Vote off one of these pianos...

[daBowsa]

Hi. I have three digital pianos and I can only keep two. Please vote for the sample you think is the worst of the lot.

 

Piano 1

Piano 2

Piano 3

 

Thanks!

-Ben.

[HomeAmateur]

daBowsa,

 

I have listend to about every sample from that site in the past and to me, from that site they all sound practically the same. I dont know if its the site or if its me.

[awfulgrace]

It's late and I just played a gig tonight, so my ears may not be tip-top - but I don't see a huge difference between the quality level of those three.

 

I would say get rid of the one that satisfies one or more of the following criteria:

 

a) the one which weighs the most

b) the one with the worst action (for you)

c) the one which you feel least connected to

d) the one which looks least cool

[daBowsa]

I agree with both of you guys.

 

First, those clips are not from purgatorycreek.com - they're clips I recorded myself using the provided MIDI file.

 

Second, I too have a hard time distinguishing what makes a "good" piano sound - other factors carry more weight in my book.

 

Third, I've already made my decision. Something is already For Sale on eBay. I'm mostly curious if you guys can spot the imposter.

 

...you know, the one that cost me a fifth of what I paid for either of the others...

[Geoff Grace]

Context is so important as to how a piano sounds. For example, a bright piano sample might sound too thin in a solo context in which most people might prefer a warmer, fuller piano sound.

 

On the other hand, in a mix with other instruments, the bright, thin piano might sound better if it cuts through the mix best. In that case, the ears don't miss the lack of fullness of the piano because the missing frequencies are provided by the other instruments.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[cnegrad]

Hmmm.... #3 was my favorite [piano sound] of the three, but it's sustain was lacking. The other two were average "rompler sounding" pianos.

 

Not really crazy about any of 'em.

[Guy Smiley]

..... just from listening to those recordings #1 is terrible ... the worst.

 

Number #3 is also bad.

 

Number #2 is very very good. What piano is this ?

 

This is an interesting exercise but it's quite possible that these 3 boards are responding differently to the midi file ... esp in the higher velocities ... that's what it sounds like anyway.

 

daBowsa ... what is piano 2 ? ... Smiley.

 

.....

[daBowsa]

All I'll reveal at this time is the candidates:

• Yamaha S90 "Mojo S700" (Triple-strike)
  
• Nord Electro "AcGrand6" (Steinway from Stage)
  
• Radio Shack DP-4703 "GrandPiano1" (w/ Reverb2)
  

[vihreamies]

Don't like the number 1. Best is 2.

[DaveMcM]

1 = N

2 = Y

3 = RS

 

"?"

[gangsu]

After listening to the first part of each recording:

 

I don't like the first one. Loud or soft, what'll it be?

 

I don't like the second one. No variation in timbre, despite the improved dynamic range.

 

I don't mind the third one. It's a little feisty.

 

oh dear, what does this mean.

[Joe Muscara]

The third one had one obvious flaw - voice stealing. It's one of the obvious tests in the Purgatory Creek MIDI file. You can hear it in the sustained gliss at the end of the first part.

 

My trouble is that I go back and forth between that sequence on different instruments and after a while I don't know what I'm hearing anymore. I find I have to go with the first impression and not keep listening to A then B then back to A then B again etc.

 

So which one is on eBay?

[daBowsa]

My baby, the S90, is currently on the auction block.

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by gangsu:

oh dear, what does this mean.

Do we have to spell it out for ya, Sue?

 

Ummmmm, #3 can be bought at your local Radio Shack. Do they have Radio Shack stores near you at the North Pole?

 

And what was it you were saying about the GEM Promega's fancy sustain pedal?

[NoLights]

Hmmm....

 

Just based on tone:

 

#1 just sounded so --- uh, bad. Plunk, plunk, plunk.

#2 and #3: adequate

[gangsu]

Originally posted by Is There Gas in the Car? Do we have to spell it out for ya, Sue?

 

Ummmmm, #3 can be bought at your local Radio Shack. Do they have Radio Shack stores near you at the North Pole?

We used to have Radio Shack, they've turned into Circuit City. So anyway, continue spelling. I can only tell you that I voted #2 off the list. I just hope I didn't cause DaBowsa any 2nd thoughts. Are those polls anonymous?

 

And what was it you were saying about the GEM Promega's fancy sustain pedal?

Gas, I don't understand your beligerance sometimes. What do you need to know?

[daBowsa]

btw, homeAmature, these recordings were made with the FireBox (inputs 3&4), into Cubase at 44.1/16, and exported as .mp3 at 128kbs.

 

I think they came out pretty well for a recording noob!

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by gangsu:

And what was it you were saying about the GEM Promega's fancy sustain pedal?

Gas, I don't understand your beligerance sometimes. What do you need to know?

Belligerence? Me? Did I fail to provide you with a smiley? Lessee... I had a wink, a couple of rolling-of-the-eyes, and a yellow smiley. How can you say I was belligerent?

