The provided audio is pure shite. If this is the reference...

Let's see what others think about it.

 

It actually doesn't "defeat" Pianoteq in any way because the recording sounds like if it was recorded from a phone.
Complete audio crap, not a good example if that was your purpose.

 

Keep in mind that those kind of posts with nonsense comparisons could be just trolling.
BTW the audio does not reach even the 9kHz band.

 

Last edited: Nov 9, 2025 at 1:07 PM

It's 2025, guys. We're a cunt hair away from self driving cars with sex robots and boner pills that rearrange your DNA in alphabetical order. Why would anyone want to play the piano anymore ? Go Serum or go broke.

 

You can pretty much do the same thing with samples and convolution. The basic physics of sympathetic resonance follow the same principles as reverb, the notable difference being the high Q transmissibility curves of strings, but it's still the same thing. So in a nutshell, you can achieve life-like sympathetic resonance with a network of 88 convolution processes, each of them loaded an IR of each string sustain. When the pedal is pressed down, you can achieve the same effect with one single convolution lane.

This is the most realistic way of doing this, but to my knowledge, most libraries do this by triggering samples rather that convolving IRs, as its cheaper on the CPU, even when using FFT convolution. And in my personal opinion, it's a completely fine sounding alternative, even for the most demanding ears. I feel literally no lack of sympathetic resonance when playing sample libraries that implemented this right. Whereas I feel a complete lack of realistic timbre when playing modeled pianos, even Pianoteq 9. Once again, it has its strengths and its use-cases. But not in situations where a realistic timbre is important.

 

Last edited: Nov 9, 2025 at 1:38 PM

Actually, all this discussion makes me wonder who is the target audience for Pianoteq : pianists or producers ?


I'm not a pianist. I'm a nerd who loves all things audio.

I also produce somewhat decent stuff from time to time, and I can make Pianoteq sound indistinguishable from a real piano in a track.

I also work at an audio school and constantly see students making some of the best Kontakt pianos sound like utter shit.

While I agree that I tend to some sampled pianos have a "realer" sound out of the gate, I feel like Pianoteq allows for details impossible with sampled instruments. Plus, the technology is so elegant on its own, I like to launch it just to tweak things until I get my mind blown away a bit lol. I love the fact that I get to have numerous pianos, keyboards, mallet and other percussion instruments in one plugin that use the same parameters for tweaking.

So... yeah. What a useless comment.

 

The new Kawai model sounds awesome! (I used to think Pianoteq sounded plasticky and brittle) But I also love Production Voices Concert Grand Platinum which are polar opposites in terms of size but, they both do what they do really well. Sampled piano's have the nuance, vibe and character that is imbued in real things including the sonic character of the microphones used. Its like applying an IR reverb of a particular real room to contain your production in say a jazz club feel etc. Modelled pianos and things like the S.W.A.M are excellent and fill the need for fuller or less stripped back songs, they are very 'clean' and expressive. They both have their merits. If HD space is at a premium Pianoteq is a fine option. Otherwise I would keep those sampled libraries at hand so you can go with what works best for your project.

 

Most people don't know or don't care about this subtle effect. I know that's an overkill, but it is the way to strive to get the most possible accurate physical model. We'll see, maybe within few years...

BTW I don't like much Pteq Steinway or Bechstein grands, but I think that Petrof and Grotrian are great, weighted keys and headphones, and I forget it's all virtual and to be honest is better than some experience I had with real grands (in particular a Bechstein - it was a baby grand, had an awful mechs, almost no dynamics - no maintenance?).
Harpsichords to me are great too, but never had the opportunity to try a real one, just a Spinetta ( a virginal, in practice a toy) so I can't compare.

 

Last edited: Nov 9, 2025 at 6:53 PM

The piano has been redefined over decades, reaching many milestones—from its early beginnings in the 1700s to the grand pianos we have today. But now, with modernization, we are stuck with the same traditional piano design and sound, not really trying to create the next generation.

