best piano sound out there (besides a real piano)

[daback-daboot]

looking for the most realistic piano samples I can get, either via module or keyboard. I don't care about other bells & whistles, just some piano samples that a pianist couldn't tell the difference listening back. Looking for under $2,500. Also, how should I get it to tape? Thanks ye of great knowledge.

PS: I have a kurzweil PC2X right now & I can't get a decent tone to tape as of yet via its 1/4 outs.

[stevep]

Its software but Ivory is Amazing around 300$

I just spent a few hours at the music store and played all the keyboards they had there and they are all good !.....

I would recommend going down and playing them all for awhile

I think i will get the Yamaha S90 ES it has a great piano and tons of other sounds but my reason is for a 88 weighted key controller so i dont care as much about the sounds but ,... they are fine for plug and go sessions (Motif sounds)

Also second choice is the Roland 700 SX (it was my first choice till today)


As far as hitting tape, how do you get the other line level signals to tape ..?

It should be the same

[imnickb]

look at yamaha. they make an s90 which rocks. the piano sounds are some of the most realistic ive ever heard from a keyboard. its 88 key and its got a really good feel. my only complaint is that the action is a we bit slower than id like, but still much better than anything ive ever tried. its basically the same keyboard as a motif except it doesnt have a sampler or sequencer and the piano sounds are a little better and the the actions a little better. mine was 1900 or so brand new but im sure you could get a used one a lot cheaper. and i think they came out with a s90 es thats probably got some improvements, maybe even faster action.

i also hear the micro piano is pretty good. ive never used it and i really doubt that its as good as an s90 but its only about 150 bucks or so on ebay so its worth a shot.

good luck!

[imnickb]

i just read the other guys response... i thought i was the only one out there diggin the s90.

[pabloman]

Originally Posted by imnickb

i just read the other guys response... i thought i was the only one out there diggin the s90.

Nord Stage stike

[numrologst]

any experienced piano player will not be able to be fooled by a digital piano. There is absolutely no way you can do a fake out. '

Always perfectly in tune, never hear pedals and other nuances of a real piano, etc etc etc.

Anyways if you want the closest you can get... I would suggest the nord stage... that thing is unbelievable... But it will only get you 90% to a real piano... In a mix, it might get you a bit more

[sventvkg]

Ivory is the Best one that I've heard either on a board or software only. I also have the Bosendorfer 290 software piano and it's pretty good as well.

[Tony Shepperd]

Ivory is the Best.
You get 4 unbelievable pianos, Bosendorfer, Steinway D, Yamaha C7 and the Fazzioli.

[chymer]

IVORY is the best.
Chymer

[RainbowStorm]

Ivory is pretty good... But you can really find many different pianos that are useful...

You can compare a few piano packages here (*recommended*):

Piano Virtual Instruments

[Brad McGowan]

Am I the only one that would rather hear some real mikes on my poorly maintained, never perfectly in tune, 90 year old upright? Maybe it's just me, but the virtual pianos never sound "right" to me once I have them in a mix. They do sound good, just never right. What am I missing?

Brad

[True North]

A friend of mine (a piano player) did a christmas album with a singer last year and used Ivory (he used the Bosendorfer) and the sound was incredible. I was blown away at how real it sounded.

Brad I haven't heard your uprigth recordings but I wud be shocked if they sounded better than what I heard.

[Han]

Originally Posted by numrologst

Always perfectly in tune,

I wonder, last saturday I had to record a P90 and that wasn't perfect, play a D cord and you'll hear it.

Same happened a while ago with the P50 module, same note out of tune.

[zkaudio]

I have an s90es,

Bought it initially for the weighted keys, and overall action

then started using it with "the grand"... then bought Ivory...

The installed sounds are good, but ivory is top notch... only downside from the thing is the MINUTE delay it sometimes has... we'll record the midi, but use the built in sounds for the piano to keep latency down.

[Kyle Ashley]

Garritan Libraries are supposed to be releasing a new library developed and authorized by Steinway. Should be out soon and worth checking out, but I've heard Ivory and it is indeed good.

[David R.]

Originally Posted by True North

Brad I haven't heard your uprigth recordings but I wud be shocked if they sounded better than what I heard.

Perfect argument for and against in that sentance.

I love recording piano. One of the things that makes it great is that each one sounds unique.

It is the mole on the cheek that makes the movie star beautiful. The blemish helps us appreciate the beauty.

You can not beat the convience of midi/sampled piano, but I love the imperfections (like the thunnnnnnk of a pedal released to fast) of the real deal.

[RainbowStorm]

Originally Posted by zkaudio

I have an s90es,

Bought it initially for the weighted keys, and overall action

then started using it with "the grand"... then bought Ivory...

The installed sounds are good, but ivory is top notch... only downside from the thing is the MINUTE delay it sometimes has... we'll record the midi, but use the built in sounds for the piano to keep latency down.

Cool, I think Ivory sounds better than S90 on the sound samples I've heard. Ivory is really a virtual instrument that demonstrates the power of digital audio. thumbsup

[kpc]

I am looking at the same programs and here is what I have heard/learned -

Ivory is great, but comes with steep system requirements. Akoustik Piano by Native Instruments also comes highly recommended. In fact, Electronic Musician just had a software piano article and they liked the Akostik Piano a little bit better.

Still on the fence about which program to buy - waiting to NI to go Intel with Akoustik Piano before final decisions.

