Modern D vs Pianoteq vs The People

If we have the possibility to choose different tools for different tasks, then that is just great! You want to fix everything with a Swiss army knife? Ok, go ahead, no one is stopping you. But for those of us who like to get the best tools for the tasks at hand, the one-digital solution-to cover everything is not all that enticing. As for myself, as long as I can't call an acoustic instrument mine, I will continue to enjoy swapping between virtual instruments, accordingly as my mood changes.

P.S.:

Pete14 And the proof is in the pudding: Sofia!

Yes, a name once beloved ‘round here

It really was not that broadly loved, and some of us could hear that all was not right with the sound of those VI's.

QuasiUnaFantasia If we have the possibility to choose different tools for different tasks, then that is just great! You want to fix everything with a Swiss army knife? Ok, go ahead, no one is stopping you.

I’m not so sure I’d call it “different tools for different tasks” when we’re talking about VSTs; because these VSTs are almost all based on (D) concert grands, and I maintain that there are more similarities than differences between these pianos……

Now, needing a hammer for nails, and a drill for screws, yes, that makes sense; because we can’t screw a nail, nor shan’t we hammer a screw (although some do it)……

If you have money to spare, by all means go and get the iPhone 16, but for those struggling to make ends meet, I assure you that the iPhone 8 is still a powerhouse, and, in a way, a Swiss army knife (if an old one)…..

Pete14 But once a person becomes addicted to getting the “newest” thing in town, all sorts of conjectures start to pop up in order to justify yet another purchase……”the VSL-D is good for Chopin, but not so much for Schoenberg, so I’ll get me Imperfect Samples’ bunch of recordings for that…”

I don't play sophisticated classical music on the piano - although it is a genre in my iTunes library that works its way into my life - and I don't feel one piano is better suited for the simple hymns I play while another piano is better suited for others. My justification for buying virtual pianos is simply birthed out of a natural curiosity and desire to tinker with sounds in my chosen hobby of piano. It adds to the enjoyment of my experience. I've had this same pattern in every hobby I've had.

Some virtual pianos I like and some I don't. I've sold some VSL and VI Labs licenses because I didn't find them inspiring to play. Maybe if I started playing piano as a child my desires would be different now as an adult and I wouldn't have felt the need to try so many digital pianos and virtual pianos. 🤷‍♂️

God Bless,
David

David B My justification for buying virtual pianos is simply birthed out of a natural curiosity and desire to tinker with sounds in my chosen hobby of piano….

This is a valid point, but the notion that piano A is better-suited for Jazz, and Piano B is better for classical, I don’t agree with……

To play devil’s advocate, imagine a classical pianist refusing to play a concert on a CFX because “that instrument is better-suited for Jazzers,” and having the production team running out in a haste to find an actual, physical D to haul up into the concert stage and move the already-there CFX out; now, that would be illogical, but you know what? knowing how full of themselves “classical” artists are, I wouldn’t doubt it if Yujas Wang has actually done this:

“I’m not playing Rach’s third on that thing (CFX); get me a huge D, or I quit right here and now; don’t you know who I am, I’m Yujas Wang, god damn it”! 😁

AFAIK, the only regular member (who otherwise hates Pianoteq) and said he liked Sofia’s pianos (samples from Pianoteq) is Mac. I needed 5 seconds to hear it was Pianoteq, for instance 🙂

All others were newly registered users on the forum. Maybe puppets used by Sofia to make her point because very early on people discovered it was Pianoteq sampled. It was a failed experiment and the insistence with which Pete is misrepresenting the story tells me he might be behind the hoax? 😉

Okay, CG, I’ll give you this, Sofia was more prominent with the gullible crowd over at PW, and she did get a few people to buy (figuratively) what she was selling……

No, I’m not Sofia, but I wonder if Mac believes I am; because that would explain a lot!

P.S.

Sofia hinted that some people even asked to help her ‘round Italy; you know, to sample them pianos real good! 😆

Pete14 This is a valid point, but the notion that piano A is better-suited for Jazz, and Piano B is better for classical, I don’t agree with……

I was fully committed to the Christian worldview by age 22, and since then I've only been inspired to play music - whether on guitar or piano - that speaks from the spiritual reservoir of my experiences. Therefore, I've not had to consider the notion of one piano being better suited for one genre and another piano for something else.

Since we are not dealing with size and geometry variants like with guitars, and we're dealing mostly with sound - provided the actions on concert grands are similar - then it seems like a subjective preference to me. Are you saying you disagree with an individual musician's preference?

