I like the Grandeur from NI. I also like the 4front pianos.

 

I would have agreed with you, until I heard Spectrasonics Keyscape. It blows everything else I've heard out of the water. It is SO close to the real thing, it's scary.

I've listened to many of those mentioned above too.

 

Stick a mono plugin on the channel.

IF you are using ableton, there is a mono preset under 'utility'

 

I've used around 30 different pianos and I still love the Imperfect Samples libraries. I use the Braunschweig in most of my commercial work and sometimes the Fazioli. Although most people complained about it, I found the Hammersmith by SonicCouture has really great sounding lower notes that I use to boost richness in a mix. I also keep CineSamples Piano in Blue 2 on deck as well as Cinematic Studio Piano (the C7) for it's ability to sound halfway decent in mono. For super pop-like uprights I use two decent mono sources, the Nordic Upright and Adam Munroe upright. Even though they're a bit detuned and sound a bit wonky on their own, they cut great in a mix and sound more "realistic" sometimes due to their imperfections.

I always love hearing people's favourites and insight into their faves.

 

Really interesting thread. I'd love to try Piano in Blue and interested if anyone has tried Spitfire's Felt Piano, the demos sound pretty sweet to me. Will try Mini Grand for the lower footprint.

 

Anyone else having issues with VST2 version of Mini Grand? For me it crashes FL when I open a session using it and start playback - the playhead stops and whole DAW freezes. Reloading the VST or turning "Eco Mode" in Mini Grand on and back off fixes it, but I have to do it each time I open the session. Kind of pain in the butt, one of the reasons I switched to Kontakt and Bechstein

 

@Sylenth.Will.Fall I'm studying music for being a primary school teacher atm and my docent heard me playing one time over the big PA and he was like "whats this?!", so I told him it's the C7 from Yamaha sampled by Omnisphere in Keyscape. He was so thrilled that he bought it and thanked me later because he didn't know that there're other keyboards included in Keyscape like the LA Rhodes ans the Clavis

My go to is the C7 from Keyscape

 

I've tried both. Based upon your music genre preference, as well as your individual playing style or expertise, you can get a lot out of both. Personally, I like Steinway's Galaxy II and The Grandeur (Native Instruments). However, I understand why folks like True Piano. I like a deep, rich (clear) sound -- especially in the lower register.

 

I like your idea of using Patchwork as a quick load vst plugin host.

 

I just tried it last night and man you are right. LA Custom C7 Grand is really amazing and inspiring. For tracking, it is perfect.

My idea of a "go-to" piano though is an instrument you can load quickly without the need of a host and an instrument that sounds great right out of the box without any other fling-flang and start playing right away.

That being said, for recording, I use different pianos such as Ezkeys Upright, Addictive Keys, Alicia Keys, Cinematic Studio Piano and NI The Grandeur.

But in the end, if I was pushed to the wall and asked to keep only one among my collection, it would still be TruePianos.

Thanks everyone for sharing your tastes.

 

Last edited: Jan 22, 2017