Hello all,

I'm looking for recommendations for the best piano VST for piano practice.

I have certain Kontakt libraries that I really like (Cinepiano, Embertone Steinway, Emotional Piano). They sound great but in terms of actual "playing", something always feels a bit "off" when playing those compared to a real piano or a digital piano.

For very slow playing it is fine but when playing faster more "technical" pieces, not so much. The velocity response is always a bit off and there is an inherent latency due to the fact that they record the initial "hammering" of the key in the samples.

So far the only alternative I found is Pianoteq but it sounds a bit "plasticky" to my taste (even compared to my digital piano).

Does anyone have any other recommendations? (or some tips and tricks to make pianoteq sound a bit more real)

I would like to get rid of my digital piano and upgrade to an 88 key keyboard so I can do all my piano and production on one single keyboard.

 

"Alicia's Keys" is a great one. My fav for similar reasons.

 

Perhaps you should consider a desent midi keyboard with weighted keys?!?

The libs you have are ok but if you´re playing them on a "plastic bag - midi keyboard" you´ll never get the right feeling.

 

On any plugin instrument that has the feature to adjust the velocity curve... do it. You can make your current controller much better feeling. Otherwise, I would say you are feeling the controllers lack of hammer action. Even if you get another controller you will probably need to tweak the velocity curve

 

Honestly, the majority of Midi controllers are bad to learn Piano on because of how the keys are constructed. Maybe that's why it feels off to you. I have a Digital Piano at home that feels almost like the Grand Piano that i play on during my Piano lessons, and then i also have a Novation Impulse 61 on my desk that i use inside the DAW. Playing libraries like Keyscape or Addictive Keys on the Novation simply doesn't feel good. There are limitations to how far "inwards" you can comfortably play on each individual key because they don't simulate real hammer action. As a result it can feel quite stiff while playing complex chords, especially when they involve Sharps/Flats. Difficult to control the dynamic range. And even with a Piano velocity curve setting it still feels weird. I'm sure that a lot of high end controllers like the Komplete Kontrol feel great, but they're also just as expensive as a Digital Piano with fully weighted keys.

 

Like it was said maybe it's your controller.
I have a very old Roland Xv-88 it is good but suffers in fast repeated notes. I think a new generation with triple sensor will do much better
I am biased towards Roland because they served me for years and hold up well so you should try before you buy.

 

Komplete Kontrol use generic Doepfer keybeds... you are basically paying mainly for the integration. Nothing in them is... "high end". Look into Yamaha or Roland, or Kawai, or Casio hybrid keys on digital pianos that cost several grands for semi-realistic keys. I think Kawai have the best one, but it costs like 9-10k or something similar.

 

Get some decent hammer action fully weighted keys, work a little bit on the velocity curve, and try Pianoteq again, configured with the "microphones" centered at ears level, like you would hear a real piano if seated on front of it, but without any of the built-in effects like delay or reverb. I think it is very hard to surpass the feeling of playing with Pianoteq if you have a decent keyboard, but IMO the built-in FX are not really on par with the rest of it. The Hammesmith Grand for Kontakt also sounds really good to me, although the size it's ridiculous.

Like the others have said, I have a Nord Stage with semi-weighted waterfall keys, and I would say the piano sounds are pretty decent. However with the built in keys I just can't get a piano to sound good. It works for rhodes, hammond and synth, but not with piano. However, as soon as I plug my other MIDI weighted keyboard to it, that's another story, the piano sounds come to life.

 

My Kawai digital piano was like 800€ and the keys feel very good. I don't think you have to pay a whopping 10k to get "semi-realistic" keys.
Especially when you consider that a lot of real pianos don't even cost that much.
Like, I'm sure those very expensive ones actually have legit hammer action in them, but a good simulation of hammer action does the job too. Like i said, i play on a Grand every week during my piano lessons and i think this Kawai digital piano feels pretty close.
Anything is better than the semi-weighted plastic-feeling keys of most Midi controllers though.

 

Pianoteq would be the top recommendation, because it's modelled and it has a way of adapting to every note velocity nicely. You often hear from people who say that it feels alive and that they can shape the sound really authentically.

If we're talking sampled, then the VSL pianos are good - Synchron CFX or Steinway are a good choice, some people also like the Boesendorfer. These require eLicenser though.

If it's supposed to be "sister site friendly" then check out Noire and The Grandeur.

 

Nope
S88 inside:



1. There isn't something like a Doepfer keybed
2. Doepfer ,NI (Also ,Studiologic, Arturia, ) all use keybeds from Fatar
3. Not all NI Keyboards use the same keybeds at all

And finally Kawai K5000 (S und W): Fatar TP/8S
and Roland
A-30 (76): Fatar TP/9 Piano
A-70 (76): Fatar TP/8S,
AX-1 (49): Fatar TP/7BA
ongoing
used Fatar as well

https://yamahasynth.com/ask-a-quest...yboards-controllers-and-the-key-beds-they-use

 

Last edited by a moderator: Feb 3, 2021

Garritan CFX. It's the only choice for classically trained pianists active on the forums (not here).

Your other choice would be any of the VSL grand pianos, but those come with a hefty price and a USB dongle.
Your "other" second choice would be Ravenscroft 275.

P.S: Forget about Pianoteq, if you can't shake off the plastic-y mid registers, you won't be able to unhear them.....ever. Don't bother. Shame because playability is superb.

 

It's not semi-realistic keys, it's realistic keys, basically, that's why they are called "hybrids"". And these real pianos that don't cost as much are pretty much garbage, I am not even sure that 100k grands are as good for various reasons. Frankly, if the main point of piano is to play melody and harmony, not as percussive instrument various FM/electic pianos are way better in every way in terms of timbre qualities (of course, if you are after inharmonic overtones again synths beat real piano, so idk, I certainly wouldn't buy or need expensive piano anytime soon, it's 100 % obsolete instrument in my eyes.)

 

Oops, I meant to say Fatar... They supply many other brand.
Studiologic is the same company as Fatar.
Still, the most advanced piano keyboard right now by Fatar is only in Dexibell Vivo S9.
I think the action in NI komplete Kontrol 88 is garbage, wow. Need to check some day SL Grand 88 and Vivo S9, which are supposed to be way better.

 

i am quite baffled by the nonsense you spout

@zero-frag
A lot of people like the Doepfer fatar keybed.
A lot of and i mean a lot like the Nord stage Pianos.
All the above, + Kurzweil keybord/Synths, are/
used to be present in a lot of Studios around the world.

But nothing speaks against using your dig.Piano to practice
and use something like Roli or Harken/Expressive E to dive into
more complex expressive playing.

Are you sure you used all the possibilities of the Pianoteq?
All your instruments should have an attack curve.
Plus you can use or don´t use the hammer sounds in the NI sampled instruments.

!This is even more important than with speakers!
You have to play them to really get them!!
This Varies so much between people. you might like
what somebody (like 23* ) hates!!!

good luck!

 

Last edited: Feb 5, 2021