PianoTeq3.5.1 vs TruePianos 1.5.0. Latest versions showdown!

[EvilDragon]

But your opinion might change if you would take your time with Pro version and tweak each and every single note on its own WITHOUT resonances to get the basic sound you like, and then add the global resonances on top of that. Can't say you can't get it unless you try, right?

Granted, you might not have the time needed for that. But I think if you know how pianos work and what needs to be tweaked to produce the sound you wish for, it shouldn't take you more than one week's worth.

You seem to care more about the process of interactions themselves instead of actual tones that interact.

Yes, I do care how the piano sound responds to my playing, and that includes individual notes. But, I'm not playing JUST a bunch of individual notes (-> samples), nor a bunch of individual notes with sympathetic resonances tacked on (-> TruePianos), I'm playing a living, breathing instrument that perfectly responds to my touch and produces the sound which I want and which I need for my occasions, which is flexible enough to cover all grounds (-> Rhodes and Wurly models, Vibes and Bells models, Harpsichord models, vintage piano(forte) models) that I need. If the timbre is lacking, I'll just tweak it, I'm not afraid of it. It's just that good. I'd rather play something that reacts to my playing outrages, than something that sounds flat and dull no matter how you play it. I'm very emotional when it comes to sound, and no sampled piano library can give me that. TruePianos still needs work, IMHO, while Pianoteq is spot-on for me.

Yes, I gather, we're different backgrounds. Such is life, you can't satisfy everyone, I know. But still...


New comparison files:

Hungarian Rhapsody - TP 1.5 Diamond Classical
Hungarian Rhapsody - Pianoteq 3.5 Pro YC5 Stage Close Mic

TP fared a little better here, but I couldn't really adjust the velocity curve to fit the playing. I also like the bass of Pianoteq more. TP sounds a bit muffled at places.

Sorry about the last note cutoff, I totally oversaw that while rendering...

[Krakatau]

Hungarian Rhapsody - TP 1.5 Diamond Classical
Hungarian Rhapsody - Pianoteq 3.5 Pro YC5 Stage Close Mic

in term of nuances and expressiveness Pianotech here sounds impressive IMO...

both technologies have different strong and weak points, as far as i can see...

[Roel de Witt]

Hi,

I guess that you yourself here commented that it's hard to impossible to actually compare anything else than part of the actual 'character' of the sound of two (virtual piano) instruments when using a MIDI file not played by a skilled human specifically on each instrument with optimized settings taking into account the personal playing style, hardware controller, settings within the virtual instrument and real-time feedback from the instrument which human player reacts to. Any method not taking such things into account is questionable at least.

TP fared a little better here, but I couldn't really adjust the velocity curve to fit the playing. I also like the bass of Pianoteq more. TP sounds a bit muffled at places.

---
Roel / 4Front Technologies
http://www.truepianos.com/

[EvilDragon]

Well, my first example was played in realtime. The second was my older MIDI file that I used when testing Pianoteq, so I just reapplied it.

[Roel de Witt]

Hi,

...which doesn't say anything to invalidate what I wrote when reading back on your posts in this thread.

Well, my first example was played in realtime. The second was my older MIDI file that I used when testing Pianoteq, so I just reapplied it.

---
Roel / 4Front Technologies
http://www.truepianos.com/

[Krakatau]

By my side, owning Pianotech, it is obvious that i'm somehow unfairly sensitive to anything that says i've done the best choice, something that cannot be publicly aknowledged, of course !

[rasmusklump]

Sorry, DragonSagoth, I play the Piano since I was 7, was on a Waldorfschool and grew up there with music and Pianos and Pianoteq just doesn't sound right and real to me.
TP on the other hand does.
Case closed for me
Nevertheless I will try the next Pianoteq Demo.....

[EvilDragon]

I too play piano, since I was 6.

Opinions and visions about how pianos should sound are obviously subjective to the tee.

[Jake Jackson]

Megakazbek:

If you're getting that bad a sound in PianoTeq, something is very, very wrong. You may still prefer the darker, by default close-mic'ed TruePianos, but you should be able to get a good piano from PianoTeq. Please do go to the PianoTeq forum and post an mp3 of the sound you're getting in the Files area. I think you'll find that people will help you do some diagnostics to see what's going on.

(Are you listening to the latest version and adjusting the velocity curves to match your keyboard? If you're getting only hard strikes, you may hear the sound as more artificial, since the soft notes will have a lot of high freqs, like in very old sample libraries where hard strikes were assigned to soft layers. And try reducing the unison detuning and slightly extending the Direct sound duration. Check the mics page, too--you can get just about any piano sound that you want, but the parameters take some time to learn...)

[Megakazbek]

But your opinion might change if you would take your time with Pro version and tweak each and every single note on its own WITHOUT resonances to get the basic sound you like, and then add the global resonances on top of that. Can't say you can't get it unless you try, right?

If Pianoteq creators themselves can't create sounds that sound like a piano, then why bother?

I'd rather play something that reacts to my playing outrages, than something that sounds flat and dull no matter how you play it.

Me too, I just won't call something a piano if it isn't.
Pianoteq is a great responsive electronic instrument. But not a piano.

If you're getting that bad a sound in PianoTeq

I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying it's synthesized.

[Jake Jackson]

What I meant was--If it sounds synthesized to you, something is wrong. If you post the sound you hear as synthesized in the PT forum's Files area, people can listen and see what's wrong.

[EvilDragon]

If Pianoteq creators themselves can't create sounds that sound like a piano, then why bother?

I think they're doing a darn good job.

Pianoteq is a great responsive electronic instrument. But not a piano.

[Krakatau]

isn't this a typical issue for any kind of physically modelled instrument anyway:
accurate behaviour but (still...) relatively unrealistic timbre of the modelled instruments ?


(sounds like a flame war is on the way to begin...)

[premiumcrap]

If Pianoteq creators themselves can't create sounds that sound like a piano, then why bother?

I think they're doing a darn good job.

Pianoteq is a great responsive electronic instrument. But not a piano.

sorry dragonsagoth but this is my meaning too.

pianoteq just don't sound like a real piano.
there is always this plastique-timbre. i never had the impression, that
this sound comes from a hitten string, more from a DCO of a synthesizer.

i almost can't believe, that this is not hearable !?

www.myspace.com/tombalcony

[EvilDragon]

Comparing to DCO? You guys are out of your minds...