VSL Concert D 1887 Review

David B @QuasiUnaFantasia You seem to have a refined taste and are knowledgeable on a broad range of subjects, does this 1887 appeal to you?

A comment such as that one is sure to boost my ego beyond its already inflated level. 😁

I do like the sound of vintage instruments; I grew up with a grand from that same era, and I much prefer the "old" style of sound (actually old styles, because there was more diversity in earlier times). I also like this particular Steinway, but I felt the bass part of the frequency spectrum was too dominant, and I would have wanted the bass equalized somewhat down. Also, you have applied more reverb than I would have done, so there is relatively more of the room to hear and relatively less of the instrument itself, than I would have chosen. All in all, I would love to play that virtual Steinway regularly.

Also, I have to mention that I too am impressed with your playing. It's very sensitive and beautiful.

QuasiUnaFantasia I also like this particular Steinway, but I felt the bass part of the frequency spectrum was too dominant, and I would have wanted the bass equalized somewhat down.

I felt the bass was a bit too boomy as well and that's why I removed the tube mic from the Player surround to stereo preset. It seemed to remove some of that boomy sound. I don't know if you got a chance to hear some recordings of the actual instrument, but the bass is more natural sounding to my ears in the video below. I don't know why that is. Maybe once you lose some of the sympathetic resonance during the sampling process, more of the fundamental is left, and that's why the bass seems a bit more boomy in the finished product? I'm ignorant and I really don't know what I'm talking about but I'm sure there is an explanation for the difference.

God bless,
David

David B Now if they would just add a sus2 feature - or something comparable to improve string and pedal resonance - like on the Vienna Imperial, VSL would be king of the virtual piano hill.

Yes I think they could improve by adding a little bit of modelling. In particular, a new string resonance thing that would basically leave the sound intact, just make resonance work 😉 Their current resonance is toned down or off by default, because it wrecks the sound if dialled up to suitable resonance level. The same thing that I was experiencing when experimenting with simple sidechaining of Ptq resonance to other VSTs. They don't even support silent keypress for resonance.

Tweaking the input curve sure improved my VSL experience. I've noticed you've adjusted a few keys individually. I was too lazy to fiddle with this, but have noticed that several of their models would benefit from certain response equalisation, I assume this could be done automatically, perhaps in different ways (I've never experienced such a thing with a built-in piano engine). Otherwise, the playability is mostly okay with me.

It will probably be difficult to get una corda samples to pianos that lack them, but perhaps they could cheat, offer ways to mod the default samples for una corda.

I find the 1887 in the top half of the VSL pianos I've tried. Synchron B. Imperial would be my top pick (haven't tried the Studio version), followed by the F307. But I've got Modern D and and G.CFX and don't think hoarding piano VSTs makes much sense to me, especially if they're not perfect in all aspects. Will likely succumb come next discount season if they fix these things 😉

Lately, I have been enjoying putting the resonance at -10db. It still isn't a contest with Modern D or Pianoteq, but I still like it more than without it. I got the idea from a video that VSL Vincent did.

I 100% agree about the boominess of the bass on the 1887, but I also like the texture added by the tube mic. My current thinking is that the problem can be solved with EQ or an external reverb engine that changes color.

My problem is that I really should be doing all the mic mixing at recording time instead of worrying how it feels to play live... But playing is my favorite part. 😊

_sem_ Will likely succumb come next discount season if they fix these things 😉

Succumbing to the 1887 is like getting cotton candy at the fair. However, the 1887 is a special treat that you can enjoy every day if you want. 🍭

David B Thanks for the review, it sounds great. I downloaded a demo of the 1887, I haven’t really played it properly yet but it seems like an interesting instrument.

johanibraaten I downloaded a demo of the 1887, I haven’t really played it properly yet but it seems like an interesting instrument.

With the help of David Lai listening to several recordings for me, I've changed my preset slightly to make the piano a bit more forward like a typical player preset. You can download it below. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I favor the Sphere mic for the cleanest sound.

