Vista Strings vs. Cinematic Studio Strings: String Libraries Compared
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ม.ค. 2021
- The same scene scored first using Cinematic Studio Strings (CSS), then Vista Strings by Performance Samples. Let me know in the comments which version you prefer!
Both libraries sound stunning and emotional in their own way because of their intriguing legato transitions. To let both sample libraries shine I worked with them the way I felt did them justice. For example, the automation follows where the respective samples led me to go. I added just enough reverb to give it some sense of a larger room. For fairness, I made sure that the overall loudness is the same for both the Vista and the CSS version.
Reverb: Seventh Heaven (Scoring Stage, 1.8 sec)
Dynamic EQ: Ozone 8
No other libraries were used except for the harp on the CSS track: Skaila Kanga (Spitfire Audio).
The harp in the Vista Strings version comes with the library.
Photos: www.pixabay.com - เพลง
Forget about the libraries, how beautiful is the music!
Thank you very much, Mattia!
First off- what a wonderful composition, Thanks for this beautiful music.
It's all Vista for me. It's just so natural. I'm not saying css is bad, but Vista is just heartwrenchingly beautiful- I love Jasper's approach. I'm a professional cellist and I'm not easily impressed, but Vista- o my God- always does something to me emotionally, particularly when used I such brilliant compositions.
Again, thanks for the music, Frank!🎶🌞
My pleasure, indeed! Thank you!
@@frankwolff5488 I keep coming back to this beautiful piece of music. What a wonderful demo:) And Vista is on my list for this black Friday!
@@AlexSonicsMusic Thanks, man. I truly appreciate it!
Are you - or anyone who is reading this - considering to buy one of the new string (or orchestra) libraries by Performance Samples? Am still torn whether to wait for the big one - Voyage!
@@frankwolff5488 it's such a tough one! It's always the question of, do you need it?😅
Which is always yes!😅
And can you wait? Which is no!😂
Can we all just take a minute and appreciate how CSS after all these years still gives brand new, best-in-class libraries a run for their money? I think CSS has the edge here, though both sound stunning :) Beautiful composition, too!
Thank you, John! I agree that CSS is an extraordinary library! It was in many ways a game changer for me. Its liveliness is just sensational. I think it is mainly achieved by its remarkably sensitive legato transitions and the expertly chosen amount of vibrato - among other reasons. I am curious how the Cinematic Studio Woodwinds library will sound, which is about to be released any day now. Knowing Alex Wallbank, we won't be disappointed.
@@frankwolff5488 CSW is the best woodwind library currently available.
@@jadonharper1493 I am indeed very happy with it! Thank you for commenting :)
Excellent work! The writing, performance, and production are all fantastic.
Thank you very much, Timothy! :)
holy shit, the music is amazing first off! And I think you sold me on Vista over CSS lol
Thank you for the compliment! Appreciate it! :)
Thanks for making this, beautiful music and mock-up production. I think the conclusion is.. both, for different situations!
Thank you for your very kind remarks, John! I agree with you that both libraries are fantastic in their own way.
great job! keep on sharing your compositions!
Thank you, Simon!
I just got CSS recently and I'm absolutely in love with them. While I'm honestly not really into their darker tone (I just do a little EQ to compensate) I really really love the playability and its ease of programming. It's really taken my music to the next level
I understand exactly what you mean! It’s definitely one of my go to libraries! Thank you for listening, TalmoTheSell!
Vista just sounds so dang good
Sure does. Thanks for the comment!
Really well done ! I favour Vista. The way each note connects with each other and the molto espressivo vibrato gets me emotionally every time i hear this cue. In the first part when you play in the lower register, it transports me straight to this old classic movie sound. The price of Vista is insane right now (on sale) and it amazes me what you get for this little amount of money.
Thank you very much for your thoughts, Remmy!
Love the tone of Vista, but the fact that it's a legato only library makes me hate the fact it has so much sucking between notes. It does sound like it would layer really nice with CSS for the ultimate sound, however. Nice composition, btw!
Thank you for commenting! I am also very fond of the tone of Vista. So much that I don‘t mind little imperfections here and there. There is something extremely natural about Vista that I find really remarkable.
Excellent comparison of a beautiful piece! Thank you for sharing. :)
Thank you very much! Glad you’re enjoying it!
Both are wonderful. Lovely piece.
Thank you, John!
Wonderful piece and mockup...splendid work!
