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worth it? Playability? I have a solo cello lib right now, but that's about it. Just curious on overall impressions.

It's a very beautiful sounding texture library.

Also it's very dry, so it can be a bit tricky to mix. And I can't say I've ever been able to figure out what to do with the 7 different mics, so I only every use the default. One way to think of the dryness is that makes it possible to use it as a kind of "LCO first chairs", if you're so inclined.

The legatos are, well nice to have - Andy's demos really show you what they can do - but not remotely in the same league as the main Spitfire Solo strings library (or CSSS etc). Very playable so far as they go, though probably not what you want for writing string quartets, and only available for the Vc and Vl. Do not expect Joshua Bell or SsS Virtuosic Vl levels of playability here.

I did have a go at layering them on top of Homay and Oliver's Sacconi demos, on this thread:

https://vi-control.net/community/th...-ch-contextual-demo.68994/page-8#post-4196252

and with the caveat that my noodling over top of these pieces really doesn't do any favours to the original compositions, the proof of concept I was looking for here was how the rawer and dryer SASS patches might mix with other libs, and I was happy enough with how they blended (which was my biggest concern before I bought them).

The dynamics are gorgeous though, and there are articulations you just won't get anywhere else.


One way to think of them might to look at Christian's video for the new Solo Strings. Here there is not a legato patch to be seen, but instead uses SsS to really craft the sound of the piece. Of course he's layering with SCS, which SsS is especially suited for, but my point is that if you think of the AltSS in terms of this kind of crafting of the sonority of a piece, this is something they do very well, only within the "alternate" or "artisan" style of the lib.

And I especially love the sul tasto.
 
After so much (confusion) listening / reading and comparing with other libraries (and what i have), i think i´ll go with Solo Strings this time.

I´m not that covered on this department and i want something good for emotional but also for fast passages, dry (as possible) and suitable for quartet music when needed. Well...good sounding, intimate and versatile strings to put it in a few words.

If i am mistaken or if is there any advice you, owners of Solo Strings, want to give me, now is the time.
 
Solo Strings is not dry, and depending on how you define intimate, may not be very intimate either. I might take a look at the Sacconi Strings, if I were you, or possibly at some choices from other developers.
 
If i am mistaken or if is there any advice you, owners of Solo Strings, want to give me, now is the time.

Solo strings has been my biggest disappointment from SF. I bought VSL solo strings and removed the former. Never looked back.
I just couldn't get away with it, not entirely sure why. I just found I was trying to make it sound good all the time, unlike other libraries from them. The vibrato was either too much or causing issues with dynamics? I constantly switched between patches/articulations. I don't know, but I couldn't be bothered soldiering through with it. I never did partner it with SCS though, maybe I'll try again one day. Probably not as I'm loving VSL.
 
Solo strings has been my biggest disappointment from SF. I bought VSL solo strings and removed the former. Never looked back.
I just couldn't get away with it, not entirely sure why. I just found I was trying to make it sound good all the time, unlike other libraries from them. The vibrato was either too much or causing issues with dynamics? I constantly switched between patches/articulations. I don't know, but I couldn't be bothered soldiering through with it. I never did partner it with SCS though, maybe I'll try again one day. Probably not as I'm loving VSL.

Wow...never thought i would hear something like that about a Spitfire product.

I think that SCS (the only Spitfire product i have) made me "blindly" trust them. I know this is a silly thing to say, but I'm so impressed about this instrument that is good to hear that they make mistakes too. lol

Thanks for the input!
 
Solo strings has been my biggest disappointment from SF. I bought VSL solo strings and removed the former. Never looked back.
I just couldn't get away with it, not entirely sure why. I just found I was trying to make it sound good all the time, unlike other libraries from them. The vibrato was either too much or causing issues with dynamics? I constantly switched between patches/articulations. I don't know, but I couldn't be bothered soldiering through with it. I never did partner it with SCS though, maybe I'll try again one day. Probably not as I'm loving VSL.
I do like solo strings but I seem to have the same articulation switching issue. I will record something and it will be fine for days and all of a sudden my articulations will all be tremolo. It will stay that way until I hit virtually any control (vibrato, dynamics, mic volume, whatever) and then it will revert back to the correct articulation only to randomly switch back later. Happens mostly with the virtuoso violin.
 
After so much (confusion) listening / reading and comparing with other libraries (and what i have), i think i´ll go with Solo Strings this time.

I´m not that covered on this department and i want something good for emotional but also for fast passages, dry (as possible) and suitable for quartet music when needed. Well...good sounding, intimate and versatile strings to put it in a few words.

If i am mistaken or if is there any advice you, owners of Solo Strings, want to give me, now is the time.

Leave the SA Solo Strings and buy the Hein. You won't regret it imo.
 
Leave the SA Solo Strings and buy the Hein. You won't regret it imo.

This was another reason. I used my friends machine to test Hein and I was blown away, loved playing them and it made me grin like a cat. (still waiting for a sale to drop on them). Felt like night and day to me.
I'm sure 80% of it's down to me and my inferior playing/knowledge and certainly other people get great results from it as you hear on here. But 2 other products sat way better in my fat fingers than SsS did.
 
This was another reason. I used my friends machine to test Hein and I was blown away, loved playing them and it made me grin like a cat. (still waiting for a sale to drop on them). Felt like night and day to me.
I'm sure 80% of it's down to me and my inferior playing/knowledge and certainly other people get great results from it as you hear on here. But 2 other products sat way better in my fat fingers than SsS did.

