Preface: I am NOT a piano purist or a fundamentalist....I make lo-fi and boom bap hip-hop.

I got the "ind" release from the sister site, figured...why not?

This thing just replaced every acoustic and electric piano plugin/library I own....especially the EP's, they sound EXCEPTIONALLY good. I mean, the MKI and Wurli presets blow away any multisampled library I've ever given a proper go.

Anybody else feel the same..??

 

I agree, it sounds pretty damn good to my ears. The size alone is a win for me.

 

Only piano I use, Also like the hand drums/pans

 

what version ? i'm curious to hear that .. because , for any EP , i can only swear by "Neo Soul Keys" by Gospel Musicians, i don't even have their v2; because that v1 sounds just so good already and i use it all the time for all my rhodes/wurli needs ..

ive read already several times about Pianoteq here and there, what's up with them?

 

Sounds nice but not as customizable as Arturia Piano V2.

Although i kind of like the Condition meter, E Pianos and mallets.

 

Last edited: Feb 12, 2020

agree. what people don't realise with the multi-sampled kontakt libs that the sampling is made one note at a time so no sympathetic resonance happens. with sampled libs the notes ring individually, chords are dead. pianos can only be physically modeled not sampled . pianoteq is the king of virtual pianos as of 2020, still.

 

The FX on the Neo Soul Suitcase/Keys are very good...that's what makes them sound so good IMO.

I used it for a couple years and ditched it for Lounge Lizard 3/4..which I've not completely written off yet because of the tweakability it provides.... I also put Keyscape, the NI scarbee EP's, Soniccoutures Broken Wurli, Waves EP's, Arturia Stage-73 and Wurli (these are the worst, IMO) and some of the good freebies like Mr.Ray and Mr.Tramp by Gsi through it's paces..

Pianoteq just sounds better, more *pure* even, than all...and it might be psychosomatic but it also feels much more playable/expressive and responsive than the other. The velocity curve just feels "right" whenever you set it.

 

Physical modeling is the worst thing that happened to acoustic piano Vstis. Pianoteq is a prime example of how bad the technology is for acoustic piano. The mid-range sounds nasal/boxy/fake, which is a deal breaker for a piano purist like me who looks for real-time inspiration from the SOUND of his instrument when playing it. Low and top range sound okay.

Playability is the best, no question about that.

There's a reason why VI Labs brag on their page that all their pianos are 100% sampled with no physical modeling involved. They know that physical modeling is a no-go for acoustic pianos.

This is my opinion! Long live freedom of speech!!!!

 

Last edited: Feb 12, 2020

what is your piano lib / vst of choice then ?

 

While what we hear can largely be subjective, I strongly (and respectfully) disagree with the above...

VI Labs make instrument libraries while Modartt develop a plugin....while, I'm sure both houses have a team for both development and sampling. It's pretty certain that Modartt have thrown much of their resources towards DSP while VI Labs rely on the UVI engine.

So naturally, VI Labs will stand behind their product as modeling is the antithesis to sampled libraries. I also believe their comment has much to do with the unfair stigmatization of modeling

At the end of the day, to each their own. And while the "modus operandi" for many years in the computer music age has been to steer away from modeling in favor of libraries, modeling has made tremendous strides.

Pianoteq may still be an exception in the argument, but I believe it stands on merit.

 

I don't think the electric pianos (or even the acoustic pianos) are very good in Pianoteq. Their Rhodes for instance just doesn't sound like a Rhodes to me. It's like a whole other instrument. A lot of the expansions, particularly the Vibraphone, sounds absolutely fantastic in my opinion.

 

a few month ago I´ve heard there is an pro version

 

did you play the pro version?

 

Nope. Why are you asking?

 

I've owned a (pretty abused) Mark I, as did my father (which was babied) ...ours had pretty distinct differences, even when professionally serviced, they sounded different. There are many variables.

The MKi (and II) sound like Rhodes to me...and also worth noting, the
"You're My Best Friend" preset for the W200 is the *only* preset in any library or plugin I've heard that nails that sound

 

Since I have the Synchron ''Steinway & Sons D-274'' (Hamburg model) from VSL ,I deleted all other pianos including the VI Labs .
Therefore, I could not return to Pianoteq.

@Bump ,have you tried EP from the excellent Keyscape (Spectrasonics) ?

 

Last edited: Feb 12, 2020

Let's just say that Pianoteq is expensive for a reason.
Their piano model sound very good, years ahead of Arturia's.

 

I wonder if someone have experience with Pianoteq Pro, cause of the sound.

 

Do they ever go on sale?

 

I did, I enjoy playing the Pianoteq EP's over Keyscape, however, everything by Spectrasonics is great.

I know it's 2020 and storage is dirt cheap, even at the SSD level now....but huge libraries and their footprint do play a factor...not for storage but more due to clutter. It's an OCD thing for me.

That (and the mega price tag) is the main reason I couldn't justify the (or any) VSL library, as amazing as they are. I think VSL are targeted for serious, classically trained, performance musicians though.