My Desert Island Piano VST - VI Labs Modern D

I guess the old Vienna Imperial is also delievered in 16bit 44.1khz audios. But Truekeys used to show on Machfive player, and it was much larger in size than its UVI version. Of course, there are developers who are willing to offer diffferent bit depth versions like Impact Soundworks Pearl Grand, Production Voices Grand 2, Premier Sound Factory Kawai Legend etc. Also there are wars between 16bit vs 24bit, and 44.1 vs higher frequencies. Discussions about these have been going on for years in Gearslutz or now Gearspace.

Acousticsamples released a Kontakt version Kawai EX in 2010 or so, later the developer did a UVI version which is only 1/10 the size of Kontakt one. I tried both versions. The difference I could sense was quite subtle. I kind of felt the Kontakt was warm and thick. The UVI was bland like boiled water. I wish had nulltested both versions to make sure there was difference.

For me, there is difference, but at a cost. I am totally fine with 16bit 44.1khz products.

pipAT
i can only accept blind tests when it comes to bit depth and sample rate
cause most people just feel the one with higher numbers is the higher quality one, but only if they'd know
imagine playing 2 examples of the exact same audio clip (with the only difference being the bit depth and sample rate)
and then ask people about the differences, i think the only people who can spot the differences are those 1% professional engineers with super gifted ears

the only company i don't understand is the production voices, wtf? their concert grand is just over a TB
and it's not like it has more features
it has 3 different versions with different sample rates and bit depths, i mean couldn't they just give their highest sample rate and bit depth with their most expensive version? because you can always down-sample something that is super high quality and you don't probably need lower qualities as well

PV did that for users convenience. They sold SiIver, Gold and Platinum versions separately. I used to convert Kontakt libraries myself. It was really a lot of work, and the raw wave files were three times the size of the official version. I lost a harddisk to heavy write and read process because of conversion. I finally decided to give up do conversion by myself. Synthogy Ivory 1 released in 2004 used 32bit audio. LOL. Not only users hold different opinions but developers, too.

pipAT PV did that for users convenience. They sold SiIver, Gold and Platinum version separately

i'm talking about the complete version
it has all the different sample rates and bit depths, idk really but i think one can use the highest quality and then export with a lower sample rate and bit depth (unless playing with 96khz 24bit is difficult for most machines so you have to play with lower versions and then export it with a higher sample rate and bit depth version, that makes sense - idk i never played such thing cause i don't need it - most 16 - 24bit 44100hz are more then enough)

pipAT Synthogy Ivory 1 released in 2004 uses 32bit audio. LOL.

what da 💀

Some high definition believers even use oversampling in their DSP plugins like reaper. Me, with a humble PC, always like what VILabs and PTQ are doing.

pipAT
most people love small and easy to use/run stuff
including myself

I am not afraid of products in big size. I dislike large and unimpressive ones that hardly show advertised or accordingly big improvement.

pipAT
agreed
i had some disappointing experiences with big VSTI's
i can swear some companies do this only for marketing (poor costumer : man it's 500GB, i'm sure it's very good - F**K it lacks some really basic features that i had with my 4GB vsts that i paid only 80$ for)

In some marketing language, big in size and over-killed more in quantity, equal better, awesome, luxurious. But these "great" things or awesomeness stand in front of details and various practical functions users are eager to realize.

pianow

the explanation from the vilabs about this

**

**

as i said, they were smart

PV 300 Grand is also delivered in 16bit 44.1khz audios with 72 gigs, 36 velocity layers, 9 mic perspectives, 10k samples. Just not in flac. If Kontakt could do that later…

On the other hand, Kawai Legend is delivered in 24bit 96khz audios with 30 gigs, 18 velocity layers, 1 mic perspective, 3333 samples.

Modern D is delivered in 16bit 44.1khz with 18 gigs, guessed to 25 velocity layers, 5 mic perspectives, 34615 samples.

Just for fun.

Kawai Legend has the cleanest tone to me. 300 Grand has the most beautiful UI. Modern D has the most complete features.

pianow as i said, they were smart

Yes, and from 32 bit FP, 88.2 KHZ 130 GB wav, to normalized 16 bit 44.1 KHZ 18 GB flac. Which has better performance, it shouldn’t be hard to see. Also, not to mention that the difference is very much negligible.

That said, I wonder why I hear less noise floor when rendering in 24 bit vs 16 bit flac on Reaper? That’s actually the reason why I asked that bit depth question a while ago.

Just purchased it to see what all the fuss is about (and also because I just can't stand Pianoteqs sound anymore). It's downloading right now, I am really looking forward!

porco_rosso I hope you like it! A good response curve to your controller will be a good friend. Once you have it dialed in, you'll be experiencing a great combination of playability and realism, which I believe, is second-to-none!!!

Thanks! It's installing…

Regarding sample-based pianos I have tried VSL Pianos in the past (all of them except the Faziolis) and didn't like the playability of them. The sound felt detached from my playing.

porco_rosso Not surprised. Out-of-the-box they don't play very well, and you need a lot of tweaking to make them work. Plus, they don't have una corda, and their release samples are not natural. Modern D is more full-featured than VSL pianos, and if you want distance in your mix, turn up the room mic and add some hall reverb!

How do I start the piano in the UVI workstation?

porco_rosso After installing, either open up UVI WorkStation standalone or load it in your DAW of choice, mine is Reaper. Then, double click to open the browser, choose "Modern D" in the Sound Banks list. Once it's loaded, you can start playing.

Keep in mind that the initial load of this library is very basic, only one close mic, and the response curve is linear. I suggest you look at the controls in the main panel to turn some things on, or load another mic for a fuller sound.

I have no DAW besides the UVI Workstation. When I choose Modern D in the folder sound banks it doesn't load, nothing happens? It's installed and activated with iLok.

Ah, it worked now! Thanks!