Native Instruments The Grandeur: Any opinions?
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 513 posts since 6 Mar, 2012
I'm thinking of buying the currently low-priced The Grandeur and replacing some other pianos (e. g. New York Concert Grand) with it. The demos on the NI website do sound very good IMHO, but I've learned to be careful regarding demos, since quite a few mid-priced piano VSTis (like the new ST3 pianos) sound brilliant in website demos, but mediocre when actually in use in my DAW. So, could anyone owning The Grandeur say something with regard to its sound quality in use?
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- KVRist
- 291 posts since 20 Feb, 2014 from München
You can't go wrong with it IMHO. Happy user here. Every piano sampled by Galaxy Instruments is a must.
That said, I don't agree about the ST3 pianos. I got them all, and I agree that on some controllers the fact that you can't tweak the velocity curve inside SampleTank makes it hard to "play". You have to adjust velocities after recording which takes too much time IMHO. A sample library should be a joy to play, not a pain to edit. But after editing, the sound is there, but it's too much work.
That said, I don't agree about the ST3 pianos. I got them all, and I agree that on some controllers the fact that you can't tweak the velocity curve inside SampleTank makes it hard to "play". You have to adjust velocities after recording which takes too much time IMHO. A sample library should be a joy to play, not a pain to edit. But after editing, the sound is there, but it's too much work.
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- KVRist
- 159 posts since 26 Oct, 2015
I love The Grandeur, one of my favorite pianos, great quality, very detailed and great to play and the different presets included are really nice. Much better than the previous NI pianos.
The Maverick & The Gentleman are both great too, in a more intimate style.
The Maverick & The Gentleman are both great too, in a more intimate style.
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- KVRAF
- 2083 posts since 28 Feb, 2011
I agree The Grandeur is NI's best new piano, but I still prefer the sound of Alicia's Keys - a LOT.
I always preferred Alicia's Keys until I got Garritan Abbey Road CFX Concert Grand. But I still love Alicia's Keys. The Garritan has amazing realistic qualities. It also can output beautiful mono, so it's great in any kind of mix, and that's why I only use the two pianos now. But Alicia's Keys has a round, beautiful tone that is unique among all the vst pianos I've tried, and that's quite a few.
The next best NI piano is The Grandeur. Both The Gentleman, and especially The Maverick, have tons of annoying ambience in the upper register. They sound like my 1926 upright in this regard, and that's not a compliment. They might be useful if you want that sort of old-fashioned, worn-out damper felt sound. The Grandeur is also a very big step up from any of their previous New York, Berlin, etc. pianos overall. And it outputs a pretty decent mono if you reduce the stereo width to zero. But Alicias Keys is just a much more beautiful sound overall - much rounder and less harsh, like a finely-voiced Yamaha! It really sings. I would bet that if you played a midi solo through Alicia's Keys and The Grandeur, that most would choose the former in a blind test. They're both good libraries, but the sampled piano - the Yamaha - has a more beautiful sound to my ears.
I always preferred Alicia's Keys until I got Garritan Abbey Road CFX Concert Grand. But I still love Alicia's Keys. The Garritan has amazing realistic qualities. It also can output beautiful mono, so it's great in any kind of mix, and that's why I only use the two pianos now. But Alicia's Keys has a round, beautiful tone that is unique among all the vst pianos I've tried, and that's quite a few.
The next best NI piano is The Grandeur. Both The Gentleman, and especially The Maverick, have tons of annoying ambience in the upper register. They sound like my 1926 upright in this regard, and that's not a compliment. They might be useful if you want that sort of old-fashioned, worn-out damper felt sound. The Grandeur is also a very big step up from any of their previous New York, Berlin, etc. pianos overall. And it outputs a pretty decent mono if you reduce the stereo width to zero. But Alicias Keys is just a much more beautiful sound overall - much rounder and less harsh, like a finely-voiced Yamaha! It really sings. I would bet that if you played a midi solo through Alicia's Keys and The Grandeur, that most would choose the former in a blind test. They're both good libraries, but the sampled piano - the Yamaha - has a more beautiful sound to my ears.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 513 posts since 6 Mar, 2012
Thank you for your opinions, guys. I finally purchased The Grandeur and am so glad I did that. This instrument sounds so much more realistic than any of the pianos I've used so far - it's really incredible.
The downside: I will have to re-edit my existing piano midi parts in order to make them sound like a natural grand piano.
When I play those parts with The Grandeur, they sound too machine-like, too unnatural.
