Dana. Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 It had been a while since I demoed them, so with fresh ears I put them head to head, testing each on a Casio CDP-120 and a Novation Impulse. I adjusted no velocity settings, and the only EQ adjustment I made was to eliminate any default reverb. In terms of realism, it's not even close: Truepianos over Pianoteq by a mile. To me, Truepianos (Atlantis module) sounds like a good, high-end ROMpler piano, whereas Pianoteq has a synthetic quality to it that makes it unconvincing. I also found Truepianos to be more alive and playable, which surprised me given all the talk about how Pianoteq is so playable. The default defense of Pianoteq seems to be that it has a multitude of adjustable paramaters, and that it sounds good in a mix. My response to that is, So what? With all the virtual pianos available, Pianoteq should sound real as soon as I start playing it; I shouldn't have to spend time trying to dial in authenticity. I recall a recent thread in which Steve Nathan said he's been using Truepianos and his clients have preferred it to Ivory. I think that's quite revealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Aiken Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I do not disagree in terms of tone, but Truepianos is particularly heinous in mono to my ears, while the monophonic setting in Pianoteq is pretty effective. I own both, and am looking forward to Truepianos 2.0. Moog The One, VV 64 EP, Wurlies 200A 140 7300, Forte 7, Mojo 61, OB-6, Prophet 6, Polaris, Hammond A100, Farfisa VIP, ,Young Chang 6', Voyager, E7 Clav, Midiboard, Linnstrument, Seaboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I think that the Pianoteq approach will eventually rule, once they have refined the models enough to make it emulate specific pianos. I've been getting interesting results in my DAW running TruePianos Atlantis as the main body of the piano sound, along with Pianoteq set up to provide just the soundboard resonance stuff. Moe --- "I keep wanting to like it's sound, but every demo seems to demonstrate that it has the earth-shaking punch and peerless sonics of the Roland Gaia. " - Tusker http://www.hotrodmotm.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 I do not disagree in terms of tone, but Truepianos is particularly heinous in mono to my ears, while the monophonic setting in Pianoteq is pretty effective. That's probably an advantage of Pianoteq being fully modeled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan_evett Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I've used Pianoteq 2 on my Mac for the past few years, mostly for recording projects. Have dialed it in to where it has worked well in most instances. Where I hear the slightly synthetic/artificial tone is in the upper range. That stands out more live, even with Pianoteq 3 ( have that on my Receptor, though both 2 and 3 are not working currently due to a messed up iLock). Downward glissandos are rather blurry; some slight improvement with editing, but they still sound artificial, IMO. I downloaded the 40 day trial version of True Pianos, Altantis, just before the holidays. Played it a few times, but need to give it a thorough run for the remaining twenty or so days left in the trial period. My initial impression was positive, but I also heard something a bit artificial/synthetic there as well. Possibly my ears are used to Pianoteq, and I need to focus on just playing True Pianos for awhile. 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 I downloaded the 40 day trial version of True Pianos, Altantis, just before the holidays. Played it a few times, but need to give it a thorough run for the remaining twenty or so days left in the trial period. My initial impression was positive, but I also heard something a bit artificial/synthetic there as well. I find that less than a second after a note is struck, the tone goes sour in an odd way. Perhaps someone more technically savvy than I am can explain it. I also heard some weird digital-sounding things going on with certain combinations of notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Chimuelo Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I use PianoTeq Pro for it's Wurlitzer, Hohner D6 and an Upright sound. Besides I need the sostenuto for the BarrelHouse stuff. VGP 2 is my go to Rock and Cool School stuff. The best thing about PTeqPro is the individual note editing. For example on my deceased D6 when I half muted it I could still get sustain on the lower notes with the chicken pecking mid and upper end. On Scarbees D6 it sounds awful and the mute is off or on and so Linear I can't possibly use it. Even the Rhodes and Wurlitzer have been semi- reduced for Kontakt. In Gigastudio the RHodes and Wurlitzer were superb, so whether it;s Kontakt or Scarbee conversions I don't care, they are different so PTeq Pro was a lifesaver for the 200A and D6, not to mention an accurate Upright with selectable detune for selected notes.... But their Rhodes is just to beefy and I gave up trying to get it to sound like a Mark V. I really need the Corea/Auger sound, that's what I am missing. I have the bellish Gay Love song sounds, but I want a Rhodes I can really dig into and pound on. Modartt is really a great little company though too. I always get emails with new little instruments to hear. Their Tubular Bells are also a treat to play and mangle.... Magnus C350 and a TV Dinner Tray Stand http://soundcloud.com/you/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 But their Rhodes is just to beefy and I gave up trying to get it to sound like a Mark V. Have you downloaded Busch's Mark V? I have the bellish Gay Love song sounds, but I want a Rhodes I can really dig into and pound on. I think you mean "Ghey." