VSL Synchron Bösendorfer Imperial

as much as i love the bosie imperial by vsl (both sound and playability), i mean it's my favorite vsl piano alongside the legendary vsl cfx, and even though i don't like to break things to people i'd still say that i have a little issue with the imperial that made me not wanting to spend money on it, the sustain pedal lowest samples are pretty loud, it's not just a dynamic level issue, they also sound brighter then the typical ppp range, i mean noticeably… so whenever you depress the sus pedal, you'd lose a great deal in the softer dynamics.

-i only say this because we're in an objective forum and should inform each other about such short comings (me personally, i had a lot of bad purchases because most people are just positive talkers and they always telling you the pros about these products and never the cons), i also say that it's a deal braker TO ME, maybe you don't care about such things in your playing and it's not an issue for you,

anyway my heart was broken when i found out about this because non of other vsl pianos ever convinced me the way their imperial did (both in sound and playability)

and then when i reached out to them they said the typical nonsense : the piano itself sounds like that.

yea sure, a well maintained $500K concert grand loses half of its dynamic range when its sustain pedal is depressed, i believe you, but i also believe in marvel movies so don't mind me 🙂

pianow

Thanks pianow. After checking it and playing for like an hour to make sure in the context of what Im playing, it is no deal breaker for me..it doesn’t bother me. But when i focus on it on its own, yeah you can definitely hear it’s a bit louder. I still get the dynamics I need though. . cheers for the honesty )

pianow Hey btw may I ask what you think of the Ravel grand by UAD playing wise?

testing the Fazioli F308 now, started around 4 in the morning.my usual wakeupTime…european time Feels pretty great so far.

pianow i believe you, but i also believe in marvel movies so don't mind me 🙂

😄

HZ

vvf

unfortunately i never tried it, but have heard it's nice

not vsl-vilabs-modartt nice, but nice haha

vvf

Interesting you mention the F308. It was never my favorite tone, but I played it again and am starting to enjoy the playability.

I think it was voiced pretty soft so perhaps it just masks my issues with technique 🙂

The opposite spectrum of that for me is the D-274 and 280VC. On VSL they both sound so present and substantial… but unfortunately the velocity challenges become more evident to me.

In short—I used to complain about the F308, but one thing I like is that it feels smoother for some reason.

HeartKeys Fazioli has a lower dynamic to me  so it’s easier to play certain things for me especially delicate velocity..it feels great. But the imperial when I play it now feels perfect. Im practicing Stravinskys Etude Op. 7/4 now on just one mic and every detail comes through without any trouble. At the akademia i play on an old Bechstein btw. Looking at these vsts now I really like them. Someone said vsts wont be as good as native sounds vel wise  on digital piano controllers but this Vsl is way better.

HeartKeys The opposite spectrum of that for me is the D-274 and 280VC. On VSL they both sound so present and substantial… but unfortunately the velocity challenges become more evident to me.

the more you play, the more velocity problems would show up

that's the thing that made me dislike most of their pianos especially the concert d.

HeartKeys but one thing I like is that it feels smoother for some reason.

i think that has something to do with their newer recording techniques, their close micing methods has changed a bit and they place the mics closer to the hammers and the string so they pick up more thud sound (that dull woody attack that simply isn't present in any other stage a piano)

HeartKeys may i ask what about Garritan? Do you like it much also? Also what velocity curve do you use in your controller or in Garritan? does anyone here uses this plugin with korg action? cheers

vvf may i ask what about Garritan? Do you like it much also? Also what velocity curve do you use in your controller or in Garritan?

I like Garritan's playability about 90% as much as I do the Modern D. It's my second-favorite with regards to playability. And the tone has always been reliable for me, for all genres, and for both solo and for overlay.

I do like Garritan's playability more than the VSL pianos (again, this is more about Garritan vs. VSL, instead of Yamaha CFX vs. Fazioli/Bosendorfer/Steinway etc).

Seems like it's one of the "aged like fine wine" software given how old it is now, compared to things like Modern D, VSL (F212, 280VC), latest Pianoteqs (280VC, SK-EX), Claire, etc.

HeartKeys Thanks Heartkeys. )

HeartKeys

Yes, thanks from me as well.

Garritan CFX continually keeps tickling my interest/GAS combo. The core piano tone suits me quite a bit better than Modern D, however technically perfect the latter is. Yesterday evening I did some comparisons on YouTube that reconfirmed this -- in particular I re-listened (and much enjoyed) Mozart K333 by some obscure pianist by the name of @David Lai 😉, played on the Garritan and on Modern D respectively.

I don't want to spend too much money, I don't want to allocate ~130Gb of storage space, and I'm not into ambient piano sounds.

Therefore: how satisfied -- do you think -- could I be with 'just" Garritan CFX Lite?!

I know, I've asked people about this perhaps on a yearly basis, but you know, overthinking 'n all, ambivalence towards digital 'n all… 'n all…

🙂

Cheers!

HZ

HZPiano Therefore: how satisfied -- do you think -- could I be with 'just" Garritan CFX Lite?!

I’d be glad to collaborate a bit on your decision making on this, via DM— in case folks here want to revert convo back re: Imperial (the initial topic header).

Look forward to my DM soon! 🙂

I stumbled across this on YouTube and thought I'd post it here as it's got to be one of the most impressive instrument demos I've ever seen.

I have to confess I'd never heard of this particular artist prior to this video, but wow - what I wouldn't give for a technique like that.

jdg78 I have to confess I'd never heard of this particular artist prior to this video, but wow

Very talented, and she's using a Nord as the controller.

God Bless,
David

HZPiano

Garritan Lite provides only one mic. Garritan Full takes 130gig space, but each three perspectives is about 38gig. After full installation, you can play for awhile and decide to keep the best perspective and delete the rest samples in Sample folder, namely X(classic),Y(contemporary),Z(player), of which X is commonly said to be the best but the wettest, not for everyone's taste, especially for players who is already accustomed to drier studio grand.

pipAT

Hello,

I didn't know this, thank you!

Cheers,

HZ