My Desert Island Piano VST - VI Labs Modern 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.

Irmin Really interesting. Thanks for sharing your CPU usage report. Like I said above, I believe my CPU has so-so performance mainly because it's been tuned down for laptop. Even in its full performance level, it's not as robust.

OlivierW Hey, a toggle switch on the interface! Great idea, I'll email them later today to see if this can be done!!! Maybe this can be another thing to test.

Mindbullets You're welcome. I'm glad my demos make sense, and represents how Modern D can function for solo contexts.

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

like some vi control users said : this is the one

David Lai as Pete hangs around and always want to knock me down.

well, he's actually dying because everyone's new favourite virtual piano is a 100% sampled one😄
It's like he's the only one who loves pineapples on a pizza in Italy. but as i said at least he's a funny troll.

David Lai
you are....
you're a top level pianist my friend

pianow I'm humbled. Thank you!

pianow like some vi control users said : this is the one

From a pianist's perspective, I have to agree. 🙂

David Lai From a pianist's perspective, I have to agree.

Okay, let’s forget about who’s the best for a minute (Pianoteq), and pay attention to the bigger picture:

David is indeed an accomplished pianist, and there he is playing demanding repertoire on a good ol’ digital powered by his favorite VST for pennies on the dollar (as compared to the almighty acoustic), and this is very important, because not long ago many described the digital as a toy incapable of inspiring a serious pianist, yet here we are!

Also, let us not forget how much fun, if addictive, it is to discuss, bash, speculate, and/or wait for the next early Christmas (N1XA?); whereas, with the acoustic you get ONE piano (supposedly for life), and other than setting up appointments with a greasy tuner to come into your home and disgrace it, you get none of the added fun factors, and if we’re to equate this to modern living, a machine that does only ONE thing, doesn’t even tease about the next upgrade, is a diva (“I demand a regulation now!”), and costs a bundle upfront & to maintain suddenly doesn’t seem so appealing (yes, I know, “it’s alive,” “a wall of sound,” bla-bla-bla)….IMHO!

Pete14 Okay, let’s forget about who’s the best for a minute (Pianoteq), and pay attention to the bigger picture:

I have a thread waiting for you, Pete!!!

Pete14 Also, let us not forget how much fun, if addictive, it is to discuss, bash, speculate, and/or wait for the next early Christmas (N1XA?); whereas, with the acoustic you get ONE piano (supposedly for life), and other than setting up appointments with a greasy tuner to come into your home and disgrace it, you get none of the added fun factors, and if we’re to equate this to modern living, a machine that does only ONE thing, doesn’t even tease about the next upgrade, is a diva (“I demand a regulation now!”), and costs a bundle upfront & to maintain suddenly doesn’t seem so appealing (yes, I know, “it’s alive,” “a wall of sound,” bla-bla-bla)….IMHO!

Well, I've been with my VPC1 for the past 3 years. And so far, it's still working very well. Do I wish it had better control of short notes? Yes, and a better action such as that on a good hybrid digital piano would certainly be welcome. But I don't have the money, or the space for it.

A well-sampled and prepared VST like Modern D can grant me access to the impossible -- you simply don't get access to a concert grand everyday, even in a music school like Jacobs School of Music. So there, that's what I wish to say.

And let's not even bring the Pianoteq synth into the picture. Its disadvantages are not worthy to be compared to the great Modern D.

We have many sampled pianos fans here who are also enthusiastic about PTQ. Don't be jealousy. It takes ten years to see a new VILabs concert grand vi. PTQ updates more frequently.

David Lai And let's not even bring the Pianoteq synth into the picture. Its disadvantages are not worthy to be compared to the great Modern D

+++
there are plenty of synth pianos in every daw, mine the fl studio also got a few of them

i don't wanna say that they're comparable to the pinoteq, no the pianoteq is better
but it's a better choice only in the synth category, and when i spend 100 - 200 - 600 $ (more then spent on the daw itself) on a vst i wanna make sure that it's not gonna sound like a synth, idk why he always brings ptq up in every discussion
but in most people's opinion and view, a piano must have a Decent sound quality to it in the first place, and if it doesn't, then it's not a good instrument, even if it's playable as hell, and that's exactly what pianoteq is, a highly playable instrument that sounds awful (but of course it's not modart fault, it's the nature of modeling)

pianow You're welcome to talk about it on a new thread I created, where I drew a similar conclusion.

pipAT It takes ten years to see a new VILabs concert grand vi. PTQ updates more frequently.

does that make the pianoteq a better choice? or even an equal? cause i know pianoteq from the version 6 and i can say that all the upgrades and updates in years made this piano almost 10% better then what it was back then, their main concern is to announce new models not to fix the actual sound quality.