# My go-to piano library is yet to be found



## IgnasiVelasco (Aug 3, 2014)

I own several piano libraries and have tried many demos but I still can't find the ultimate solution that I'm looking for.

Where is that intimate emotional piano library that is versatile enough and consistent no matter if I play fast complex passages or just minimalistic stuff?

Generally, those libraries that are very realistic and emotional (8dio's 1928 Steinway Legacy comes to my mind) tend to have some issues with playability, often in terms of velocity or they just don't respond well to fast passages even if they excel at slow ones, again, because of velocity.

On the other hand, there are some others that offer an amazing response and they make you feel great playing them (Addictive Keys comes to my mind) but I wish they just had a little bit better sampling quality, you know, the sound that makes you actually believe you are hearing a hammer hitting a string.

I've recently seen that Pianoteq has been updated to v5, and I've tried their demo, but I feel a bit overwhelmed to see sooooo many piano models and having to spend hours looking for the right sound.

Do you know anything that sounds consistent out of the box and offers good sample quality?

I haven't tried Emotional Piano by Soundiron, do you think it would meet my demands?
Oh, and by the way, I know Synthogy Ivory but it's the most expensive one, I would like to think there is an alternative...


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## proxima (Aug 3, 2014)

Two perennial favorites of people here:

Malmsjö (http://www.artvista.net/malmsjo.html)
Piano in Blue (http://cinesamples.com/product/piano-in-blue)

I don't have either of those, yet. My favorites are:

Sampletekk's Black Grand Mk II (http://sampletekk.com/proddetail.php?prod=STDELIVER-048-KONT)
The Giant (http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys/the-giant/)

Among piano players, it seems to be a tossup between pianoteq and Ivory depending on preferences. Most of the pianos above are liked for how well they sit in a mix. Given that Ivory is ~$170 (for a single piano) and the cheapest above is $100, you may find that Ivory is competitively priced.

Personally, when just playing I use one of the presets on my Kawai MP11.


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## Daryl (Aug 3, 2014)

Galaxy II is my go to Piano. I'm not looking for any others.

D


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## Christof (Aug 3, 2014)

VSL Vienna Imperial, 100 velocities and 1200 samples per key (!)


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## tack (Aug 3, 2014)

I have a bit of a piano library addiction problem. I refuse to tally up just how much I've spent because I can't afford that much time lost weeping.

After all of that, http://www.galaxy-instruments.com/vintage-d.html (Galaxy Vintage D) remains my favorite. It's not flawless, but it's overall the best in playability and "that Steinway sound" that I do love.


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## bigcat1969 (Aug 3, 2014)

I concur on the Black Grand and The Giant. Both amazing pianos.
Odd suggestion (and a biased one) for a little intimate sketching piano, something small (130 megs) and quick to load try The Whisper. I just fixed a major mistake on it, so hopefully it sounds right now.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/pdn9o ... hisper.nki


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## playz123 (Aug 3, 2014)

For me, there is no 'go to' library. Which one I choose depends on the piece, the other instruments in the composition, and the mood that seems appropriate. There are many good piano libraries, but there are also some I would never use again.


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## Ryan99 (Aug 3, 2014)

My favorites are Synthogy American Concert D and Pianoteq 5.


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## Valérie_D (Aug 3, 2014)

I love the Malmsjö and I really like the Ivory American D Concert, I used it here for an intimate and emotional piece, I have yet to try it on a piece with more character : 

https://soundcloud.com/val-rie-delaney/thors-theme


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## Dan Mott (Aug 3, 2014)

I don' think what you are looking exists yet, but you could try the Art Vista Piano. I think it's a pretty good go to. Great dynamic range/playability and sound.


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## Giant_Shadow (Aug 3, 2014)

You may want to give the Spitfire Labs Piano a try. For a 2gbp donation to Unicef it will always have a use. It is quirky in a good way and one of those pianos when you sit down to play every time ideas come out.

https://soundcloud.com/guidomaat/spitfire-audio-felt-piano


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## JohnG (Aug 3, 2014)

I like East West and Ivory.

There's also this one though; amazing demos.

http://www.vilabsaudio.com/truekeyspianos


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## NYC Composer (Aug 3, 2014)

I don't think there is one.

For example, I have Ivory II-none of its presets sound like The Braunschweig, or Piano In Blue, or the Old Black Grand, or even Emotional Piano, all of which I own.
I would be nice to have the world's most comprehensive piano library, but if it's out there I'm unaware of it.


