Thanks to the comment about the Timpani in the original Spitfire Percussion library, I thoroughly reviewed that library for three hours last night for the first time -- I doubt I had even tried it once previously, other than for Timpani, as it was part of a package deal and I just assumed due to its age that it would be shallow and narrow. Quite the opposite; this remains one of the broadest and deepest orchestral percussion libraries on the market, and is at or near the top of my list now for several instruments, including Anvils, and even Timpani (just barely below Hans Zimmer Pro).
Having spent 30 hours on Timpani the past week, with many iterations where I thought I was done (meaning "this is as good as it gets" vs. "this is perfect"), I finally have reached confident conclusions about what's out there and how best to make use of it in a variety of contexts.
After lots of work, and a huge ramp-up curve on finally getting to a high level of proficiency with Vienna Synchron Player, I now prefer it to VI Pro, and also am finding that the libraries are mostly better -- they just take more work initially.
By far my top Timpani choice now, for most contexts, is VSL Synchron Timpani, which uses the Adams Artist Series (20", 23", 26", 29", 32") and is similar in sound to what was recorded for VI Pro (my second choice even still), but of course is more versatile due to all the mic choices etc.
Much to my surprise, I concluded that it is best to go ahead and enable the algorithmic reverb within Synchron Player in certain contexts, when using many mics, as it does help the close mic (and sometimes the mid mic) -- especially when boosted in the mic mix (my preference) -- to sit better with the distance mics (the surround set, and the Decca Tree mics), for a better 3D image.
Also, EQ is sometimes useful within the mic editors. The reason for this philosophy, which goes against how I have worked previously (including with drum products like BFD and Superior), is that we will mostly be recording the mic mix (some of you may route each mic to your DAW; I'm too lazy), meaning that depending solely on down-mix reverb will give weird results due to how many mics are involved. The surround mics of course also need a bit of delay applied to them.
I ended up grafting my personal mic preset atop one of the factory presets, and after comparing way too many combinations to list here, have what I feel is an ideal setup that cuts through the mix at any volume level and keeps things articulate without every muddying up, whether doing fast rolls, octave jumps back and forth, standard single note phrases, or any other playing style.
One thing that surprised me is that we have to set our Dimension Control parameters (CC's and Key Switches) further ahead in time than I would like, or instead double-click all the slots one plans to use so that they all pre-load to memory. The usual 12 ticks or so ahead of notes played, is not enough for the slots to load their needed samples, so you can end up with silent audio until re-tracking. I'm not thrilled about this, and as I prefer to have workflow habits that are universal, I reluctantly decided to set the Dimension Control roughly one bar (depending on tempo) ahead of the relevant notes played.
I'm not sure how this is going to play out for stuff like Synchron Strings, where I'm more likely to need rapid changes of articulations vs. just going back and forth between single notes and rolls. I may end up deciding it's best to force-load the needed slots so they all load when the Synchron preset loads.
I am attaching my mixer preset separately from my instrument-level preset. I mostly changed the balance of the closer mics, and the EXP default (better at 100 than 127, to give you headroom for swells etc.). Although I tweaked a lot more than that originally, I backed out most other changes after finding that my most successful starting point was neither the default flat settings nor one of the closer non-surround setups but rather the surround-to-stereo downmix presets.
I'm calling the presets "Stage" as I think the resulting perspective of my mic blends probably come closest to that location (e.g. the conductor's podium) or maybe the Orchestra section of the audience. This is not a dry mix as I am using this in the context of soundtrack music, but I don't go for the Hollywood sound at all, so it's a bit closer to an old school approach to that.