Pete14 Sofia hinted that some people even asked to help her ‘round Italy; you know, to sample them pianos real good! 😆

This proves some men have a soft spot for young girls, maybe they liked her in the picture (AI generated, since it was some old man behind that hoax if I recall correctly).

If they were so stupid and thinking with their other head, they may have said they liked her pianos only to impress her. Which is another proof that this was maliciously cunning and manipulative experiment.

Pete14 Heck, I’m gonna get to sampling that D right now, and I’ll sell it to you addicts for $100, and make me some easy money!

If you are like that scam Sofia by resampling Pianoteq, then you won’t be hearing impressions and reviews from me. “She” lost me as a customer when I heard the demos and realized what “she” was doing.

So come on, challenge me with an audio demo, and I’ll make my decision!

Pete14 Oh, but we can……do it all with one piano!

of course we can, when that "one" is an acoustic (especially grands), it has all the different colors for any kind of music. (abd that's why I'm saving money for the future, maybe i can buy a second hand yamaha c7 in 2026)

but vsts are different "recordings" (they're a slice of the piano, not all of it)
some of them are bright, some are thinn, some are warm and most of them don't have all the necessary features, so we need a few of them to do the job (especially for music production),
most guitarists have a few different guitars for different genres.

Pete14 And the proof is in the pudding: Sofia

that was over a year ago, and you still use it as a reference, you know pete? I'm starting to think that sofia is nothing but "yet another" one of your fake accounts here, idk...

Pete14 Yes, a name once beloved ‘round here, yet not so much anymore; after she proved a massive point: it’s all in your head!
i wasn't there you know (not interested in amateurs doing sampling at all - no offence btw), but i can hear pianoteq (modeling) robotic timbre from a mile away, even if it's subtle, that's why i never purchased ivory 3 even though it's a good instrument.

Pete14 I bet you that if I came out with my own VST, “Pete’s Huge D,” there will be many who claim, “I don’t know, but there’s a transparency to Pete’s Huge D that’s just perfect for Bach, but for Liszt I’ll stick to the Modern D….”

another bitchy comment, but alright you can bet on anything you want, but if i was you...

Pete14 Heck, I’m gonna get to sampling that D right now, and I’ll sell it to you addicts for $100, and make me some easy money!

first of all you probably don't even know how to set an amplifier gain level to avoid clipping so don't talk about sampling, thank you.
secondly... a sampled piano from a modeling cultist is probably the scam of the decade, so nobody would give a single dollar for it IMHO😀

Pete14 I will not respond to insults

how sad is that...

Pete14 To play devil’s advocate, imagine a classical pianist refusing to play a concert on a CFX because “that instrument is better-suited for Jazzers,” and having the production team running out in a haste to find an actual, physical D to haul up into the concert stage and move the already-there CFX out

To give you a realistic perspective, big concert halls have several concert grands of different companies, and international competitions have a day or two for competitors to choose their favorite pianos for their performances. Moving these pianos are not easy, but unlocked wheels and other things I cannot see would help the movers in the process. Even in universities there are different pianos to choose from. So what you say is completely within doable context and don’t involve another side of town.

There was once a pianist who broke a string on one of the higher registers of the piano at National Center for the Performing Arts in my country few years ago, and another piano rose from mechanisms from the bottom of the stage, or something like that. The piano change took only minutes.

Pete14 To play devil’s advocate, imagine a classical pianist refusing to play a concert on a CFX because “that instrument is better-suited for Jazzers,” and having the production team running out in a haste to find an actual, physical D to haul up into the concert stage and move the already-there CFX out; now, that would be illogical, but you know what? knowing how full of themselves “classical” artists are, I wouldn’t doubt it if Yujas Wang has actually done this

wow that's an ID 10 T error
the stupidness in this comment equals 3 tsar bombs
as i mentioned:

pianow of course we can, when that "one" is an acoustic (especially grands), it has all the different colors for any kind of music. (abd that's why I'm saving money for the future, maybe i can buy a second hand yamaha c7 in 2026)

but vsts are different "recordings" (they're a slice of the piano, not all of it)
some of them are bright, some are thinn, some are warm and most of them don't have all the necessary features, so we need a few of them to do the job (especially for music production),
most guitarists have a few different guitars for different genres.

pianow don’t forget violins. As long as we are talking acoustic instruments, each one has a character that’s fit for a certain context. Of course, there will be instruments that are voiced in a versatile manner, and can play more genres. It seems to me that pianos have been going in this direction for a few years now.

