It's not exactly a comparison video. I just recorded a preset or two from Keyscape, NI Scarbee, IK Syntronik, e-instrument Session keys and Neo-Soul. Syntronik is not an EP exclusive library of course but it still has some very useable EP samples in there. I bought Session Keys recently and play it quiet a bit. I'm still on the fence about getting Lounge Lizard.

 

love the Rhodes sound... nice little demo.. and decent keys chops you have.. thoroughly enjoyed the listen...

the Syntronik sounds a little "schtick" -y for me... the interface made me think of Lazy Snake.. which also
has some usable presets... never could connect with Lounge Lizard.. tho many do like it..and it's got quite passable ep sounds..

the Session keys sounded best to me out of this batch, or maybe it was just your fine playing...

I have to admit Mr. Ray 22 is still my go to.. quite tweak-able, loads up instantly... and it's free ( donationware )
it actually sounds quite bad ass and dirty putting it through amplitube on a driven setting as well

NI elektrik piano was also quite good enough for me.. and though it has morphed into other NI packages by now..
still have some fond memories of dabbling with that...

 

Have you tried The Canterbury Suitcase by Soniccouture? It's probably my favorite Rhodes library.
The Suitcase 54 Piano by 8dio is also really nice.

 

I was using (almost) all the libraries mentioned here but stop doing so when I discovered the Lounge Lizard.

To my ears, the sound quality is identical so it makes no sense to waste all the HD space required by these libraries. All thanks to physical modeling.

 

I have used Neo Soul Keys, Mr Ray, NI Scarbee Mark I

And I have to say I greatly prefer Lounge Lizard...you really can achieve any EP sound on it. It does the Mk I, Mk II, Wurli...smooth or barky.

I swear by it.

Nice demo btw...I'd say my preference is Keyscape...shame about the footprint it takes up...it's why I have sworn off Spectrasonics and romplers in general.

 

Thank you everybody, I really appreciate your response. It's great to hear from fellow EP junkies! Looks like we have a lot in common.

@Herr Durr ,
I know what you mean by " "schtick" -y" for the Syntronik combi. It probably has to do with the out of shape demo. I wouldn't consider Syntronik a contender for the EP territory. I do find it useful nonetheless. I find myself playing the session keys more and more. It has this magic tone to it. It does change the way you play. Never heard of Mr. Ray22! I gotta check it out ...

@majestic03 ,
Actually I haven't...but someone on reddit mentioned it. I always thought Soniccouture makes unconventional libraries. Their demos sound good for sure.

@mrpsanter & @Bump ,
Yeah, that's the thing with massive libraries. Eventually all sample based libraries will be the thing of the past. Keyscape is my fav (not so much for Acoustic pianos but certainly for everything else). It is huge though...and cpu hungry. I'm getting a lot of positive feedback for Lounge Lizard... A few told me that it lacks that dirtiness. One can always use a 3rd party effect to make up for that.

By the way, feel free to post your EP / Vintage key demos here. It's so strange but when I listen to someone else playing the same library, it sounds so different at times. Not because of the settings, but the way they play I guess.

 

I'm surprised how good Session keys sounds, i might have to check it out. With that said, for me Keyscape is the truth for both EPs and acoustic piano.

Two things to consider regarding Keyscape:
1- It needs an SSD to run smooth. And when i say smooth i mean really smooth: Low cpu, no glitches, fast loading etc. Of course this is assuming you have at least 8 GB of ram. Even with a powerful system, putting it on a HDD will still give you issues here and there. So SSD is Keyscape's best friend.

2- Matching your keyboard to the velocity curve presets is vital in terms of dynamics AND sound. I can't stress what a difference it makes.

Thanks for the video.

 

It was such a pleasant surprise for me as well. I totally dig this library.

I run Keyscape off of a Samsung SSD 850 pro and I have 96 GB of ram on this 5 year old machine. I've never tried it on a laptop or weaker machine myself but I've seen people complaining about it on Facebook. These Samsung SSDs are a bit pricy but very good for such libraries especially if you play fast runs or fat polyphonic passages. They used to be Samsung's flagship SSD back then. I'm sure they've been replaced by faster alternatives by now.

 

Yup i have two EVO 850 on my laptop. Keyscape runs like a dream on it.

 

hi. do you saw any guide on optimizing Keyscape velocity response? I tried many times without good results.