Unless I’m totally wrong, as I read it Noteperformer’s playback Engine can serve as my GoTo for doing the exact same job as Vienna Ensemble Pro does for me?
Right now, I have Dorico playing through VEP and inside that, there are instances of BBC SO Pro and VSL Synchron Player. I only use VEP for the ease of oversight and sparing CPU, not for networking as a slave on another computer.
So, would it be even easier with Noteperformer Playback Engine? Any experiences?
since the advent of NPPE, I have largely moved to it away from VEPro for orchestral works. If you a) are only using NPPE supported libraries (or NP itself) and b) don’t mind relinquishing a small amount of control over the end result, then it might work for you as well. Remember that you can easily save NPPE templates with mixed libraries which is also one of the main advantages of VEPro.
Thank you! Would you mind explaining “the small amount of control” loss?
I concur with @dko22, since buying NPPE, I only use my VEP templates when I work on my laptop (networked to server). Otherwise, NPPE for all orchestral works.
for me the most serious problem, apart from the rather non-standard way NPPE deals with some articulations like trills, is the lack of proper dynamic control overrides. With any other library, if the dynamics are imbalanced (and no library is perfect in matching the balance of all articulations) and simply changing the level in the Key Editor doesn’t resolve, you always have the option at least of just adding a temporary CC7 master volume override. It seems NotePerformer is unique in simply not responding to this and it’s one of my main gripes with what is in general brilliant technology.
Thank you again. Any thoughts on CPU Usage? Does the quality of the Audio Performance differ? Does it easy workflow? Sorry for the many questions, but I want to consider carefully since I have to invest money + time to make the big orchestral transition. What is extra tempting though, for me personally, is to be able to actually combine NP instruments with BBCSO and VSL for the playback of my compositions. Secondly, I thought I’ld read something about not needing Expression Maps for the recognised third-party VST’s any longer? Is that really true?
It’s possible to demo NP and whatever third party library hosting options it has free of charge. It’s not difficult at all to install and try. It’s easy to get rid of if you decide you don’t want it on the system anymore.
I’d recommend giving it a try yourself.
Depending on the libraries and the sorts of scores people make…
Some people swear by it. Some don’t really care for it.
Best to try it yourself.
as Brian says, if you already own the libraries then you can trial the NP playback engines for an unlimited period to try and answer your own questions to some extent! Just be aware that in the demo version, you cannot mix libraries to create your own templates whereas this is one of the joys of the paid version. But some pointers – if you use NPPE engines, there is no requirement for any other Expression Maps – everything is taken care of automatically by the NotePerformer playback configuration which makes things pretty easy. The libraries tend to use more RAM – that is certainly the case with the BBCSO – but not necessarily so with VSL. CPU can be higher, though I’m not sure I notice much difference.
Hello, I am using an np +vienna pro combination to combine banda with different jazz groups, boleros, etc. and I load both products without any problem.
It is fast, convenient and you don’t have to worry about loading the map expressions which wastes a lot of time.