VSL Bosendorfer 280VC (my dearest🤍)

pianow

all of you people know that i adore this piano, i never shut up about it😁😁
but today I'm gonna tell you WHY i love it so much, starting with the pros:
it is truly 3 dimensional, the attack is not a simple volume pick, you can hear (and even feel it with your body when playing with studio monitors) that the attack rings through the soundboard and not just that, it does that in the most realistic and convincing way, it's beautiful.
i saw some people comparing the highs of the 280vc to the pianoteq💀 it's not fair to this (280) piano, dare i say it has the best highs among all virtual pianots, it's as real as it gets.

the thing that sells it for me is how full it sounds,
i always start playing a new piano by playing a Cmaj chord with medium pressure, with the most virtual pianos, it sounds empty and bodyless, even one of my favourites (vsl lmperial) does this to a certain point although it's so much better then most pianos but not the 280vc, the moment i played that chord on the 280vc i was like : 🤯🤯🤯
it was unbelievably full and warm.

the playability: next generation, you heard that right, it plays like a Lamborghini, better then all virtual pianos even some of the vsl own pianos (after the 280vc, vsl is doing the same with their newer pianos, the f308 and f212 also have most of these qualities, it's just that I don't
really like the tone of the faziolis but I'm keeping an eye out for newer Pianos with the same quality from them)

another pro is how this thing handles a mix or an arrangement, you can put it in any mix and it doesn't desolve like the d274, it doesn't get drowned like the cfx, and it doesn't get unrealistically forward like the f308, it stays where you want it to..
but sometimes it offers too much body for the song and you might wanna cut some low frequencies out to be able to put it where you want.

the cons (yeah there's some flaws and this is a honest review so I'm pointing those out as well😁)
first, the Highest velocities are somewhat unpleasant to my ears, so bright and brutal (sometimes you may need them but i don't) i like the fff range of the imperial so much better
the imperial fortissimos unfold so beautifully and it's to be expected considering how big the stage A is, it lets the piano breathe so heavily, the 280vc on the other hand is much narrower in that range, the character of the tone doesn't open up like the imperial, that's not a flaw of course, that's how these pianos are recorded.

the other con (this is really bothering me) is the E3 and E#3
those notes have so much nasality to them, to the point that they can ruin a chord when they're in it, I'm exaggerating of course but they're not pleasant at all, i wish vsl would fix them

third flaw, it doesn't let me buy more pianos, it's like whatever I'm gonna buy after this gorgeous piano will be a downgrade, i feel trapped😭 i like how the imperial sounds but the 280vc is better in lots of ways, i can convince myself thay i need another piano (untill vsl release another beauty like this one and evdn better)

another point (it's not a flaw or a pro or anything but a personal experience)
i feel like most effects work better on the 280vc (due to its full and rounded sound) then the stage a pianos and the uprights (and i don't like how the effects work with the bluthner or fhe New f212 so basically i think it only works this fine with fhe 280)
i was playing with unrealistic reverbs and delays (blackhole and raum and others) and none of the vsl offerings sounded as good as the 280, it was dreamy, i loved it

so all in all, in today's market I'd only recommend two virtual pianos seriously,

for production and studio use, and even playing : vsl 280vc
for playing everything and some studio work : vsl imperial

David Lai

pianow You really love VSL pianos, I can tell! Well, after the Steinway has failed my expectations, I've gone back to someone watching on the side. And I have to say, the 280 VC almost temped me to buy it. But the reason I shied away from it was that when I play loud, it gives me a similar bite as the Steinway.

I've played an acoustic 280 VC last month, and I do have to say, the louder notes are very sharp.

As for the imperial, the last time when I played an acoustic 290 imperial I didn't tame this beast of a giant. The mid and low strings are so loud, it's hard to control the sound to get them to what I want when in a mix, for the lack of a better word.

I guess Bosendorfer pianos may not be my thing, especially after playing acoustic ones. And after playing them, I can't help but comparing the virtual to the physical.

And, of course, my main complaint with the VSL is something I've repeated a lot. I felt I've been ripped off when buying the standard library of the D274 and there was no tone change when pressing down the left pedal. So now I always have a bad feeling when thinking about it. So I'm hesitant to continue spending huge amounts of money on VSL pianos.

Plus, as a student, I have to watch carefully how I do spend my money, so that's it.

Give them credit, though, the 280 VC certainly sounds good and intimate. I like the stage B sound very much.

