Right now, I’m leaning toward the VSL tenor sax (“full” or “extended” version). I checked with the company, and they say it’ll work with the included player. I’m very pleased with what that player does for the company’s flugelhorn.
I’ve listened to demos of several Kontakt saxes that were excellent (to my ear). But the best ones require the full version of Kontakt, and I can’t afford to pay an extra $400 to play a $100 instrument on my DAW.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m not in a rush to get a tenor sax. The current VSL “sale” is only 4% off list, not enough to make me scramble. I’ll check around to see if anyone has a feel for when Vienna historically has a real sale.
I’ll post whatever new I discover about VSL’s – or any other company’s – tenor sax.