David Lai
that's a conversation of its own but my piont is that this ID 10 T thinks vsts are equals to the real instruments so we only need one of them in our SSDs lol, of course i don't expect otherwise from a person who thinks pianoteq sounds natural.

Pete14 To play devil’s advocate, imagine a classical pianist refusing to play a concert on a CFX because “that instrument is better-suited for Jazzers,” and having the production team running out in a haste to find an actual, physical D to haul up into the concert stage and move the already-there CFX out; now, that would be illogical, but you know what? knowing how full of themselves “classical” artists are, I wouldn’t doubt it if Yujas Wang has actually done this:

David Lai To give you a realistic perspective, big concert halls have several concert grands of different companies, and international competitions have a day or two for competitors to choose their favorite pianos for their performances.

Actually these conflicts happens, but it realistically has more to do with sponsorships and economical agreements than actual preferences for a certain brand. I've experienced this at three different occasions. First time was when saw Martha Argerich in Copenhagen about 20 years ago. Before the concert we met the piano technician that worked at that concert. He said that they suggested a Fazioli for the concert as it was the newest and "best" piano they had and the instruments that been used at the most recent concerts but she refused and said that only a Steinway would do. The second occasion was when I saw Chic Corea in the concert hall in Gothenburg (my city of residence). As he is sponsored by Yamaha he refused to play on the Steinway concert grands that they have at the venue. Instead they had to rent a new Yamaha CFIIIS from the towns Yamaha center and transport it to the concert hall. That piano was later sold to school at a reduced price and I have played it, excellent instrument BTW. The third situation was at another concert hall in Sweden. It's a quite new venue, 20 years or so and when they build it they got a new Yamaha CFIIIS as their concert grand. This is a smaller concert hall so they don't have multiple concert grands. From the very first start they've had problems with their decision to get a Yamaha concert grand since so many artists are sponsored by Steinway so they had to rent a Steinway all the time since many of the performing artists couldn't play on their Yamaha grand. A few years ago they decided to sell the Yamaha and get a Steinway instead and that Yamaha is the one I posted a picture of this Friday, an absolutely brilliant instrument. So all-in-all I think this thing with "Steinway or Yamaha or whatever-artists" is pretty ridiculous and I tend to agree with @QuasiUnaFantasia about his statement about Steinway as a company. Great pianos though.

johanibraaten I forgot to mention that aspect, thanks for bringing it up. Yes, Steinway, Yamaha, or Kawaii artists can be difficult for concert halls that are small, you’re right! The situation I described also exists, but this is another side of the situation. But still, not as hell Pete described it.

johanibraaten pretty ridiculous

Yes!!!

Man-oh-man… 🤦

Cheers and… back to the music, down to earth, reconnect with the essence,

HZ

HZPiano

Good luck with that, HZ, for I’ve already proposed to ‘move on,’ but the minute I even dare say that one piano should suffice (even if some people get a few for experimental purposes), and even dare hint that maybe-just-maybe you don’t need that Modern D, all hell comes down on old & frail Pete…..

For a minute I thought the title read “Modern D vs Pianoteq vs The People,” but all they want to talk about is the MD, and how it’s the greatest D ever to be produced (keep in mind that once the next “new & shiny” thing shows up, the MD will suddenly not be so great…..count my words).

Can you believe they’re now accusing me of “becoming Sofia”? The nerve!

But thank god you haven’t gone mad, and yes, neither has CG nor David B (even though they bought the MD). One, CG, because he had the guts to say what’s all the fuzz about this “bunch of recordings,” and the other, David B, because he’s been level-headed and objective (to a certain extent), and less of a fanboy…..

Once again, let us continue with a peaceful discourse, and please allow me to breath; is that too much to ask?

Pete14 and less of a fanboy

He did say he's been enjoying it, and his classy words in describing the tone of the Modern D is quite well put. I enjoyed watching his short and to-the-point review, and I'm glad this piano VST plays well on his Numa GT. So yes, he's well in the camp of those appreciative of what VI Labs is doing.

David Lai He did say he's been enjoying it, and his classy words in describing the tone of the Modern D is quite well put. I enjoyed watching his short and to-the-point review, and I'm glad this piano VST plays well on his Numa GT. So yes, he's well in the camp of those appreciative of what VI Labs is doing.

Okay, that was a respectful response, and I very much appreciate that you appreciated my call for us to use some decorum whence addressing each other, because that’s the only way this discussion can move forward……