VSL Synchron Elite Strings (Chamber Ensemble)

[Muziksculp]

[Linos]

Maybe it's just me, but to my ears this demo sounds rather weak. The mix sounds thin and too bright for my taste, and there is an artificialty about the separation of the sections. And that's just the mix. In the mockup, I don't like the phrasing. There are little swells and accents in places that don't make sense to me. Also I don't hear enough musical intent. Leading one note into the next in a musically logical matter which is so important for a natural performance. All painfully absent in my opinion.

To my ears, this mockup can't hide that it consists of static notes that are stitched together. And with Elite Strings, I don't only get this feeling for individual notes. I also feel the same about the sections. They don't connect, they don't intertwine. They are somehow put next to each other but stay oddly separated.
So yeah, with Elite Strings I don't hear much of the warmth and musical nuance of the chamber strings orchestras I have heard live. And certainly not in this particular demo. Thus, not a library for me.

[Piet De Ridder]

I was thinking along the same lines as Linos while listening: this is not a great advertisement for the Elite Strings.
Unless it is, in which case my decision on whether to buy this library or not has received another serious and possibly final push towards 'no'.

_

[Muziksculp]

I think it's the mixing part of the track, I have no problem with the sound of the library, but I agree, the mix is not optimal.

[srkrishnan]

Thanks, Larry. And: no problem. I'm pretty confused myself, you know. Only a year ago, I would have bought a library like the Elite's, warts and all, in a heartbeat. And be reasonably satisfied with it, I suppose. Because, on paper, this is the sort of library I've been hoping someone would release for a very long time: a detailed, versatile chamber strings orchestra, recorded in a not too overbearing space.
These days however, now that I find myself moving away from orchestral mockuppery, it's become a bit less obvious to spend serious money on product I don't really believe in.
I have no problem accepting that the Elite Strings is a very fine orchestral library, but neither my heart nor my head are in this type of purchase at the moment. A few weeks ago, I bought the G-Force impOSCar. I can't recall ever deriving so much genuine joy from an orchestral library than I've been experiencing playing this marvel of a synth.

_

Imposcar is such a beautiful synth! I can only think of u-he and G-Force making high quality sounding and behaving software synths! Also XILS - mainly their synthex emulation. It just sounds so alive!

[Jack Weaver]

I was thinking along the same lines as Linos while listening: this is not a great advertisement for the Elite Strings.
Unless it is, in which case my decision on whether to buy this library or not has received another serious and possibly final push towards 'no'.

Well Piet, you and Linos are totally accurate. That demo is an unfortunate creation.

I've had Elite for a couple of weeks now and have had some time here and there to investigate it. There are hundreds of ways to get different sounds with it - including what we heard in that demo. So in my opinion there is a learning process with this library. That will be offputting to some. I understand that. One of my best composer friends asked me about it and I told him that his tight schedule would probably preclude the time to get to know it properly and suggested he not purchase it. Personally, I like it a lot.

Here are three very short pieces (each sounding completely different sonically) - longest is about a minute and shortest is about 38 seconds:

1. Excerpt from m320 Test Drive from HTTYD. It is extremely bare - no fx, not even the built-in Synchron Player reverb. The cue was really meant for a full section and not chamber-sized strings like Elite. So sonically it really does sound undersized. All the mics are single close/Divisi settings I set up differently than the factory mic settings. It really is the strings laid bare. In the cue itself, there would be a blaring Horn ensemble playing the melody, a big ethnic perc ensemble throbbing and a bunch of bagpipes sounding like a herd of scalded geese going on simultaneously. So this example is as brutal as it gets...
- Vln1 Div2
- Vln2 Div1
- Vla Div2
- VC Div1
- DB and VC Octaves

Test Drive Excerpt Elite Only - no fx.mp3

(1.68 MiB) Downloaded 217 times

2. I played the keyboard live and simply dragged the MIDI files to 3 Elite instrument tracks. I don't really play keyboards... Notes provided by some German guy named Wagner. Same custom Divisi mic settings above but with builit-in Synchron reverb. No other fx or EQ.
- Vln1 Div2
- Vln2 Div1
- Vla Div2

Divisi Trio SES.mp3

(2.83 MiB) Downloaded 236 times

3. A more produced sound with the same mic settings as the two above but with some Elite doublings. Some reverb with VSL MIRacle (not MIR) with Synchron Stage setting and Gulfoss strapped on the output bus. To a large extent, I personally view Elite with all its fanciful articulations as a more textural library. So I used a lot of the more creative articulations here.
-Vln1 Div1
-Vln1 Div2
- Octave Vlns
-Vln2 Div1
-Vln2 Div2
-Vla Div1
-VC Div2
-DB

Elite Textures2.mp3

(2.59 MiB) Downloaded 329 times

So there you go - as honestly as I can represent it. It might be your kind of library or not, but here is a sampling of the kind of sounds it can do.

I've also spent some time doing layering with Elite and several other libraries. That's for another day...
.

[Muziksculp]

Hi @Jack Weaver,

Thanks for sharing your demo examples, showing how diverse, and different one can make Synchron Elite Strings sound.

Yes, this library is very flexible, agile, and deep. I have not had the chance to use it, or discover it in detail. I find many of the demos don't really show the library's full potential, given what it offers in terms of articulations, and what one can do with them. imho. it's one of VSL's best strings libraries.

I really liked your second demo, it reminded me of the Bernard Herrmann scores, as far as the strings timbre, and expressiveness.

Cheers,
Muziksculp

[Guy Rowland]

Valuable examples, thanks Jack. I liked demos 2 and 3.

[Piet De Ridder]

Thanks very much for those examples (and the explanations), Jack.

It’s confirmed again that, given the proper care and when handled with the required know-how, the Elite Strings is a very fine library, but … I still can’t wholly warm to its sound, I’m afraid.

Thanks again!

_

[NoamL]

I think just about anyone could do much better than this with CSS, Vista, or possibly Sable. Maybe even Nashville Strings. This sounds 2007 tier to me the 'articulation-stiching' effect is overriding any other impact the music could have!

[Markus K]

I think just about anyone could do much better than this with CSS, Vista, or possibly Sable. Maybe even Nashville Strings. This sounds 2007 tier to me the 'articulation-stiching' effect is overriding any other impact the music could have!

This is pretty much the reason why I returned it after trying it out. Although there has been things I liked.

[Muziksculp]

I think just about anyone could do much better than this with CSS, Vista, or possibly Sable. Maybe even Nashville Strings. This sounds 2007 tier to me the 'articulation-stiching' effect is overriding any other impact the music could have!

It's not the library's fault, but more to do with the end-user's way of using it. It's always easy to do a so-so job with a fantastic tool.

[Muziksculp]

The Library sounds wonderful to me, the way it is used makes a huge difference to the results. Don't rush to judge it, listen to the patches, imho. they all sound wonderful.

[Muziksculp]

Listen to how different the preset mixes can make the strings sound.

[Muziksculp]

VSL has added a new Slurred Legato articulation to their Elite Strings Library. It's a free bonus content update to the library.

It would wonderful if VSL can add Slurred Legato to their Synchron Strings Pro library as well.

[Muziksculp]