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 It had been a while since I demoed them, so with fresh ears I put them head to head, testing each on a Casio CDP-120 and a Novation Impulse. I adjusted no velocity settings, and the only EQ adjustment I made was to eliminate any default reverb. In terms of realism, it's not even close: Truepianos over Pianoteq by a mile. To me, Truepianos (Atlantis module) sounds like a good, high-end ROMpler piano, whereas Pianoteq has a synthetic quality to it that makes it unconvincing. I also found Truepianos to be more alive and playable, which surprised me given all the talk about how Pianoteq is so playable. The default defense of Pianoteq seems to be that it has a multitude of adjustable paramaters, and that it sounds good in a mix. My response to that is, So what? With all the virtual pianos available, Pianoteq should sound real as soon as I start playing it; I shouldn't have to spend time trying to dial in authenticity. That pretty much sums up how I feel about it, except for the ROMpler comparison. What ROMplers sound nearly as good as that to you? To me, most ROMplers don't decay naturally: the tone is too static during the decay. There's some life missing. The biggest problem I have with TruePianos is that dark minor chords sound a bit wobblier than they should: there's a beat in there that isn't necessary (I don't hear it on ROMplers or a real grand piano.) It loses some of the openness and clarity a good big grand has. But frankly that's in the nitpicking area. I haven't played Ivory. I guess I should find out if they have a demo. I doubt I'd spend enough to buy it, though, which is why I haven't tried it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzed Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I own both. Perhaps it's because I don't have a stereo setup (I'll get to it), but I've been pretty disappointed for the most part with TruePianos given all the praise it gets. Pianoteq is more playable than anything I've tried except the Yamaha CP1. To my ear it sounds great. Since version 3 I haven't found Pianoteq to be significantly more artificial sounding than most sampled pianos, which all ultimately sound artificial to some degree when you do something other than listen to just one note in isolation (which is going to sound good on a sampled piano because it's a recording). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 What ROMplers sound nearly as good as that to you? Possibly the Yamaha S90ES, though it's been a while since I played the "Natural Grand"(?) sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 For what it's worth, as far as fully modeled goes, I think the V-Piano sounds better than Pianoteq. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markyboard Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Have you downloaded Busch's Mark V? Stupid question - is this MAC only? Nothing indicates this on the linked site other then there's a MAC OS folder when it gets unzipped and although I can load the samples into Kontact on the PC the .nki patch doesn't show up. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Chimuelo Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I think if the performer is smiling and jamming away enjoying himself, any Piano sounds good. If a virtual Piano is so bad that I squint and I stop having fun, then people notice that. But I actually agreed to do a free gig with some bar hoppers and my rig is not meant to be close to dancing drunks, etc. So since the gig was free I said provide me a Rompler from GC and I'll do it. I showed up to a PRC-30 ( toy piano ) with built in speakers, and no pedal. I frowned but once I started playing it I realized I could really play it easily as it had NO action..... I think one can make music or excuses, sure we notice, but not the waittail cocktresses or audience.... And thanks for the Mark V I am dl'ing it now and will do some old Cool School demo as a token of my gratitude. Any requests....? Afterall I do this for a living...? Magnus C350 and a TV Dinner Tray Stand http://soundcloud.com/you/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 Stupid question - is this MAC only? Nothing indicates this on the linked site other then there's a MAC OS folder when it gets unzipped and although I can load the samples into Kontact on the PC the .nki patch doesn't show up. Thanks I don't know if it's PC-compatible. You'd have to email Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Chimuelo Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 ..nice Magnus C350 and a TV Dinner Tray Stand http://soundcloud.com/you/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
888000000 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I downloaded the 40 day trial version of True Pianos, Altantis, just before the holidays. Played it a few times, but need to give it a thorough run for the remaining twenty or so days left in the trial period. My initial impression was positive, but I also heard something a bit artificial/synthetic there as well. I find that less than a second after a note is struck, the tone goes sour in an odd way. Perhaps someone more technically savvy than I am can explain it. I also heard some weird digital-sounding things going on with certain combinations of notes. I believe that Truepianos use samples for the attack of the sound only and some modeling for the rest. That can be the reason for what you are hearing. http://setribute.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I believe that TP doesn't use any actual samples per se. They use a lot of data reduced from samples. That's according to them, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 They use a lot of data reduced from samples. Reduced? Do you mean derived? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 reduced, derived, processed, masticated ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan_evett Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Still have 22 days left in the trial period for TP, so I spent some time with it Saturday afternoon. Tried the different pianos in Atlantis, not bad at all; actually some very strong moments. Moved on to A-B' ing it with Pianoteq yesterday. Tried playing a few different styles, solo, with each. Both, so far, seem to do well on solo stuff. D-Bon, I hear the after first strike tonal change you described; not a huge turn off for me, but definitely present. I agree wholeheartedly with you that the V-Piano is in a different league altogether than either of these models. If Roland released a software edition of the V-Piano, I'd likely favor that over Ivory II - which I've also been considering. Now that I feel settled on my live rig pianos - having a choice between the S700/S6 voices in my XF and the Kronos Grands - I'm trying to find the software piano for my home workspace that both plays superbly and sounds/records well. We don't have the space for a grand, or even an upright, so getting the right software ' 'piano' - something that resonates with me (as well as a software piano can..) is important. Sometime this week I'll try recording with both True Pianos and Pianoteq, mixing it up with other instruments in the track, etc.. 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.