KVR Audio

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Sat Nov 05, 2016 5:43 pm

Wavesfactory Mercury is not out yet but based on what is written at Facebook it could be out until November 15th while taht is no fixed date.

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Sat Nov 05, 2016 5:50 pm

While searching for something else i just found those 2 quite special libraries that seem to try to go beyond classic piano sounds:

https://www.audioimperia.com/collection ... lanetpiano

https://www.audioimperia.com/collection ... vitaspiano

By using multiple external FXs I had alraedy started to get some more "experimntal" stuff with my piano libraries too including the Ravenscroft 275. For example i always liked using a pingpong Delay with pianos.

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Mon Nov 07, 2016 8:07 pm

Thanks for those of you who created the audio samples, that's a bit of work.

Here's a nice roundup of the various pianos in Komplete.

http://blog.ultimateoutsider.com/2014/1 ... ianos.html

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Mon Nov 21, 2016 6:12 pm

Wavesfactory Mercury is finally released:
https://www.wavesfactory.com/mercury/

The introduction price until December 1st seems to be 99€ and the 149€.

As mentioned earlier this is based on a Fazioli F228 Grand Piano so it is around 80 cm smaller/shorter than the F308 that was sampled by some other developers.

This piano library is already add to my list in the OP.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Tue Nov 22, 2016 3:19 am

Been waiting for this one. Mercury's Fazioli at last!

Funkybot's Evil Twin · Sat Nov 26, 2016 11:34 pm

Ingonator wrote:I got the Ravenscroft 275 library since two weeks now and still think this was a very good decision. Have rarely used any of the other pianos i own since then (and when i did then mostly for comparison purposes).
Maybe that piano does not work for everyone also as it has it's has it's own sound different from e.g. a Yamaha or Steinway but i like the sound as it is. Still got a few otehr options if i need a differnt sound (e.g. Alicia's Keys or The Grandeur).

Just picked this one up on sale for $149 ($50 off regular price) and I'm very glad I did! It simply sounds great (great piano, room, microphone selection), and even more importantly, plays INSANELY well. Sitting here with the volume up pretty loud and playing live, what I'm hearing out of the speaker sounds way more like a real piano than any other library I've ever played. The resonances just sound great and behave very naturally. I'd love to hear these guys go into the same level of detail with a nice Steinway or Yamaha upright.

I'm not a big fan of the UVI engine and would have preferred Kontakt, but who cares at this point...the sound coming out of this thing is a true achievement.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 6:27 am

Found the perfect Kontakt trio for my grand purposes: Bechstein Digital, Wavesfactory Mercury and ImpactSoundworks Pearl. Adding Pianoteq for playability. All of them undoubtedly different yet wonderfully complementary and inspiring.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sat Dec 10, 2016 8:20 am

.. and I just completed my collection with Wavesfactory Mercury and Cinesamples Piano in Blue (my favorite library so far). I think I'm pretty much set with piano sample libraries.

I've got:

All the Native Instruments stuff that came with Komplete 9 Ultimate + The Gentleman due to Maschine 2
Spitfire Audio piano library thing from 2012 (very limited in scope)
.. and the new additions.

EDIT: though I do think I'll get Ravenscroft 275 at some point. It really does sound lovely.

Polarity · Post by **Polarity** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 3:36 pm

Hi to all!
Nice and very interesting thread this one.

Personally I always loved the sound of Kawai pianos (many many years ago I had the chance to put hands on a concet grand model and it was "love at first hear"

...
I still have the first Steinberg The Grand (I did a couple of albums with that about ten years ago) and I remember to have read somewhere that it was sampled and modelled on a Kawai piano.
The other day I reinstalled it and taken the manual out of the box but I didn't find anything about that in the manual or the box neither.
Searching on Google I don't find any reference to Kawai.
Please, does you know or rememeber if Steinberg The Grand 1 was really based on a Kawai?!

Logically now I like very much Soundiron's Emotional Piano, that is actually based on a Kawai grand piano and probably I'm going to buy it.

I listened to most of the demos posted here (thanks for them and all the infos) and some other comparing videos on youtube... and honestly I'm not so fond of the Fazioli's models.
Do not know why... they don't get me as much as Kawai ones.
Matter of tastes...

