What I love about each VST (staying positive)

HeartKeys

Everyone has their "pros and cons" for any product they have. For this discussion, I'm going to be skewed towards the positive, and focus solely on "what I love about" each of the VSTs I have. I figured this is a way to focus on appreciation for the instruments, versus making it about a comparison.

So here goes my Pollyanna Post, with one-liners for each! 🙂

Pianoteq
Steinway D (NY) - rustic, grainy and raw.
Steinway D (HB) - powerful mid-range.
Steinway B - high realism for a modeled Steinway.
Shigeru Kawai SK-EX - creamy mid and high registries.
Bösendorfer 280VC - woody cabinet, charming in the upper mids.
C. Bechstein DG - versatilty for classical and jazz.
Grotrian - one of the most regal-sounding instruments.
Ant. Petrof - old-world sound, transports me to musical eras.
Petrof Mistral - versatility on the softest and heaviest passages.
Steingraeber - a wide array of sound, concertesque.
Blüthner - passionate, warm, brings out the melancholy and wistful emotions.
K2 - strong kick, pierces through anything ensemble.

Native Instruments
Alicias Keys - quick foray into Yamaha's.
The Gentleman - sentimental, I imagine sipping on a Scotch while playing.
The Maverick - sentimental as well, imagine playing Benjamin Button music.
Noire - intimate. absolutely intimate (in the factory setting, prior to adjusting color).
The Grandeur - mellifluous, and capable of making tear-jerker tones.
Claire - Fazioli with PED's, great for composition w/o need for additional layers. maximally emotive.

Garritan CFX Concert Grand
Epitomizes the "VST that emulates the sound of a concert setting" the most to me.

Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL)
Bösendorfer Imperial - luscious, nostalgic, grand-grand, ostensive mid-upper range.
Yamaha CFX - warmly voiced beast.
Fazioli F308 - smooth hammers. provides a flattering sound to players of all levels.
Steinway D-274 - most beautiful sounding Steinway that bucks my general perception of the maker.
Bösendorfer 280VC - in-your-face presence, low registries trance-like, combined with crystalline upper range.
Fazioli F212 - ethereal. sounds almost like an instrument that is "better than a piano."
Blüthner - authentic. beautiful, unfettered depiction of a bygone, and much-missed era.
Bösendorfer Upright - a very fun upright instrument that sings in a controlled manner.
German 1904 Upright - a gentleman. a charmer in all the registries and quickly makes one smile.

VI Labs Modern D
Playability/dynamic range makes multi-hour sessions a sheer delight.

I hope you enjoyed my descriptions above. They were written spontaneously, in the moment (similar to how I play the piano). I strongly believe that the capabilities, and wide variety of VSTs today is phenomenal, and it's easy to overlook how spoiled we are today, versus the olden days when the digital piano/VST offerings were atrocious in comparison.

Happy playing!

pipAT

Just personal experience, subjective and not so serious

Claire: great for New Age, slow emotional expression

Grandeur: single sample sounds thin, but playing together seems versatile for everything

C.Bechstein Digital: great for fast agile classical and jazz pieces, lacks strength playing modern slow songs require roundness and thickness

Garritan CFX: classical great for concert experience, player great for pop, modern songs, not so much for jazz

Noire: great for modern pop ambience stuff, not so much for classical works and jazz

Some versatile: OT Rosewood Grand 2, TT Orchestral Grand, Truekeys German, Addictive Keys

Pianoteq: great for fast classical and jazz pieces that show less details on single tone, shows weakness in pop pieces focusing on high register notes

PV Production Grand 2: single sample sounds sweet, great for pop stuff, playing together sound muddy and noisy, not transparent and clean, although tone is thick and warm

David B

Something I've noticed is that I could be content with a 200 mb onboard library. I love the onboard sampled pianos in my Nord Stage 4. There is a great variety of concert grands, mid-sized grands, and uprights. Steinway, Yamaha, Fazioli, Kawai, Bosendorfer, and Grotrian-Steinweg are all represented. Each piano has its own unique character. I haven't gotten tired of playing them over the last few weeks.

I contacted Nord to find out more about their White Grand (Steinway B) because it's one of the best sounding sampled pianos I've heard. Due to the size of the library it lacks sustain and a full dynamic range, but it is unmatched in terms of realism to my ears. They haven't responded back yet and I don't think they are going to. I was hoping I could buy the full library somewhere. Someone mentioned Sampletekk, but they don't offer a Steinway B.

I don't think I've ever been content with onboard acoustic pianos. I've more or less just tolerated them. I actually enjoy the onboard Nord pianos.

