Master Thread: Third-party Acoustic Piano Sample Options for Kurzweil PC4/K2700/Forte-generation boards

[Mighty Motif Max]

Since this topic keeps coming up nearly every time there's a thread discussing a new Kurzweil product, I thought it might be beneficial to start a master thread about third-party acoustic piano library options for the current generation of Kurzweil keyboards (PC4, K2700, Forte), as well as general discussion of any edits that folks have made to improve either the stock presets or third-party programs.

 

Current third-party options (not using stock samples) I am aware of currently:

 

Mega Grand by MegaPreset

megapreset.com/?download=mega-grand-for-kurzweil-pc4

1.7GB library, IIRC based on a Baldwin of some type. MegaPreset seems to be run by the guy from the Youtube channel muzykujkropkacom, who has a lot of great keys demo videos and is a great player. I have not tried this one yet, as I am not sure I can spare that much of my PC4's 2GB user memory, which is currently occupied by a number of Purgatory Creek samples.

 

Epic Grand by K-Sounds

https://ksounds.com/product/epic-grand-piano-sample-library-kurzweil-pc3k/

121mb sample set based on a Yamaha C7, actually created for the PC3-K/A series (hence the smaller sample size to fit within the 128mb limitation of those boards' user sample memory). I own this library, and would say that it's best suited to a rock band context. It's a very thin sample, but works well enough in mono. I did a lot of EQ work and tried to increase the decay time (it has a rather short decay IMO), but it just doesn't have that great of a dynamic range. I'm not convinced that there's much of a p or pp layer. Also - this is just my personal opinion, but I've never heard a piano, especially a Yamaha, that sounded like this. I see it as more of an improvement over the old Triple Strike sample and less so over the current 9' German Grand and 7' Yamaha Grand samples - with the exception that it doesn't loose too much of its qualities in mono.

 

Synthonia Contemporary Pianos by DeRoSound

https://www.synthcloud.net/products/drs010-contemporary-complete-pianos-kurzweil-pc4?_pos=6&_sid=89fdfa582&_ss=r

From what I can gather, this is a collection that includes sample libraries of the following manufacturer's grand pianos (each is available for purchase individually as well):

• 1 Steinway
• 2 Yamahas - one unknown, one Yamaha C7
• 1 Kawai
• 1 Fazioli
• "Piano Anthology" collection, which seems to be more of a tweaked stock sample set.

 

I have not tried this one, and am not planning on it, given that what I'm hearing in the demos tends towards the bright-attack, slightly detuned, less dynamic side (like the Epic Grand). But it might be just the thing for someone else.

 

Several pianos by KurzweilWorld - unsure of whether there's some overlap between, say, the "2022 Italian Piano V3" for the PC4/K2700 and "Italian Grand" for the Forte. I have not tried any of these, though I may have unknowingly used the Italian Piano and Upright Piano from the PC3K set if it was posted in one of the Kurzweil groups under another name (see the two Pedro Carrilho pianos further down).

• 2022 Stage Piano by KurzweilWorld (PC4/K2700)
  • http://www.kurzweilworld.com/pc3k.html
• 2022 Italian Piano V3 by KurzweilWorld (PC4/K2700)
  • http://www.kurzweilworld.com/pc3k.html
• German D by KurzweilWorld (Regular/Forte)
  • http://www.kurzweilworld.com/ac-pianos.html
• Italian Grand V3 by KurzweilWorld (Regular/Forte)
  • http://www.kurzweilworld.com/ac-pianos.html
• Stage Piano by KurzweilWorld (Regular/Forte)
  • http://www.kurzweilworld.com/ac-pianos.html
• Sampleset for PC3K that includes several pianos among other instruments. Includes an Italian Piano (54mb), Upright Piano (22mb), and a German D Elite (size not listed).
  • http://www.kurzweilworld.com/pc3k-sounds.html

 

London Piano by Purgatory Creek

https://www.purgatorycreek.com/index.php/london-piano/

61.5mb single-layer upright piano based on publically-available samples.

 

Italian Piano by Pedro Carrilho (PC3K format)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kurzweilpcseries/permalink/3233952663328152/

I've used this piano in the past but have since uninstalled it - it lacks dynamic range below "m" in my opinion - nice tone but doesn't really change at lower velocities.

 

Upright Piano by Pedro Carrilho (PC3K format)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kurzweilpcseries/permalink/3233968326659919/

Briefly installed it, didn't use it; similar dynamic range issues to the Italian Piano IMO.

