Vienna Instruments is groundbreaking, that’s for sure. Limited space prevents me from describing the sounds in much detail; suffice it to say that without exception they are extremely good. Symphonic Cube is remarkably complete, furnishing practically every articulation and orchestral instrument you could ever want – hats off to Vienna Symphonic Library for such a monumental achievement.
Geary Yelton, Electronic Musician, Februar 2007
Es ist schon unglaublich, wie VSL es geschafft hat, eine Bedienoberfläche auf die Beine zu stellen, welche im Grunde die Quadratur des Kreises vollführt: eine unfassbare Fülle von Möglichkeiten UND ergonomische Simplizität. Ein weiteres kleines Wunder ist die Velocity-X-Fade-Funktion, welche beliebige Multi-Layer-Patches (also mit mehreren gesampelten Dynamikstufen) mit einem Klick in Multi-Layer Crossfade-Patches verwandelt. Maximale Rauschfreiheit, große Dynamik, gute Balance, klangliche Konsistenz und ein perfektes Mapping sind nur einige Stichworte zu einem nahezu konkurrenzlosen Sample-Pool und dessen professioneller Aufbereitung in 24 Bit/44,1 kHz. Die Sample-Engine toppt mit einer Fülle von innovativen Konzepten selbst die geheimsten Wünsche ausgefuchster Power-User. Die Messlatte für Orchester-Samples hat VSL jedenfalls mal wieder ganz hoch gehängt. Um diese zu toppen, nützen der Konkurrenz weder Geld noch gute Ideen, hier hilft nur eins: noch ein Wunder. Oder besser gleich zwei.
Roman Beilharz, PC & Musik, Aug./Sept. 2006
Die Vienna Instruments lassen den VSL-Content erst richtig zur Geltung kommen, sparen Zeit und inspirieren zu neuen Arrangements. Die Chamber Strings klingen mit den neuen Legato-Geschwindigkeiten und der höheren dynamischen Auflösung besser den je. Überzeugen können auch die Vibrato-Variationen, die ordentlich auf die Tränendrüse drücken. [...] so einen Variantenreichtum bei gleichzeitig herausragender Qualität und guter Bedienbarkeit gibt es eben nur bei der VSL.
Martin Gerke, Sound & Recording, Juli 2006
VSL poursuit son œuvre de titan, dont les Vienna Instruments marquent une étape décisive. Pour l’utilisateur d’orchestre symphonique virtuel que la barrière financiére et le temps d’apprentissage ne rebutent pas, le Symphonic Cube n’a, à ce jour, aucun challenger. Un plaisir rare. [...] Comme on le sait, la qualité sonore est un des atouts majeurs de VSL. Pour chacun des 10 VI, les nouvelles articulations ne dément pas cette réputation! [...] Pensés par des musiciens pour des musiciens, les VI se positionnent toujours comme la «Rolls» des orchestres virtuels. Régulièrement la banque évolue en tenant compte de ses utilisateurs, tan d’un point de vue musical que financier.
Pierre Esteve, Keyboards Recording, Septembre 2006
It’s fair to say that Vienna Instruments are pushing the boundaries of how sampled instruments sound and play. Offering unprecedented control over articulations and expression, VSL’s Vienna Instruments afford professional composers and mockup masters with one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated instruments on the market. The recording quality is uniformly excellent, the performances are consistently superb, and the range of articulations is exhaustively comprehensive.
John Krogh, Keyboard, August 2006
Future Music Platinum Award Vienna Instruments win comparative string test
Regarded as the most complete orchestral solution on offer, Vienna Symphonic Library offers such a wide range of instruments, your jaw will go slack. [...] If you perform a phrase with a Vienna Instrument, your performance is ‘assessed’ and appropriate programs are loaded automatically to play it back. Bends, portamento sweeps, falls... you name it, VSL will find it, load it, and play it. Awesome. [...] the closest thing to having a string orchestra at your beck and call.
Future Music, # 179 - 09/06
The Vienna Instruments combine full instrumentation with the greatest musical depth of any orchestral sound library. The Vienna Instruments Player has the power to make orchestral samples sound more realistic than ever before, and its highly flexible switching system reduces the strain of setting up arrangements.
