Pianoteq or sampled libraries?

Nik · 2025-03-22T11:27:46+00:00

Greetings to you readers, I’m considering purchasing a new VST, and Pianoteq has caught my attention. On the forums, I’ve read various pros and cons compared to using a sampled library, and one of my main doubts was about the sound quality, which initially didn’t fully convince me. However, after listening to some demos of older versions and comparing them to the more recent ones, I’ve noticed a significant improvement. I would primarily use it for practicing, as the feel it provides on my keyboard is very similar to that of an acoustic piano. In your opinion, could this be a valid choice? Do you think the gap in terms of sound will be further reduced in the coming years?

Nik

Additionally, I wanted to apologize if my post sparked any debates. It was not my intention to start any kind of argument. However, I will keep your advice in mind in case I decide to change my opinion in the future.

StephenLL

I've been reading all the posts on the pros/cons of sample libraries and also about Pianoteq. I have both and use both a lot. When I can't practice on my acoustic which is most days, I have two family members that work on different shifts in hospitals, I spend a few hours practicing on a midi controller and a VST.

I really think the older Pianoteq soundboard engines sound unrealistic. But I really like the new Bosendorfer and the Kawai. To my ears they sound great with my the Bosendorfer being my goto at the moment. Equally I really like Modern D for its Steinway. I don't find it as repsonsive as the Pianoteq but it is a much better Steinway. But I also find it sounds unrealistic and plastic for several notes and velocities. I had the same reaction to the Steinway in Pianoteq but to a lesser degrees with the Modern D. I also like the simplicity of the Modern D interface. Pianoteq is great if you want to get into editing the finest of details but most don't want or need that. Modern D makes it pretty straightforward to change the settings.

If I had to pick one, it would be the Pianoteq because it also works on my iPad and that is always with me with a smaller controller. Hopefully Modern D will make it to the iPad as well.

Just sharing another opinion.

Stephen

pianow

Nik

no worries bud

these kinds of bs is quite normal round here, you'll get use to it.

David Lai

Nik I'm glad PTQ is working out for your needs. I believe it has a velocity tool where you can set your own curve. I've accessed it using NVDA on the main interface.

That said, you are certainly missing out on some great-sounding libraries.

David Lai

Pete14 Pete, don't change the subject. By "pedaling" I meant "selling."

Pete14

David Lai Pete, don't change the subject. By "pedaling" I meant "selling."

Oh, I see, you mean to say “peddling.” 😁

But to be clear (in case anyone is thinking about it), I will never stop pedaling Pianoteq!

HeartKeys

I'd say Modern D. Its "cons" are less significant to me than Pianoteq (sound; yes 280VC and SK-EX sound much better, so it's inevitable PTQ is improving lots; but still ways to go) and VSL (velocity issues; I only enjoy it for the sound these days, but absolutely never for practicing technique).

The things I like less about Modern D are not game breakers for me. It's not my top pick for sound, but it's definitely good/very good. As far as velocity (apparently it has dynamic range for each mic), I actually like it even better than Pianoteq for some reason.

Anyway, I'd recommend to just make a decision and stick with it, and enjoy what you can from it. There's never going to be a VST, or acoustic for that matter, that everyone universally only loves and has zero dislikes about.

_sem_

Nik I downloaded the demo and tried it out, and I must say that I feel more comfortable with Pianoteq. I have the VSL CFX, and I really like the sound, but in terms of feel, I don’t connect with it as much as I do with Pianoteq, and the sound of Pianoteq works perfectly for me. I’m also curious to play around with the settings. Additionally, after browsing through some forums, I noticed that VSL hasn’t handled certain parameters for their pianos well, …

This generally sounds reasonable. It is the most important how you feel about a certain VST subjectively when playing certain kind of music and with the amplification you've got. Pre-recorded demos are not good enough unfortunately, so free demos are the best there is. VSL indeed isn't great for the sympathetic resonance, but some other sampled ones do it better (someone even made instructions how to use Pianoteq sympatethic resonance with sampled VSTs that lack it).

I think Pianoteq is kind-of okay, the best I've heard among the modelled VST, very customizable, is "playable" and consistent, has way less storage requirements than the sampled ones. I thought the sound was good initially, but with better headphones it turns out that it isn't as good as the better of the sampled ones.

With the sampled ones it turns out that they can sound much better (via decent amplification) but that each has certain imperfections one runs into now and then, so one keeps trying a bunch of them which works better for this or that. Even the Roland built-in sound, despised by many, is less problematic overall than the whole bunch of esteemed sampled VSTs.

