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A brand new Steinway from VSL: 1887 model D concert grand

jiang

I found that they are using the Lewitt LCT 1040 and Lewitt LCT 540S microphones, which is quite rare. Lewitt used to be an Austrian company, but now it is almost a Chinese company, and all its products are made in China. This microphone brand is commonly seen in online streaming (similar to Blue, which was acquired by Logitech), so I don't have a good impression of it. I much prefer it when they used Neumann tube microphones like in the past.


johanibraaten

It also has a recorded una corda pedal.



Las

I'll wait for your feedback before buying it...


clavierhaus

David Lai really? I’m awake now!

You should be. We really went the extra mile to get una corda in a way that so far is unheard of. My technician is a Kawai MPA and we ordered special voicing needles for una corda. You will be thrilled by the sound of it.


David Lai

clavierhaus That's great to hear!

Well, unfortunately, I may not be able to use VSL products for a long time, because the Vienna Assistant app isn't accessible. Yes, I can read certain things on the user interface, but the most important thing -- downloading software and library components, is impossible to achieve using a screen reader. So, that's literally throwing money down the drain, and I'm not ready to do that.

Hear that, VSL? Get your accessiblity right, and I might still trust you.


pianow

jiang

i say you're wrong, i'm a big big microphone nerd (i know how weird that sounds) and i've been working with lewitt mics for almost 5 years, and i never heard or read any bad reviews on them, especially the lct 540 s (the quietest mic - made for sampling) and the 1040 (the most versatile of all time),

and even though they make them in china, they're still some of the best mics on the market, some pro vocalists only use their lct 440 and you can't find a single flaw in their bedroom recordings 🙂


pianow

clavierhaus It's what you have been waiting for: a brand new Steinway, this time it's my 1887 Steinway D - and just be blown away by the sound of the una corda that you've all wanted.

johanibraaten It also has a recorded una corda pedal.

whoa whoa whoa WHAT????


pianow

i was fkng right 🙂 lol


David Lai

pianow I was like "hold the phone…" And yeah, like you, I was wide awake when hearing they had a sampled una corda!


pianow

David Lai

i still can't believe it 🙂 what do you think about the tone? that vintage complex sustain (that i personally love)


jiang

pianow Yes, their quality is very good, and the design is equally outstanding. However, in China, this brand seems to have significant issues with its distribution channels. If purchased through official channels in Europe, Lewitt is definitely a no-brainer choice. But here, things are different. The company's casing molds have been compromised to a certain extent, leading to a market flooded with counterfeit products (even some high-end models), which only differ in minor details such as font printing.Moreover, even high-end Lewitt products sold in China are often available as complete sets at one-third of the regular price or even lower. I believe some of this is caused by their local distributors deliberately reducing the prices.When I first started getting into microphones and recording, the microphone I most wanted was Lewitt's tube microphone. But now, I’m not very willing to buy brand-new units or very cheap second-hand ones, even if they may not have any issues. (In China, there’s an old saying: products that can be exported abroad tend to be of higher quality than those sold domestically. Due to quality control, environmental standards, etc., some defective or substandard products may be resold within China.)


Look, the price is one-third of that in the United States. This is a brand new item that has only been photographed, unlike those sealed ones which cost around $1,300. I can guarantee this microphone is genuine.This is why I find the current situation of this brand strange.


OlivierW

We can clearly hear the missing resonances between the real piano and the virtual one. All resonance simulations in VSL sound fake and aren’t truly playable. I don’t understand why they don’t implement proper repedaling, sympathetic resonance, and silent key behavior ( VI LABS UVI engine and script are better and incredible than this bad VSL engine). The sound itself is warm, but you can tell this Steinway isn’t perfectly restored and regulated. They never seem to improve their software — it’s a shame.


jdg78

This looks awesome - can't wait to try it out. I'm downloading the free demo now and will give it a spin this evening. I'm a huge fan of vintage pianos (love the VSL Bluthner) so really looking forward to this.

clavierhaus You should be. We really went the extra mile to get una corda in a way that so far is unheard of. My technician is a Kawai MPA and we ordered special voicing needles for una corda. You will be thrilled by the sound of it.

You mean they finally added real una corda samples to a Synchron piano? 🤯 I have to confess I doubted it would ever happen...

Better late than never, though!


pianow

jiang

wow that's disturbing, i live in the middle east and everything we got has came directly from the company itself and most of them are fine, but seems like that's not the case in all the world,

anyway, the vsl is two streets away from lewitt's headquarters so i wouldn't worry about anything there lol 🙂


pianow

jiang Look, the price is one-third of that in the United States. This is a brand new item that has only been photographed, unlike those sealed ones which cost around $1,300. I can guarantee this microphone is genuine.This is why I find the current situation of this brand strange.

i get it, it feels weird, not gonna lie if i wanted to purchase anything that expensive i would jump on the older brands like neumann and such, even though i love lewitt


pianow

jdg78

this is it buddy 🙂 what do you think about the sound though?


David Lai

pianow Very vintage, and full of character.


David Lai

jdg78 Yep, and that's 10 years too late for una corda!!!


pipAT

This is Studio Series, not Synchron, keywords: dryer, tighter, cleaner.


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