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#1
08-01-2007, 12:21 PM
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| Piano plug-in / Vsti Can anyone recommend a reasonably sounding velocity-sensitive piano plug in for Windows, please? The only proviso is that I have to play it via a sequencer. I can alter the velocities and things. Thanks! cheers Reith.  |
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#2
08-01-2007, 01:12 PM
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| Moved this to from DAWs to Romplers, as all top notch piano vst instruments are sample based and gigabyte-hungry (Sampler instrument with samples on rom=Rompler). In this category, there are exactly four: 1) Ivory by Synthogy  consisting of three full grand pianos: Boesendorfer, Steinway and Yamaha, all full-sampled at no less than 10 discrete dynamic levels (the usual sample bank starts out with maybe 3 discrete levels, and computes all levels of the in-betweens). 10 levels to start with obviously gives you less room for errors (timbre “jumps”, etc.) in computing the in-betweens. If you install all three, it eats 40 GB of your hard drive. 2) Akoustik Piano by Native Instruments  consisting of three full grand and one upright piano: Steinway, Boesendorfer, Bechstein and Steingraeber. It’s considerably smaller: If you install all four, it fills 12 GB of your hard drive. 3) PMI Bosendorfer 290 by East West  The smallest @ 2 GB, but still versatile. And finally 4) Galaxy Steinway 5.1 by Best Service  Only one piano, but full 5.1 surround sampled. All of the above are providing an absolute state of the art maximum performance, and are extremely well crafted. I have ranked them to my preferred taste, although I use Akoustik Piano for everyday use, as it’s more than good enough, and comprises a stand-alone version.  Regards |
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#3
08-01-2007, 04:10 PM
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| Thorolf lists all the top notch ones, I myself not being able to afford these yet, use the piano included in EWQL Syphonic Orchestra Gold +Addon. It is adequate for my needs but I may look into some of the above. Thanks for sorting them into your preferred VST, it give me a good indication of usability  |
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#4
09-01-2007, 05:28 PM
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| Many thanks. I quite like the look of the Akoustic set...ironically it's the one that timespace.com doesn't sell. Maestrox, I know this feeling. I'm sort-of faced either with abandoning all this electronic stuff or a large fortune to get kitted out properly. Add the price of an adequate computer to samples/management, sequencing, a decent midi-controller keyboard an interface, decent mikes...I might have to write to the Bank of England, get the gold reserves adjusted.... Thanks again. |
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#5
12-01-2007, 10:03 PM
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| Can I trouble you with a further question? Are there any registration quirks with Akoustic? The admin process on Ivory set looks a bit dodgy...if you run them on a laptop (which really rules Iovry out, so the issue is a bit redundant) if you connect to a different wireless network - or like mine, if on broadband, an IP is dynamically allocated, you're likely to find your registration doesn't work. If you have trouble with the serial number you have to email them from the original email used to register or they can't help. Do I even have to be connected to the internet to use these products? Sounds like too much of an admin headache! How's it work with Akoustic? I found a forum with mixed opinions about the product but no threads or FAQs about registration. Thanks if you have time to reply. Reith |
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#6
12-01-2007, 10:09 PM
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| Both of these require an authorization process that is run once, and is machine-dependent (the proggies sniffs the machine’s hardware setup, and creates a unique number to the machine. Has nothing to do with the IP.) That number is sent to the central Synthogy/Native Instruments ’puter by online registration, or offline registration (phone), where they calcualte your unique activation code, which is given to you. You enter it, and has to worry no more… So no, dynamic IP will not break it, and no, internet connection not required. Also, Ivory not excluded on laptop: You can choose to install one piano only, as far as I know, using “only” 13 GB… Regards |
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#7
13-01-2007, 12:40 PM
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| Thank you for that. Somewhat reassuring. |
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#8
13-01-2007, 01:25 PM
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| The very best piano vst I've heard is pianoteq www.pianoteq.com A sample performed by Miles Black: http://texas-trax.com/music/share/black-2-m1.mp3 |
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#9
16-01-2007, 08:25 PM
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| Well, I haven't bought yet and this is worth thinking about, if only because: i) it only uses 8Mb ii) I believe this is the way computer music has to go: modelling...once CPUs/cache get more powerful. I may accept the "trial" just to check it can work in collaboration with the other samples/instruments on my sequencer, regarding latency etc (yes, my CPU is slow enough to have to worry about that!) However, Akoustic is still a contender...definitely... thanks for the tip, Reith |
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#10
17-01-2007, 10:27 AM
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| Two notes: On some sample pianos, all of those I’ve listed, a lot of the work is done by the disk that contains the samples in real time, thus alleviating the CPU to some extent. But Pianoteq really seem to be rather fast, and not take up much computer power. For solo piano stuff, some sample based versions may have a small edge, but Pianoteq is truly impressive. I attach the review from Sound on Sound magazine january 2007. Regards |
