Best Piano - PIANOTEQ

[4damind]

TruePianos seems to use a combination of modeling and Samples and sounds great IMO, especially since the Atlantis module was added. Latest versions also seem to work on native 64-bit and on OSX.

Yes, and it's Afaik the only library using such a combination of modelling and sampling.

really??
and what about Pianissimo?
and all that Sound Magic pianos?
and maybe some other lesser known instruments?

Ah, ok. I've not heard of this plugins but you are right they using also such a combination.
And how are they sounding?

[kvaca]

TruePianos seems to use a combination of modeling and Samples and sounds great IMO, especially since the Atlantis module was added. Latest versions also seem to work on native 64-bit and on OSX.

Yes, and it's Afaik the only library using such a combination of modelling and sampling.

really??
and what about Pianissimo?
and all that Sound Magic pianos?
and maybe some other lesser known instruments?

Ah, ok. I've not heard of this plugins but you are right they using also such a combination.
And how are they sounding?

I prefer Pianissimo over True Pianos for my work...but Im not any piano expert

btw-I hate big sample libraries because they still sound boring and "disharmonic", and it doesnt matter how big or expensive they are...same as I dont like "strange" attack and thin sound on Pianoteq...

[dark water]

Bluether+D4 with EastWest Spaces Reverb MASTERED WITH IZOOTOPE OZONE

Very enjoyable - thanks oscarolarte



As for piano libraries, well a combination of Pianoteq5, Piano in Blue (despite its perplexing 'ringing noise' on some low-mid keys), Fluffy Audio's ''My Piano'' (no, really!) and Soniccouture's Hammersmith are the best for me.
Sounddust are also well worth a mention for Pendle's interesting niche ideas, eg Plastic Ghost Piano.

[Ingonator]

TruePianos seems to use a combination of modeling and Samples and sounds great IMO, especially since the Atlantis module was added. Latest versions also seem to work on native 64-bit and on OSX.

Yes, and it's Afaik the only library using such a combination of modelling and sampling.

really??
and what about Pianissimo?
and all that Sound Magic pianos?
and maybe some other lesser known instruments?

Ah, ok. I've not heard of this plugins but you are right they using also such a combination.
And how are they sounding?

I prefer Pianissimo over True Pianos for my work...but Im not any piano expert

btw-I hate big sample libraries because they still sound boring and "disharmonic", and it doesnt matter how big or expensive they are...same as I dont like "strange" attack and thin sound on Pianoteq...

Did not really check Pianissmo yet but had a look at the website. Besides the modeling part it seems to be
based on 250 MB of Steinway Model D samples.
The whole TruePianos Atlantis module has an installed size of 87.5 MB, the older Diamond module even 68.5 MB.
All 5 modules together got an installed (not the Installers) size of 458 MB which is more than Pianissiomo but in TruePianos this is for 5 different models, not for a single one. The VST2 plugin itself (64-bit Windows version) has less than 10 MB.

In comments and reviews about both Truepianos and Pianissimo mostly Truepianos seems to be the better one.

A big plus for Pianissimo seems to be that it is even cheaper than TruePianos at the current sales price (around 69 $ for the download version).

[logburner]

Fluffy Audio's My Piano sounds great on their demos! Looking at the specification, it has only 6 layers which is a bit of concern. The tone is lovely though.

[dark water]

Fluffy Audio's My Piano sounds great on their demos! Looking at the specification, it has only 6 layers which is a bit of concern. The tone is lovely though.

Absolutely. To be fair, it's not the most complex of beasts, but it's certainly well worth the (small amount of) money to add as a second / third choice option to people's arsenal

[kvaca]

TruePianos seems to use a combination of modeling and Samples and sounds great IMO, especially since the Atlantis module was added. Latest versions also seem to work on native 64-bit and on OSX.

Yes, and it's Afaik the only library using such a combination of modelling and sampling.

really??
and what about Pianissimo?
and all that Sound Magic pianos?
and maybe some other lesser known instruments?

