curve on the Challen Tack... I'll try taking out some pedal noise later, but pretty interesting sound of the low velocity levels at the high end. :)
 

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  • Abbey Road Challen Tack Soft Curve.mp3
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BradHoyt said:
Thanks man... :) I've played piano since I was... 2? Anyway, I totally get what you're saying. Thanks for taking the time to explain. I just decided to get the deal before it's gone forever... Glad I did... The main Challen piano is solid and Mrs Mills works on the mid-high end. The lower notes on Mrs Mills are a little off, but it's an ancient upright and not entirely unexpected. The Challen alone is worth this 'exit' price. First experiment was to draw a soft velocity curve on the Challen Tack... I'll try taking out some pedal noise later, but pretty interesting sound of the low velocity levels at the high end. :)
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Nice one Brad. Glad you're happy with the purchase. That demo sounds great - like a hybrid piano & dulcimer. I agree that the Challen alone is well worth the purchase price.
 
just today got the VSL nylon, great disappointment... was expecting a nice warm tone, I was wrong. Nasal, small, inexpressive even with the vibrato patch, inconsistent pan. Actually that sounds like an lfo vibrato (not saying that it is). Well, too bad... the Kontakt stock nylon sounds much much better.
little example, alternating the two: guess which one is Vsl?
 

Attachments

  • VslVSkontakt_guit.mp3
    2.5 MB · Views: 117
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Rob said:
just today got the VSL nylon, great disappointment... was expecting a nice warm tone, I was wrong. Nasal, small, inexpressive even with the vibrato patch, inconsistent pan. Actually that sounds like an lfo vibrato (not saying that it is). Well, too bad... the Kontakt stock nylon sounds much much better.
little example, alternating the two: guess which one is Vsl?
Click to expand...

I feel your pain.
But this might be not the VSL fault, they do not mention the guitar they used. Classical guitar community knows how differently guitars may sound. Personally, I hate guitars made by Smallman, they sound terrible, even and nasal tone, exactly what your complain is about. But thanks to John Williams (guitarist, not composer) Smallman guitars became very popular and are among the most expensive guitars built by modern lutiers.

I would love if sample library producers always mentioned the instrument (make, year, condition), venue, and microphones used for recording. But they might not have permission of instrument makers to disclose the instrument, or are not willing to pay them a fee.
 
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Rob said:
just today got the VSL nylon, great disappointment... was expecting a nice warm tone, I was wrong. Nasal, small, inexpressive even with the vibrato patch, inconsistent pan. Actually that sounds like an lfo vibrato (not saying that it is). Well, too bad... the Kontakt stock nylon sounds much much better.
little example, alternating the two: guess which one is Vsl?
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VSL allow returns......
 
@Rob @VladK The guitare is a custom build master instrument.
Have you tried to use the different mixer presets provided? Also you can change the sound characteristics of most instruments by adding a little bit of compression and or saturation.
 
Hans Zimmer Piano and Spitfire Chamber Strings

HZPiano has always been a bit dodgy with playability, I've struggled endlessly to get the right tone with the mics, but it can be quite heavy on RAM when using multiple mics. Noire has replaced it completely for me and it's just a £200 odd spend that I'd love to be able to sell as a license transfer because it's of no use to me anymore.

Spitfire Chamber Strings is kind of my own fault because it was the first string library I purchased, before I knew what sound I was looking for, and I saw so many recommendations and good things about it I thought I'd go for it. The small ensemble tone doesn't suit me, I prefer a much larger symphonic tone, like SSS, or even a medium like CSS. The longs and shorts are nice in SCS but I find legato is severely lacking. I also upgraded to the pro version hoping extra mics and mixes would make me enjoy the library and it's tone a bit more, but it's still just collecting dust and being used to layer every now and then for longs and shorts. Wish I could swap SCS for SSS...
 
Ben said:
@Rob @VladK The guitare is a custom build master instrument.
Have you tried to use the different mixer presets provided? Also you can change the sound characteristics of most instruments by adding a little bit of compression and or saturation.
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Ben thank you, mine is the VI version, so no mixer presets, although I don't think I'd like the tone anyway... if they let me convert that to the upright bass (same price) I'm happy
 
Ben said:
@Rob @VladK The guitare is a custom build master instrument.
Have you tried to use the different mixer presets provided? Also you can change the sound characteristics of most instruments by adding a little bit of compression and or saturation.
Click to expand...

@Ben, You might be prohibited from disclosing the luthier name, but what about design and materials?
Soundoboard and back materials, bracing, etc.
What is its soundoard design? Lattice braced carbon fiber double top, nomex double top, traditional fan braced top?
What strings were used?
And what year it was built?
Thanks.
 
I really don't know more then the product page says. This was before my time at VSL.
@Rob The sales team will come back to you, shouldn't be a problem.
But if you are looking for a classical guitar, I would recommend to think about getting the SYNCHRON-ized version:

 
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