[xist]

Ivory is a great software. But if you're looking also for something with more personality try Art Vista Virtual Grand Piano. It's a bargain and its price does not reflect the quality and the unique features of this software, trust me!

http://www.artvista.net/Virtual_Grand_Piano.html

[Pr.tiouz]

To my ears and for studio use the Galaxy steinway is far better than native instruments Akoustik piano and Ivory, it's the one i bought and don't regret i did, have a listen to the demo if you can't try it and you will ear the difference.
For me it's the only one with a soul and capable of nuances, still don't understand why it's not as well known as the others.
For live use i agree yamaha's (P80 and P90) are the best, but Galaxy is by far better.


Matthieu

[RainbowStorm]

Originally Posted by Pr.tiouz

To my ears and for studio use the Galaxy steinway is far better than native instruments Akoustik piano and Ivory, it's the one i bought and don't regret i did, have a listen to the demo if you can't try it and you will ear the difference.
For me it's the only one with a soul and capable of nuances, still don't understand why it's not as well known as the others.
For live use i agree yamaha's (P80 and P90) are the best, but Galaxy is by far better.


Matthieu

I agree about that, it is very good sounding! Better than Ivory? I don't know, because I've not heard any of them live.

[warhead]

I must admit I play but don't heavily investigate the fake stuff. But around the late 90's is when I picked up my Alesis QS8 and I picked it over Roland, Yamaha and others at the time for two reasons:

great piano like action (hammer action)

great piano sounds

The sampled pianos are just really good, as well as many other on board sounds. I think the QS8 is an overlooked board, although I noticed yesterday Max or somebody else posted up a clip of Elliot Smith in the studio and one of the boards apparently setup for him was a QS8.

War

[Brad McGowan]

Originally Posted by True North

A friend of mine (a piano player) did a christmas album with a singer last year and used Ivory (he used the Bosendorfer) and the sound was incredible. I was blown away at how real it sounded.

Brad I haven't heard your uprigth recordings but I wud be shocked if they sounded better than what I heard.

"Better" is such a subjective term. A classical pianist would think my piano sounds like shite, but I say it has "character". Let's say the piano is in the context of an instrumental post-rock band that is rough around the edges. Would you want something really clean and nice, or something organic and flawed? It also seems rather easy to change the presentation of the acoustic piano just by picking different mics or putting the mics in different positions. The canned pianos seem to be a bit more limiting in that respect, no?

For solo classical piano or simple vocal/piano stuff I would likely lean towards a virtual piano too.

Brad

[Musiclab]

I have Ivory and also the Perfect Piano disk for the Kurzweil, so far I'm not so blown away by Ivory as compared to the Coakley for the Kurzweil, but it maybe be I need to screw with the velocity scaling.

[True North]

Originally Posted by Brad McGowan

"Better" is such a subjective term. A classical pianist would think my piano sounds like shite, but I say it has "character". Let's say the piano is in the context of an instrumental post-rock band that is rough around the edges. Would you want something really clean and nice, or something organic and flawed? It also seems rather easy to change the presentation of the acoustic piano just by picking different mics or putting the mics in different positions. The canned pianos seem to be a bit more limiting in that respect, no?

For solo classical piano or simple vocal/piano stuff I would likely lean towards a virtual piano too.

Brad

In retrospect the term 'better' was far too general a term for this astute audience

I agree with your analogy. Perhaps if my buddy was doing a christmas version of 'Brown Sugar' your piano might have been the better choice..........the lyrics wud need a bit of rework

[andyspiller]

I bought Ivory and although it is fantastic, it is not "real". I also own a Yamaha
U3S and have played several hundred pianos all over the place (including the Yamaha factory) and although Ivory gets closest in a "sit in the mix" way, as a solo instrument it can't beat the real thing.

10 layers of samples still regenerate the sampled ambience, yet every time I play the same chord on my (actually my wife's ) upright the tone changes. So I guess my recommendation would be save for the real thing if you want the best feeling. In the UK a decent seconhand U3 is about £2000-2500 and some good mics will be required, but it will last 100 years - the ultimate value for money?

[daback-daboot]

Originally Posted by andyspiller

10 layers of samples still regenerate the sampled ambience, yet every time I play the same chord on my (actually my wife's ) upright the tone changes. So I guess my recommendation would be save for the real thing if you want the best feeling. In the UK a decent seconhand U3 is about £2000-2500 and some good mics will be required, but it will last 100 years - the ultimate value for money?

I would LOVE a good real deal piano, but alas I am still a renter, & with that a renter of small spaces, so I cannot fit a piano in my place let alone get it up here let alone move it again when I move...again. I agree 100%, but for now I must find the closest thing available to record. Though not a good pianist, my music is still piano driven...bah!

[andyspiller]

Originally Posted by daback-daboot

I would LOVE a good real deal piano, but alas I am still a renter, & with that a renter of small spaces, so I cannot fit a piano in my place let alone get it up here let alone move it again when I move...again. I agree 100%, but for now I must find the closest thing available to record. Though not a good pianist, my music is still piano driven...bah!

I sympathise entirely - this Piano is the first (3 years old now) since I left my parents 20 years ago - I went through the 80s on a Rhodes and Synths, the 90s on a DX5 and various controllers. The only pianos I got to play during this time were concert halls/theatres/studios that had them and I really, really felt that I suffered as a player until I at least got a weighted controller (2000).

Get Ivory and a decent controller (Subject for many threads I'm sure) and get the Joanna when you get your own place

Best regards

Andy

[zkaudio]

I also had steinberg's "the grand" which was pretty nice as well.. .hugely resource intensive like ivory

[lordmiguel]

Another one for Ivory. No question.