KVR Audio

NAD · Post by **NAD** » Fri Jan 09, 2026 11:32 am

Another vote for Pianoteq. It's especially nice if you have a decent keyboard.

flugel45 · Post by **flugel45** » Tue Jan 13, 2026 2:28 pm

Since it hasn't been mentioned I will give a nod to Garritan (Abbey Roads) CFX.

mabian · Post by **mabian** » Tue Jan 13, 2026 4:03 pm

Soundpaint free Steinway, put an upward compressor and limiter after it.

It's warm and dynamic for me (hybrid sample(modelled).

Of course there are others as well, but I keep coming back to it.

- Mario

NomeHouseDee · Post by **NomeHouseDee** » Tue Jan 13, 2026 7:06 pm

I would say Spitfire Labs for sure. I work in a studio they come to sometimes and they did some crazy work to capture our grand piano

Download SOphist · Post by **Download SOphist** » Thu Jan 22, 2026 3:12 pm

don´t know if the OP is still following this, but XLN Addictive Keys Steinway is amazingly good for such an old and small footprint instrument. it has a standalone and some guy (no affiliation) is selling it for $5 in the classifieds forum.

can´t beat Pianoteq for standalone and small footprint, though. the problem with PTQ is that you will eventually want to own most of the models and be able to tweak them, which rapidly increases costs into boutique level.

sonic_ally · Post by **sonic_ally** » Thu Jan 22, 2026 10:53 pm

I like LABS soft piano.. i know it isn't as good as most mentioned, but it is free.

No_Use · Post by **No_Use** » Thu Jan 22, 2026 11:03 pm

My go to for practicing is still the ol' TruePianos.

NAD · Post by **NAD** » Fri Jan 23, 2026 10:05 pm

No_Use wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 11:03 pm My go to for practicing is still the ol' TruePianos.

How did I miss this was on 2.0?! I was sure it was dead! How is nobody talking about this? (Doesn't look like they added any new features though....)

Morphulus · Post by **Morphulus** » Wed Feb 18, 2026 11:34 pm

Pianoteq is great, use it every day, no samples needed. It's a physical modeler rather than sample based so it's very small on disk.

CYKLVM · Post by **CYKLVM** » Thu Mar 26, 2026 3:16 am

Keyscape from Spectrasonics

Raketenbauer · Post by **Raketenbauer** » Thu Mar 26, 2026 11:23 am

NAD wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 10:05 pm
No_Use wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 11:03 pm My go to for practicing is still the ol' TruePianos.
How did I miss this was on 2.0?! I was sure it was dead! How is nobody talking about this? (Doesn't look like they added any new features though....)

Wow, this is one of the oldest licenses in my possession. Time to use it again!
By the way, it's currently 50% off.

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Thu Mar 26, 2026 5:45 pm

Another for Hammersmith Pro. I bought it for 99€ at least a decade ago, and it is still updated, and I think, improved.

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Thu Mar 26, 2026 8:43 pm

Bombadil wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 5:45 pm Another for Hammersmith Pro. I bought it for 99€ at least a decade ago, and it is still updated, and I think, improved.

Still not a stand-alone.
Requires Kontakt.

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Thu Mar 26, 2026 8:49 pm

Okiedokie.

irpacynot · Post by **irpacynot** » Mon Mar 30, 2026 10:05 am

I've found the Grand Piano plugin by audiolatry to be my favorite. Not a huge fan of all of their other instrument plugins, but that one is pretty damned nice. Fairly easy to get a really good-sound piano for just about any type of song.

Best Stand Alone-Piano VST?