Dave Stewart, Sound on Sound, July 2006
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that you’re actually playing what you hear – the transitions are that smooth. Nothing else can do that. [The player’s] interface is very clear, and it takes no time to learn your way around it. I was able to load 1.745 GB of samples into the 2GB installed on the Windows machine, which is absolutely phenomenal – over half a gig more than anything else has ever loaded on that computer. Still subjectively, VSL’s greatest strength – apart from the subtlety of expression you’re able to achieve with such a vast selection of articulations – is somewhat intangible: the notes all have a meaning. This especially true for the short woodwinds; rather than just going “toot”, their possibilities are immediately obvious. All the major software samplers have improved by leaps and bounds in many important areas, but they haven’t necessarily focused their efforts on making the wonderful new libraries they spawned easy to manage. The Vienna Instruments player sets new standards in that category, and also in its memory access performance. That, combined with the incredible breadth of the library itself, allows you to do some things nothing else can do.
Nick Batzdorf, Virtual Instruments Magazine June/July 2006
I simply couldn’t believe that a handful of people beavering away had come up with such a slick user interface that even a software dunce such as myself hardly needed to glance at the manual. In a nutshell, Vienna Instruments take VSL’s trademark crisp sound to a new level. Rarely have I encountered such a complex, powerful tool that’s so instantly accessible, transparent and quick to use. For once, an instrument interface feels like something that wasn’t designed by a committee, but by a group of like-minded musicians and composers who understand what we want.
VI Second Opinions – Hilgrove Kenrick, Sound on Sound, July 2006
I just received the Chamber Strings VI and, after a couple of disappointments with other software maker's VI's that were no where near the sound quality the demos portrayed them to be, it was a delight to install the Vienna VI and get a huge smile on my face. It's one of the nicest pieces of software I've ever used. After only 10 minutes I ordered the Solo Strings! Of course the sound is Vienna - which I love - but the interface is a joy to use.
Matt Dean
Nothing but praise for Chamber Strings...
[...] by far the absolute best string samples I have ever used....also, the performance tool intimidated me at first, but after a couple of days I found it to be really very expressive and intuitive....no real "learning curve" like I have found with other libraries. Can't wait to buy more VSL!!!!
Daniel Godsil
I really can´t say enough good things about Vienna Instruments. [...] It´s very enjoyable. Just with the Violins and Violas, you can sit for hours going through the Patches and hearing the amazing tonal palette at your disposal. That´s a good thing! [...] There´s so much within the Vienna Instrument itself, it´s hard not to foam at the mouth. [...] This is a career library. You can create custom programs in a few minutes without having to acquire a degree in engineering.
Peter Alexander, www.soniccontrol.tv
www.soniccontrol.tv
I certainly haven't heard any other string patches that can compare with these, so thanks again, and I am looking forward to playing with them.
DG, in Vienna’s user forum, May 2006
Vienna Instruments has revolutionized my approach to orchestral demos. We've bought 8 computers exclusively to host VI so that we can fully exploit each collection. In conjunction with a Lemur control surface, I can now create demos with a level of expression and detail that was simply impossible with my previous set-up. There are no creative stumbling blocks when all articulations and techniques are immediately available. The Vienna Instrument library is wonderfully balanced and has been programmed with great musicality and an understanding of the needs of the modern composer. VI is un-matched in power, fluidity and flexibility; I look forward to using it as my principal compositional tool for many years to come.
Ed Shearmur (Miss Congeniality, Johhny English, Charlie's Angels etc.)
There's nothing like VI out there - not even close.
Dave Connor in Vienna’s user forum, May 2006
Marvellous, marvellous software & library, changed my life.
Ray Harman in Vienna’s user forum, May 2006
I know I've said it before but thank you VSL for the careers you enabling us to go after!
Rob Pottorf in Vienna’s user forum, June 2006
This is the future of sample playback. All other samplers seem primitive now and I've only had this one day! [...] Kudos to VSL for this instrument. It's a whole new animal. And it's playing very nice in a Mac environment using the latest updates. I didn't even have to run the Directory Manager as it already knew where the samples were.
[...] So far...2 thumbs up on this!
Jamie Haggerty in the v.i. control forum
[…] The broad, open string sound is transformed into something much softer and somewhat ‘fizzier’, yet the muted timbre retains a quiet, brooding intensity that has attracted many composers. […] As ever, the attention to musical detail is impressive […] I was pleased to see its excellent ‘Bollwood’ slide style replicated here […] if you need the sound of a muted chamber string orchestra look no further. […] I can highly recommend this collection for its musicality and superb sound.
Dave Stewart, Sound on Sound, November 2008
Company: Vienna Symphonic Library