My Desert Island Piano VST - VI Labs Modern D

After listening to some different demos, including the ones posted her (thanks for beautiful music @OlivierW , @David Lai & @CyberGene, I hope I didn't miss anyone) I must say that this seems like a very fine instrument. It sounds very warm and authentic and it's refreshing with such "raw" sound without the constant influence of a concert hall. However. I'm not sure the voicing of the instrument speaks to me 100%. To my ears It's something constrained with it, especially in the lower treble that makes it sound a bit "narrow". And it sounds like it doesn't open up with the dynamics but instead gets a tad sharp in the higher velocity layers. It reminds me of an instrument that's "too new" where the hammers haven't been fully played/worked on yet. Maybe (or most probably) it's just me not being as familiar with the American voicing as the European but it feels that it doesn't quite have the transparent and "free" tone the best Steinways can have. But don't get me wrong, I still think the Modern D sounds very nice.

CPU usage is low

I have a Ryzen 7700 CPU its overclocked a bit, so running about 5% faster than a 7700x. 64 sample buffer, 48000khz. Classical preset with full polyphony. pedal down and go crazy on the keyboard and the highest usage I have seen is 12% on a single cpu core with the other 7 sitting at 0% or 1%

Same test on PianoTeq, sits at about 10% on one core, with an occasional 14% spike

David Lai

Those are important considerations.

One aspect of 'U' that I love it for is how easy it is on resources. I run my "piano" on my homebuilt photography PC that is very powerful for its tasks, but will probably not run the likes of VSL completely fluently. I don't want to invest in yet another computer just for the piano.

So if 'D' were (or were to become in the future) heavier on resources, it would cross the line of usability for me.

Cheers and keep up the good work,

HZ

OlivierW Tell them to add a checkbox option : enable Sympathetic Resonance even in pedal down. So the user can choose to use it or not.

My thought exactly!

Cheers and happy switches,

HZ

My latest preset:

Irmin

Thanks for sharing your experience with it. I have similarly low cpu usage with Pianoteq here and if Modern D is comparable to that, I will be very impressed.

dickiefunk Thanks. I tried the demos of the VSL Faziolis and found those also had quite high noise floor when using more than two mic perspectives.

It’s a shame to hear the Garritan has the highest noise floor

the amount of noise in these two is quite natural imo, given the fact that they're "stage" pianos and not some tight studio recordings
if the noise floor bothers you while playing, there are some dirty solutions like noise gate plugins, or maybe using a pair of speaker instead of headphones.

but if it's a problem with your final track, there are tons of ways ro reduce the noise to its minimum (you can find a thousand free stuff in YouTube)

dickiefunk The cpu useage of Ivory 3 is an instant deal breaker for me. I would like to be able to use it within a fairly bust mix

couldn't agree more.

dickiefunk The Modern D could be a good option but with Davids experience of not being able to use more than two mic perspectives on a pretty new high performing computer puts me off a little

idk but david is a top level pianist, he uses all kinda things while playing, like complex pedaling, resonances, a high polyphony and such

those are much more cpu intensive than just using all the mics with a simpler music (and most pianos in an arrangement aren't THAT complex)
but that's just what i think. i haven't tried the modern d yet

HZPiano
thanks🤍

HZPiano

Modern D might be slightly more resource intensive than Modern U, but not hugely I don't think.

I caved and bought Modern D tonight, and it is magnificent (I feel pretentious using that word, but it's really a fantastic achievement). By a wide, wide, wide margin I think it's the nicest sounding Steinway D library out there.

The hammer mics alone are incredible. It's great to have the flexibility of all the other options, but having just the lone set of mics turned on makes a beautifully balanced sound with huge dynamic range. I love the percussiveness.

If I won't straight up say it's the best grand piano VI I own, it's only because of stubbornness (and continued loyalty to the Kawai legend and VSL CFX…and recent fondness for the Vienna Imperial!).

