QLSO Platinum vs Giga in DP

mr_nabo · Post by **mr_nabo** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:21 am

Hi,

I'm about to dish out for an orchestral 'mobile solution' and have been interested in buying the QLSO Platinum bundle (which has both original and XP Pro expansion) as it is currently amazingly cheap at dv247.com.

I've been using Giga in DP, but having to rely on a separate PC to stream the samples (plus the lovely but buggy Gigastudio) is restricting. The set up works great in DP, but I want to invest in a library that is as good as Gigastudio that I can transport around with me and was thinking the QLSO Platinum bundle might be my solution.

The type of music I write varies considerably from advert jingles to orchestral scores. I have a Mac Book Pro 2GHz laptop running audio through a MOTU Traveler and was intending to get an expresscard slot to add a FW800 port to my laptop to run the samples (plus some other instruments) off a FW800 drive.

Is this realistic/possible or the best route to go?

Thanks

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:39 am

Have you looked at VSL 'special edition'?

vsl.co.at

mr_nabo · Post by **mr_nabo** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:55 am

That certainly looks very good, and may well be my solution! Do you think it would work as well as the Platinum bundle? I have some VSL instruments that I use in Giga and they are superb, just wondering about the interface it uses...

What's the general consensus is on QLSO Plat edition vs Vienna Instruments Special ed. Do you have both?

Also, does anyone know if you can load up other vienna instruments i.e. in .gig format in this player?

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 4:03 am

Can't comment on QL Platinum - sorry - I don't have it.

The VSL interface (same interface for all versions) is superb, simple and quick - yet ultra configurable and controllable.

You can design your own 'patch switching behavior' inside each VI .. ie set up keyswitching, speed switching, velocity, mod etc - and assign how and what it all controls by loading individual patches wherever you like the matrix .... or just use the presets ....

With special edition there is obviously less to control (I mean less articulation patches) than the full libraries but the point is it's easy to configure presets to be as expressive - or as simple (and RAM saving) as you want. (it can unload unused samples as well) .. all great for laptops (or old desktops) ...

BTW no, you can only load 'vienna instruments' data into the player not other vienna samples.

mr_nabo · Post by **mr_nabo** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 4:18 am

I assume you have Vienna then? It sounds great from the demos. I'm assuming that the extended library is pretty fundamental in making realistic scores though? Still, it's about the same price as the QLSO platinum pack under its current discount.

My impression is that anything with a Kontakt player is hungry for resources, so do you think the Vienna setup would hold up well on my setup?

Sorry for so many questions, I'm just happy you pointed me towards what seems to be a good alternative.

*EDIT*

Just read your last post, thanks for that.

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 4:31 am

Yeah sorry - editing post slowly while having something to eat

I'm no expert - they will come and comment here I'm sure! - but I'd say as long as you have the RAM you should be fine (within all reasonable limitations) .. can your MBP go up to 4 GB?

I'm running on a G5 1.8 with 3GB - so quite an 'old' setup in mac years and not much RAM either .... TBH I am still testing VSL SE which I got fairly recently - it's easy to stress out my mac running at 128 doing anything virtual .. but as long as I don't load the presets with all articulation for every instrument I can do pretty well.

If there are any MBP users out there running VSL (SE or other) I would be interested too on its performance.

buzzsmith · Post by **buzzsmith** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:11 am

mr_nabo:

Just in case you weren't aware...

http://www.tascam.com/details;8,7,1054.html

Giga is soon to be Mac compatible.

Buzz

mr_nabo · Post by **mr_nabo** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:18 am

Well, I've just about seen all that I needed to see/hear. It looks incredible, very nice demos on the VSL site and I think perfect for my needs (I'd most likely get the extended pack as well)

I think a combo like this with MachFive (so that I could load up my existing giggs) would be the solution, although I'd probably never be able to load both together because of CPU resources.

My only question is really going to be about how it performs on a MBP running samples of a FW800 drive considering they use a Mac Pro in the demos, which is a total powerhouse in comparison.

Out of interest (last question for you Spikey, I promise

), I presume it's easy enough to render out individual instrument tracks as audio if the CPU is overloading? That for me, although not ideal as it would be best to have total MIDI control, would be a very good compromise.

mr_nabo · Post by **mr_nabo** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:28 am

Hi Buzzsmith,

Things just get better. I really thought they'd never get round to doing a GVI for Mac, but that's perfeect, thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:34 am

mr_nabo wrote: Out of interest (last question for you Spikey, I promise ), I presume it's easy enough to render out individual instrument tracks as audio if the CPU is overloading? That for me, although not ideal as it would be best to have total MIDI control, would be a very good compromise.

Sure you can render - I do that all the time, especially when I need to throw in a VI like BFD which (on my system) can't really run along side multiple VSL VI instances.

With VSL VI you can also 'optimize' each instance - ie unload any samples that aren't going to be triggered by your MIDI track and so clear RAM.

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 11:10 am

If you do decide to get VSL SE it looks like you can now download it in bite (byte?) size chunks from VSL and build up over time spreading the cost.

Also true for some other libraries like guitars and soprano choir

... haven't studied details yet - looks interesting though!