So, what are today's most authentic Rhodes plugins?

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The Scarbee Mark 1 is pretty good, just doesn't do some of the extra bells and whistles that more modern Rhodes sample libraries do. But if it was all I had, and in the mix, it'd definitely get the job done.

[helic1]

I think Keyscape sounds the best of all

[ecasasmusic2]

I have 3 Rhodes modelling VST's. Arturia Stage'73 is the worst, it doesn't sound as a Rhodes at all. Addictive keys Mark One sounds very cool but again not real. Loung Lizard is the best IMO, but still there are some notes in the mid/high range that lack something for me.

In the end I prefer to play with sampled versions. There are some models in Kontakt's Factory library that sound rather good, better tan any of the modelled VST I have mentioned really.

I guess that Keyscape and Scarbee are even better but I have not tried them.

[Arashi]

Another thumbs up for Keyscape and Scarbee (NI) from me — both of which are sample-based.

In the emulation department I have Lounge Lizard, Arturia’s Rhodes and Wurly, Emagic EVP-88 (now just called Vintage Electric Piano, but I actually bought it separately for Logic 5). These are all decent, but none of them are as convincing as the best sampled EPs.

Also have Propellerhead’s (now Reason Studios) Radical Keys, which is a hybrid emulation/sampled EP. Sounds pretty good…but it’s still not up there with Keyscape and Scarbee.

[dark water]

As per the recommendation by a couple of other KVR members on page 2, I'm now pretty intrigued by VTines and thinking of buying it.
It sounds good, is pretty cheap, has great user customization potential and it has a tiny RAM footprint compared to Kontakt sampled libraries and Keyscape.


Keyscape is excellent and seems to get (rightly) a lot of praise, but it's a bit out my price range / hdd storage size currently.

However, I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who owns both VTines and Scarbee EP-88 about comparative sound quality and user experiences.

Lastly, is there much of a sonic difference between Scarbee Mk1 and Scarbee EP-88 (for any of you KVR members who have both Scarbee versions?).
I used to own Scarbee mk1 for a couple of years but I sold it because it never quite gelled with me in the same way that the sounds of the Soniccouture and Gospel Musicians kontakt libraries did.

Cheers

[e-crooner]

VTines sounds excellent in those audio demos

[rACatkvr]

Surprised that there is only one mention here of pianoteq. To me it’s the best of everything I’ve tried.

[halcyon68]

Have any of you tried Key Suite Electric from UVI?

[yellowmix]

Yet another recommendation for Keyscape, it's ready out of the box.

But if you're looking for modeled take a real good look at Pianoteq and Vintage Tines. With Pianoteq Standard you can tweak the sound immensely, with Pro you can edit per-note, like setting the pickup distance and symmetry (this affects bark). Dial it in exactly how you want.

There are also a bunch of weird and exciting patches that can only happen in modeled land. There's a "Mark I Blooming Grit" preset that borrows the blooming effect from the Steelpan instrument (also recommended, it's lovely).

https://www.modartt.com/audio/electric/BloomingGrit.mp3

[e-crooner]

I once owned a Rhodes, and I must say, its raw sound is pretty boring. All the heroes I loved to listen to made their sound with outboard gear and amps.
As soon I sampled it into my FZ-10, it was already better...!
A lot of synths can make a better Rhodes sound than the original... If you play those with a cheap weighted master keyboard you would also get that annoying clickle-de-clack of the keys...

Of course it doesn't sound like a real Rhodes, but since you mentioned synths, I improved my electric piano patch in Sylenth1 today, added the phaser

https://app.box.com/s/wg7s6zohz1udr2vosiwc3njw84sy2gj4

[simmo75]

Pianoteq and Vibrant for Halion are my favs. Lushness!

[cryophonik]

I mostly use Lounge Lizard, Scarbee, and Waves, but Keyscape has been on my mind for some time now. I just can’t justify the high price tag, especially since I own every other Spectrasonics offering. A loyalty pricing option would make it a no-brainer.

As for Lounge Lizard, it’s probably my go-to for Rhodes sounds, but I agree that it does some weird glitchy things sometimes.

[AKJ]

I would say with a good amp sim and fx (I use Overloud TH-U) you can make almost any rhodes sample library/vst sound great. Personally, I am very happy with the original Scarbee Mark I, MrRay73mkII, Lounge Lizard (I am still on V2 which I prefer to the newer version sound-wise and I like that one can go experimental with LL) and the Purgatory Creek libraries (which offer different flavours).

[composingkeys3]

Cryophonik, if you own Omnisphere 2 already, buying Keyscape also give you Keyscape Creative which is essentially over 1,000 New patches that utilize Omnisphere 2 and Keyscape together. These are a lot of fun patches to explore there in addition to what Keyscape already gives you.

[cryophonik]

Cryophonik, if you own Omnisphere 2 already, buying Keyscape also give you Keyscape Creative which is essentially over 1,000 New patches that utilize Omnisphere 2 and Keyscape together. These are a lot of fun patches to explore there in addition to what Keyscape already gives you.

I know, and you're not helping me!!!

But, seriously, I just need to pull the trigger.