Steinberg Media Technologies has announced that its major update to The Grand is now shipping to resellers worldwide*. The Grand 3 supports VST3, VST2, AU and ReWire and runs on Mac OS X, Windows XP and both Windows Vista 32- and 64-bit versions. The Grand 3 costs €349 / £291**. For more information including demo songs and performances, please see www.steinberg.net.

"Excellent sound content of the highest standard paired with a brand-new VST3 engine optimized to recreate the feel of playing some of the most famous pianos ever: that was the challenge to our developers," comments Nadine Roos, Steinberg's Product Marketing Manager for The Grand. "And they've absolutely come through. Close your eyes while playing The Grand 3 on a high quality controller keyboard and we think you'll be very, very impressed with the level of authenticity attained. And thanks to a lossless compression technology, the 88GB of included samples require only around 32GB of free hard drive space, keeping the resource footprint remarkably low for a virtual instrument of its quality. Simply put, we believe that The Grand 3 represents the apex of virtual piano software," adds Roos.

The Grand 3 offers the sound of three legendary concert grands, as well as leading electric and upright pianos, all recorded in "outstanding" quality with two microphone positions in up to 20 velocity layers. Additional features include onboard equalization tools, a full tuning editor, a range of technologies to enhance computer resource efficiency as well as a stand-alone mode.

The Grand 3 features three virtual grand pianos with a rich and realistic sound based on the most widely acclaimed grand pianos:

• The Yamaha C7 grand piano is the artist's choice — its sound providing a true concert grand experience.
• The expressive tone of the Bösendorfer 290 Imperial provides an extended musical range not found in other pianos.
• The sound, responsiveness and playing behavior of the Steinway D complement the collection.

More pianos, more choices: Electric and Upright pianos:

• The classic Yamaha CP80 Electric Grand has a timbral character that makes it genuinely recognizable.
• The Nordiska Pianofabriken Upright Piano has been recorded and designed for the not so grandeur of musical genres — its sound is ideal for pop and jazz music.

Reverberation
The Grand 3 comes with a convolution reverb based on the same technology used by REVerence, the VST3-based convolution reverb processor already featured in Cubase 5. It boasts realistic natural space simulation, emulating any acoustic environment — from the smallest live music venue to the most impressive cathedrals. This reverb includes a vast number of impulse responses that put the characteristic sound of some of the world's most distinctive settings immediately in one's hands — both in stereo and surround.

An algorithmic reverb is also included to increase the amount of reverbs. With more than 60 reverb presets, this leaves the artist with ample scope to spatially enhance the piano sound.

Equalization
A powerful and versatile equalizer offers full four-band parametric control that works as a sum over all output channels with variable response curves and shelving modes, as well as analog-style peak filters.

Tuning
The enhanced tuning editor provides customizable scales and a wealth of presets for tempered and concert tuning. Each tuning situation may be stored and retrieved as preset whenever required.

The Grand 3 standalone
The standalone version allows The Grand 3 to be used without a host application — a great choice for performing live. The Grand 3 standalone version comes with two additional features:

• For the record: The quick-idea scratch pad in The Grand 3 standalone version guarantees that all flashes of inspiration are recorded. Simply hit the button and The Grand 3 records everything played — now there's no excuse for missing that one tune. With the scratch pad allows the recorded sequence to be played back for rehearsal purposes or exported as a standard MIDI file. It is also possible to load MIDI files and play them back as well.
• Never miss a beat: The metronome integrated into The Grand 3 standalone version is a useful tool, providing a range of preset speed styles (Adagio, Moderato, etc.) and helping musicians keep a constant tempo while practicing the most difficult of piano pieces.

*Dates of availability may vary regionally.
**SRP including applicable VAT. Prices subject to regional variation.