KVR Audio

drde · Post by **drde** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:51 pm

Much of my music is piano heavy so I plan to buy a good virtual piano for recording and writing. I am looking at Synthogy's Ivory 1.5, East West's Bosendorfer, NI's Akoustic Piano and Steinbergs The Grand 2. I would love some advice on the relative merits of the above pianos. Any feedback?
Thanks much, Dave

--
David C. Deal
http://www.mixposure.com/david-c-deal-phd

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:50 pm

Ivory for my ears.
If you want the best, you will need the CPU muscle 2Gig of RAM and a fast hard drive (dedicated if possible), it's worth it, especially compared to the price of a real grand.

Reverend Rhythm · Post by **Reverend Rhythm** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:03 pm

They are all good! Have you listened to the demos. I use the Artvista Virtual Grand Piano a lot, but I have the E/W Bose and like it too.

Have done a search of threads on this subject? I think you'll find some interesting comments.

Here is another thread:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=118217

Hybernation · Post by **Hybernation** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:18 pm

All of the products you mention are good. However, if you want maximum variety and flexibility, I would recommend getting Kontakt2 and buying dedicated piano libs from SampleTekk and PMI.

Just my .02 worth

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:09 pm

My favorite pianos come from SR - mostly the Piano Collection ExpansionTank, but some others I've picked up in bundles/group buys as well. I'm partial to Yamaha C-7 sound.

If I didn't have them (plus GPO, Dimension, Kontakt2 bla bla) I'd probably look at the ArtVista piano. I've liked the demos and pieces I've heard that use it.

Doug

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:37 pm

The pianos that sound best in a mix don't tend to be the same ones that sound best to the player in real time as a solo instrument.

There's a modelled "TruePianos" instrument coming soon.

I rather like one of the patches in the SR ExpansionTank, but I also have to admit that I've only demoed the more expensive NI and EW sets on other people's systems. I might like them better on my DAW, in my room, with my monitors and my controller.

What I mean to do to solve this problem is get rich at my day job, and buy a house with a large room that will do justice to a full grand. It's actually all I want out of life, but nobody seems to believe me

Rabid · Post by **Rabid** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:10 pm

I have setteled in with Kontakt and a PMI piano bundle. There is enough variety to match the piano to the needs of the song.

drde · Post by **drde** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:22 pm

Thank you all for your responses so far. I am a little embarassed to say, but I am very new at computer recording. (I have used a tascam 2488 till now). I have always picked voices from my keyboard workstations before, but was never satisfied with the piano sounds. I don't understand how software like expansion tank or kontact and various samples will work with my cubase program. Are you folks suggesting I buy a program like Kontact and then sample programs rather than a dedicated piano program? I it difficult to make these work? Does it add latency problems etc.? I really would like to invest my limited funds in a smart direction. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
I apologize for my naivite, but "you got to start somewhere"? Dave

Reverend Rhythm · Post by **Reverend Rhythm** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:34 pm

You can buy sample sets that will play in a seperate sample program (i.e. Kontakt) or you can buy sample sets with thier own player. The ones you listed come with their own player, as does the Artvista Virtual Grand Piano. The pianos I own are all the sample/player type. That is easier for me. Others will disagree with that.

Ivory is considered my many to be the best, but I like what I have.

Mikael Adle · Post by **Mikael Adle** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:38 pm

Both these are very nice.
http://www.artvista.net/index.html

pummel · Post by **pummel** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:38 pm

How does the GPO piano compare with these ? If its close, then that could be a real bargain for you.

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:39 pm

drde wrote:Are you folks suggesting I buy a program like Kontact and then sample programs rather than a dedicated piano program?

I'd suggest the SR Piano Collection, and use the "LE" version of SampleTank that comes with it.

I it difficult to make these work?

I consider Cubase to be the difficulty, but if you're comfortable with it, running a VSTi is certainly no problem.

Does it add latency problems etc.?

Depends on your sound hardware.

I really would like to invest my limited funds in a smart direction. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

I'm in a cynical mood today and I should refrain from posting

You're on the path that features hosts like Cubase, so they can't be *that* limited...
In reality, it makes little difference what host you use, be it Cubase, eXT, FLS, etc.

matto · Post by **matto** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:06 pm

drde wrote:Much of my music is piano heavy so I plan to buy a good virtual piano for recording and writing. I am looking at Synthogy's Ivory 1.5, East West's Bosendorfer, NI's Akoustic Piano and Steinbergs The Grand 2. I would love some advice on the relative merits of the above pianos. Any feedback?
Thanks much, Dave

--
David C. Deal
http://www.mixposure.com/david-c-deal-phd

Dave,

Of the VI's you mention, Ivory or Akoustik will probably be your best choice, since they both come with at least 3 (4 in Akoustik) completely different pianos, and the quality is far above what you'd get from other multi-piano collections such as SR piano collection.
The Grand 2 is nice, but not quite at the level of these two (IMHO), and EW Boesendorfer (actually made by Post PMI) is excellent but generally viewed as a bit limited, since it is mostly aimed at classical and orchestral recording.
Somebody also mentioned Artvista VGP, I don't have any personal experience with it but it is widely acclaimed too. While it comes with a variety of "presets", these are all based on the same piano samples, thus not as widely varied as Ivory or Akoustik, but I think an excellent solution if you're on a budget. Between Ivory and Akoustik the choice largely seems to come down to personal taste.

The second option people have mentioned, and my personal favorite since it allows for the most flexibility, is to get Kontakt 2 (a sampler) and buy sample libraries "a la carte", one at a time. Post Pmi and Sampletekk offer some excellent libraries which, when combined with K2's scripting and convolution features, are on par with Ivory and Akoustik (Akoustik is based on the K2 engine anyway).
Check out Post "Emperor", "Old Lady", and "Hybrid Pianos", and Sampletekk's "TBO", "Black Grand", and "White Grand" for starters. Btw, Sampletekk has a 50% off sale right now that lasts until early February.

If your music is pianocentric, I would definitely recommend looking into the Sampler/Library combo as well as the Ivory/Akoustik route to see which one suits you best. Perhaps the Sampler/Library route is a tad more complicated in the beginning, but the upside is it's a lot more flexible in the long run, plus, of course, you can use the sampler for other sounds as well. K2 comes, among other things, with a generous selection of instruments from the sublime Vienna Symphonic Library. And come to think of it, K2's built-in August Foerster Grand Piano is no slouch either.

matto

adydub · Post by **adydub** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:25 pm

I also really like the Steinway that comes with Kontakt2 - very complementary to the August Foerster. Comparatively brighter and lighter (in sound and in size).

drde · Post by **drde** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:27 pm

You folks are great! Thanks so much for your suggestions. Looks like I have some serious homework to do. Dave

Which Virtual Piano Synthogy, Steinberg, NI or East West?