Vienna Special Edition to Appassionata Strings 1 Pack

I recently purchased the Vienna Special Edition and Special Edition Plus packs, and I must say they are spectacular. For modern string arrangement or incorporating that orchestral edge into your songs it is fantastic. In the pack, the taster demo of the Appassionata strimngs was so good that I have just ordered the Appassionata String 1 pack to add to my arsenal of sounds. The new Vienna Ensemble software is also fantastic and I intend on buying the Vienna Ensemble Pro asap.

Big, Lush Sound

I've had Appassionata Strings 1 (standard) for a little over a year now. This library really pushes those big 'cinematic' scores along, especially with the 2nd Violins patches that were added with Vienna Instruments Pro 2. These are not newly recorded, they are 're-tweaked' samples from the original release, but they work great and do have a slightly different sound.

My biggest problem with this library, and all VSL string libraries at the time of this writing, is that there are no divisi sections.

My second biggest problem with all VSL libraries in general is the lack of a true ambiance option in the recorded samples. An option to use close, stage, and/or ambient mics recorded on a real scoring stage would be great. All of VSL's samples are recorded at VSL's custom-built "silent stage" that is, unfortunately, a little too dry. Getting that perfect ambient sound is a bit of a task, but well worth it if you have the time to 'tinker'.

If I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would probably purchase a competitor's Kontakt library (not sold here) mainly to get the divisi string sections and different mic positions, but I absolutely do not regret my purchase and I do use these strings quite a bit.