God Bless,
David

zrstr

I would like to add?:

Ravenscroft 275 - has been overshadowed by the newer Modern D, but I actually prefer the Ravenscroft. The tone of the underlying acoustic Ravenscroft is more metallic in the upper ranges (and other aspects of the tone of the underlying acoustic Ravenscroft piano are an acquired taste or unconventional for classical music), but the Ravenscroft solves for me the problem I have with the Modern D being muted (or lacking sustain) in the upper ranges or even in the upper tenor range. The Ravenscroft feels balanced (for me) across the low to upper ranges such that I can make melodies in the right hand sing similar to on most acoustic pianos I've tried. It also has the articulate releases of the newer VILabs libraries that put it (and Modern D, and Modern U) a step above other libraries.

pianow

HeartKeys Steinway D-274 - most beautiful sounding Steinway that bucks my general perception of the maker

funny how people say it doesn't sound like a steinway at all, i also think that it's a very good steinway d (after trying a ton of them)

but I'd say the factory presets are absolute garbage, you can get a very good tone even with one single close mic, a little eq and compression would immensely help to get more warmth and body (which i dare to say it makes it sound as warm and rich as the modern d but brighter 🙂 )

synchron pianos in general aren't the type of pianos that you would load and play, they require extra effort (and you should know what you're doing otherwise it'll take you weeks to figure things or even more)

FREIRE

Modern D - Very detailed and round sound. Not my favorite piano tough. Too much felt sound in this NY Steinway voicing. But is the best to play.

VSL D-274 - Nice baked in reverb, good treble when the midi curve is adjusted, not so nice bass imho.

VSL - CFX the one that I like more from VSL - Balanced - great piano

HeartKeys

pianow

VSL has become my go-to for "practicing how to play finnicky pianos" lol. It has inadvertently made me better in my playing as a result, since I have to be extremely delicate, particularly when playing the D-274 (and then the 280VC, and then Imperial, in that order).

Also, other than 280VC, the four Stage B pianos seem to have very very insensitive dynamic range. Playing p vs f on the Fazioli F212, or Bechstein Upright, for example, it's a huge challenge getting more variety in the dynamics. Basically the complete opposite of the D-274.

As I've seen in some posts before, Synchron/VSL is intended for blending with their other software (symphonic etc), which I wholly agree.

To me though, it's a shame, given how beautiful their 1) acoustic pianos are; and 2) how well it's mic'ed (in the raw state).

Okay, back to trying to be positive again. 🙂 🙂

pianow

HeartKeys Also, other than 280VC, the four Stage B pianos seem to have very very insensitive dynamic range. Playing p vs f on the Fazioli F212, or Bechstein Upright, for example, it's a huge challenge getting more variety in the dynamics. Basically the complete opposite of the D-274

i think it's more about the pianos themselves, the c.bechstein upright and the f212 aren't dynamic pianos to being with, i also think that their next studio pianos are going to be better, especially since the next one is going to be a steinway (a model B perhaps and i HOOOPE they'd sample a yamaha c7 after that)

HeartKeys As I've seen in some posts before, Synchron/VSL is intended for blending with their other software (symphonic etc), which I wholly agree

for me that's the positive side, most pianist virtual pianos aren't really good for making music and that's what i do, but vsl pianos can do a lot in a mix, however i don't use their stage a pianos, too roomy and reverberant for my liking and of course my music, as for now the modern d is my go to but i expect that to change with the next vsl piano (unless it's a very a bad piano 🙂 )

pianow

FREIRE Modern D - Very detailed and round sound. Not my favorite piano tough. Too much felt sound in this NY Steinway voicing. But is the best to play

the all around clean is the best preset, it has a brighter sound to it so it's less felty, you can go naturally louder and harsher with it, it's my go to

but yea the basic and default tone is a bit too rounded, maybe even muted, i think the worst decision that vilabs has made was to sample a very factory fresh piano, the piano sound so immature, and the sustain on the higher notes is basically none existent, i think a 5 year old steinway d is the better choice here in any way

and it'll still sounds like a MODERN grand

HeartKeys

pianow the all around clean is the best preset, it has a brighter sound to it so it's less felty, you can go naturally louder and harsher with it, it's my go to

but yea the basic and default tone is a bit too rounded, maybe even muted

Yeah. sometimes I'll do that, or I'll do the Concert setting and add the "tone" parameter. Though that mostly just makes it more treble in the audio, versus making the hammer sound harder.

If VI Labs does a C.Bechstein D282 or Steinway Hamburg D, then I'm 100% in, especially if the dynamic range of their software coding is as good as Modern D.

pianow

HeartKeys Yeah. sometimes I'll do that, or I'll do the Concert setting and add the "tone" parameter. Though that mostly just makes it more treble in the audio, versus making the hammer sound harder

I don't use the tone knob at all, it boosts/cuts a very nasal area, it doesn't brighten up the sound at all.

HeartKeys If VI Labs does a C.Bechstein D282 or Steinway Hamburg D, then I'm 100% in, especially if the dynamic range of their software coding is as good as Modern D

you got me all excited for nothing, happy now?😂