My Desert Island Piano VST - VI Labs Modern D

pc-king The demos are absolutely ridiculous and embarrassing.

Yikes! Picky, picky. 😀

I've heard over the years that VSL pianos are better intended for movie scoring and such, and not ideal for solo piano. Since I'm more of a beginner/intermediate player, a lot of the precision necessary for a professional pianist is lost on me. However, here are the things from your list that I have noticed using VSL products.

pc-king b) Differences between adjacent keys in terms of loudness at the same velocity level.

Thankfully, that can be mitigated with single note editing in the superb Synchron Piano software.

pc-king 5. Unrealistic implementation of the sustain pedal:

The lack of sympathetic resonances and una corda always made VSL pianos sound a little sterile to me.

pc-king c) When using the robot finger, it was forgotten that the keys are a little easier to play with the sustain pedal pressed because the dampers do not have to be raised with the force of the finger. (They are already up.) This meant that two quiet notes, pressed once in and once outside the sustain pedal, were significantly different in volume at exactly the same velocity level. Of course, you expect a fuller sound with the pedal because the other strings resonate, but it must not be massively louder. An example is Chopin's first ballad, bar 9. pianow has already mentioned this problem.

This is not a problem on all of their pianos, but I did inquire when I noticed it on my Bosendorfer Imperial. I sent VSL recordings of the issue and I was surprised by their response. They basically said it's the nature of the piano or something like that. I can't quite remember. There was no admission that it was actually a sampling error which I think it is.

I really can't answer your questions about the Modern D, but here are few thoughts.

pc-king I also think that the sound in the upper half of the keyboard could be a bit (!) more colorful, airy and lively.

I don't hear an imbalance between the upper and lower registers. The entire piano appears to be consistently voiced. One thing I like about the subdued tone and voicing of this piano is that I can play it indefinitely without getting ear fatigue. It's mellow and warm with a tone that I'd like to have if this piano was in my living room.

pc-king Is the sympathetic resonance added on top of the pedal resonance (which isn't what would happen in a real piano)?

I don't know, but sympathetic resonance is where the difference between the Modern D and VSL is night and day. The Modern D does not have that sterile feel I mentioned earlier with the VSL pianos. The Modern D is more lush, and forgive me @Pete14 for saying this, more organic. 😀

The Modern D is the current king of virtual pianos, in my humble opinion, of course.

God Bless,
David

David B The Modern D is more lush, and forgive me @Pete14 for saying this, more organic. 😀

The MD can’t hold a candle to a’ Ph.D. (Pete’s Huge D), and yes, forgive me for not holding the MD to the standards of a’ Ph.D……🧐

Has any of you a Ph.D.?

David B The Modern D is the current king of virtual pianos, in my humble opinion, of course.

Well, I still love it after all these months, and every day practicing with it. It responds and reacts just like the actual physical instrument according to my experiencees playing concert grands. So yes, as far as grand pianos are concerned, Modern D takes the crown.

Pete14 Has any of you a Ph.D.?

I’m on my way, but it’s a D(octor of).M(usic). But the overall level is the same.

David Lai

So, you do agree that a’ Ph.D. is better than the very-basic MD?

BTW, as a “Doctor of Music” would you be required by law to assist in case of a “musical” emergency if someone asks “is there a doctor in the house?”

Pete14 i’m afraid you are seriously mistaken. I’m not a medical doctor. My degree that I’m working towards is a performance driven academic doctoral degree. It’s similar to PhD, otherwise known as doctor of philosophy. The only difference is, a PhD in music related areas is more theory and research driven than performance, pedagogy and writing focused. So, similar level in professionalism, different areas of focus.

Pete14 So, you do agree that a’ Ph.D. is better than the very-basic MD?

I don’t, and it’s DM, doctor of music, not MD, medical doctor.

Pete14 The MD can’t hold a candle to a’ Ph.D. (Pete’s Huge D)

There is lots of evidence to support the virtues of the Modern D, but nothing to support the Ph. D you speak of. I wonder if this is a case of wishful thinking? 😀

God Bless,
David

P.S. Don't feel too bad Pete. You have a good personality and girls are always looking for more friends to talk to. 😉

David B

If @Pete14 wears a kilt he's got nothing to support his Ph.D either…

Cheers and Merry Holidays,

HZ

PS We're approaching the need for a thread split with this… 😲

David B There is lots of evidence to support the virtues of the Modern D, but nothing to support the Ph. D you speak of. I wonder if this is a case of wishful thinking?

I assure you, Pete’s D is huge; hence the moniker: Ph.D. (Pete’s Huge D)…..😊

Yes, some have questioned its hugeness (or that it even exists), but I will soon be releasing PHD if only to crush that puny MD!

Pete14 but I will soon be releasing PHD

Thanks for the warning. I found the requisite tool. 🔎

pc-king

wow that's a long hate_story there (about the concert d)

but i fully agree that it's not the best recorded/sampled piano out there, however there are certain things you can do to improve this, like a soft but deep compression (2.0 ratio and -25db threshold for example - you can always go further with it) i think this trick can bring out so much color and realism to the sound, i mean i've never been able to hear the exact differences between the microphones, yes some of them are bright and some are dark, but that's not really the case about mic positions especially when you have 10 different mics to choose from, with the compression applied, you can immediately hear the most important thing about every mic pos, for example the side/mid mics have a lot of cabinet resonance baked in which is impossible to hear by default, and the close mics are truly different to each other, you don't have to mix all three together to sound good, every one of them is capable of giving you a full musical experience, in the matter of fact, mixing several close mics is a worse case scenario especially for synchrons, (anyway that compression technique is something most audio engineers do to get all the richness that a piano offers, maybe not so deep but still)

about voicing now… those clicks are some kind of side effect of how sharp this piano been voiced, the hammers are prepared to pierce through metal really, and that's because they (vsl) wanted to deliver the most dynamic experience with a virtualized piano, personally can't say they have failed.

anyway i'm not saying it's the best piano out there, and it definitely isn't my personal favorite, i just wanted to say that you absolutely can get something good out of it, because in the end of the day, it's a very expensive product.

David B This is not a problem on all of their pianos, but I did inquire when I noticed it on my Bosendorfer Imperial. I sent VSL recordings of the issue and I was surprised by their response. They basically said it's the nature of the piano or something like that. I can't quite remember. There was no admission that it was actually a sampling error which I think it is.

i was so disappointed by their bosenforfer imperial pedal behavior, the sustain pedal basically cuts everything below mezzo piano, and with a little compression applied, the sustain pedal becomes significantly louder, this is the reason i never bought it, even though it's my ideal SOUNDING piano, what i shame 🙁

I've just picked up Modern-D in their sale and am extremely impressed with the realism and detail of this library. This piano has taken my number one spot for when I need as realistic and authentic piano sound and playability that I can get.

I love the layout, workflow and feature set of this library and find it extremely intuitive to use. I'm still new to it so will keep experimenting with all the various parameters but so far this library sounds and feels the closest to a real piano as I've found in a sample library including the VSL Synchron libraries that I tried!

dickiefunk Happy new year! Glad you are enjoying Modern D. It is my favorite virtual piano to play when I can't access an acoustic one, so it really lives well to its reputation.

David Lai

Happy New Year to you as well David. Yes this is what I’ll reach for when I’m not at a real grand.

A new review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjmJlhhJVAk

Jose EB5AGV Finally Mr. Sam is reviewing Modern D!!!

Jose EB5AGV

so he liked it too huh? what a surprise haha

Another review here. It sounds like there's a lot of love for this library.