Thank you very much!
@@frankwolff5488 With Pleasure! Maestro
Thanks for this comparison. It very much helped me decide for CSS.
I’m glad to hear that my video was of help to you. I’m sure you will enjoy the library!
Astounding quality
Thank you, Jay!
Vista is now part of my template. Amazing string library!
I couldn’t agree more! Thank you for listening.
Very much heart melting❤🥺
Thank you! :)
Frank, thanks for this comparison. Would love it if you can do a video with this track where you layer both on top of each other. Could possibly make a great full orchestra sound.
Cheers!
Cheers, Sean. It will be a bit of work because the midi data won‘t just match, but I‘ll see what I can do. Thank you for watching!
They sound so different but the quality is comparable. Performance Samples is so great at making these niche libraries that are fantastic for what they are. With CSS I get all the articulations. I'll be they sound great layered.
I agree, Mike. Both are fantastic in their own way. Listening to the Vista version on my AirPods I recently noticed all the subtle higher frequency noises that come with the samples. Some might say that is a flaw. But I think they are part of the library‘s charm.
First off, BEEEAUTIFUL composition man!!! I love your comparison videos. After watching this one, I am seriously interested in purchasing vista. However, I already own afflatus strings, and I’m not sure how the vista libray stacks up against afflatus’ “scene d’amour” patch. Think you could do a comparison video between the two?
I have compared Scene d‘Amour with CSS. That might help. :)
I definitely want to make more string library comparison videos as soon as I get round to it.
Wunderschön! Beide Versionen klingen sehr gut. CSS etwas echter.
Thank you fir the compliment and your thoughts on the libraries, Michael!
Both sound wonderful. CSS is a marvel, especially considering the price. This is a beautiful composition.
Thank you very much, Roland!
Both are easily the most beautifully lush strings sample libraries I've heard yet! As compared, Vista has a more open sound & stronger rosin effect, which I feel is more suited to classical, but CSS was really geared towards the controlled Hollywood studio sound, so as applied to the latter, CSS has the edge, though I would use Vista for layering under CSS for heft, if absolutely needed. I should add, that the music itself is beautiful!
Thank you for your thoughts, D. K.! I absolutely agree that both libraries manage to deliver what was unthinkable not so many years ago: breathing organic music without the actual orchestra performing it. Surely, we have to put a lot if love into the programming, but it is the libraries that allow us to make our musical vision communicable.
Thanks for the nice review Franck. I'm addicted to CSS since a long time, and was waiting for this (very nice) new Vista library. Correct me if I'm wonrg, but I have the feeling that maybe (maybe..) depending of the tempo, key, mood, articulations etc.. of your piece, it might be interesting to have both libraries (like often..) and do lots of comparison. Because I have the feeling that they are both very good, but depending of the context, one can be better than the other one ?
It is true that you can‘t have enough great libraries because each has its own character. I find that very inspiring. Thank you for listening!
Great music! I have CSS and love it. Also have strings In BBCSO, Metropolis Ark 1, Albion One, plus CSSS so would I need this?
Thank you, David! You have great string libraries. To be honest, if you want to add Vista to your arsenal, is a question you can only answer yourself by listening to the demos. It definitely provides an own character, but as you say CSS is fantastic, too.
lovely piece I must say!
Thank you, Alex!
Great comparison and composition. I like the way Vista handles repeated notes, that’s something CSS struggles with although it has a rebow function. Would you say rebow on vista is better(because it sounds that way)?
Thank you! Both libraries have very convincing rebow samples.
great video and man.. what a composition.. beautiful ! i own both CSS and CSSS and always happy with what they can just fit in to may styles of music and scoring.But I've also been eyeballing Vista, since it has that sort of 'war time drama' type of sounds :) and the high note i think Vista nail it better in this video.. so i think i'm getting it.. thanks for help me decide :):)
My pleasure! Glad that I could help! Thank you for your thoughts :)
CSS has that cinema warmth and Hollywood tone. Love it. This is still the String Orchestra to beat.
Hey 8KisOK, thank you very much for your comment! CSS is a sensational library indeed.
I know this is an older video now... but I would love to hear CSS and Vista layered together on this piece to see how they would blend/complement each other and what would result. Thx
Thank you for your comment, Rob! I have considered doing that, but sadly I don’t have the time resources at the moment. The reason is that both tracks cannot just be layered. The midi is different. I tried to get the best out of both libraries and thus adjusted the midi automation, tempo etc slightly. Thanks for the idea however!