 

Nordic Upright Soundfont conversion by Paolo Piattica

Part 1: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kurzweilpcseries/permalink/3142317709158315/

Part 2: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kurzweilpcseries/permalink/3142322735824479/

 

K2000 Collection at Sweetwater

https://www.sweetwater.com/k2000/sounds.html

These are quite old and I have no idea of the quality or how well they import, but there are a number of pianos if you scroll down the page.

 

----------------

Stock Samples

Some folks have been happy with loading in factory patches from other Kurzweil boards that use the same samples but aren't included in the stock presets in all boards. For example, the PC4/K2700/Forte are missing the majority of the Triple Strike-based programs from the PC3 series, and they don't include all the programs from the German D EXP board even though they use the German D samples as stock. Same goes for new presets on the K2700 from the PC4. Versions of these programs are available on the various Kurzweil Facebook groups and can generally be loaded in easily.

 

The most useful one (IMO) is the German D EXP patches, as it adds a bit more variety to the PC4's presets in particular: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1541708299314501/permalink/2169140933237898/

 

PC3 Factory Presets: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kurzweilpcseries/permalink/5721021754621218

 

Dave Weiser has some tweaked patches for both the PC3/K/A and PC4/K2700/Forte available as well.

 

[Delaware Dave]

If Kurz put the Forte fully blossomed pianos into these boards I would think that there would be less of a need to explore 3rd party samples for these boards. The derivatives leave out some of the high quality details which undoubtedly we're looking for and that we believe the 3rd party samples can supply. I don't get why they continue to leave these fully blossomed samples behind. 

[Fleer]

Thanks, TripleM, this is so great. 

[Stefan011]

Thanks! I would really like to hear someones experience with the Italian Grand V3 before investing 80 E.

 

 

Been using Dave Weiser preset Real 7ft for Forte and it sound really super nice on the headphones. Not so much via amp.

[Franz Schiller]

Hey gang! Is the Purgatory Creek Vintage Keyboard Collection for Forte compatible with the PC4-7?

 

I was able to install the free Mark II sounds so I'm guessing they are????

[pawelsz]

23 minutes ago, Franz Schiller said:

Hey gang! Is the Purgatory Creek Vintage Keyboard Collection for Forte compatible with the PC4-7?

 

I was able to install the free Mark II sounds so I'm guessing they are????

 

Yes, it's compatible, but its total size is more than 2GB, so you cannot load all instruments at once. The pack comes with separate files too, so you can choose what to load.

[Franz Schiller]

Excellent, thanks!

 

I don't really need the clav, so I think they'll just squeeze in.

[Stokely]

Interesting thread.  Been thinking of adding my Forte 7 back into my rig, I like a lot of things about it but I've mainly been using one keyboard lately.  

For whatever reason I've never liked the acoustic grands on it as much as I should, considering the size of the samples.   I've tried the Weiser patches as well.

I got a Zoom H1 for checking the sound out front and that might be a good way to tell how the piano fares out of the mains.  Using in-ears can sometimes lead to over-analyzation as you are hearing everything (including piano) with WAY more in-your-face clarity than anyone out in the audience.  Plus my mix is typically not complete as I don't have all the drums unless it's a bigger show and we have miked everything up.

[Delaware Dave]

if i owned a forte (and hopefully shortly) i cant imagine needing a better piano.

[AnotherScott]

On 9/14/2023 at 6:27 PM, Delaware Dave said:

If Kurz put the Forte fully blossomed pianos into these boards I would think that there would be less of a need to explore 3rd party samples for these boards. The derivatives leave out some of the high quality details which undoubtedly we're looking for and that we believe the 3rd party samples can supply. I don't get why they continue to leave these fully blossomed samples behind. 

I think it's as simple as that the full Forte piano wouldn't fit in the PC4. 16 GB of factory samples in a Forte, 2 GB in a PC4 (and 4.5 in a K2700). I think a lot of that sample size difference is in the pianos.

[Delaware Dave]

2 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

I think it's as simple as that the full Forte piano wouldn't fit in the PC4. 16 GB of factory samples in a Forte, 2 GB in a PC4 (and 4.5 in a K2700). I think a lot of that sample size difference is in the pianos.

according to Dave Weiser, in another thread, the reason that the Forte piano is not in the PC4 nor the K2700 is because with the flash ram technology Kurz was unable to integrate the sample size with the 256 voice technology, it just didnt work so they had to keep the Forte at 128 voice polyphony while the newer products have moved to 256 voice with the piano derivative that works.  So it's a technical limitation at the moment.  I'm sure they'll figure it out going forward.