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I also like "Alicia's Keys", available from Native Instruments (as a Kontakt instrument).
Lets hear it added to the list.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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By the way, sorry about some tempo changes caused by me not paying enough attention... Actually sounds good running a little faster but doesn't help the comparison. 
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Thanks Dan. I'll check prices now.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I would ask if you wouldn't mind taking this thread on a short side excursion, though it is related.
I have a little Akai MIDI keyboard on my desk. I only need it to hear an occasional pitch.
It works fine in BIAB, or in a DAW, but unless those are loaded, it makes no sound. Do any of these Virtual Pianos you are discussing work standalone? I want to load one in Windows, and have my Akai keyboard make a sound anytime, no matter what else is running. The ideal program would take very little in computer resources. Sound quality is not important, and all I need is a piano sound. I have searched but not found such a thing.
Thanks!
matt
Matt - as Dan mentioned the EZKeys programs work standalone... they have demo downloads... you just missed the "deal" at Sweetwater - $29.99 for the Classic Electrics... but if you see it again for that, it is certainly worth getting...
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IMHO -
PianoTeq gets 1st place, and TruePianos gets 2nd place (of the choices given). HOWEVER, I'm a keyboard player...
For non-keyboard players (i.e. having BIAB play MIDI or dragging in MIDI clips into a DAW and rendering) I would not be surprised if the opinion was that any VSTi would do.
If you are a keyboard player who has played acoustic and if you have a reference point about what an acoustic *should* sound like under difference circumstances (individual keys in/out of tune, new/old piano wire, hammer age/wear, etc.) then you will like the modeled VSTi's because they usually allow you to dial in these variables to taste (esp. PianoTeq).
Also, for players, how the VSTi's react to your use of the damper pedal makes a big difference.
To my ear, the PianoTeq and TruePianos VSTi's 'blossom' in response to the use of the damper pedal. I assume it is because they are calculating on the fly what waveform to be sent based on what notes are currently 'in play' and whether there is resonance from the other un-damped strings.
It is a sound different than room reverb, though. And apparently it is not something the 'rompler' VSTi's can reproduce on the fly because in their case, I assume the sound of the sample is 'baked into' the waveform, and the name of the game is to simply look up a sample to play at a given velocity.
To my ear, the modeled VSTi's have a more 'rolling' and 'evolving' effect, that changes based on how much the 'soundboard' in the VSTi is being driven when the damper pedal is down and allowing notes to sustain.
For the OP, I guess the best thing to do would be to demo as much as you can, in the context of the BIAB song you are mixing, and use your ear as the final judge.
Anyway, my two cents...
Chris
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What a nice app Pianoteq is! I installed the demo, just the standalone app, and it's perfect for what I wanted. Sounds great, too. Thanks.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Matt EDIT (actually have prices now) TruePianos comes with a standalone app and is on sale for $80 but if you have Jamstix you can cross grade for $29 or if you have valid Sonar 8 or 8.5 SN (or any later CW SN - you email them) you can get it for $56 end EDIT If you have FULL Kontakt (I'm sure you do) try the SampleTekk offerings (again on sale). I have most Sampletekk offerings. There are even some smaller ones (Steiny D Classic Grand sale $19.50) that are SFZ format (so the free SFZ player from Cakewalk or Plouge work just fine) - that are actually pretty good I have the others as mentioned well but actually prefer one I have for my Motif XS from KSounds Signature Piano C7. Trouble with Pianos (especially reading reviews by piano players) - if there are five reviewers then there are at least a dozen opinions. Not being a piano player I've been watching and reading all the piano "holy grail" search starting with HW synths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJH4UoB9z1c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rta1kxD0Pzghttps://brianli.com/ultimate-piano-vst-comparison/http://www.imperfectsamples.com/website/Samples/fazioliconcertgrand/index.phphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bxrzYwLlUI... ... ... Actually I have a really GOOD Fazioli sample set (Akai S1000 format) I got off a close out from East-West "The Ultimate Piano Collection (VOL1) for I think $10! Good luck (another one you can go broke saving money and while trying to cover all bases) Larry
Last edited by Larry Kehl; 12/19/15 03:20 PM.