Ah, ok. I've not heard of this plugins but you are right they using also such a combination.
And how are they sounding?

I prefer Pianissimo over True Pianos for my work...but Im not any piano expert

btw-I hate big sample libraries because they still sound boring and "disharmonic", and it doesnt matter how big or expensive they are...same as I dont like "strange" attack and thin sound on Pianoteq...

Did not really check Pianissmo yet but had a look at the website. Besides the modeling part it seems to be
based on 250 MB of Steinberg Model D samples.
The whole TruePianos Atlantis module has an installed size of 87.5 MB, the older Diamond module even 68.5 MB.
All 5 modules together got an installed (not the Installers) size of 458 MB which is more than Pianissiomo but in TruePianos this is for 5 different models, not for a single one. The VST2 plugin itself (64-bit Windows version) has less than 10 MB.

In comments and reviews about both Truepianos and Pianissimo mostly Truepianos seems to be the better one.

A big plus for Pianissimo seems to be that it is even cheaper than TruePianos at the current sales price (around 69 $ for the download version).

AFAIK Steinberg model is called Cubase/Nuendo and model D is from Steinway...but who cares?
anyway - I think Pianissimo sounds slightly more "rich" and "in harmony" with itself than any True Pianos-especially when pedalling is used...but maybe thats just me

[Ingonator]

AFAIK Steinberg model is called Cubase/Nuendo and model D is from Steinway...but who cares?

Oops, again a stupid typo...
I corrected that in my post above.

[BMoore]

Why do you need to be a skilled piano player to hear the difference in sound?

It's basically an issue of dynamics. If it were practical (possible?) for a sample library to have every note sampled at every velocity level, you might stop seeing this point coming up.

Yes. All fine. But you don't have to be a skilled player to hear a difference. If Truepianos sounds better, it doesn't matter what kind of response Pianoteq has. If you're not after just the "feel".

[BMoore]

Maybe from a pure technical view, Pianoteq has a great "feel", but if it sounds like One Ping Only, then it doesn't matter in the total picture.

Way too harsh and untrue of a comparison that wasn't really called for, there.

It's true that Pianoteq doesn't sound like One Ping Only?!

[Uncle E]

But you don't have to be a skilled player to hear a difference. If Truepianos sounds better, it doesn't matter what kind of response Pianoteq has. If you're not after just the "feel".

To you it doesn't matter. For some players, it matters a lot. The difference in feel is real and measurable, it's up to the individual to decide if that difference is important to them.

[BMoore]

But you don't have to be a skilled player to hear a difference. If Truepianos sounds better, it doesn't matter what kind of response Pianoteq has. If you're not after just the "feel".

To you it doesn't matter. For some players, it matters a lot. The difference in feel is real and measurable, it's up to the individual to decide if that difference is important to them.

Ffs. We're talking sound. Not feel.
You don't need a "skilled feel" to hear a difference in VSTs.

[Uncle E]

Ffs. We're talking sound. Not feel.
You don't need a "skilled feel" to hear a difference in VSTs.

Sure, I hear where you're coming from. That's why I wrote in another post "I'd buy Imperial Grand for my studio drive and Pianoteq + Bluethner for my laptop".

[LGK_Dude]

I recently purchased Pianoteq Stage, and the included D4 and K2 grand pianos sound pretty good to my ears, but to me they are lacking "balls" for lack of a better term - that nice, rich string vibration you feel all around you when you play an acoustic piano with force, especially in low notes. Which Pianoteq model would you recommend for a really ballsy, rich, full vibration piano? I actually really liked the sound of Vienna Imperial, but at that price I simply cannot afford it. I've also read that pianoteq Standard makes a huge difference as you can tweak the mics, piano characteristics, etc so maybe I'm stuck until I can upgrade? Hopefully Pianoteq offer some sort of upgrade sale like they have in the past.

[Uncle E]

Some of the Pianoteq freebies sound surprisingly good in the demos:

https://www.pianoteq.com/free_stuff