Piano Sounds

[ctgtamcotec.com]

I'd like to thank everyone who answered my question about MIDI controllers. I've since bought an A-80 and it is fantastic. Now, I'm curious as to aht your opinions are about piano sounds? Aside from samplers, which units have the best sounds and why? Thanks so much!

[Guest]

Now, I'm curious as to aht your opinions are about piano sounds? Aside from samplers, which units have the best sounds and why? Thanks so much!

 

Well, I doubt you'll get two people to agree on this.

 

I'm assuming you're looking for a module, since you have the controller already. The one that comes to mind is the kurz pc2r. I like the kurz piano sound. It just sounds good in a mix.

 

I don't care much for it, but look at the piano sounds in the alesis qsr.

 

The rest.. kurz micropiano, a little outdated, I think, but not bad. The pianos in the pc2r are much better. Alesis nanopiano. Don't like it (are the sounds the same as the qsr?). Oberheim MiniGrand, have heard good or bad about it, never heard it myself. There's an older yamaha module which I used to own, sold it in ebay last year. Sounds a bit thin, but I thought the micropiano was better. Supposedly the piano sounds in the jv series is not bad, I'd look at the x

 

In summary, if you're looking for quality over quantity, I would recommend the pc2r. Your mileage may vary.

 

Everything else that I can think of are either digital pianos, keyboards with good piano sounds (such as the yammy s80), or piano expansion cards for synths. And samplers of course.

 

The new piano expansion card for the xv series is supposed to be outstanding, but between an xv3080 and the card you're looking at probably 2k. (I think)

 

Rod

[Dave Bryce]

Alesis nanopiano. Don't like it (are the sounds the same as the qsr?).

 

Same 6.5 meg stereo Bosendorfer sample. A bunch more programs.

 

dB

[Steve44]

While piano controllers are abundant nowadays, piano modules are not. The old standby's are basically the Emu ProformancePlus and the Kurzweil Minigrand. I've heard a lot great music on both of them, but thought the whole damn time that there was something terribly wrong. My advice: don't get either one. The Oberheim Minigrand received great reviews from Keyboard in July '98, and here's a link to some of that. It's a kind of mellower sound than most patches, but it's pretty expressive and has some good pedal functions. Listen to the .Wav file. The MP3 is distorted.

http://www.keyboardonline.com/demos/obermini/obermini.shtml

 

But I think it's probably because of the general market flop of the Oberheim Minigrand and the GeneralMusic/GEM RealPiano module (I think that was its name.. it's the rack version of the Pro1/Pro2 and it's no longer in production) and the Korg SG-Rack (rackmount SGProX) that has made all the companies just shy away from that market now.

 

Of the current modules available, I recommend either the Roland XV-3080 or the Kurzweil PC2R. Neither one is really a "piano module", they're both very versatile synths for the standard gigging set of sounds. Personally I love the stock piano patch on the XV-3080, and I recently read an interview of somebody in Keyboard who had said the same thing. It's a full bodied grand, excellent stereo sampling, and has a really nice warm sound to it. The Kurzweil piano is a little more delicate and has an interestingly sterile quality that still has a lot of expression and vitality to its tone.

 

You didn't mention a price range, but here's the story: If you only want to spend $500 or so, you'll have to settle for a Minigrand, or maybe a Roland JV-1010 (I just saw it for $410 at 8thstreet) which has pretty thin piano sounds, but they'd be alright. The other two modules I mentioned are in the $1500 range (maybe a bit less) but of course they offer tremendous flexibility beyond just piano sounds, as well as expandability and really great sound quality.

 

 

I guess I shouldn't leave out the other big players: On the Emu side you could get a Proteus 2000 (I haven't heard pianos on that) and then expand it with either the Holy Grail Piano or the "Sounds of the ZR" module which has the 16Megabyte William Coakley Perfect Piano sample. I really dig that sound. It's kind of right in the middle between the Roland and the Kurzweil - it's delicate but it's still got balls.

For Korg: don't bother. They have never gotten the piano sounds right and I doubt they ever will. They have improved, but they're still bad.

For Yamaha: The only Yamaha piano sounds available are in one of their PLG cards, the PLG 150PF, which you could stick in a CS6R. There's also the EX5R which is a very powerful module, but you'd have to ask Dave whether it has any decent pianos.

 

 

Finally, here's a link to a wonderful site that compares piano samples and modules. It's geared mostly towards Samplers, especially GigaStudio. By the way, you can buy Gigastudio 96 with the Steinway B sample (which the Purgatory Creek guy claims is the best) for only $400. Computer not included, of course, nor is the D/A or the Midi I/F or the rackmount case, but for true piano realism, Giga is the way to go. Though if I were in your shoes, I'd probably buy the XV 3080.

 

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/pianocompare.html

 

-Steve

[marino]

Good post, Steve. A couple of remarks:

The Kurzweil module (called the Micropiano, not Minigrand) is a bit harsch for recordings, but live it's irreplaceable; it cuts without losing dynamics. The Proformance is unplayable, period.

Yamaha used to market the P50m, an half-rack module with the same samples of the Pf-P100. It screams a bit too much, but it's not bad, depending on the kind of music you play. If you can find one, my advice is to give it a listen.

The Oberheim Minigrand is good for jazz and mellow music, it has a warm, round tone, but it is very peculiar; it lacks that... "generic" quality of the others. This could be good of course, if you like its sound quality.

 

Just my 0.001

 

marino

[Steve44]

Thanks for the thumbs up, marino. And that was worth more than a tenth of a penny.

 

There is some quality of the Micropiano I have just never liked live, something that may have to do with its stretch tuning but mostly it just has this sterile, lifeless quality, and I always feel like there are a few badly sampled notes stuck in there somewhere. Plus it's only 32 voices. Apparently they're still selling them new, though.

 

I had forgotten about the P50m. My opinion about that piano, as well as the P80/P200 is that it's just not quite right. It's not bad, there isn't some particular quality that I can put my finger on, but it's just "something lacking". I don't know what.