Vienna Instruments add Renaissance/Baroque Brass/Wood Winds

[mhschmieder]

https://www.vsl.co.at/en/News/2016-12_Historic_Winds

Been waiting for this for my entire life!

Would buy it right away, but wasn't able to quickly figure out (during work hours, when only momentary distractions are acceptable), whether the second volume is available later and not yet ready for purchase, or whether the introductory price includes both volumes.

Do note that new products are not available right away in the bundles, so are not cheaper that way -- I don't remember how long they usually wait.

In email, they also mention a "four for three" voucher program, but I've never heard of their voucher system and would have to find where to purchase it and how it works, as well as what currencies it is in.

My impression is you could buy three 100 euro vouchers, get a fourth free, and have five left over after buying Historic Winds I for 395 euros. An overall savings of 100 euros even on the introductory price.

[mhschmieder]

OK, I found the info site for the vouchers:

https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Instruments/Voucher

Looks like the way to go, and I see that we are encouraged to stock up on them in advance, with the four-for-three pricing this month, as many new products will be released in 2017.

I've been spending like crazy lately (and not even Black Friday sales; mostly high-end mics and fleshing out my real-instrument woodwind collection with unusual voicings), but as the voucher sale extends beyond Christmas, I can always add more vouchers later.

So, I'll go ahead and buy the first set of four vouchers now, get Historic WInds I, and then I suppose it will be clear whether Historic Winds II is a separate purchase and/or not available to buy yet.

My recollection is that the site only supports euros, but I may check for other currencies due to how strong the dollar is right now.

[mhschmieder]

Aha, the Ilio announcement -- which I just now received by email -- is much clearer, and says you can buy Historic Winds II now and download later, as well as showing the same price in dollars as for euros ($395, which is better than 395 euros but maybe not after CA taxes which must apply).

Maybe I can scrounge up $600 pronto, for eight vouchers. I actually have a couple of Christmas pieces I wrote that use historic winds. So the timing is extra-good. Even without sackbutts.

[mhschmieder]

OK, I just did the first deal, and it does appear to be euros-only, but that still saves quite a bit over NOT taking advantage of the vouchers and buying elsewhere (e.g. Ilio) in dollars vs. euros.

I did notice that adding six 100-euro vouchers did NOT result in two free vouchers, so it looks like each purchase of four-for-three must be a separate transaction.

Also, if it wasn't clear from my previous post, the Ilio email makes it clearer that the two volumes of Historic Winds are separate purchases. I thought that likely, but due to how the information lines up on the webpage, it is slightly unclear. Just a formatting thing on the webpage.

[mhschmieder]

The purchase of both volumes is completed, and Historic Winds I is downloading as I write this (Historic Winds II will be available for download later in the month).

All of the Vienna software products (except Vienna Suite) have been updated recently -- I thought it was so that they are aware of this new library, but the change logs mostly talk about macOS Sierra compatibility fixes -- it is probably a good idea to update MIRx, VE, VI, VE Pro, VI Pro, Download Manager, etc.

Note that you can't use a voucher if it is more than the amount due, so anyone buying eight-for-six (in two batches of four-for-three) will have one voucher left over and a bill of 90 euros to complete the purchase of both volumes of Historic Winds.

Around the holidays, I'll probably buy a few more vouchers, and then I'll be all set for Historic Winds III and one or two other products as 2017 rolls along.