It seems like we don’t have note-per-note edits for the “magnificent” Modern D, and I wonder why? for, surely it is magnificent, the Modern D, and having at least note-per-note for volume & intonation would be, well, magnificent!

Also, is there an “Ancient/Olden D” that we can compare to the Modern D for some perspective?

And finally, according to you all the Modern D has not only met but also broken right through the proverbial bar, so should we even bother looking at other -now lackluster- Ds, or should we simply toss them all out with yesterday’s (olden) garbage? If this is the case, I also recommend that we stop sampling any more Ds; because, after all, this D is “perfection in the making,” and I wonder if anything can top perfection?

So good, this Modern D, that I wouldn’t be surprised if Yuja uses it (controlled by a VPC-1) for her next concert……

Pete14 should we even bother looking at other -now lackluster- Ds?

Nope.

CraigNZ

I like that, Craig! Straight-up owning it!

It seems like some people ‘round here like to have it both ways, “it’s the greatest, but the others are great too,” and no, you can’t have it both ways!

And yes, you/we do have a favorite child, so please stop patronizing the other child, and simply give it to him straight, “I love you, little Timmy, but not as much as I love Jimmy, for he’s great, and you’re average at best!” 😁

Pete14 It seems like we don’t have note-per-note edits for the “magnificent” Modern D, and I wonder why?

It already sounds like a piano, that’s why 😃

CyberGene

Okay, but keep in mind that depending on many variables (including room acoustics) it can come handy to have at least volume note-per-note edits to tame down offending notes….

Perhaps this goes without saying, but Pianoteq does offer this “minor” detail, and I’m not 100% certain, but it might even allow note-per-note control over partials & fundamentals (perhaps one of you could check for this?)…..

Now, assuming that Pianoteq allows for this (partials & fundamentals), which I’m not 100% sure of, it would be quite magnificent, but surely, not quite as magnificent as your beloved Modern D (successor to the “Olden D?)…..☺️

CraigNZ

i can safely say that it's the best sampled piano around because of some really important features

but first, the vsl stuff are ridiculously expensive, i own 4 of their pianos and I love them, but i mentioned in another thread that why i don't think they're the best :
1 lack of some truly necessary features like una corda and resonances, silent key and more
2 the pianos themselves aren't very well prepared, you can clearly find some out of tune notes and some weirdly paning in the velocity layers, and the voicing is sometimes isn't good (the best example is their steinway, the first synchron i got)
3 they're always a bit far away, even their close mics don't have that punch in the midrange (mid frequencies not mid register)
so all you get is some high frequency sharp attack.

then you can opposite everything that I've said above about the nodern d
1 flawless in teams of having every important feature.
2 the piano is perfectly in tune and well prepared for the sessions
3 the close mics have all the roundness and sharpness of the real instrument, a truly masterfully recorded piano

pianow

Calm down, Sofia! 🤣

CyberGene

exactly
when a piano isn't well prepared, you can't do anything with the per note controls
and when the piano is well prepared, the per note controls aren't necessary

besides that i never use this feature, even if i hear some annoying notes while playing

pianow +1

And, most importantly, it sounds match that of a Steinway D, and it's fit for playing.

Now I want to be careful here to not get into digital and acoustic debates, as Pete hangs around and always want to knock me down. But I'll say this -- I've already deleted Garritan CFX and Ivory II American Concert D. Besides the Modern U, this and the Ravenscroft 275 are the only pianos I now actively use on my PC.

CraigNZ Congratulations on your purchase, and I'm glad you are enjoying this virtual instrument. And thanks for the CPU report. Yes, I have lots of things running. My PC isn't just for music, it's for work, study and entertainment… Also, my CPU is a laptop CPU, the performance has been compromised. I guess gaming laptops might have better performance nowadays.

pianow idk but david is a top level pianist, he uses all kinda things while playing, like complex pedaling, resonances, a high polyphony and such

I don't know about "top level pianist," but the rest is all true.