Akoustik Piano

To make Akoustik Piano sound good is the easiest of all the great piano samples. The default presets sound terrific immediately, and it takes only the slightest tweaking to compensate a little for your own situation and preferences. For some reason, it has been overlooked in favor of Ivory, but this is easily on the same level. In my view, Akoustik is a better, richer-sounding, more controllable, and more intelligently laid-out instrument than Ivory.

It has enough high-quality effects controls that you can be happy with it using only its built-in convolution reverb and EQ. The velocity curve function is no better than most, so I find myself preferring a third-part plug-in for that.

The four pianos are well-chosen as a group for a lot of versatility and interest. The excellent Bechstein and Steingräber upright are not so often seen as to be boring. And both are very swinging instruments. It's a relief not to have a Yamaha C7 included, that I have to ignore. I feel like I got more for my money without that thing.

At the moment, Akoustik Piano is selling for $99 on specials. Seems to be selling well -- dealers seem frequently sold out. So I hope a lot of people are coming to be familiar with this excellent sample.Read Review