God Bless,
David

David B Thanks, I'll try it out this evening.

Thanks for sharing, David B. Your velocity curve seems to work well with my N1X for the VSL 1887. I like your custom mix without the tube, but I also like it with the tube in the default player surround to stereo mix.

If I want it to move the piano sound forward, I stack the Waves CLA-76 (blacky/bluey) and smoothen with the CLA-2A together. I think these compressors might help reduce the boominess of 1887 and the piano tone seems unchanged, but I can’t be sure as my hearing is not great. Although, these compressors could be more useful when mixing with synths. 🤔

David B Hi David, I was not able to open your preset in the Synchron piano player. As I understand it it should be possible to drop it on the interface but it doesn’t work, any ideas?

Anyway, I played with the microphones myself and found a mix of the sphere mic and mid2 to work fine for me. I must say I like this piano, and I get some really nostalgic feelings when playing it. I used to be a part of a piano quintette for many years and where we used to rehearse they had an old Malmsjö (Swedish brand) concert grand from around 1900. That piano had the most lovely vintage sound and the VSL 1887 reminds me very much of that piano. I’ll have to play it some more but I can see myself buying it this autumn when (if) VSL have their yearly 40% discount for educators and students😊.

johanibraaten Hi David, I was not able to open your preset in the Synchron piano player. As I understand it it should be possible to drop it on the interface but it doesn’t work, any ideas?

Add it to the folder that VSL creates for presets. The location on my Mac is in Documents and it says VSL. Follow that until you get to presets and drop it in with your other presets. It then should show up in the Synchron Piano player under the user section.

johanibraaten That piano had the most lovely vintage sound and the VSL 1887 reminds me very much of that piano. I’ll have to play it some more but I can see myself buying it this autumn when (if) VSL have their yearly 40% discount for educators and students😊.

I don't have any experience with real vintage instruments so there is no reference point for me. I did own the VSL Bluthner 1895, and while it sounded unique, I found the tone and dynamic range limited. I don't find that at all with the Steinway 1887. The tone is unique but contemporary enough and the dynamic range is very impressive. Soft, delicate, rounded tones to blooming, rich overtones. I love it.

God Bless,
David

David B Add it to the folder that VSL creates for presets. The location on my Mac is in Documents and it says VSL. Follow that until you get to presets and drop it in with your other presets. It then should show up in the Synchron Piano player under the user section.

Thanks, but I actually just did that and it didn't show up. Also my own presets that I've made isn't in that folder and I have no idea where they are located😊 Maybe VSL have changed something in a recent update?

johanibraaten Thanks, but I actually just did that and it didn't show up. Also my own presets that I've made isn't in that folder and I have no idea where they are located😊 Maybe VSL have changed something in a recent update?

johanibraaten restart your DAW just in case?

dikrek Thanks but I don't use a DAW for just playing, only the standalone player.

David B Hmm, I did put it in that exact folder and it doesn't show up. And my other custom preset isn't in that folder.....strange🤔

Vlad Thanks, found it! The preset folder has ended up in the velocity curve folder for some reason. I put David presets there together with my other custom preset and now it works. Is there a simple way to restore the default path?

johanibraaten Save your presets to another folder unrelated to VSL. Delete the original VSL folder and all its contents. Open the Synchron player and save a new preset (anything) and it will restore the defult pathway by creating a new VSL folder. Transfer your presets into the preset folder (restored pathway) and you're all set.

David B ave your presets to another folder unrelated to VSL. Delete the original VSL folder and all its contents. Open the Synchron player and save a new preset (anything) and it will restore the defult pathway by creating a new VSL folder. Transfer your presets into the preset folder (restored pathway) and you're all set.

So I did like you say but the new file structure becomes the same i. e. the VSL folder that should be right under the document folder is created in the (new) velocity curve folder. Not a big problem since it works but still strange.

Do the two of you have the same version of the software? Sometimes software developers shuffle things around for no obvious reason.