Vienna Imperial vs. Pianoteq

[ElDuderino]

I was wondering how sampled pianos with 100+ layers such as the huge Vienna Imperial compare to modelled pianos such as Pianoteq in terms of playability. Has anyone played both types of pianos ?


Although I absolutely hate Pianoteq in terms of sound, I really love the responsiveness.
It's been adressed dozens of times...sampled pianos can sound very realistic when listening to recorded pieces but once you start playing you are not that euphoric anymore...

[sullivang]

Even sampled pianos with far fewer layers can compare favourably with Pianoteq IMHO, at least in terms of the basics - smooth response to velocity and consistent tone and level across the keyboard. I don't have Vienna Imperial but I do have Pianoteq and a few other sampled products. The best sampled one for playability that I have is the K-Sounds "Signature".

In no way do I hate Pianoteq though, and I think it's not all that far behind in terms of tone.

Greg.

[ElDuderino]

Hi Greg,

thanks for the reply.

You are right, there a sampled pianos which are very responsive. I'm pretty new to sampled pianos so I haven't played that many of them yet.

I really like the Academic Grand by AcousticSamples in that respect. I also own Alicia's Keys and while it is very responsive in the pp to mf range, strong ff playing seems to be impossible. I don't understand why it was recorded that way.

Also, the "built in" standard grand of my Yamaha Clavinova does not play very "evenly". At first I thought it was me ( took a very long break from playing) but then I realised there were odd jumps in velocity and that when using Pianoteq or a good sampled piano, the problem disappeared.

I'll immediately try K-Sounds.

[davecos]

I prefer Pianoteq. Version 3.1 s awesome.

[Macy]

You are right, there a sampled pianos which are very responsive. I'm pretty new to sampled pianos so I haven't played that many of them yet.

You might try the Garritan Steinway basic for only $100 (it can be downloaded). It's very playable. I'm told the basic version may be ahead of the full version at the moment in terms of refinement, so I'm waiting for the next update (1.05) to be released before buying the full version.

[Glenn NK]

I prefer Pianoteq. Version 3.1 s awesome.

Version 3.6.1 is the latest and quite a bit better.

[Pianolover]

Pianoteq doesn't sound like a real piano

For example, Garritan Steinway have a Physical Modelling Sympathetic Resonance Generator that work better than Pianoteq. Good samples and good modelling = best virtual piano

[jcfelice88keys]

Hello All,

I have read this thread with great interest, and before expressing any opinion of my own, may I kindly ask you to play both versions of Yours Truly performing Maurice Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso and comment on the sound, performance, general impressions of these two recordings of different performances? Here are the URLs:

http://www.box.net/shared/bhdmd44ll0

http://www.box.net/shared/czcd9xxi9n

Thanking you in advance.

Cheers,

Joe <jcfelice88keys>

[Jimthepiano]

To my ears, Pianoteq acts more like a piano. But the sounds sometimes you need to feel sorry for it. Also I don't think 100+ layer can totally avoid layer switching problem.

[abdulazizkezi]

Vienna, killing who, incidentally. I really appreciated the EW pianos, but I can have a good amount of low-frequency build up in the samples, if you have a lot of support.