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## Vin (Aug 4, 2014)

Piano in Blue and The Giant cover about 95% of my piano needs.


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## davinwv (Aug 4, 2014)

JohnG @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> There's also this one though; amazing demos.
> 
> http://www.vilabsaudio.com/truekeyspianos



I have both True Keys and the newer Ravenscroft 275 by VI Labs. Ravenscroft makes the True Keys suite sound like ROMpler pianos.


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## EastWest Lurker (Aug 4, 2014)

I use the Art Vista Maljmso and Virtual Grand, QL Pianos, and Sampletekk Blue Grand at times, but my go to is still the Sampletekk Seven Seas Grand, sounds great and whenever I can use an EXS24 instrument I jump at the chance because the EXS24 is so efficient and good sounding in Logic Pro.

Not to derail the thread, but I am hoping that the new scripting abilities in Logic Pro X will be an incentive, once they learn how to use it, for more developers to develop for it gain like they used to.


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## Rv5 (Aug 4, 2014)

Growing up playing the piano, though I wouldn't consider myself a pianist, my favourite piano to sit and play that responds to touch in the most pleasing way is the Fazioli from Imperfect Samples. The others in their series I hope to get one day too

http://www.imperfectsamples.com/website ... /index.php


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## AC986 (Aug 4, 2014)

playz123 @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> For me, there is no 'go to' library. Which one I choose depends on the piece, the other instruments in the composition, and the mood that seems appropriate. There are many good piano libraries, but there are also some I would never use again.



That's about right Frank. I like the Piano in Blue and the way you can set it up, add tape noise etc. For it's price point I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't have it as part of their piano arsenal. 

Frank, do you have the Ravenscroft at this point?


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## Giant_Shadow (Aug 4, 2014)

Jay, Is EXS due for apple update soon ?


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## Marv (Aug 4, 2014)

Hi!

I'd go with either The Giant (Native Instruments) or Alicia's Keys (Native Instruments), ideally both. They make up 98% of all of my Piano stuff.

Regards,
Marv


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## nutotech (Aug 4, 2014)

Hands down (get it?) Ravenscroft UVI. Piano n Blue for darker/more intimate. Just started messing with Giant and can see the possibilities.


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## Blakus (Aug 4, 2014)

Mine was Ravenscroft, until I just bought the "Production Grand" a few days ago.


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## Leandro Gardini (Aug 4, 2014)

Nothing can beat Pianoteq in my opinion. I'm completely satisfied with it and it works in any kind of music you come to mind.
I'm currently working with it as my piano percussion back in the hall and the results are much better than my previous libraries.


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## Stephen Rees (Aug 4, 2014)

playz123 @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> For me, there is no 'go to' library. Which one I choose depends on the piece, the other instruments in the composition, and the mood that seems appropriate.



Same here. Pianos have inherent characters and it is very difficult (for me at least) to change the character of a piano from one thing to another using fx and processing. I find it better to simply embrace what each individual piano is good at.

Actually this is the same for any library for me - strings, woodwinds, brass etc.


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## EastWest Lurker (Aug 4, 2014)

Giant_Shadow @ Mon Aug 04 said:


> Jay, Is EXS due for apple update soon ?



They don't tell me what's in the pipeline. I usually only know a little before everyone else. I have hope because they hired Andrea Gozzi, the genius behind XS Pro Manager, Autosampler, and Keymap but that doesn't mean they will have him do that.


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## tack (Aug 4, 2014)

Blakus @ Mon Aug 04 said:


> Mine was Ravenscroft, until I just bought the "Production Grand" a few days ago.


The demos are nice, if you like the bright Yamaha sound, but their documentation says they don't support repedalling (they call it "catch pedalling") or half pedalling, which IMHO makes it unsuitable for solo work.


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## tack (Aug 4, 2014)

Giant_Shadow @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> You may want to give the Spitfire Labs Piano a try. For a 2gbp donation to Unicef it will always have a use. It is quirky in a good way and one of those pianos when you sit down to play every time ideas come out.
> 
> https://soundcloud.com/guidomaat/spitfire-audio-felt-piano


The soundcloud demo is of the Felt Piano, but their labs piano is called "Soft Piano", isn't it?


