dikrek
Mark Johnson I put in some files in your share and also put David's rendition in a folder with his name.
One of the files is Noire with my settings, can you guess which?
Now that you have all these files, can you rank them?
My Desert Island Piano VST - VI Labs Modern D
Mark Johnson
dikrek emailed you before I saw forum post, so this is a copy of my reply:
Oh wow thanks Dimitris for all those versions. Now I am really curious which VIs these are. 🙂
My gut reaction thoughts to the versions:
phoebe 1 - very pure sounding piano with some resonance and brightness (i like more than 3)
phoebe 2 - i like more than 1, still has character but less resonance and a mellowness (i'm guessing this is Noire. I think one thing that might have given it away was the pianist noise, which I THINK I recognize, but I also just like this one sonically
Phoebe 3 - bright, resonant, “hollow”?
Phoebe 4- i think i like this one second best to phoebe 2. mellow (perhaps on the muddy side but i realize that could be over pedaling)
So in order, my preference:
2,4,1,3
Mark Johnson
HZPiano Very cool, I'm going to check that out. Thanks! I'll take any help I can get.
Interestingly I am coming around to the sound of the Noire (I do think I like it's 'character') but getting it right certainly seems like it's a finicky beast, like a high performance vehicle you have to tinker with to get juuuust so.
But also good to get your opinion that the D is several levels better.
jenpal
I think Noire is great as it is lightweight and flexible, allowing for easy colour adjustments from warm to bright while playing live. I enjoy adding a bit of shimmer for atmospheric and lush sounds. Recently, I discovered the Waves CLA-76, which helps bring the piano forward, especially when layering with synths like Omnisphere.
Mark Johnson
Interesting, thanks. I will bookmark this to look into.
robertgrze
Hello everyone, does anyone use the Moder D with a Kawaii ca 701 or 901? I would need the correct velocity curve for the GF3 keyboard. Thanks in advance for any help.
HZPiano
robertgrze
And what one are you using at the moment, the default one?
HZPiano
Hi,
I'm considering (on and off) a CA701 later this year or next year.
I'm currently still using my FP-10 and Modern U 🙂. Not bad at all, so I'm interested but not in any particular hurry.
Cheers!
HZ
robertgrze
If you don't mind, I have another request. I currently have three upright vst. Modern U, The Gentleman, and Ivory upright. I don't like Ivory at all. Surprisingly, I play best on The Gentleman. I'm trying to warm up to modern U because I know it's technically much better, but the sound is too perfect for me; I feel like I'm playing a piano. I assume that since you've been using modern U for so long, you have some nice settings. If it's not a problem, maybe you could share them.
HZPiano
Hello,
Here's the thread that was started by @David B in 2021 about Modern U:
In that thread I shared (in several posts, maybe read the whole thread if you like) how I set up Modern U to my taste.
Since then, I tweaked tiny bits, mainly because I now have good headphones. In essence though, nothing significant has changed.
I love Modern U for its realism, that's what I bought it for and how I set it up. I stopped tweaking years ago so have no idea of "character" settings and such.
Cheers and happy fine-tuning,
HZ
Pianissimo
What really change the sound to any piano vst it's a very nice reverb like Liquidsonic seventh Heaven, and a nice compressor like UAD LA-2A. You might think that you don't want any reverb and compressor, but that's because most reverbs and most compressors are just not good enough, you need something very detailed, but just a light touch of them.
Florian75
And I am surprised people don't talk that much about EQ.
In any living room, you usually have 2 or 3 frequency bumps (as high as 10 db) and if you don't tame them with EQ, it's ear piercing and really deteroriate the sound.
dikrek
Florian75 I'm also surprised how many people make definitive statements about VI quality without realising how much these things can affect the sound.
Most people have untreated rooms and don't use room EQ (room EQ is the ideal solution instead of per-instrument EQ).
Pianissimo
dikrek That's a can of worms, a piano vst doesn't have enough power to provide a nice reverb, compressor, or eq, so the user is left wondering what to do, and what is annoying is the fact that you need to run everything from a DAW. I think a grand piano is just too difficult to sample, compared to an upright piano, that's why the Modern U or the VSL upright pianos are so successfull, because they don't need a lot of help from other plugins.
jdg78
Pianissimo What really change the sound to any piano vst it's a very nice reverb like Liquidsonic seventh Heaven, and a nice compressor like UAD LA-2A.
+1. I always use Seventh Heaven with my piano VSTs - really helps add dimension to the sound and is so much better than the reverbs that typically come built-in with the player software.
Thanks for the tip about the LA-2A compressor. What kind of settings do you recommend?
Pianissimo
jdg78 Usually compressor side (no limiter), all at 12 oclock, gain reduction and peak reduction at 12 oclock and you'll be fine.
jdg78
Thanks! I'll give it a shot when I get a chance. Just to be sure, is this the plugin you're using?:
jenpal
I’ve recently started using a compressor and it seems to enhance my experience with the VST piano. I’m using the CLA-76, but after reading some of your comments, I’ve also added the CLA-2A which seems to improve further. 👍
I’m only using the piano presets of the Waves compressors though as I’m not sure how to adjust them.
Pianissimo
jdg78 At the moment I am using a clone, free to download, it's flawless, by analog obsession: