Really? I realize they're comparatively small (and long in the tooth, for a Kontakt library), but they actually sound pretty good to me -- a lot more nuanced than an M1 (which I also have for direct comparison). They also sit in a mix pretty well.

I was actually pretty surprised after downloading it and opening it for the first time, especially for a "giveaway" instrument.

There's definitely something off about it, especially the loudness of the action, which is something I'd rather turn down (it almost sounds like they mic'd the underside of the piano when sampling it). I think I'm with the OP, though; I'd rather not use up 50 GBs or more on a single piano library, or even the 16 GBs the GR HD library takes up. You strike me as someone who probably works around a lot of real pianos and has a certain standard when it comes to the sampled version -- I'm not quite as picky, though I'm picky enough to expect certain things out of a sample library, like the occasional sympathetic resonance, pedal noise and decent release samples.

 

Not the most refined and a bit sharp and raw sounding(i guess this is part of magic), but another vote for Truepianos. The name really resemble what this plugin do very right. It don't sound cheesy or sweet, but raw and true to life. Did learn one song a while ago through youtube and was impressed how identical(emotionally and technical) this plugin sounded to his real piano.

 

https://www.wholesounds.com/new-products/ let's take a look to this library... cheap and the demo version is less than 5 gb... I don't know the full version size

 

Last edited: Nov 4, 2017

There is a version of Synthogy Ivory II which has a Yamaha c7, Steinway D, a Fazioli, and a Bosendorfer floating around that was shrunk to ~5GB. The tails of the samples were removed which are < 50dB which would normally take up most of the size of a sample and are pretty much silent. The included Steinway D is my go-to for most any style of music.

 

Last edited: Nov 14, 2017

Fazioli...something special about that sound...to my ears anyway

 

Instead of a sample library, I recommend you a free plugin, the KeyZone Classic Piano, you will be happy, trust me!

 

"The best sounding" in which context? Because that's the most important thing: the context.

I know if I want to produce a dirty boombap beat including a sample-like piano sound I wouldn't go for the most prestine and accurate piano library. I would go with something else like a library of an old imperfectand slightly out of tune piano.

There are so many Kontakt Libraries out there that try to be of utmost fidelity but what they lack is character, really. So I would probably go with Cassette Piano by TPL:

 

I also crave since long time for plausible virtual pianos, starting in 95 or so with EW Bosendorfer 290 (using an early version of Kompact) going up to Akoustik, and that was the beginning of a long search.

But yes, I do agree, NI Grandeur (Stenway D), Maverick (Bechstein A Grand), Gentleman (Bechstein A Upright) are a really good compromise of quality vs size, and were sampled by Uli Baronowsky from Galaxy Instruments, he knows how to do it.
It's not just the sound that matters, but also dynamics, so difficult to manage with just 127 values, each keyboard should be tested, along dynamic curves.

On my keyboard, Noire (bigger than the NI bunch, 15G) gave the best response, and for some reason unknown to me lower latencies than Grandeur (I should start a new thread about virtual piano latencies!)

Sampled? 300MB?

 

my all-time favorite is the original PMI Emperor set
with the sympathetic resonance+ preset
it will feedback if you overdo it, but if you control it right you can have almost infinite sustain
i go right to it every time
also its almost exactly 5 GB :P

btw the Emperor Mk II set does not have the same amount of sympathetic resonance, so i dont use that at all

 

Im a big Alicia Keys fan but i know there are more realistic or natural sounding ones out there.
Thats just what my ears are probably more comfortable with over the years.

Theres serious a abundance of Piano libraries EVERYWHERE!
Too many infact, I'd just goto buy a premium sit on sister site and go bezerk lol

 

Plenty of good piano libraries that sound great, some of which have modest size.
But IMO there's only few of them that not only sound good, but satisfy experienced pianists who are using a decent midi controller or digital piano to play it in real time.

 

So, why don’t you mention which they are? lol

 

Feel the same way about cars?

 

I still use The Grand 2 and love how the piano sounds. I'm pretty sure those kontakt pianos like Ivory sound great but I'm not downloading 20 gigs. No way no how!!!!

 

doesnt have to be sample based, try pianoteq

 

I like NI's Noire, but it's around 14 GB. It all depends on what you need. If you want a larger sound, maybe go for The Giant, which is around 4 GB. If you want a softer sound, maybe check out Cinematic Studio Piano (~4GB)?

 

I really recommend any of these three from NI - The Gentleman (around 4GB), The Grandeur and The Maverick (around 5GB).
And Soundiron Emotional Piano IS AMAZING.

 

60mb
https://www.modartt.com/pianoteq

 

UVI Ravenscroft hands down the best at that size.

 

Arturia Piano V2. Only a couple of MB. Peri-bloody-od.