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## Giant_Shadow (Aug 4, 2014)

tack @ Mon Aug 04 said:


> Giant_Shadow @ Sun Aug 03 said:
> 
> 
> > You may want to give the Spitfire Labs Piano a try. For a 2gbp donation to Unicef it will always have a use. It is quirky in a good way and one of those pianos when you sit down to play every time ideas come out.
> ...



The Labs Piano was called Felt Piano at the time.


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## ThomasL (Aug 4, 2014)

Soundirons Emotional Piano.


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## FriFlo (Aug 4, 2014)

@blakus: production grand looks interesting! Does it support continuous pedaling or half pedal? They seem to have recorded pedal down and pedal up, but ist there any kind of emulation of it?
I find half pedaling to be a really essential feature and after the VSL Vienna Imperial I promised myself not to buy another piano without it.


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## FriFlo (Aug 4, 2014)

tack @ Mon Aug 04 said:


> Blakus @ Mon Aug 04 said:
> 
> 
> > Mine was Ravenscroft, until I just bought the "Production Grand" a few days ago.
> ...



Oh, I missed that! Really? Such a pity! IMO it's a mistake to release any serious piano emulation for that kind of price without it ...


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## playz123 (Aug 5, 2014)

adriancook @ Mon Aug 04 said:


> playz123 @ Sun Aug 03 said:
> 
> 
> > For me, there is no 'go to' library. Which one I choose depends on the piece, the other instruments in the composition, and the mood that seems appropriate. There are many good piano libraries, but there are also some I would never use again.
> ...



Hi Adrian,
I have not yet purchased the Ravenscroft, but did play it (very nice, and excellent for purer piano sounds)) at another studio, and can certainly understand why it's become popular. Not sure if you have it or are hoping to learn more, but can tell you that re-peat recently provided a very good overview of that instrument along with some excellent audio examples. If I recall you did have one post in that thread, so maybe you purchased it?

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... avenscroft


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## Rob (Aug 5, 2014)

leogardini @ 4th August 2014 said:


> Nothing can beat Pianoteq in my opinion. I'm completely satisfied with it and it works in any kind of music you come to mind.
> I'm currently working with it as my piano percussion back in the hall and the results are much better than my previous libraries.



I'm new to pianoteq but so far it seems a quite capable instrument... maybe it's because I'm still in the first stage of discovering it, but I like the way it responds more than my other libraries.


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## tack (Aug 5, 2014)

Rob @ Tue Aug 05 said:


> I'm new to pianoteq but so far it seems a quite capable instrument... maybe it's because I'm still in the first stage of discovering it, but I like the way it responds more than my other libraries.


I think you won't find anything better than Pianoteq for responsiveness and playability. It's not exactly perfect in the way it models how a real piano responds, but it's quite good. If you're simultaneously in the set of people who find its sound unoffensive, you've just struck gold.


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## evilantal (Aug 5, 2014)

I like to use Pianoteq for live work and sketching out ideas and switch to a sample based piano (Piano in Blue, 1969 Legacy or Black MkII) for recording...


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## Soundmagic (Aug 6, 2014)

I would recommend some pianos for your consideration
Imperial Grand, a Bosendorfer 290SE
http://www.supremepiano.com/product/imp.htm
Blue Grand, Vintage Steinway
http://www.supremepiano.com/product/blue.htm
Fazioli Rose, best grand of Fazioli
http://www.supremepiano.com/product/rose.htm


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## JCmusik08 (Aug 6, 2014)

In my experience, the NI Giant piano is a very flexible piano which can be used for quite a few different sounds or emotions. Great for modern film or game music. Works very well as the center or attention


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## MMMusic (Aug 6, 2014)

I really like Fluffy Piano - extremely 'real' sounding to me


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## armenjc (Aug 7, 2014)

Bardstown Audio Bosendorfer Imperial Grand. They sold it to Big Fish and it's yet to come out.


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## Casiquire (Aug 8, 2014)

Pianoteq does have a free demo, and even though there are some things I don't like about the sound, it's definitely growing on me the more that I customize it for myself. Here's how I usually set it up for just regular old playing:

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... 72#3809372

Sounds very rich and it's definitely not the sterile sound that you sometimes get when you load it up and don't make any alterations.

Also, as for loading times, INSTANT. Ram, almost zero. The CPU is much better than I expected too. Hard drive space...counted in MB, not GB. The pros comfortably outweigh the cons.


