VI Labs: Modern U Review

vagfilm HZ: you were warned

I was!

Curiosity killed the… eh… whatever it killed.

I got into piano from my first instrumental love, which is the double bass. Learning melody and harmony on piano makes for a better understanding of and feel for the specific role of the bass. Or so Rufus Reid says and he's right of course. I can't have one (a double bass) in my current personal situation (am building an electric surrogate but that takes ages) but still want to get on with some bass as well. That is what tipped me into Noire more than other qualities (or lack thereof) of it.

Cheers and happy Jazz,

HZ

HZ:in my non-expert opinion, NI pianos are hopeless, in the same way as Pianoteq - are almost there, definitely not bad, but there are better options. And you don't need a second not-great piano.
My suggestion: let all BF offers expire, and then put Noire to sale (if that is possible with Native Instruments...). Keep the money to a future VILabs or the Bluethner.

vagfilm put Noire to sale

Not there yet!

I'll first see what I can learn from it and to what Jazzy use it may take me.

And see after that.

Cheers and happy explorations,

HZ

Thanks for the words of welcome, guys!

Yes, I'm JaneF on pianoworld. When I signed up there in 2008 some imposter(!!) had already used "Jane" as a username so I added my initial.

I played with VSTi a bit many years ago (posted some comparison MIDI recordings back in 2010 with the old Ivory 1 pianos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Kj8KQjzBbIZRudXczWQBA).

Then thereafter used only my piano's built-in voice up until this summer. (It's another story as to why VSTi reared its head then. )

So I've been interested in the opinions and advice on the instruments' capabilities and settings tricks and tweaks. And have purchased several VSTi in the past months.

Cheers,

Jane

Jane welcome Jane!

I am curious about which VSTs have you bought, if you don't mind to tell us. I am a confessed VST hoarder 😇 and always curious about other people's preferences 😄

Jose

Hi @johanibraaten,

I was wondering if you'd have made any satisfactory progress in balancing out note volumes from low to high with Modern U? And if so, whether you like the results?

Just curious…

Cheers and happy playing,

HZ

HZPiano I was wondering if you'd have made any satisfactory progress in balancing out note volumes from low to high with Modern U? And if so, whether you like the results?

Hi.

Unfortunately I haven't had much time to fiddle with Modern U lately. But I've made some progress with it by adjusting the velocity curve and dynamics to tit the lower registers and "tame" the treble with the eq and tone-knob. As I mentioned earlier I've got the VelPro app to balance the velocity response but haven't had the time to use it yet. My biggest problem with the modern U though is still the C5-C6 region with it's clucking attack…..

johanibraaten It’s a shame you are not liking the Modern U. It sounds and plays really well to my ears (HD600 headphones). It is distinctly an upright sample and I use it for practice. To record, I will most likely use Ravenscroft or the internal SK Jazz/Ballad.

TomLC sounds and plays really well

Hello,

Yes, it is absolutely lovely and it is my no. 1 play/learn/practise piano too.

Yet I do understand @johanibraaten's hesitations, in the octave he mentions I have a bit of reservations as well. For me, the tone knob at -5 substantially mitigates this but if this octave were as totally perfect as everything else in Modern U, it would be even more lovely.

Cheers and the happiest playing,

HZ

@TomLC @HZPiano

I really want to become friends with the Modern U because I want a good upright piano. Right now I'm evaluating VSL:s Bösendorfer upright and in the mentioned areas I think it's better than the Modern U but it has other peculiarities that I'm not too fond of. And as with the other VSL Synchron pianos it is very demanding on computer resources that is a little off-putting…

johanibraaten And as with the other VSL Synchron pianos it is very demanding on computer resources that is a little off-putting…

I love my VSL Bösenderfer Imperial, but I wish it was optimized (Universal binary) for Apple's M1 like the Modern U is, and I wish it was only 10GB like the Modern U instead of 300GB.

VILabs does it right. I wonder why they don't come out with more products?

God Bless,
David

David B wonder why they don't come out with more products?

Hello,

Compared to other companies, this is peculiar indeed.

It may well be their strength: do only pianos, put an abundance of time, effort and love in each of them, and do them well.

Quality over quantity. That is a mindset I cherish and would love to see globally as a new normal.

Cheers and happy enjoying,

HZ

David B I wish it was only 10GB like the Modern U instead of 300GB.

VILabs does it right.

I agree with that, the sound quality of the Modern U is very good. It also has una corda and real string/sympathehtic resonance samples that VSL lacks.

johanibraaten real string/sympathehtic resonance samples that VSL lacks.

Wow, I didn't know VSL doesn't do resonance samples. Does that apply to all their pianos?

In Modern U, those sampled resonances are a delight. They truly sing.

I'm currently toying with NI Noire, which has modeled resonances, and that just isn't it. Same with the Pianoteq demo I tried recently.

Cheers and happy singing,

HZ

HZPiano Wow, I didn't know VSL doesn't do resonance samples. Does that apply to all their pianos?

There is some kind of sympathetic resonance but it is more geared towards how resonance affect the overall sound, not for example producing harmonics from silent keypress. You can have some of that effect if you crank up the symphatetc resonance to maximum level, but it produces a very unnatural effect and is totally useless at that level. The sympathetic resonance in Modern U is very good and it's fascinating that it is 100% sample based.

HZPiano I'm currently toying with NI Noire, which has modeled resonances, and that just isn't it. Same with the Pianoteq demo I tried recently.

On this I have to disagree, I think string resonance is one of Pianoteqs strongest points.

I really think the Grandeur and Maverick are very good instruments though and it never felt like there is really something missing for me with them

Gamma1734 I really think the Grandeur and Maverick are very good instruments though

Me too. I've set aside Vintage D (which was my standard for years) and I'm now using Grandeur exclusively.

Gamma1734 I really think the Grandeur and Maverick are very good instruments though and it never felt like there is really something missing for me with them

I've never tried them but thanks for the tip! I'm quite new to the sample based VI:s so I have a lot to discover 😃 .

Can someone please help me. I read a lot of good things said about this virtual instrument but Im really struggling to make this sound half decent. In fact I find myslef going back to the wonderful ptq Upright U4 all the time. It just sounds very muffled and muddy, particularly in the bass. Just sounds awful. I have RME Babyface and Nord Stage EX. It kinda feels like something is wrong. It cant be this bad. Anyone have any ideas.

MalcolmH Can someone please help me. I read a lot of good things said about this virtual instrument but Im really struggling to make this sound half decent. In fact I find myslef going back to the wonderful ptq Upright U4 all the time. It just sounds very muffled and muddy, particularly in the bass. Just sounds awful. I have RME Babyface and Nord Stage EX. It kinda feels like something is wrong. It cant be this bad. Anyone have any ideas.

The velocity curve and gain curve are essential (for me) in getting a better tone out of the library. My velocity curve is custom and my gain curve is a preset. Unfortunately, I can't show screenshots of my settings because my library is on my external SSD that I left at work. I've tweaked my mic settings recently after getting an idea from someone here on the forum and I feel it's the best sound I've gotten out of the Modern U to date. I'll post screenshots in a few days when I'm back in the office.

God Bless,
David