About Steinway D and Bechstein models I think I will go with the latest NI-GalaxyInstruments models updating my Komplete 9 package.
Personally I like the Grandeur and the Maverick more than the VI-Labs True Keys models (still on great discount offer now).
In a comparing video I felt warmer and fatter the NI/Galaxy and too much nasal the VI-Labs!
Is it the same feeling for you?
I have already The Giant from same joint-team (and same GUI then) and I like much the way how you can alter its sound...

Recently I also obtained the Piano-V by buying with discount and sale the full Arturia V-Collection.
Honestly I was surprised by how its Concert Grand sounds... not bad at all, especially if you modify a couple of the presets and make your own.
I saw that there isn't a precise real piano from which the intrument is modelled, but any of you can say to what it is more near/similar?

Uh, before I forget... years ago I bought the Acoustica Pianissimo Steinway model D plugin.
http://www.acoustica.com/pianissimo/
Any of you know it? What you think of it?

Best regards.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 3:44 pm

Those are some great choices indeed. If you're looking for a high quality trio of grands at an unbeatable price: VI Labs TrueKeys is on sale for $99 instead of $349 at https://audioplugin.deals
I really like them. Not much time left though.

Funkybot's Evil Twin · Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:32 pm

Fleer wrote:Those are some great choices indeed. If you're looking for a high quality trio of grands at an unbeatable price: VI Labs TrueKeys is on sale for $99 instead of $349 at https://audioplugin.deals
I really like them. Not much time left though.

I bit the bullet on this one. After buying their Ravenscroft a few months ago, it's been my favorite piano library by far. The playability and realism is just phenomenal. After that, I considered picking up the American Grand, but wasn't prepared to spend $149 for a single piano so soon after getting the Ravenscroft. All three pianos for $99 was too good to pass up.

Short review:

American Grand is very well balanced and a great sounding piano. This is the Stienway and everything I'd hoped it would be. All three microphone positions sound great. Love this one. Totally different vibe from the Ravenscroft, but seems to be at the same level of detail/quality, which was what I was hoping for. Grade: A+

The Italian Grand is very hyped sounding and bright. This might be the one to go for if you're doing a pop mix, and want something with meaty lows and bright highs. This type of sound is generally not my first choice (I haven't heard a Yamaha C7 library I've ever liked either, which this kind of reminds of) but if you're mix needs something strident, this wold be a good choice. Grade: B+

The German Grand is very mellow, almost bordering on muddy. This will probably work very well for softer classical pieces and maybe even some background jazz comping, but for pop, blues, and rock, I can't see this one working. Grade: C

Overall thoughts:

For $349, I'd have passed on this and just opted for the Stienway. But for the $99 I just picked this up for, it's an insane deal and a very well rounded collection. You've basically got a dark, medium, and bright piano. The sympathetic resonance is great, you've got three stereo microphone positions (along with a pre-mixed setting), half-pedalling, una-corda, etc. In fact, from a feature and realism perspective, I think the VI Labs folks do pianos better than anyone else. Of all my piano libraries, this Stienway (American Grand) is second only to the VI Labs Ravenscroft (which isn't included in this set). The Italian Grand is also great but covers different sonic territory. The German Grand just wasn't my cup of tea, but the other two will get some use and the Stienway alone would've been worth the total asking price [at least for this sale].

Overall Grade: A+ (at the sale price), B- (at regular price. I'd probably advise just buying the one or two you want the most at the regular price over the bundle.)

BTW, I'm in no way affiliated with either VI Labs or Audio Plugin deals and bought this on my own, so don't consider this any kind of compensated review.

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Sun Feb 05, 2017 10:09 pm

Nice review indeed. Bought this bundle with my hard earned cash and it's worth every penny.

RichieWitch · Post by **RichieWitch** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:05 pm

Any registered Focusrite owners can now get their choice of one of the Addictive Keys pianos for free. I picked up the Mark One electric piano, but the acoustic grand sounded pretty nice too. Comes as both a stand-alone instrument and a VST/AU for your DAW.

martinjuenke · Post by **martinjuenke** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:04 pm

Pianoteq is still an awesome alternative to all these gigabytes of interchangeable librabraries (each of them tellng you they are the one and only...)

Fleer · Post by **Fleer** » Tue Feb 07, 2017 9:04 am

But they are !

Acoustic Grand Piano libraries/emulations: An Overview (audio demos of some pianos added)