Best sampled piano (3)

[Kaboom]

I got Alicia's Keys today before I baught it I tried the Demos of Pianoteq and True Pianos. I found them to sound like there are missing something. Alicia's Keys has what I was looking for a Piano that sounded real, loads of power in the bass and very warm. The sound does not drop out or crackle I havent noticed any latency that some people say I should have running a vst with such a large file. My PC specs are below if anyone is interested. Im running my VSTs in Ableton Live 8.


Windows 7 64bit
Intel Core i7 3.5GHZ
6GB DDR3 1600
Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatality PRO

[matthew]

wish people wouldnt get upset when someone asks what the "best" sampled piano is... it spurs good discussion and the mentioning of several of the top pianos for those that are new to this. I personally think there could be and is a "best" piano out there, however ive yet to find it. After having personally tried Synthogy, Galaxy, Galaxy 2, the Grand 2, Bardstown, and more i think the best ive found is the piano that comes with Garritan Personal Orchestra. This makes me think the fully sampled Steinway by Garritan must really be awesome... but havent tried it. When i think of a "best" piano, i think of a piano that sounds good in every octave, is extremely playable, without notes that come out way too loud when struck just a little bit harder than usual etc etc. And of course pristine sound quality of each note, real sustain, release notes, etc. But most importantly, a "best" piano is a piano i would feel comfortable playing on any occasion, in any venue, and for any style of music....

From the demos ive heard the best piano i would like to try next is by EWQL Pianos however i have not had an extra $500 to try it but would love to!

My second favorite piano ive actually tried and own is also by East West and is the old "Steinway B"......

[tomhartman]

Hi,

Here the 3 best sampled piano :

1) Alicias keys :
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/.../alicias-keys/

Great sound / Great programming
sympathetic resonance work perfectly with repedalling and pedalup/down changes. Self masking/repetition : 100% ok
This Yamaha sound like a Steinway B.

2) Garritan Steinway :
http://www.garritan.com/index.php?op...=105&Itemid=55
Great sound / Great programming
sympathetic resonance work perfectly with repedalling and pedalup/down changes. Self masking/repetition : 100% ok

3) Galaxy Vintage D :
http://www.galaxypianos.com/home.htm#news20100301

Great sound. But sympathetic resonance doesn't work if you press pedal down to pedal up with still undampered keys. Self masking/repetition doesn't work fine.

I must say that while the idea of a "best" right now depends on what you are doing, I have been in the market for a new piano for awhile.

I had Ivory for years and it was the best of the lot at the time but I gradually grew tired of it. I can't tell you why, it just didn't sound that much better than anything else after awhile. So I stopped upgrading.

I've listened to the Galaxy stuff I'm not feeling it. It has a "thuddy" quality to it, with none of the bell like resonance that some of best real pianos have. This is not just Galaxy though, that quality is very hard to find.

The Garritan...it is the only one I've heard that has a bit of that quality to it, and seems to have decent sustain on the high keys instead of "thud" ...over and out.

So I have a feeling this will be my next piano.

I do have one question, can the Garritan go from VERY soft playing levels to normal levels? The VERY SOFT sounds of pianos have been a real weak point to me.

Thanks
Tom

[Ranger]

I have the Grand 3 its takes some work but at the end sounds good , in its basic form very bright but with the eq and velocity adjustment can be managed , to bad it doesnt have a hammer adjustment

[oldbob]

I have tried many, including Ivory, Pianoteq, Garritan Steinway, Gigapiano, Galaxy II, and Galaxy is the one I pick more often. Not perfect, but it's the only one that makes me feel the attack of the sound, whereas many seem to have the very first portion of the attack removed. I use it mainly for jazz tracks, this may have something to do with it... anyway, here is a little improvisation showing what I'm saying, solid attacks and some "gold metal" in the tone

www.robertosoggetti.com/AllOf.mp3

[Ashermusic]

I love the Sampletekk Seven Seas Grand. Check out my "Eleanor Rigby" demo, kind of Peter Nero-ish.

[beatpete]

I love the Sampletekk Seven Seas Grand. Check out my "Eleanor Rigby" demo, kind of Peter Nero-ish.

7cg, me too...

[bkkjohn]

Thanks for all this great information! My virtual orchestra (The Lam Lukka Foni Sinfonia) is looking for a replacement for the venerable Gigapiano, which has decided to retire and give
private lessons to children in Milwaukee.

My current collaborator on a (modern "classical") album project uses "The Native Instuments Galaxy Piano"), - Maybe the Galaxy Piano was once distributed by NI. He sent me his MIDI files to record, but is complaining that the Gigapiano isn't giving the left hand enough "bite", though to me it seems to be overpowering the right hand.

The Garritan Steinway looked at first like the no-brainer choice, since I've liked every product they've made, and for my work, a 9' Steinway is standard. And it was recorded at 96 kHz, 24-bits (with Pro Tools or Logic). But it's $399, and the only downloadable version (so I don't wait 3 weeks and get charged $200 for duties) is the "Basic" version, which is not good enough - only 16 bits and not every key is sampled.

Alicia's Keys ($119) is a Yamaha C3 (6'1") recorded with "vintage gear". My concerns are (1) her piano is designed to have a distinctive sound that may sound best with her own style or pop music generally, (2) a 6' Yamaha is not my favorite piano, and (3) I prefer a pristine recording made with modern digital gear which can be "vintaged later" if one likes that sort of thing.

Galaxy Piano sounds interesting (Vintage Hamburg Steinway-D 129 Euros, Galaxy II Steinway 109 Euros), both downloadable, but I have no experience with them.

What about the other NI Pianos (New York, Berlin, Vienna), $89 each? There is no technical data on the NI web site, even to distinuguish them from each other, and frankly, the demos are not very helpful.

Thanks for any help/opinions/technical details.

[Haydn]

The basic version of the Garritan Steinway has all notes sampled with as many velocity layers the full version. It doesn't have the soft pedal samples though. I usually use the basic version most of the time even though I have the full version as it saves on resources when doing full orchestra recordings.

Jim

[boehnbr]

I own Garritan Steinway, Galaxy 2, BDMO, ArtVista Grand, and The Grand 3. As i go back and listen to recordings i made about 6l months ago, i have found that The Grand 3's Yamaha is the best piano - from a recording perspective. And everybody knows that is about as subjective as it gets. I thought the Galaxy Bos was the most playable, The Garritan Steinway the best overall combination playing and listening, but TG3 Yamaha the best sounding recording. I love its balance between low and high range, and it has the least muddy mid-range of any sample piano i've heard. However, i don't find TG3 to be very playable, in fact it drove me crazy. but for rendering midi files- i find the TG3 to be the best sound out there to my non-classical ears, followed by the Garritan. I am intrigued by the new Galaxy Vintage D as a more mellow sound and may have to spring for it.