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I'll be very surprised if MSI2 is the exact same as this library -- at least in size -- as the UVI library is around $160 for the remainder of April and the MOTU library is still expected to come in at $280.

Typically stuff that UVI produces for MOTU gets released in smaller form by UVI; just as the freebies they hand to MachFive are ineligible for free upgrades and also usually a bit smaller than the full UVI editions.

Based on some vendor feedback at GS, it looks like the new UVI instrument is an expanded version of MSI and considered a slight upgrade. I am guessing also that MSI 2 goes beyond that, but maybe it is a new set of sessions altogether. Hopefully we'll know the answer before the UVI discount expires.

Yet again, a huge Sweetwater catalogue which arrived last week shows Symphonic Instrument 2 for sale, yet neither their website nor the MOTU site list it or mention it.

Hmm... the thicket plottens...

Yeah, not to mention that V1 has apparently been rebranded a UVI library recently (at least, the size compares, and reviewers say it sounds the same and appears to have the same patches).

I remember that discussion here on the forum, Mark.

From my perspective, it'd be a Godsend if MOTU were to tweak and enhance it to the point that it pretty much gets into the ball park of the big boys sound-wise. This could be achieved IMHO with HQ samples and control, but less layers and round-robins etc. than the expensive libraries out there.

Then again, when it comes to VIs I know not what I'm talking about...

At the time it first came out, MSI was one of the three best choices in its price range, and also offered some instruments that couldn't be found anywhere else (except in tiny 1990's sized ROMpler-based workstations).

The main reason I sold my copy at the time was that it struggled to run on my old G4 iMac and I didn't know how long it would be before I bought a MacPro so I figured better to sell it and rebut it in a later rev once I have a real computer.

It's actually a bit of a surprise to me that there's been this big of a gap -- even accounting for the delays on v2 and thinking in terms of the original announcement and demo at NAMM.

I look forward to v2 though and will probably buy it, because I am confident it will offer somewhat rare instruments once again as well as having a unique timbre that may at times be just what is needed.

Hopefully the "timbre" isn't too far out there so I can get away with running it as my sole orchestral VI.

Still haven't started buying plugs and VIs, but as you know, Mark, I'll be aiming to build the simplest, most-utilitarian, best-sounding and best-bang-for-the-buck suite I possibly can. Obviously my default position as far as any MOTU VI is concerned is that if it fills a gaping hole well enough, it's a no-brainer.

Yet again, version 2 is showing up in mail-order catalogues, yet is nowhere to be found on the internet. I don't think MOTU goes to AES (next week), but maybe they'll surprise us with a holiday release. Or maybe they're scared to release it while Miroslav (full edition) is on sale for $49?

Hmm... I've never bought an orchestral VI.

Worth waiting for SI v2 as opposed to buying Miroslav, Mark?. There's no hurry.

Hard to say. Miroslav has some unique attributes, such as lots of Breath Control patches, and since it's an Eastern European orchestra, several of them use vibrato (e.g. Orchestral Horn) whereas that practice is quite rare in Western Europe, Britain, and the Americas. Oh, it also has nice choirs.

Where MSI shines is its historical instruments, which at the time it was alone in offering. From what I've heard, the new version is a serious upgrade -- maybe even a different orchestra (I think Version 1 was the Seattle Symphony).

I guess I'll wait and see how MSI pans out, Mark; to add Miroslav later won't break the bank even at full price. I was surprised to see that it retailed for $149, unless I was mislead.

The really funny thing is that the full Miroslav is on sale for like $39 to $49 right now, but the CE edition is $69 or more, just because it isn't on sale.

I just bought UVI's Orchestral Suite for $39 tonight, combining a $100 voucher with the current short-term UVI weekend sale. It's worth it for the choirs alone -- even though I have a few others already.

It has a full mixed children's choir, excellent orchestral percussion (including chromatic percussion), pretty nice harpsichord and a rare velocichord, good classical guitar, and a few other less-covered instruments that make the library well worth its current markdown or even its regular price.

Even the winds, strings, and brass seem smoother and more organic than most budget or intermediary libraries I have worked with.

Although UVI apparently stated on another forum that it is a modified version of the material from MSI 1 (maybe some things missing and other things added; particularly articulations?), I don't remember MSI 1 sounding this good, and also thought I remembered it having a Lute if not also some Renaissance instruments, but the following link shows the libraries to be near-identical:

http://www.motu.com/products/software/m ... banks.html

The new UVI library is missing the Saxophones, as far as I can tell, but it turns out the Choirs were there all along in MSI 1 and I had simply forgotten.

I think it's now safe to say that UVI Orchestral Suite is what WOULD have been MOTU Symphonic Instrument 2. I just compared the NAMM video to the UVI library and it is identical, except for some very minor GUI tweaks.

Given the Falcon situation, it seems highly likely at this point that MOTU won't get to release their own version. I could be wrong, but just wanted to alert people so that they don't unnecessarily hold out on the excellent UVI library when it goes on sale next.