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Is VSCO2 crashing my Cakewalk?


Geoff_S

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Just started using CW - installed VSCO2 plugin but it seems to be crashing CW when I open the project.  A process of elimination (using safe opening) has isolated VSCO2 from other plugins.  BTW, it only seems to crash when the track has some MIDI data in it.  Any thoughts on an alternative  "safe" orchestra VST?

Edited by Geoff_S
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On 10/31/2019 at 11:47 PM, Freyja Grimaude-Valens said:

You can look up other VSCO2 CE options.

IMO, the only decent VSCO2 option is the Kontakt port, which is quite well done.

But that requires full Kontakt.

So people on a budget are better off just buying something like GPO, instead... which is generally my first recommendation for Orchestral Instruments.  You kind of want a good base set that are all from the same package when starting out, otherwise, a lot of the instruments don't match and you have to start fiddling around to fake it...

VSCO has this sort of problem, although the compilers do a little work to attempt to overcome this.  Plus, it just doesn't sound good once you've heard a decent/good/great orchestral sample library.

Most stock samples that ship with DAWs sound better than VSCO.  You can get Halion Symphonic Orchestra for like $99, IIRC, and that will be far better.

Edited by Some Guy
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The free Kontakt Player comes with good sounds - not the top of the line ones, but decent ones - they want you to like them, and to get an idea of how nice Kontakt is, and it is - so that you will end up buying it at some point.

Here is the link to the free players that they offer - you get a couple of thousand sounds:

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/free/

Bob Bone

 

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14 hours ago, Some Guy said:

IMO, the only decent VSCO2 option is the Kontakt port, which is quite well done.

But that requires full Kontakt.

So people on a budget are better off just buying something like GPO, instead... which is generally my first recommendation for Orchestral Instruments.  You kind of want a good base set that are all from the same package when starting out, otherwise, a lot of the instruments don't match and you have to start fiddling around to fake it...

VSCO has this sort of problem, although the compilers do a little work to attempt to overcome this.  Plus, it just doesn't sound good once you've heard a decent/good/great orchestral sample library.

Most stock samples that ship with DAWs sound better than VSCO.  You can get Halion Symphonic Orchestra for like $99, IIRC, and that will be far better.

There's also the Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra by Sonic Scores for $149.

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On 11/9/2019 at 5:18 AM, Freyja Grimaude-Valens said:

There's also the Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra by Sonic Scores for $149.

I tend to prefer GPO because it has a better set of Choral Patches (i.e. Solo Alto and Tenor) which is good for sketching out some classical music (Opera Arias, etc.), if you do that kind of music.

Also, notation software (Finale, Notion) often comes with support for GPO out of the box.  Even if the support is for the earlier version (GPO4), it's usually an easy fix to work with GPO5.

The samples in GPO are also drier, which I [personally] tend to prefer.  This is very subjective, though.  But if your samples are from different packages, you're still going to have to do the work to get them to sound "more like they were recorded in the same hall."

Either GPO or Amadeaus would work, though.  I think Amadeaus only requires the Kontakt Player (though I'm not sure how much bloatware the player forces onto your PC).

On 11/8/2019 at 9:57 PM, Robert Bone said:

The free Kontakt Player comes with good sounds - not the top of the line ones, but decent ones - they want you to like them, and to get an idea of how nice Kontakt is, and it is - so that you will end up buying it at some point.

Here is the link to the free players that they offer - you get a couple of thousand sounds:

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/free/

Bob Bone

 

Komplete Start (what you're referring to) is pretty terrible, and largely bloatware.  The only thing that are really useful in those, are some basic Bass patches - and those aren't really a huge step up from what Cakewalk bundles (Studio Instruments Bass) - nor are they useful for Orchestral Music.  It doesn't offer much outside of that (maybe some loops are interesting, but I already have enough of those).  I tried it, and summarily uninstalled it.

Generally, any DAW you pay money for will come with better stuff out of the box.  Also, no orchestral patches, which is kind of the point of VSCO2...

For orchestral stuff, I really think going the GPO5 (or Amadeus/Halion) route is best.  You want something fairly complete and self-contained, so that the patches match and you aren't trying to learn how to use 4-5 different samplers/players at a time.  The consistency is helpful.  You also want a decent amount of articulations, because faking things like Trills often leaves your music sounding terrible.

-----

If the OP is on a super tight budget, then they should go to Plugin Boutique and buy AIR's Structure 2.  It sounds more than good enough for $30 and even better once you learn how the patches are set up (i.e. default velocity in most DAWs has the Vel. Strings patches sounding almost Marcato by default, because of how the velocity layering for the patches is set up).  Not a ton of articulations, but enough to get started.

Can't ask for more for $30, and it can open up some 3rd party sample formats (Unencrypted NKI, REX, and EXS24, among a couple of others I've tested).

For someone completely (or even relatively) new to this stuff, I wouldn't recommend anything beyond that - to start.  Once you get better, and have a firmer grasp on what you need out of a Sampler/Library, you will be able to decide where to go from there.  At that point, you'll probably want Full Kontakt anyways... so Amadeus may be a better investment in the future.  It seems to have all the same Articulations as GPO5... but GPO5 is a more comprehensive/complete library.

EDIT:  Sonivox Orchestral Companion Libraries are on sale again for $4.99 each at Plugin Boutique (Strings, Woodwinds, and Brass).  Definitely a steal.  They are nice quality for that price.  Woodwind and Brass include solo instruments, as well (Strings don't, IIRC).  Huge downloads, though 😉

Edited by Some Guy
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