So much for my rant. 🙂

pianow

David Lai

steinway is the worst of them, that's fo sure, and the soft pedal on vsl pianos only limits the velocity range, you only notice the effect when trying to go to higher ranges, it's not good

I wish they would come up with a American steinway D/B or a c.bechtein d282 (with the same quality they've recorded their 280vc and f212) and with una corda

that's the only thing that's gonna convince me to spend more😁

David Lai

pianow with una corda

that's the only thing that's gonna convince me to spend more

When they redeem themselves with una corda, I’ll start embracing them for sure! Of course, people can say that this isn’t a piano that’s fit for playing live, it’s more like you’re mixing piano into a production. But even then, at least for me, I would compare this virtual emulation to the actual real thing. If they could put sordino into their orchestral libraries, they should treat una corda in the same way!

Khuja Wangtishvili

Recording or didn't happen

David Lai

Khuja Wangtishvili Nope, they haven't done so yet…

HeartKeys

I’ve played VSL almost everyday. The 280VC seems to have the best dynamic control for any of the Stage B’s. The other Stage B’s have great tones to me (Bose130, Bechstein, Bluthner, Fazioli F212) but really difficult to distinguish the loudness between the velocities.

I agree with most what’s said in your initial post. My main quip, which is both surmountable but not ignorable, is the D3. It has that strange loop sound that others had confirmed with my they experience as well.

Otherwise it’s my go to piano for both acoustic (in my house) and virtual (VSL). Though I like the D274, CFX, more than you do 🙂

pianow

HeartKeys

sounds like the third octave is slightly off with this piano, i have some problems with the e3 and the d#3 (i mentioned it as e#3 in my original post😭)

it has a very unpleasant ringing to it.

but i don't really hate the steinway or yamaha

in fact the cfx is in my wishlist and i don't know if I'm gonna buy the imperial first or the cfx (both of them are top notch)

the steinway was my first synchron and i played it for several months, it has a certain coldness to it that i can't ignore anymore, but all of the others are fine, the imperial is what i play everyday, followed by the cfx and 280vc

pianow

David Lai If they could put sordino into their orchestral libraries, they should treat una corda in the same way!

this++

pianow

imagine having a steinway b (in stage b) with the una corda and resonance samples, that'll be an endgame for all the competition IMO

Pete14

pianow imagine having a steinway b (in stage b) with the una corda and resonance samples….

I did, “imagine” it, but somehow I’m not excited; perhaps I should imagine some more?…..

……hmm 🤔 I still don’t see what all the fuzz is about, and you can’t even imagine how hard I tried to imagine.

It’s hard, if not impossible, to imagine a future based on sampled resonances (yuk); in the same way I simply can’t see typewriters making a comeback…….“can you imagine Chat-GPT running on the newest typewriter?” NO!

P.S.

I’m an imagineer, and if I can’t “imagine” it, don’t expect the average Joe (without any training in imagining) to do so.

David Lai

Pete14 That’s because you’ve sadly ruled out sampling.

David Lai

pianow yes! That would be quite the piano both for playing and mixing.

Pete14

David Lai That’s because you’ve sadly ruled out sampling.

You have to admit (at least) that sampled resonances suck…….

David Lai

Pete14 you haven’t heard VI Labs do it on their Modern U.

pianow

Pete14

you're a ImAgiNer?😂 what's that btw?

anyway the modern u is using resonance samples and it's great, not that I have a problem with resonance modeling, in fact if it's a good one like pianoteq resonator, I'll ne grateful.

jdg78

HeartKeys My main quip, which is both surmountable but not ignorable, is the D3. It has that strange loop sound that others had confirmed with my they experience as well.

pianow the other con (this is really bothering me) is the E3 and E#3
those notes have so much nasality to them, to the point that they can ruin a chord when they're in it, I'm exaggerating of course but they're not pleasant at all, i wish vsl would fix them

I assume we're talking about the same thing, but there is a horrible ringing noise present around a cluster of notes (D, D#, E) in the 4th octave. I noticed it when I first got the 280VC, and I'm frankly shocked VSL allowed it into the final product and has not yet issued an update with edited sound files.

The good news is that you can eliminate yourself it by applying some EQ to just those 3-4 notes, and then saving it as a new preset.

You need to select those notes in the editing page, and on each one make a very deep and narrow cut at around the 3.3K band. Then save as a new preset. After this, the ringing noise will be gone.

It should look like this:

Pete14

pianow you're a ImAgiNer?😂 what's that btw?

No, I’m not an “Imaginer,” I’m a Professional Imagineer, and here I thought you’d know the difference!

David Lai

Pete14 No, I’m not an “Imaginer,” I’m a Professional Imagineer, and here I thought you’d know the difference!

You're a dreamer, yes, I know that. 🙂

pianow

jdg78

wow thank you, i never use this pre note eq cause it makes me feel I'm playing a fake instrument, of course using it to fix a poorly recorded note is fine and I'mma use this eq thing😊