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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I'll post Alicia's Keys, but it may be tomorrow before I get to it.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Just another FYI
if folks want Alicia's Keys then don't forget to check your Native Instruments emails (or spam folders) just got one form NI a few days ago (good to 31 Dec) with a $25 voucher
SO if you want AK's (normally $99) would now only be $74 (with e-voucher - again you can go broke saving money)
Larry
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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Here is a page that we can use to test different pianos. I have provided a snippet of MIDI that you should be able to download. It is the opening of one of my songs. (It was played by Garland Craft who toured with The Oak Ridge Boys for years). http://floydjane.com/Songs/Piano.htmI have used it to provide the sound of one of the 4Front TruePianos. If others will use the MIDI file to show other pianos, I will put them up as well.... Send me your piano example. Below is my email address (put it back together) floyd @ floydjane.com Hey Floyd! This is a very cool idea! Thanks for setting up these comparisons. But I have a question. Is everyone outputting their samples the same way? Some of the differences sound like when I apply different mixing/mastering presets and I'd wanna be sure we are apples to apples in the comparison.
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I have Synthogy Ivory II Grand Pianos. I did a lot of research before making the decision.
It contains a number of variations of Bosendorfer, German D and C7 - I mainly use C7
Pianoteq was in the list for sure, but Ivory won for me. The library takes about 80Gb of disk space.
(And, yes, I bought it from Sweetwater in the States - telephone order.)
Incidentally, I've also got a Yamaha Conservatorium Grand Piano. Even with this to compare to, Ivory takes a lot of beating. It really is sampled extremely well.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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I just sent Floyd an email with 6 more he might want to add to the list.
- AddictiveKeys-StudioGrand.mp3
- GarritanPersonalOrchestra-Steinway.mp3
- Kontakt-ConcertGrand.mp3 (comes with Kontakt in their Factory set)
- Kontakt-ViennaConcertGrand.mp3
- Kontakt-BerlinConcertGrand.mp3
- Kontakt-NewYorkConcertGrand.mp3
Just going through this myself and comparing the ones in my collection is really eye-opening!
Last edited by JohnJohnJohn; 12/19/15 10:39 PM.
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- AddictiveKeys-StudioGrand.mp3 - GarritanPersonalOrchestra-Steinway.mp3 - Kontakt-ConcertGrand.mp3 (comes with Kontakt in their Factory set) - Kontakt-ViennaConcertGrand.mp3 - Kontakt-BerlinConcertGrand.mp3 - Kontakt-NewYorkConcertGrand.mp3 - Alicia Keys All added. http://floydjane.com/Songs/Piano.htm
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I have Synthogy Ivory II Grand Pianos. I did a lot of research before making the decision.
It contains a number of variations of Bosendorfer, German D and C7 - I mainly use C7
Pianoteq was in the list for sure, but Ivory won for me. The library takes about 80Gb of disk space.
I'd love to hear this one (Ivory II GP) in the comparison list. Just curious.... is anyone doing any sort of EQ to the sample or are they raw wave output? If I get some down time today, I may take a minute and use the CSC synth with the Steinburg piano (or two) so you can see what $20 gets you.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Just curious.... is anyone doing any sort of EQ to the sample or are they raw wave output? . For my part I picked a piano and hit play/render to wav. No tweaking. I also understand that all the examples are mp3 due to a restriction of the site. Reaper for me is set to bring in the midi to the current project tempo (default 120) so I guessed on some to adjust to 90. ST3 has dozens and dozens of pianos. I chose the first one.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Some very nice sounds here. I have indeed gathered a more realistic expectation for what I am looking for. Each of the packages has it own flavor. Actually, I am surprised I can "hear" the subtle differences. My hearing has been so poor in later years. But apparently my mid and lower tone hearing is still pretty good as this is where the pianos are hitting me. So I am about to pull the trigger on one of the packages (yes I do need more piano  ). I will let you know which one when I do.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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These added from Herb... CSC Grand 1 dry CSC Grand 1 EQ CSC Med Grand dry CSC Rock dry With this explanation:
I used 3 of the 15 piano samples in the Cakewalk Sound Center.
I recorded them all dry and then again with a touch of EQ from Ozone.
To keep it fair, I have sent the dry samples and one (clearly indicated) with Ozone lightly caressing the freqs.
I tend to use the Grand 1 on most of my stuff. All of the grands sound similar, in fact the major difference among them sounds like it's mainly EQ from the studio recording them. I might be wrong...
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Just curious.... is anyone doing any sort of EQ to the sample
I just matched the tempo and then rendered best quality mp3. No eq. No effects at all.
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SO..... kinda curious
What piano sample is everyone's favorite and why?
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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