My Desert Island Piano VST - VI Labs Modern D

Thanks, David Lai. 😊

I could no longer recall exactly the particular reverb I chose, but I think you are right it was the clear/empty big hall or cathedral. I also selected the S Curve 1 preset in the midi panel.

While Ivory III had their Rachmaninoff Prelude, VI Labs have their Etude Tableau.

Cheers and enjoy the big R in romantic Russian music,

David

Just saw this review video. I'll listen to this as I say goodbye to my day here. Good night!

The Modern D has been bringing me absolute joy everyday that I play it. I've had it for a month now and there is no desire to open anything else. When I do open something else just to compare, I almost immediately slip back into the comfort of the warm and resonate Modern D.

The VSL Bosendorfer Imperial occupies the position of holding singularly the longest number one spot. I played it consistently from its release date (May 2020) to the release date of the VSL F308 (Dec 2022). I then played around with the F308 and Ivory 3.

If I could only have one piano right now it would be the Modern D. Until something impressive comes out in the future, the Modern D is all I need.

God Bless,
David

David Lai Just saw this review video. I'll listen to this as I say goodbye to my day here. Good night!

That was quite a useful review, thanks!

David Lai VI Labs have their Etude Tableau.

Oh, that sounds great.

David B
thank you sir David🙏 it's always a good thing to know that professionals are satisfied with a gear or software.

pianow with the sound quality of vsl imperial

oh let me correct myself: SOUND CHARACTER of the vsl bosendorfer imperial🙂

David Lai

Thanks for posting!

I commented below his video as follows:

"Hello Henry,

This is one of the most authentic and charming reviews (of anything) that I've seen so far. Highly enjoyable, thank you!

Also, rest assured that your explanations along the way are spot on, no need to weave apologies in! There aren't that many reviewers that explain the details correctly, often those are hits-and-misses at best.

By the way, so far the Modern U is my one and only piano (for actual playing at home) and I'm a real fan of the thoroughness, quality and authenticity of the works by VI Labs. They really started to hit the ball with the introduction of Modern U.

Maybe they even hit out of of the park with the D, for me, I don't need it for some time to come. I share your longing for a great, well rounded Yamaha or, for me, Bösendorfer 225. Done by VI Labs of course.

Cheers and keep up the good work,

HZ"

https://youtu.be/j1nVJdJoHa0?si=slw7HG9KhSGoYCtE

David B Hi David! I'm glad you're still enjoying the Modern D. For me, it's all I open as well, and I have it come up as one of my saved Reaper projects. After this busy time, I plan to make more videos. And once we have an accessibility patch done, I'll also do an update here. I'm looking forward to what we have in store.

jenpal Wow, that sounds gorgeous. Exactly like a real piano in a large church or other resonant space. I doubt I could tell the difference between it and an authentic recording.

Interestingly, when playing or practicing myself I almost always prefer a very close and dry sound, but when playing back my own renderings or listening to recordings of others, I find a nice resonant ambiance to be much more pleasing.

jdg78 +1

Thank you jdg78. I’m delighted to hear that you enjoyed the big hall ambiance. 😊

When practicing on the N1X speakers, I also prefer without the room mic and reverb as the instrument itself provides a nice 3D sound with a natural room ambiance. However, when using my headphone, I always turn on the room mic and often add a reverb for a more immersive experience. 😊

Jane
As an update to my Modern D pedal travails...

@David Lai was kind enough to look at the MIDI from my little experiment where the piano sounds weren't clearing when I let the pedal up.

He noticed some weird pedal MIDI values.

So I've tried two experiments.
The Yamaha N3 has a self-test. In that mode, the una corda pedal goes rather linearly from something like 10 to 240 as it's pressed and released.
The sustain pedal, on the other hand, goes from about 14 to 255, then back to 40, then up to 240 as it's pressed. And the same as it's released. Double bounce oops!

The second test - Pianoteq's interface shows the pedals, and I can actually see the sustain pedal bounce a couple of times in Pianoteq as I'm pressing it smoothly once from fully up to fully depressed.

So I guess I can't blame VI Labs for that, in spite of the fact that other VST libraries don't seem to be bothered.
I've downloaded the service manual for the N3 and it says in BOLD type that the "rotary volume installed to the pedal lever unit needs adjustment at the factory and it should not be replaced. Do not touch the rotary volume when removing the pedal lever unit." Ouch. By "rotary volume" I assume they mean a potentiometer that tells the computer how far the pedal is pushed.

Yamaha had a tech from 100 miles away come to fix a different problem with this unit about 6 years ago. I guess the next step is to see whether I can get a replacement pre-calibrated pedal assembly from Yamaha or else see whether that tech has access to parts.

Anyone have other advice?

Jane I guess the next step is to see whether I can get a replacement pre-calibrated pedal assembly from Yamaha or else see whether that tech has access to parts.

Anyone have other advice?

Since it's out of warranty I'd do whatever I could to try and fix/adjust it myself if that's even possible. It sounds like the pedal behavior is not normal even if other VSTs are not bothered by it. I wonder why UVI/Modern D is sensitive to it while the others are not? Hope you can get it solved because the Modern D is worth playing.

God Bless,
David

Jane

As @David B says, I'd be inclined to DIY too.

It's quite probable that you're guessing right that it is a potentiometer and those aren't exactly rocket science, so to speak. Of course this is not a 100% certainty.

I'd start by unplugging/de-soldering the leads to that pedal and to measure (with an Ohm-meter/multi-meter) the behavior of that potentiometer first -- without touching any of the mechanics yet -- and see what can be found from that.

Of course you'd need the nerve and a bit of handiness to start such an exploration.

In any case do carefully consider every step along the way.

Cheers and.. a happy outcome,

HZ

Jane get a can of DeoxIt D5. Open the pedal unit and spray a tiny amount (i.e. there is no need to flood it on cleaner) on the offending pot. Exercise the pedal several times and recheck. If there is no improvement, a replacement pot is advised.

If you are in doubt on where to apply the cleaner, share some pictures of the pedals mechanism and I can tell you.

I agree with Jose. Had similar noisy pedal problems myself. Same fix.

Thanks, Jose. The only cleaner I have on hand is an ancient can from Radio Shack, so I ordered D5 and should have it by Friday.

I will post pics of the pedal mechanism. I'm not a complete kutz (in my youth I worked on a variety of VTRs and VCRs during 20 years in the tech department of a television station). But there we had jigs and gauges needed for different alignments. The Yamaha manual is very paranoid with their bold type: "rotary volume installed to the pedal lever unit needs adjustment at the factory and it should not be replaced. Do not touch the rotary volume when removing the pedal lever unit." So if I can get it cleaner without having to disturb its calibration I'd prefer to do so.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

Jane Thanks for the update, Jane! Yes, on Reaper when I looked at the midi events, I could see the jumps. So thanks for confirming that such jumps exist. Good luck finding a workaround for your sustain pedal!

A review & comparison by Gamma1734 is up!!!