Chaso DeChaso Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 An interesting article comparing six software pianos appeared in a relatively recent issue of Electronic Musician it is available online here: http://emusician.com/sftinstruments/emusic_software_eightyeights/index.html One surprise was that, though Synthologys Ivory was generally well reviewed (their Bosendorfer being a favorite), the Native Instruments Akoustic Piano Steinway was seemingly the favorite. Though this is the largest number of pianos I have seen in a head-to-head, one always wishes they had also included this or that piano as well (depending on ones interests). Has Keyboard Magazine done a similar article or are there any plans in the works? I appreciated the article because they included qualitative comments on each piano rather than just the quantitative information. Myself, I have trouble judging pianos from an online sound file with no commentary (such as on the purgatory creek site) so I appreciate hearing intelligent comments from experts. One thing I was struck by was how big these things are getting. Ivory would probably fill 2/3 of my hard drive for one piano! And god forbid, by the way, that I wanted something like that Vienna Orchestra Id have to buy a NASA computer, I suppose, with more RAM than most primates. Similarly, Quantum Leaps pianos collection is, what, 270GB??? More DVD's than Rocky and all its sequels. SampleTekks TBO and so many others lately are following a larger-is-better approach (though some of their PMI pianos seem semi-reasonable in size/demands). Im not saying this is wrong but as a hobbiest with limited resources, I also respect products such as Steinbergs Halion Symphonic Orchestra and Hypersonic which make some attempt to work within the resources of "normal" peoples computers. This approach seems rare (and even Steinbergs approach in The Grand doesnt seem all that resource frugal), although I see that something called True Pianos attempts to conserve resources as well. Are there others going this route? This led me to wondering what might be the best of the second-tier pianos that are out there right now or the best of the previous generation of software pianos which might work on laptops or systems which are more than two days old. That is to say, not the Ivories but maybe ones that are a bit smaller and less resource intensive but still very good. Im not even sure what these would be. Would Bardstowns Bosendorder fall into this category or is that still regarded as top tier? What are those of you on the list using who havent gone with the latest-and-greatest such as Ivory or who perhaps dont have Gigasampler and how is it working on your system (particularly if it is a limited system)? I understand these things are very subjective...but thats what makes it fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K K Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 That's why I still prefer my 2Mb Kurzweil grand piano. Great sound, no latency, no complicated stuff. Turn the synth on and play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 +1 Seems that, for piano, hardware is still the only valuable solution. Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaso DeChaso Posted February 16, 2007 Author Share Posted February 16, 2007 I hear you. My first love is a real piano but am otherwise happy to use my Roland SRX-02 and -11 cards. However, I've recently begun using Cubase and find it easier to work entirely within the software environment (using the keyboard only for MIDI control). My piano of choice in that situation is currently Steinberg's The Grand 2 which I am very satisfied with...but I'm always curious to try other pianos. It'd be especially neat if I could get a very good, medium-sized, cheapish Bosendorfer and Fazioli in software. I still dream that someone some day will do a software Baldwin SD-10 but I know I am literally the only one waiting for this on God's green Earth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzwee Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Pianoteq I believe uses less resources. This is piano modeling and not based on samples. Hamburg Steinway O, Crumar Mojo, Nord Electro 4 HP 73, EV ZXA1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDragonSoun Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 I've tried so many piano samples both hardware and software over the last two years. There are so many options out there and I could see how computer usage and other requirements make some of these samples frustrating to use. Personally I've found that really getting to know my hardware and TRULY understanding the editing features of my keyboards helps me to produce the best piano sounds. Begin the day with a friendly voice A companion, unobtrusive - Rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 4Front TruePianos has really impressed me. Not perfect, but more playable than most sampled pianos in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c4 Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 the truepiano is quite good and very easy on resources. It sounds much better than any kurzweil garbage for sure.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 the truepiano is quite good and very easy on resources. It sounds much better than any kurzweil garbage for sure.. Amen to that one. Fed up with my Kurz for that very reason. So 4Front TruePianos is the way to go you reckon? Better than PianoTeq (I thought PianoTeq was pretty damn impressive)? I'm yet to demo TruePianos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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