| Choosing a symphonic sample library used to be so much easier. Dedicated hardware samplers from the likes of Roland, Yamaha, Kurzweil, EMU and Akai once ruled the studio and stage and sample libraries were designed around limitations of the hardware - memory and processor speed being the chief constraints. Price and sound quality were the key discriminators. The sound quality expectations are higher than ever but another battleground has risen around the software features of disk-based streaming sample players. Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL), GmbH, based in Vienna, Austria and distributed in the US by ILIO, is one of the leading contenders in this market. VSL was one of the first to build a controlled recording environment has developed a proprietary, real-time performance control mechanism compatible with four major sample players covering Windows and Mac. Our look at the Horizon Series began in the October 2005 issue with a review of the Opus 1&2 Orchestra bundle, a selection of strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion instruments. In this review, we uncover the Solo Strings, Chamber Strings, Woodwind Ensembles, Epic Horns and French Oboe. Features All products in the Horizon series are available for Apple Logic's EXS24 sample player, TASCAM's GigaSampler/ GigaStudio, Steinberg HALion and Native Instruments Kontakt. Some of the Horizon products include samples from the Pro Edition while others are completely new. For the most part, these are single-note instrument samples rather than phrases. All Horizon products covered in this review are 16-bit/44.1kHz stereo. VSL claims an average of 95 dB signal-to-noise ratio. (See the Opus 1 and 2 review for more recording details.) l Solo Strings includes 50,000 samples requiring about 29GB of hard drive space and ships on five DVD-ROMs. It includes samples from the Pro Edition and new samples. Each instrument, violin, viola, cello and double bass, is represented in a number of articulations. There are more articulations for violin than the others but all include: short notes, staccato détaché, long notes (with and without vibrato), dynamics, tremolo, trills, pizzicato, Bartok pizzicato, col legno, performance-legatos and repetitions. l Woodwind Ensembles contains around 14,000 new samples (6.1GB) and ships on a single DVD-ROM. It includes ensembles with three flutes, three oboes, three clarinets and three bassoons. The French Oboe set contains over 13,000 samples (7GB) and ships on a single DVD-ROM. It also contains instruments for "French style" English horn, small E-flat clarinet and piccolo runs. Epic Horns ships on a single DVD using 2.7GB for about 5,900 all new samples. l Chamber Strings includes almost 32,000 new samples (17.8GB) and ships on four DVDs. It includes programs with six violins, four violas, three celli and two double basses. Each instrument group includes short notes, sustained notes, tremolo, pizzicato, trills, harmonics and other articulations. The performance articulations include legato, with and without portamento, and several styles of repeated notes. Also included are ensemble instruments, incorporating combinations of string families. All reviewed sets include the samples (taking most of the disk space) and the EXS24 and Giga instrument programs on the DVD-ROMS. HALion and Kontakt instruments can be downloaded from the VSL website after registration. Updates to Instruments and samples and the Performance Tool can be downloaded by registered users. The performance tool, which is included with all of the products in this review, supports smoothly connected legato playing and key switched articulation selection for on-the-fly substitution of samples . For example, users can switch between various short notes, staccato, long notes or pizzicato samples while playing in a single phrase. Homepage
http://vsl.co.at Vienna Symphonic Library VSL Horizon Chamber Strings
http://rapidshare.com/files/316454002/VSL-HCSD1.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316454359/VSL-HCSD1.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316454546/VSL-HCSD1.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316455356/VSL-HCSD1.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316455764/VSL-HCSD1.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316455921/VSL-HCSD1.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316456918/VSL-HCSD1.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316457258/VSL-HCSD1.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316457469/VSL-HCSD1.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316458472/VSL-HCSD1.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316458838/VSL-HCSD1.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316459072/VSL-HCSD1.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316460228/VSL-HCSD1.part13.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316460578/VSL-HCSD1.part14.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316460864/VSL-HCSD1.part15.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316460995/VSL-HCSD2.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316461885/VSL-HCSD2.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/316462259/VSL-HCSD2.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/f |