Manufacturers are hesitant to explore new possibilities for fear that their creations won’t be accepted, leading to criticisms that they don’t sound like a "real" piano. It’s important to remember that when the first pianos were created, they didn’t resemble the instruments we know today. Early models had fewer keys and produced quite different sounds.

Instead of embracing innovation, companies are focusing on emulating the existing piano sound, seeking to perfect what is already known.

Pianoteq on other hand, has replicated the acoustics of traditional pianos with remarkable fidelity. It is disappointing that even with such advanced technology, there seems to be a relentless pursuit of the "perfect" sound that matches the traditional piano.
Imagine if they dared to venture beyond the familiar and create something truly groundbreaking—a sound that could challenge the acoustics of traditional instruments. It would be an exciting leap forward, yet they remain constrained by the fear that anything outside the norm might be dismissed as "not a piano."

 

Both even if due to its price, the first category is more likely to buy it.

 

The first time I heard modo drum I started laughing to myself... The cymbals are complete crap. The drums themselves have to be eq'ed/comped the fuck out of in order for them to have any chance of cutting thru any kind of clutter. The result sounds contrived and fake, not open and natural.

 

MODO Drums sound perfect for youtube prog math metal shit.

 

OMG

Man, you overdid yourself...

 

It's mainly for people that don't play piano themselves and never heard how a real live piano sounds when played by someone that really knows how to play a piano? Most people only perceive how pianos sound via audio recordings, vsti's and other artificial media like Pianoteq and base their opinion on that to tell us how a 'real' piano must sound!

And I really don't know why this here discussion needs to be played out as an "I'm right, and your are wrong game"? It seems if you're not a believer of the Gospel of Pianoteq some people think you need to be corrected and need to be shown you're wrong by whatever means! It seems people are not aloud to have an opinion anymore? You need to agree with the Pianoteq-Taliban and you need to accept that this is how a real piano sounds!

I am a pianist and IMO no! But it depends on the type of music and the context of the mix? If you mean, as a solo piano? For me it's a definite no go! I've tried it on several mixes myself but never could get rid of this 'synthetic' signature. For me it's great for setting up sketches in my daw, just not for final mixes. IMO sampled pianos are still way better to create the feel of an authentic piano in a mix.

Well, this is exactly what I meant above that only people that can really play a piano can make it sound like a piano should sound. If you don't really know and understand how it sounds in real life, you can even mess up the best sounding vst's and sample libraries in a mix! On the other hand, you could also maybe create a new trend by completely raping a piano sound?

Yes, it's a great tool regardless of everyone's personal opinion here! And like I already said earlier, it's great to load up fast in your daw and lay down sketches and being able to quickly tweak all sorts of parameters. It brings new possibilities to us! You can create all sorts of percussive-like sounds and even more! So yes, it's certainly a next step in the evolution of piano and other percussive sounds!

But for a realistic piano sound? IMO it's just not there yet.

Not at all!

 

Last edited: Nov 10, 2025 at 4:57 AM

I don't like that there is some degree of delay/latency in this plugin. I have played other VSTs such as Omnisphere and Keyscape, and they give me no-perceivable latency, whereas in Pianoteq there is a little bit of delay on top. Maybe its because of its engine or algorithm, but even changing my buffersize/sample rate doesn't help that much since I am already using very low latency settings anyway.

 

That is exactly my same conclusion! I tried everything but I just can't make Modo-Drums sound like real drums in a mix.

When it comes to drums, Superior (or even EZ) Drummer is still the only way to go when it comes to realistic drums in a mix!

You just need 'a few' more Gigabytes of space to make it happen!

 

A physically modeled synthesis based plugin will always have some more latency than a Rompler or other sample based option. It might not be very much at all, but it will be there. PIanoteq has at least 1 millisecond additional internal latency and it is probably higher depending on your machine.

 

All these pages and pages of talk over whether or not Pianoteq is any good?

I cant help thinking to myself, how many of us in a blind test could tell what any 5 previously picked out vst or library actually were? I know for certain I couldn't!

 

It actually was started by the OP as a way to complain about Ivory showing up instead of UA. So there's that.

 

Very true.