Plugsound Vol. 1: Keyboards

Hmm. In many ways this Plugsound edition is great. It's easy to audtition sounds, tweeking possibilities aren't too bad, and some of the sounds, particularly the pianos, are beautiful.

My main grumble, though, (apart from the bloody authorizing shenanigans) is the distinct lack of velocity layers. Some of the pianos appear to have as many as three or four (wow...!) but others, especially the (rather muddy) electric pianos, seem to have a rather pathetic two. This is a great shame, as it makes playing very dificult, as only a small variation in playing velocity can make the sound leap from one layer to another - from a very pleasant jazz piano, for example, to the kind of clanging staccato that you'd only expect if you were hamering away at it.

No amount of tweeking in Plugsound or Cubase seems to resolve the problem. This is a great shame as, given that it effects all the sounds, and some worse than others, it makes the whole thing feel somewhat cheap and nasty, as if velocity layers had never been invented, and given the price of the plugsound packages (I have the Fretted version too) is really quite dissappointing.

While there are many good sounds here the whole thing is cheapened by the lack of subtlety, and for this reason I wouldn't urge anyone to rush out and buy the fretted or keyboard modules. A shame.Read Review