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## Time+Space (Aug 8, 2014)

Just wanted to throw the Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand into the mix as we've had some great feedback since it was released in May including this extensive review from pianist Tony Cliff which came through this morning...

http://blog.timespace.com/2014/08/garritan-abbey-road-studios-cfx-concert-grand-a-pianists-perspective/


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## jasonkellnermusic (Aug 8, 2014)

Galaxy 2 is fantastic. I like berlin Piano and my GO TO for pop/upbeat tracks would be Alicia Keys.


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## feck (Aug 8, 2014)

Vienna Imperial
Garritan CFX
VI Labs Ravenscroft


Hands down the 3 that get the most use here.


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## dagmarpiano (Aug 8, 2014)

Oh just spend the extra and get Ivory. It's SO much better than anything else!


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## tack (Aug 9, 2014)

dagmarpiano @ Fri Aug 08 said:


> Oh just spend the extra and get Ivory. It's SO much better than anything else!


All this is way too subjective to be able to say that so confidently.  I own Ivory II (plus their Italian Grand), but I prefer Galaxy Vintage D because I like that silky German Steinway sound, and I find Ivory's German Steinway offputting soundwise.

If you like brighter pianos, Ivory's Yamaha is excellent, but for that brighter quality I'd give an edge to True Keys American Grand for playability.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day, this seems to be so deeply personal that I wonder how anyone for whom this matters can manage to avoid spending a small fortune to find the right fit.

I suppose there are worse problems to have.


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## AlexandreSafi (Aug 9, 2014)

Just almost finished a composition where i, of course, entirely used the Malmsjo from Art Vista, it's all there playing, slow & intimate, soft & hard basslines, and then some rather fast contrapuntal passages, it did the job as i knew it always would... It transcends all styles, yet it's the ultimate piano sound of the romantic era, and if Debussy & Ravel, in a parallel universe had had their hands on that beauty, i'm sure it simply would not have been so overlooked by now... I knew since 2004 what my go-to piano library would be for the rest of my life, i wish you experience that feeling one day!

Best,
Alexandre


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## tack (Aug 9, 2014)

AlexandreSafi @ Sat Aug 09 said:


> Just almost finished a composition where i, of course, entirely used the Malmsjo from Art Vista


At $100 it's priced in impulse buy territory. Does it support repedalling? My playing habits now thoroughly depend on this, so any library that lacks it is a nonstarter for me. Thanks!


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## ProtectedRights (Aug 11, 2014)

Ok thread is a couple of days old already but I want to throw in Sampletekk White Grand. It hasn't got millions of velocity layers or fancy release samples (at least I think so), nor resonance simulation, but I just like the tone very much. And it's rather cheap. For a solo show it might not be sophisticated enough, but in mixes it works really awesome.

I was a big fan of Pianoteq, but I have come away from it more and more, and ended up switching to samples almost every time. Only when it comes to well designed cinematic pianos with lots of resonance, I use Pianoteq.


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## SpeakPianissimoAndCarry.. (Aug 11, 2014)

Blakus @ Mon Aug 04 said:


> Mine was Ravenscroft, until I just bought the "Production Grand" a few days ago.



Argh! So many piano libraries, so many of them great. I have many of them. Ravenscroft was the first to truly blow me away. Every thing is crystal clear and the low end harmonics do not interfere with the upper range. Soft to loud....impressive! From an engineering standpoint, Ravenscroft is superb. Production Grand demos sound fabulous but 1/2 of a terabyte hard disk space to get the 96 kHz....ouch! I suppose the Gold makes it more reasonable at 144 GB and 44.1 kHz and I suppose 96 kHz only is 200+ GB, but man, as incredible as it is, is it that much better than Ravenscroft?


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## adam_lukas (Aug 11, 2014)

Nobody working with the East West QL Pianos? 
Bösendorfer
Steinway
Bechstein
Yamaha
Love the sound (mic positions, beautifully sampled)


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## Grilled Cheese (Sep 12, 2014)

I've long loved the EWQL Pianos, especially the Steinway D and the Bosendorfer, but having recently purchased Garritan CFX I may never use them again. I'm genuinely in love with CFX. It's just so alive, responsive and expressive. It's an absolute joy to play and the various mic positions and presets provide an excellent palette of sounds. 

I can't remember the last time I felt this connected to, and inspired by a virtual instrument of any kind. It's just gorgeous. Makes me just want to play and play. 

A fantastic piano + Abbey Rd Studios + masterful recording engineers = high expectations. For the first time in a long time I can say that my expectations have been exceeded.