[resigned]

The fact that the RS piano is not winning (or losing?) your poll outright is noteworthy. LOL!

[StillFightingIt]

Interesting,

I thought 1 was by far the worst,

I didn't really like 2. But I thought 3 had character and liked it quite a bit.

 

So are you going to tell us which number is which piano? or did I miss it?

[daBowsa]

And the loser is... Piano 1!

 

As of 8pm EDT, you voted 9 to 2 to 4.

 

And what's behind door number 1? The Nord Electro Steinway sample!

 

Piano 2 is a custom tweak of the S700, known as "Mojo S700." And coming in 2nd place, the $300 Radio Shack RD-4703!

 

Of course, if you've been playing along at home, you already know its actually a Casio CDP100.

 

So, in summary:

• Piano 1 - Nord Electro AcGrand 6, $1400: third place
  
• Piano 2 - Yamaha S90 S700 Tweak, $1500: first place
  
• Piano 3 - Rebranded Casio CDP100, $300: second place
  

 

I'm so happy with my $300 purchase, that I'm selling the S90 for a synth-weighted VA, giving me the full gambit of sounds and keybeds.

 

Thanks for playing, and join us next time for "Which Virtual Analog synth should I buy?"

[cnegrad]

Glad that we agreed!

[StillFightingIt]

Awesome,

well I'm pretty impressed at number 3.

To be honest, I get really sick of hearing that midi file, and to me it makes most digital pianos sound pretty lame.

How about you record something of you playing on the RadioShack for us?

[gangsu]

Originally posted by Is There Gas in the Car?:

Originally posted by gangsu:

And what was it you were saying about the GEM Promega's fancy sustain pedal?

Gas, I don't understand your beligerance sometimes. What do you need to know?

Belligerence? Me? Did I fail to provide you with a smiley? Lessee... I had a wink, a couple of rolling-of-the-eyes, and a yellow smiley. How can you say I was belligerent?

Looks like I misspelled belligerant. Does that mean I can take it back? Sorry.

 

A variable sustain is something I take for granted. The ability to end phrases gently, easily, that's the most obvious use. Generally, harmonic pedal changes are quick and a switch would make no difference. But there are other uses besides the complete lift or return of the dampers. Another thread...

 

But the topic at hand, wow. Ok, I"m confused. So #1 was the STAGE Steinway sample, but downloaded to, and played on the Electro? Is it safe to assume that the Electro's [semi-weighted?] action didn't do it justice? Really, the biggest weakness that I heard was a lack of control over soft/loud.

[Byrdman]

A couple of notes on piano 1 sounded out of tune to me. Not by much - like the original sampled instrument had been hand tuned and a couple of notes weren't quite tempered accurately.

 

The problem with MP3 files is the artifacts really make it difficult to judge the quality of the samples. What I heard might have just been MP3 artifacts.

[gangsu]

Originally posted by gangsu:

Is it safe to assume that the Electro's [semi-weighted?] action didn't do it justice?

oh man, that's my dumbest question yet. Too funny. Goodnight!

[Jazzed]

Whoops. My mistake. Post deleted.

[daBowsa]

Originally posted by StillFightingIt:

How about you record something of you playing on the RadioShack for us?

Solo piano is the weakest of my keyboarding skills...but here goes!

 

RadioShack DP-4703 sound bites.

 

("all songs in one go" : "hi-fi" is probably what you're looking for)

[Jazzwee]

Wow! That's impressive! I can't believe that sound is coming out of a product in Radio Shack's "TOY AND GAME" section (see Radio Shack Website).

 

daBowsa, I hear conflicting comments on this. What's are the outputs on that again?

[daBowsa]

Originally posted by Jazzwee:

daBowsa, I hear conflicting comments on this. What's are the outputs on that again?

The outputs are:

• 1/8" stereo plug (headphone jack)
  
• MIDI
  

 

The inputs are:

• 1/4" pedal jack (backwards polarity)
  
• MIDI
  

 

The tones are:

• GrandPiano1 (stereo)
  
• GrandPiano2 (mono)
  
• ElecPiano
  
• Harpsichord
  
• Strings
  

 

You can layer any two of these tones and adjust the volume of the 2nd layer.

 

You can turn on reverb and/or chorus independant of tone. There are 4 reverbs (room1, room2, hall1, hall2) and 4 choruses. You chose which one of each type and then the reverb/chorus button simply turns them on or off.

 

There's also 4 velocity curves to choose from: light, normal, strong, and full-on.

 

The MIDI messages transmit on channel 1 only and sends program changes 1 through 5 for each tone selection. I hooked it up to MidiOx and was able to get the full range of velocity, up to 127 when digging in on the strong curve, just as you'd want.

 

The only downside of all these features is that your settings are not saved when you power off. Basically this means I select Reverb2 each time I turn it on, and maybe the strong curve if I remember. Normal is quite adequate.