SsS really does seem to be the most reviled SA library lol. I've heard a lot of people get bummed over buying it...then there's the even worse other half, the ones whom vehemently defend this shoulda-been-a-freebie purchase so they won't hate that their credit card is totaled.

I've only messed about with it on my friends' computers and was soooo glad I didn't take the bait. The Hein does so much for me, the more I put into it the more I get back.
 
Wow...never thought i would hear something like that about a Spitfire product.

I think that SCS (the only Spitfire product i have) made me "blindly" trust them. I know this is a silly thing to say, but I'm so impressed about this instrument that is good to hear that they make mistakes too. lol

Thanks for the input!
I very much like the solo strings. The vibrato does take some getting used to but I find it works reasonably well once you get the hang of it, especially if you are using it as a short solo string line in an orchestral setting. The virtuoso violin is pretty good for brilliant passage work. The other thing I like about these instruments is that you can craft their performances in a way that allows them to play well with others. @ism has written a lot about this aspect of the library, the way you can make them sound like the players are listening to each other. These instruments do lack in "plonkability"—they don't noodle all that well. But they are relatively easy to shape into effective lines, and I rarely feel like I have to fight the instruments in the way I do, say, with the Virharmonic instruments.
 
SsS really does seem to be the most reviled SA library lol. I've heard a lot of people get bummed over buying it...then there's the even worse other half, the ones whom vehemently defend this shoulda-been-a-freebie purchase so they won't hate that their credit card is totaled.

I've only messed about with it on my friends' computers and was soooo glad I didn't take the bait. The Hein does so much for me, the more I put into it the more I get back.
Almost all of the criticism I've read has focused on the vibrato, which is admittedly a problem, especially in exposed passages. But I've found ways around it, and I work with these instruments regularly, since they sit so neatly inside either SCS or SSS.
I will record something and it will be fine for days and all of a sudden my articulations will all be tremolo.
I can't remember the settings off the top of my head but iirc the virtuoso performance patch is designed to switch to tremolo with some combination of modwheel and vibrato. The settings are in the manual.
 
Almost all of the criticism I've read has focused on the vibrato, which is admittedly a problem, especially in exposed passages. But I've found ways around it, and I work with these instruments regularly, since they sit so neatly inside either SCS or SSS.

I can't remember the settings off the top of my head but iirc the virtuoso performance patch is designed to switch to tremolo with some combination of modwheel and vibrato. The settings are in the manual.

When cc21 is < about 5, you get tremelo on the virtuosic Vl.
 
Solo strings has been my biggest disappointment from SF. I bought VSL solo strings and removed the former. Never looked back.
I just couldn't get away with it, not entirely sure why. I just found I was trying to make it sound good all the time, unlike other libraries from them. The vibrato was either too much or causing issues with dynamics? I constantly switched between patches/articulations. I don't know, but I couldn't be bothered soldiering through with it. I never did partner it with SCS though, maybe I'll try again one day. Probably not as I'm loving VSL.
I am very happy with SSoS. Bought it in the last wishlist sale and it suits my needs perfectly. My needs are: small, warm, intimate strings in a pop/indie setting. I will not be writing any symphony soon, I just want lovely sounding strings. Some comments on this site mention the difficulty with vibrato, but I followed CH's advice and use the progresive articulations for my main lines. Bought SCS this winter when it was 50% off and with the pair I have all I need for strings. Though both SCS and SSoS are not dry, they are dry enough for me when using the close mics, especially SSoS.
 
395CDB90-DBCA-4B3C-8197-AEFD784ADF0A.jpeg
Leave the SA Solo Strings and buy the Hein. You won't regret it imo.

Maybe. But if you were giving that advice to, say, myself it would be really, really terrible advice. I say this with all respect to what it is you love about CH in general, and with appreciation of how your posts have helped my understanding of where the sweet spots of CH lie in comparison to Spitfire, and others.

I do hope to pick up some Chris Hein solo strings some day, but what they do is completely different from what, for instance, Spitfire Solo Strings do. And what Spitfire Solo Strings do well, they do peerless, absolutely best in class. Of course they don’t do what CH solo strings do, as they are also best in class, measured by what they do best.

I guess my current hobby horse with solo string libraries, is that when we’re talking about the current set of state of the art solo string libraries, even to say “this lib is better than that lib” is to suppress an implicit “for the the style(s) I write in.” This is probably always true, with anything. It’s just that it’s especially acute solo string vis.

Anyway, there’s lots of really good stuff written on solo strings on these pages, so maybe I’ll just post this picture again. (Feel free to add CH as it absolutely deserves a spot on the Venn diagram of best in class solo string libs.) :)
 
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After so much (confusion) listening / reading and comparing with other libraries (and what i have), i think i´ll go with Solo Strings this time.

I´m not that covered on this department and i want something good for emotional but also for fast passages, dry (as possible) and suitable for quartet music when needed. Well...good sounding, intimate and versatile strings to put it in a few words.

If i am mistaken or if is there any advice you, owners of Solo Strings, want to give me, now is the time.


Good choice. Best solo string library ever.

(With the above caveats)

(But in all seriousness, it really is one of my very favorite libraries).
 
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