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## AC986 (Sep 12, 2014)

Here's a good review from an excellent pianist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF9xh5YHW8w


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## mk282 (Sep 12, 2014)

tack @ 6.8.2014 said:


> It's not exactly perfect in the way it models how a real piano responds, but it's quite good.



Sample libraries in general are even further from perfect representation of the actual behaviour of the piano and its response. Pianoteq is much MUCH closer to the real thing as far as behavioural aspects are concerned. And sound-wise, well, I'm using Pianoteq 5 Pro and it's the bee's knees. I've completely removed all sampled pianos because they don't do it for me, at all. Pianoteq does.


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## Arbee (Sep 12, 2014)

mk282 @ Fri Sep 12 said:


> Sample libraries in general are even further from perfect representation of the actual behaviour of the piano and its response. Pianoteq is much MUCH closer to the real thing as far as behavioural aspects are concerned. And sound-wise, well, I'm using Pianoteq 5 Pro and it's the bee's knees. I've completely removed all sampled pianos because they don't do it for me, at all. Pianoteq does.


The diversity of opinion here is fascinating (and healthy!), nothing about the sound of Pianoteq has ever convinced me to invest in it. Much prefer the likes of Ivory's American D and Galaxy.

.


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## Grilled Cheese (Sep 12, 2014)

mk282 @ Fri Sep 12 said:


> Sample libraries in general are even further from perfect representation of the actual behaviour of the piano and its response. Pianoteq is much MUCH closer to the real thing as far as behavioural aspects are concerned. And sound-wise, well, I'm using Pianoteq 5 Pro and it's the bee's knees. I've completely removed all sampled pianos because they don't do it for me, at all. Pianoteq does.



Out of curiosity, what are the sample libraries that you've used and removed after switching to Pianoteq?


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## quantum7 (Sep 12, 2014)

+1 for VI Labs Ravenscroft. I haven't been able to play any other sampled pianos after playing VI Labs pianos. Pianoteq- I don't know exactly what it is, but it sounds...synthetic to my ears. Really wanted to like it.


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## mk282 (Sep 12, 2014)

chrispire @ 12.9.2014 said:


> Out of curiosity, what are the sample libraries that you've used and removed after switching to Pianoteq?



NI Giant, Alicia Keys, Akoustik Piano grands, Ivory 1 and 2, Addictive Keys, Galaxy Pianos. Lost any interest in sampled pianos since Pianoteq 4 onward. Just nothing compares to the response and sound/tweakability of Pianoteq for me.


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## Rob (Sep 12, 2014)

mk282 @ 12th September 2014 said:


> chrispire @ 12.9.2014 said:
> 
> 
> > Out of curiosity, what are the sample libraries that you've used and removed after switching to Pianoteq?
> ...



After upgrading to pianoteq pro last month I've been completely immersed in the deep customizing options this amazing instrument offers... The sheer possibility of setting each and every harmonic for every key is outstanding. One can virtually copy every piano sound. It still needs some touches, but it does sound very good as it is. I'm preparing several presets based on the various models, and will post some demos here as well as some presets for the users to try...


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## NYC Composer (Sep 12, 2014)

Rob @ Fri Sep 12 said:


> mk282 @ 12th September 2014 said:
> 
> 
> > chrispire @ 12.9.2014 said:
> ...



I can't wait to hear what you do with it. Unfortunately, it will probably have me opening a monetary vein again (sigh)


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## Raindog (Sep 16, 2014)

If you need an excellent and versatile piano which will fit perfectly into a mix you might consider Acousticsamples C7 Yamaha Grand piano. After having acquired more than enough piano libraries, I didn´t want to buy another library but as I had very good experiences with Acousticsamples libraries (their GD-6 acoustic guitar library is nothing but amazing) I finally bought the C7 and didn´t regret it one second. The sound is full bodied with lots of detail. It is a very bright piano but the sound can be adjusted in many ways so that it plays jazz equally well. It is a very clean piano though (which is it´s strength). If you need something more characterfull you might consider Acousticsample´s Old Black Grand which is equally excellent but much more "special" than the C7.
Another library with character is the Malmsjö from ArtVista. I also like their Virtual Grand Piano which covers an excellent Steinway Sound (an alternative would be the Steinway D from Galaxy, a wonderful library as well).
As you see, there are many options which are in fact dependent on your taste. if I would have 2 libraries for the island I would take both Acousticsamples libraries with me.
Best regards
Raindog


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