@ kj.metissage: I've looked at the technical specs of various other piano libraries. Now it's clear to me - from the technical point of view alone - that (for example) a piano library with 6 velocity layers and 500 samples (like IK's Brandenburg) cannot possibly sound as realistic as one with 18 velocity layers and over 2500 samples (like The Grandeur). As a non-piano player, this wasn't obvious to me before.
Anyway, I'm glad I made the right decision during the Cyber Monday week.
The downside: I will have to re-edit my existing piano midi parts in order to make them sound like a natural grand piano.
When I play those parts with The Grandeur, they sound too machine-like, too unnatural.@ kj.metissage: I've looked at the technical specs of various other piano libraries. Now it's clear to me - from the technical point of view alone - that (for example) a piano library with 6 velocity layers and 500 samples (like IK's Brandenburg) cannot possibly sound as realistic as one with 18 velocity layers and over 2500 samples (like The Grandeur). As a non-piano player, this wasn't obvious to me before.
Anyway, I'm glad I made the right decision during the Cyber Monday week.
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- KVRAF
- 4710 posts since 26 Nov, 2015 from Way Downunder
Keen to hear more opinions on The Grandeur vs Alicia's Keys.
The Grandeur comes in Komplete (which I plan to get eventually) whilst Alicia's Key's is only bundled in Komplete Ultimate - which has me leaning towards Alicia's Keys.
The Grandeur comes in Komplete (which I plan to get eventually) whilst Alicia's Key's is only bundled in Komplete Ultimate - which has me leaning towards Alicia's Keys.
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- KVRian
- 1103 posts since 31 Aug, 2004
Grandeur and Maverick are amazing. I have also UVI Piano Colection and NIs are way better. The sampling is very precise, there is no change in panorama with different velocities, tones are tight with ecelent dynamic range. They sounds great alone but also in the mix. New NIs pianos were the only reason I upgraded to Komplete10
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- KVRAF
- 7134 posts since 8 Feb, 2003 from London, UK
Having heard a real Yamaha, it's a definite tone and you either love it or like it - there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. To me, though, it's not quite that "classical" grand sound. I got the NI Grandeur/Gentleman/Maverick triple pack on their offer rather than Alicia's Keys. I've not yet given The Grandeur a run for its money but it has more of the sound I'm accustomed to.
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- KVRAF
- 2267 posts since 9 Mar, 2009 from Copenhagen, Denmark
I have both as part of K10 ultimate and I prefer Alicia's Keys. it just sounds more natural to me as The Grandeur is a bit thin. To me all pianos are severely lacking in the mid range register, making them sound far from the real thing. A (grand) is impossible to emulate imo and I still find my ol' Kurzweil piano the best of the bunch.
I rarely use pianos because of the above and same goes for brass samples.
But If I had to choose, i'd pick Alicia's Keys.
I rarely use pianos because of the above and same goes for brass samples.
But If I had to choose, i'd pick Alicia's Keys.
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- Banned
- 1780 posts since 26 Aug, 2012
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- KVRist
- 250 posts since 31 Dec, 2012
The Grandeur doesn't sound bad if you play it by itself (with some tweaking) but when you compare it to something like Ivory, you hear where it is lacking, especially in a mix. Alicia's Keys has more meat in comparison to The Grandeur but I never cared much for that either. It was certainly very popular though.
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- KVRAF
- 2912 posts since 13 Apr, 2008 from Charleston, SC
It is a good piano. I like Alicia Keys better as well. Overall I prefer The Grand 3 to them. It might just be the way I play. NI pianos come off a little thinner to my ears, and sometimes sound as if they are compressed a bit to fill up the sound. But the power of the sound lies in some really nice snapshots.
You could do worse.
Some here have stated that they love Piano in Blue.
You could do worse.
Some here have stated that they love Piano in Blue.
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- KVRAF
- 2083 posts since 28 Feb, 2011
Did you try messing with the velocity control of the Grandeur? You might find a sweet spot where the old midi files sound a lot more natural.Skorpius wrote:I will have to re-edit my existing piano midi parts in order to make them sound like a natural grand piano.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 513 posts since 6 Mar, 2012
No, I didn't actually. But thanks for the tip, I will definitely try that. It might save me a few hours of uninspiring editing work.Gonga wrote:Did you try messing with the velocity control of the Grandeur? You might find a sweet spot where the old midi files sound a lot more natural.Skorpius wrote:I will have to re-edit my existing piano midi parts in order to make them sound like a natural grand piano.