Make sure you've got quality headphones before making these decisions.

HZPiano

Hello,

Today I made the trip to a reputable piano dealer and played (plus a few others) Roland LX6, Kawai CA701, Yamaha P525, and a house brand piano featuring TP400/W. (All of them through my own pair of Sennheiser HD560S; the speaker sound of all these models, even the expensive ones, is so disappointing…)

In particular while playing the Kawai, I had surprising thoughts along the line of: "If I buy this, I can perfectly do without my VSTi piano -- these built-in Kawai samples are so nice!".

Then, after coming home late in the evening I thought Let me fire up my VSTi piano now that the memories of the store visit are still fresh.

And boy oh boy -- it is a different world altogether. No way the built-in samples (even those nice Kawai ones) could replace this.

My favorite is VI Labs Modern U, as recommended also by @David Lai above. Its sound is rich, real, has body, has breathing space, makes actual music. I literally was back home -- physically and at my favorite piano.

As for Pianoteq, it is not my cup of tea. The nice thing about it, as others will undoubtedly have already mentioned, is that it is free, and super easy, to demo/test it yourself and form your own impressions and opinion about it.

Discussion/opinion wise, sampling vs. modeling is a never ending rabbit hole, as this thread also demonstrates with already about 30 posts in mere hours.

The (expensive) Roland I played today (which also uses a modeled sound engine) didn't sound half bad at first ear, but soon it was "yeah, modeled, not music to my ears".

I strongly believe that Modern U and Modern D are the best VSTi pianos around today.

Cheers and happy exploring,

@Nik

David Lai

HZPiano Very nicely said, HZ! I'm looking forward to when VI Labs will release their update to the Modern D. Basically, the fact they're making an already fine VST even better is very inspiring to me as a user.

Enjoy and immerse yourself with that rich-sounding Yamaha upright!!! 🙂

David Lai

Pete14 Oh, I see, you mean to say “peddling.”

Ah, I see. Sorry, I didn't know that the two are homophones. Thank you!

That said, unfortunately PTQ isn't my cup of tea, hated the sound the first minute I tried it. But to give them credit, they've got good playability and velocity curve customizability. Their historic instruments are also quite fine, except the nasal synthe metalicness is still present, less so than modern instruments, but still there.

David B

HZPiano Today I made the trip to a reputable piano dealer and played (plus a few others) Roland LX6, Kawai CA701, Yamaha P525, and a house brand piano featuring TP400/W. (All of them through my own pair of Sennheiser HD560S;

You had an interesting day. Waiting for a new discussion on your experience. I'm curious because I've been trying out the action on the P525 for the last 2 days. 🤔

God Bless,
David

HZPiano

David B

I've been thinking about writing a little report on my experiences. But first, I'll let my impressions sink in for a bit.

Basically, I found that feelings of "worth"/value of almost all of these instruments didn't match/reach the price tags. Also, the afternoon reconfirmed that none of the digital pianos have speaker systems that do a proper job.

Interesting and enjoyable it was for sure.

Cheers,

PS Trying the P525 now?! Hmmmm…

AlbertAndreu

I've only been in this world for a month. And I see that I'm a beginner. I'm using free VSTs, and I can't say much about them, except that the only free one I liked was SoundPaint Piano 1928 Steinway. But I see that I still need a lot of training. I'll learn from you through this forum. Thanks!

HZPiano

QuasiUnaFantasia After an hour I start getting a strong distaste for the entire universe and have to go out into nature for a while, in order to become myself again.

🤣

HZPiano

QuasiUnaFantasia As mentioned, I used it for a year, and I was a happy camper.

Of course! After every hour+ of playing, you had to go out camping in nature…

😉

HZPiano

_sem_ It is the most important how you feel about a certain VST subjectively when playing certain kind of music and with the amplification you've got. Pre-recorded demos are not good enough

This is essential!

Cheers,

HZPiano

Pete14 Note: the above is simply a taste of things to come (preliminary), so don’t go on saying “it looks phony,” or “synthetic.”

At (p)ea(c)(s)e. I won't.

All I'll say is:

It looks modeled!

Cheers,

😋

QuasiUnaFantasia

HZPiano On the flip side, we can surely expect model behaviour from it. 😁

HZPiano

QuasiUnaFantasia we can surely expect model behaviour from it.

Unlike from us silly sods… 😁

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