In the few years that I’ve been playing VSTs, I’ve managed to try most of the highly-regarded ones - Garritan, all of the VSL Synchron series, Ravenscroft, Embertone Walker, most NI (Noire, Grandeur, Maverick, Gentleman), Production Voices 300 Grand, Hammers & Waves, Sampletekk, Hammersmith Pro, and probably a few more I’m forgetting - and out of all of them, Garritan still has the best overall playability. Also one of the very few with real una corda samples.
The closest is VSL, which gets 95% of the way there in terms of playability, and which I prefer in terms of sound/recording quality, so end up using more frequently, but Garritan is still tops in terms
of being the most responsive and realistic.
It would be amazing if Garritan ever decided to record/release another piano with the same scripting magic they put into the CFX, but they are probably afraid they wouldn’t be able top it.
