My pianos *DEBUNKED*

navindra I was even starting to feel bad for dore_m... as I've been no help to his sampling quest

Same here exactly!

But as it turns out: @dore_m "rulez", just as before. As he knows, I do admire all his attempts, experiments, and hard work.

Cheers and keep up the good work,

HZ

Thx. The whole thing was disconcerting actually.

dore_m

I've followed along with what now is "the prank" over the recent weeks, including reading stories and FAQ on "her" website. All that time, I never thought the "backstory" was similar to yours.

Your efforts span quite some time already and you're happy to take us along on any detail and aspect of your efforts and adventures. You are obviously "the real deal'.

I didn't want to judge too soon, for I love to believe in possibilities and in people being highly committed and accomplishing incredible things. But while reading "Sofia"'s beautifully crafted and written website, trying to visualize all steps and aspects described there in a practical and logistical context, putting them on a timeline, I started to wonder a thing or two.

That is not to say I outright smelled the hoax, but my attention did change to a "well, we'll see where this one goes".

Cheers and keep it up,

HZ

QuasiUnaFantasia

Yes, puzzling things remain open for sure.

I've been thinking that the greatest, loudest, thunderous laugh would be if the prank actually turns out to be… that "Sofia" and "her" pianos are real and declaring them a hoax is… the prank.

But by now I don't seriously believe any of that, in particular because the website and such have been taken down rapidly.

Cheers and enjoy the (British? 🙂) mysteries,

HZ

Would you people stop it already with the whole “contacting” Modartt attempting to “help;”because you’re just gonna stir up the hornets’ nest….

….unless, that is, your true intention is to shut Sofia down!

As what happened yesterday; just when I was about to ask Sofia to “keep it going” over at PW, someone serendipitously pointed out the “hoax;” therefore, taking all the fun out of it!

I ask, do you stubborn people ever let your hair down, and just let it rip for a bit?

Jesus, what a stubborn bunch!😆

QuasiUnaFantasia

Indeed, that was what my "if" was about.

I had no means (time/piano) to evaluate the pianos myself so could only go on the enthusiastic responses of others.

Cheers and happy status quo*),

HZ

*) Pianoteq opinion chasm unchanged, as it appears

If we sit down and analyze this whole debacle calmly at some point, there will be several lessons in it. One clearly is that many people are willing to suspend their own good judgement out of good will towards a newcomer. Another is that crooks exist for real. A third one is that the sfz format has broad appeal.

QuasiUnaFantasia

Easy to say…….in retrospect!

But I wonder, why didn’t you point that out before the box, Pandora’s that is, was opened!?

I never heard you, or anyone else, come even close to saying ‘that sounds synthetic, you know, like Pianoteq.’

But of course, in retrospect, now you all had it figured out from the beginning, but simply didn’t have the time to point it out……BS, I say!

You were all had, but, in retrospect, perhaps that is too difficult to admit!

“I knew it all along, I say!”🤣

Pete14 But I wonder, why didn’t you point that out before the box, Pandora’s that is, was opened!?

One the one hand I did not want to shoot "Sofia" down by saying that I didn't like "her" piano's. On the other hand, I had not made the connection to Pianoteq; I believed "her" story.

Interesting, how you didn’t want “to shoot Sofia down,” but I wonder, had Sofia been Roberto instead, if you’d have no problem shooting Roberto down!

If so, I call this reverse-sexism; you all went along with Sofia so as to not hurt “her” sensitive constitution, yet had it been Roberto, and y’all would’ve had no problem taking that authoritarian bully down…

“How dare you, Roberto, show up in here with a bunch of used samples!”

Or, it could also be that some of y’all wanted to get into Sofia’s pants, or should I say skirt?

You see, the experiment continues to baffle, shake, and alter the status quo; genius, I say!

And if it turns out that this was indeed the creation of a 16-year-old, I declare him a prodigy!

Pete14 No that allegation is not true.

And whatever the age of the person (or more likely, persons) behind the scam, I declare him//it/her/they crook(s).

dore_m

Pianoteq is a modelling synth, so I don't know what source samples you think have been repackaged. A sound was made with a synth, recorded and distributed. That's what synths are for, so you should stop calling it illegal and people should stop trying to get the synth creator to take legal action against them.

I never said that pianoteq source samples were copied. I said that I would be upset if someone redistributed MY samples without a license. True, Pianoteq is modeled and, like a synth, might be considered fair game. Except the user license strictly forbids making sample libraries from it.

Jose EB5AGV Now the BIG conspiracy theory… Modartt is behind this hoax!!!

So, yet another half-baked product from them then... 😀

Yes, the samples are not copies of internal data from Pianoteq since this instrument is modelled. However, running Pianoteq implies a copy (from disk to RAM), then it is forbidden excepted in the limits of a licence… and this licence forbids running Pianoteq in the aim to build a sound library. (We can see many fancy licences : number of processors, amount of used RAM…)

CyberGene So, yet another half-baked product from them then... 😀

I downloaded Pianoteq 8 yesterday. I figured it was worth the €25 to upgrade, and as I've started using web based licenses for my other pianos, I want a backup in case the Internet is down.

I thought it was much improved, and then it happened, as it has happened with all the previous versions. Something I can't unhear. I don't know what it is. I can tolerate the Roland modelling -it just sounds dreadfully boring and bland.

Johnstaf I thought it was much improved, and then it happened, as it has happened with all the previous versions. Something I can't unhear. I don't know what it is

Yes! I've always experienced the same phenomenon with Pianoteq. There's a new version and I am usually a hopeless optimist (sure, I want to believe that modeling is better than sampling because the theory says it should be) and I start playing it and for a few minutes I think wow, that's actually not bad at all, much better than before. And then the fatigue kicks in mightily and irreversibly. You said it well, once heard it cannot be unheard 😕

CyberGene I wonder if the problem doesn’t lie in the microphones simulation . Can you try the HB Steinway D jazz close mic presets when you have a chance and confirm that you have the same feeling . The preset uses only one pair of mic .
I have tried as well to change the spectrum profile , and reduce the 7th partial , but it is not the root cause of the ´issue ´

CyberGene

CyberGene When I listened to the "Sofia" piano's, I heard a distortion. With hindsight it is of course the same distortion I hear in Pianoteq, but I assumed at the time that it was due to noise filtering gone too far, with essential sound being removed along with the noise. Now I believe that Pianoteq is simply created with these essential sounds missing from the outset. In other words: Pianoteq lacks high-frequency material that the ear needs to find the sound pleasant, IMO.

Joannchr Can you try

I don't want to sound harsh but I've tried so many tips and recommendations with Pianoteq that never worked, I really have no time to experiment with Pianoteq anymore, at least nowadays when I don't even have enough time to sit at the piano for 10 minutes... 😕 Pianoteq is at the bottom of my list of "giving a chance for the millionth time to something I hate".