napilopez

While I appreciate the sentiment behind your post, I do think there are some consistently well regarded performers as well as others that should really be avoided. I personally think preference is part of it, but there are definitely some objective aspects too. The way I see it, the problem is that the vast majority of virtual instruments don't offer trials, refunds, or in many cases even resales, so it's useful to rely on use impressions to some degree. Having tried most of the piano plugins out there, my experience has been that some of the most popular and widely lauded virtual pianos are indeed the ones that are most enjoyable to play. You absolutely favorite purchases will of course be individual, but some buys are safer than others, and threads like these can help isolate some aspects of personal preference too.

Disclaimer: I'm an amateur who just plays at home and is beginning to dabble in composition. So my impressions are just on sound quality and playability, but might not be applicable to everyone. Before I go through some thoughts, I wanted to share this massive comparison someone made of Piano VSTs, including most of the popular ones. https://www.sinerj.org/~loyer/piano/Fantaisie/ It's worth noting that some VSTs can be dramatically changed by settings and velocity curves, while other less so. Still it's a great resource. I know Keyscape is popular, but for solo piano (recording especially) it doesn't have sympathetic resonance and therefore sounds kind of dead to me and is uninspiring to play. Unfortunately a no go despite enjoying the tone. Usually sounds fine with other instruments where it's harder to notice. Some of my faves, in no particular order. Garritan CFX is imo the most well rounded especially for classical ish stuff, but can be tricky to get a good dry sound from (it's doable though). It does almost everything well and many things great. It's also surprisingly gentle on CPU resources. I just recommend turning up the release volume to the max and lowering the release volume to give it some more character. Actually not my personal favorite but one of the easiest to recommend. Noire is super good, much more character than the Garritan by default and heavily customizable, but I wish it had soft pedal samples or even just a simulation (you do get a felt piano but I don't enjoy the sound. YMMV). Comes off a little more artificial than the Garritan to me. If you have full Kontakt, the Simple Sam Piano is truly excellent for very little money. It's playability isn't quite as good as the rest with "only" 10 velocity layers, but it's very good still! Highly underrated: Bechstein Digital. Also does almost everything right, just the built in reverbs suck so I use something external. VSL Pianos are all fantastic and are some of the closest to sounding and playing like the real thing after you find the right velocity xurve. Expensive, but VSL at least has a painless 14-day return policy I've used a couple of times. The sympathetic resonance engine is meh, and soft pedal is only simulated but at least it's there. If you like an upright sound, the VI Labs Modern U is IMO the closest thing to a perfect VST. It's imo the only VST I own that can sometimes fool me into thinking I'm playing the real thing, and it has the best resonance engine from a sampled piano Ive tried. VI Labs also does the best release samples in the game, lending a lot of authenticity. I adore the VI Labs Ravenscroft for similar reasons. I prefer the overall tone of the actual instrument over the Modern U a good deal, but as an older release it's missing that last bit of polish and realism achieved with the Modern U. Still up there with the rest though. Hammer + Waves is really good if you're into sound design. Kind of like Noire on steroids in this regard, and the sampled instrument has a really nice sound. Playability is the worst of this list but not bad. No half pedaling or repedaling makes it annoying for some types of playing though. They have a a 2-week return policy, which is much too rare among VST makers. Pianoteq is great for practice and can be good with other instruments in the mix. I love it for it's playability and customizability, but it never convinces me it's the real thing. Still it feels more alive to me than any of the above because in a way it is a "real" instrument rather than just a series of recordings of one. The Embertone Walker D is excellent and is another easy recommendation with more character than anything else on this list. Excellent resonances and release samples There are some uneven notes which vary by mic position, and with some settings it can be resource intensive. But the Lite version only costs $39 bucks and works with the free kontakt player, while the full versions and extra mics are very reasonable too. Imo the Lite version is the best deal of all piano VSTs, but the full version is worth upgrading to because the una corda samples are fantastic. Better yet, Embertone has a 7-day return policy and allows resales. Lastly, make sure to check out the free stuff on Pianobook.co.uk too.