@@frankwolff5488 Yes, I understand if it would take a complete re-do. I was thinking the tempo map and performances were the same save for the CC data. Cheers, Rob
Beautiful, amazing expressive work!... very inspiring. I'm tempted to give some feedback only on the mockup department; might need some tweaking on attack, release, tempo, depth and harsch issues, to make it sound even more realistic.
Keep up and be well, Jeff.
Thank you for your comment, Jeff!
@@frankwolff5488 You're welcome Frank! Phrasing also is an interesting musical thing to dive into; treating every phrase like a little project ;-)
Awesome! Really transparent comparison and a great piece. I’m curious what the two together would sound like.. can I tempt you to stack and share..??
Thank you, Oliver, for the kind words! They mean a lot. - Funnily enough, I've just thought of that too. I think I'll do that once I get round to it. Thanks again!
@@frankwolff5488 Awesome. Look forward to it!
Frank.. Very nice composition. I loved it. Both libraries are awesome. I only have CSS and I use it 95% in my work. I can say that both libraries have the same character in which I guess blending them together might not gain a different sound. I sometimes blend CSS with low level of Cinematic Strings 2 or with 8Dio Anthology just to get from CSS a more warmer strings sound. Try to blend each of them (CSS and Vista) with another library and check the result.
Thank you, George, for the compliment and for sharing your thoughts!
vista somehow struck that feeling of truly sitting in an audience watching a performance. CSS is amazing too, but it feels more abstract and better suited for film. it’s a hard choice, but vista is the winner for me
Thank you, Pathagas, for your comment! I absolutely feel what you mean. There is an authentic rawness to the sound of Vista that I enjoy as well.
Great composition there! Thanks for sharing. Thanks also for those tips shared in response to @yvan roustan's question.
Would you mind doing a Nucleus (from Imperia Audio) version of the same piece, please?
Thank you!
Sadly, I don't have Nucleus (yet).
Beautiful music, congratulations! One question, how do you handle the "legato delay" in both CSS and Vista?
Thank you, Otho! I just play the lines and tweak them afterwards. There is something about just performing the lines that I really appreciate. I also believe in editing the lines organically, so I’ve never really got into using automated ways of getting around the latency in the DAW. To sum up, I really don’t mind the latency at all.
@@frankwolff5488 Thank you for sharing this, it's really useful to me, so I can make my decision about buying one of them. I think I'm going for Vista, thanks again Frank!
@@OthoMolinaMusic Keep in mind that Vista only provides legato. CSS has many different articulations too. It’s a true workhorse of a library. To me, Vista is a real gem that adds a different kind of character to my arsenal.
Hello Frank ! thank you for this comparaison : CSS is really good. How do you EQ this Library ? My sound are not as good as yours !
I think the secret of the sound is the reverb here. I used the Scoring Stage setting of Seventh Heaven. If there is an issue with disturbing frequencies, I recommend using a dynamic EQ to polish the sound.
@@frankwolff5488 Thank you for your instructive reply !
@@frankwolff5488 Hi Frank, is the dynamic EQ automated ? are there presets etc?? I am having a hard time getting CSS to sound as good as yours. So far I have used spaces 2 and OTT without much luck.
@@thekingsown10 The one I used here is part of the user-friendly AI-powered “Ozone” by Izotope. Ozone automatically gives you an intelligent starting point for mastering your track. You can tweak the settings afterwards. The dynamic EQ is part of that set of plugins. Once you have chosen your settings, it intelligently reduces the level of the chosen frequencies before they get too harsh. A very useful thing because you don’t always want the EQ applied from start to finish.
Hi frank I really love this piece ...I already own soaring strings and was wondering if you know about these strings and if I should grab vista also...thanks
Thank you, Wardy! Soaring Strings are really good for intense emotional legato lines as well. As I see it, the unique thing about Vista is their what I would like to call portamento style of gliding from one note to the next. Besides, it has a specific dark tone. When I‘m asked if you ‘need‘ a certain library, it’s difficult to give a satisfactory answer. As far as I‘m concerned, I love having a lot of different ones because none of them is just right for any piece. If one doesn’t work, usually another one does.
@@frankwolff5488 thanks man...have you ever layered the two?
@@wardy2783 Not yet, but could be interesting! :)
Vista strings. O man. So beautiful.
