My pianos *DEBUNKED*

“Absolutely love the latest one! (Estonia 274 Concert Grand)”

Pete14 Steinfart model BS, to be precise.

jdg78 But when you set the expectation bar artificially low, it's easy to be impressed.

Agree. I didn't even bother reading about these pianos, let alone downloading them when I learned they don't support re-pedaling and half-pedaling and are made by an amateur.

It would have been much different story if it was presented like: hey, I am a retired pro-sound engineer with 40 years of recording pianos. I sampled some pianos and offer them for free, what do you think?

I bet the responses would have been much different 😉

“Sofia,” just when I was about to ask if you could keep it going for a little longer over at PW, someone got ahead of me, and revealed “it’s a hoax.”

Of course, they got the news from lurking ‘round here!

CyberGene I bet the responses would have been much different 😉

I wonder, if “Sofia” had been “Roberto” instead, would “he” have gotten so much love ?💕

Well, at least I can delete the files from my hard drive and get back several GB of storage as I already have Pianoteq. 😂

CyberGene

Part of the show:

https://pianoclack.com/forum/d/1180-my-pianos-20-stable-release/6

fishker it would be interesting if those accounts were also part of the hoax 🙂

fishker

Hi Sofia, oh, my bad, I meant fishker - are you planning to take the site with samples down?

I have to ask, and I’m serious (CG), could we give “Sofia” an award of sorts; because, IMHO, this is more than just a simple prank, and the genius behind it got many “seasoned experts” talkin’ out their respective asses!

P.S.

As of lately I’ve been a little bit down; even pondering a leap from ten stories high, but “Sofia” has shown me that it’s still worth hanging around, and I truly can’t remember the last time I had so much fun!😆

You can argue that it is a matter of semantics, but I would not call it a prank. I would call it a deception (and my gut tells me it's not over yet).

Pianoteq Trial Terms and Conditions:

"Sound produced by Pianoteq can only be distributed within a musical context, and not in forms that allow the sounds to be used as sample based instruments or sample libraries."

“Thanks for making each of your amazing pianos into the larger versions. Outstanding job!” 🤣🤣🤣

Okay, I need to take a break, because, whilst it’s true that “Sofia” pulled me back in from the edge (ten stories high), I might still die, not from suicide, but from laughing so hard that my lungs could collapse.

I’m in tears as I write this; rolling on the floor thinking about all the “expert opinions” on Sofia’s samples, which, of course, “Pianoteq can’t hold a candle to.” 🤣

This is a great prank, although Modartt might not agree. I hope this kind of activities doesn’t lead to less generous demo policy’s among software companies.

In retrospect, the story of a young, female psychology student traveling across Italy on their own in order to record privately owned grand pianos with a custom made robotic arm and professional recording equipment, for no other purpose than to create a gift for their father, seems almost laughably absurd. 🤣

I remember the logistics of it all striking me as incredibly complex at the time, but I guess I assumed this was an immensely privileged person with the time and resources to pull something like this off.

In any case, perhaps "Sofia" has a potential career as a fantasy fiction writer to aspire towards. 😉

MacMacMac We could also ask: Isn't your English too perfect? 🙂

Hehehe 😋

MacMacMac I agree. I said in another thread that these are the best amateur pianos I've ever tried. So ... yay for sampling!

Most importantly, let's not forget that this entirely blind prank was able to fool even the most stubborns of PTQ haters... Kudos...

Jokes aside, this is a clear case of IP piracy, and I don't think that Sofia should be expelled, but I am not sure if these threads shouldn't be removed from PC once all the laughs are done and dusted.

Pete14 Here (a crowd of Pianoteq haters), an Italian “chick” shows up with a bunch of “sampled” pianos that have made some so excited that they’ve even questioned the need for an expensive VSL;

I was surprised by people on PW saying it was on par with VSL's F308 or it's what VSL's F308 should have been. That's why I wanted to try it out. I'll quote my impressions from other threads after trying Sofia's F308.

David B In my opinion, comparing it to VSL's F308 is ridiculous. VSL's F308 is lightyears ahead of this in terms of playability (yes all those layers really makes a difference), consistency, tone, realism, etc.

David B I'm not trying to be mean, but Sofia's did not seem very smooth…Maybe compared to other free libraries Sofia's layering/mapping is good, but it is nowhere near to being on par with VSL.

I did not suspect a deception but I know I did not care for playing it and did not consider it close to being an equal with VSL.

God Bless,
David

Pete14 I have to ask, and I’m serious (CG), could we give “Sofia” an award of sorts

Pete14 and I truly can’t remember the last time I had so much fun!😆

I agree, well-deserved imo.

johanibraaten This is a great prank, although Modartt might not agree.

Or they might hire "Sofia" as a marketing consultant, given how well "her pianos" have been received.

Edit: Seeing David's post above, well received by almost everybody I guess 🙂

MacMacMac We could also ask: Isn't your English too perfect?

You have a point here... That would be the ultimate prank: Sofia is CG (hint: where does CG lives???) 😀