On the GT at least, firmware 2.0 was such a dramatic improvement that it almost felt like a different instrument for quiet playing and fast repetitions. Definitely make sure you check the firmware version before making final judgements.

You're right that I shouldn't have shared the chart without more context! To be clear, It was actually created on this very forum. It's similar to the sweetwater method, but I believe the data was collected by both and individual user and other contributors from this forum. See this thread: You will see the data is different from Sweetwater's too, although the rankings are similar. All that being said the MP11SE weighs less than other actions in both tests, and certainly feels like it to my hands.

That's interesting -- I actually had a defective MP11 for a few days before the MP11SE, and as far as I could tell the actions felt identical. But as shown in this chart, the MP11SE is on the lighter side for digital actions. To me it feels lighter than most acoustics I've played (granted, only a handful, but still). I've been practicing at a local music school with open rehearsal space and all the pianos there (mostly Steinway O's) feel heavier. I suppose we all have our own perceptions and experinces!

Do you mean you found it too heavy to lug around or that the action was too heavy? Because the Grand Feel Action is generally regarded as one of the lighter digital piano actions around. Of course, everyone feels things a bit differently. The TP-400W in the GT (it's worth noting jr's not clear if the action is 100% identical to the version in Dexibell's pianos, by the way) is slightly on the heavier side to my hands, but I think in a good way. Lighter than the Yamaha NW/NWX but I believe similar or a bit heavier than the PHA50. Certainly heavier than my MP11SE, which is just a bit lighter than ideal for me. But the TP-400W also just feels really good in hand to me. There's little lateral movement, and I feel like I have a lot of control throughout the key travel, and to me something about it more closely replicates the behavior of a grand piano throughout the downstroke. Hard to describe. The relatively short pivot length is it's main weakness, so it's harder to play toward the back of the keys but not terribly so. The MP11 and MP11SE should be nearly identical in feel. The only difference is that Kawai has reportedly changed the sliptape that caused sticky key issues over time with early versions of the Grand Feel Action.

For those about the Numa X Piano GT, I recieved mine yesterday, and the TP-400W action is truly excellent, especially after firmware update 2.0. I'm an amateur with only a few years of playing under his belt, but I like it more than the Roland PHA-50 and Yamaha NW/NWX, and find it closer to Kawai VPC1/MP11SE level. Very much a top-tier action, especially in such a compact frame.

Indeed, from this demo at least, it's miles ahead of the other ones for solo piano to my ears.

Miiiight be interested! PM'd

The Fatar TP110 is not graded. Unfortunately there are only a few impressions of that keyboard action as it is anew and the Numa X Piano has only just started arriving in people's homes. That said, I don't know that I would consider an action being graded or not to be a deal breaker -- many of the pianos that are graded aren't really graded all that accurately. So far the TP110 seems to be an improvement over the TP100 in a bazillion keyboards, but it seems to still be a fairly heavy action with a pretty short pivot point. If action is a priority, you should probably consider the GT version with the TP400W. It may not be as small, but the thin sides means it's still a lot smaller than some other keyboards out there (looking at you Roland with the unecessary large left side). Aftertouch doesn't have much to do with the feel or realism for piano. It's intended instead to trigger effects on specific notes. For example, if controlling non-piano instruments, you could apply vibrato or another effect to only the top note of a chord. That's in constrast to using the pitch bend and mod wheels, which by default affect all keys equally. Good luck!

Haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Studiologic appears to have recently added a new piano sample too: A 6' 3" August Forster from 1914 recorded binaurally. No YouTube video, but there's a demo of Debussy's reverie using the piano on Studiologic's site. To my ear it is by far the most realistic-sounding of the pianos. A really nice addition that isn't one of the usual suspects. They also added some plucked instruments and clarinets (solo and ensemble).