Thank you for listening, Andrey!
There is something odd going on in Vista, partly in CCS as well. Maybe its riding the dynamic layers to fast back and forth? It gives the strings a swirling effect as if they are switching positions in space slightly all the time. Maybe its a mix of that and the audio mix (the compression?). Maybe its YT? Im not sure.
Thank you for commenting, IngoGarza. You’re the first one to mention this. I’ll have another listen to find out what you mean. There is no heavy compression or much of other effects on the track.
I agree, there's a nervousness that is not musical.
Apart from that, it's very nice music!
Another great composition. Totally off the subject. Do you have Afflatus strings? And if so how would you rate it with these two libraries? I'm thinking of getting Afflatus later in the year.
I do have Afflatus. It’s unique in that it is very flexible because of its many different instruments. It is truly fantastic and I‘m planning to make demos for it later this year.
I thought so. The polyphonic legatos and divisi functionality are pretty amazing I think. I look forward to those demos! Many thanks.
Mmm is hard decide...i think that CSS sounds more warm...and Vista maybe have more open sound...both have similar textures (studio) maybe CSS have also better control i cant say about vista i dont have them
Thank you for your comment.
I think I prefer CSS. Vista is really beautiful, but seems to have some "sucking" effect. As if the players would rebow very harshly with every note transition. For slow legato's this works fine, but for expressive lines it would not to be honest. I own a lot of string libraries, but for some reason I don't own CSS nor Vista. Looking to get one of the 2. I'm leaning more towards CSS now. What do you think? Thanks for the comparison and nice composition!
Thank you for your comment! To me, Vista is a fantastic addition to the arsenal of string libraries of which you can never have enough. CSS is a true workhorse that has the kind of flexible expressiveness that creates just the right atmosphere in countless situations. Besides, it has a lot of other articulations that come with it. I feel that Vista is a gem for lavish and sumptuous parts. It might become a real go to for me when it comes to those.
With VISTA, I felt I was in the room with the players.
There is something very natural and organic about the library. It‘s for real people, not for purists.
The noise killed the immersion for me. Hearing that hiss cut in and out just exposed how the samples are stitched together
@@mithramusic5909 I might be wrong but I believe the noise comes mainly from the harp, which as mentionned on the product page of Vista, was not been denoised
Can't wait for Black Friday to finally grab CSS :)
You should! The whole cinematic studio series is exceptional! Best wishes
@@frankwolff5488 Thx!✌🏼,…imo the best thing are the loyalty discounts once you’re in with one if the librarys😁
There are very noticeable 'bumps' between notes in Vista. The legato transitions stick out like a sore thumb. The CSS version of the track doesn't suffer from these artifacts and sounds way more natural. Nice composition btw.
Thank you for your thoughts and thank you for the compliment!
Cinematic Studio Strings sounds so much more polished and full. I don't think I would use Vista on its own to be honest...Great composition!
Thank you for your feedback!
how can i get vista vst plugin
It is a library by Performance Samples.
Oww...tricky one! Think the CSS has a slightly fuller/lusher sound...both sound good though....Don’t suppose your tempted to get Berlin Symphonic Strings...would make for an interesting comparison 🤔??
Thank you for writing! I'm fond of the legatos in both libraries too. From what I have heard, the Berlin Symphonic Strings aren't really comparable because they have much larger sections. Would be cool to have them, but I just got Afflatus too, and you just can't own them all.
Nice, but I like them all... Vista is just legato. Cinematic Studio Strings is more complete.
Thank you for listening, Cyril!
Vista, sounds like a real performance not a mockup
Thank you, Elliot, for listening! Its occasional little imperfections do add a lot to the realism.
original song?
Yes, gato pardo, I composed it for the video
@@frankwolff5488 amazing
@@gatopardo9960 Thank you!
I'm surprised how similar they actually are. Vista seems redundant for someone who has CSS. It has no shorts, it's not going the extra mile beyond CSS, and there's a really hideous choppy hiss and a plethora of bumpy legatos. I'm not a CSS fanboy either. That's just what I'm hearing
Thank you for your comment, MithraMusic. Cinematic Studio Strings really deserve the fantastic reputation they have. A part of what I really enjoy about them is their liability of quality throughout the samples and their different legato styles, which allow for a considerable flexibility of expression.
CSS is so clean and emotional .....Vista is little bit noisy & dull
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Rumey!