# Modartt Pianoteq 7 is here.



## shropshirelad (Nov 10, 2020)

Well, what a pleasant surprise. That's my evening sorted


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## Casiquire (Nov 10, 2020)

It doesn't seem like much has changed, does anyone see any significant differences?


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## re-peat (Nov 10, 2020)

It's got many improvements, but the stand-out ones are unquestionably acoustic morphing and layering. It also includes a new NY Steinway model.

Here's a video on the morphing:



_


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## SupremeFist (Nov 10, 2020)

Interesting. I don't care about morphing or layering but it will be interesting to see if the new string modelling improves the sound overall.


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## Markrs (Nov 10, 2020)




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## Casiquire (Nov 10, 2020)

re-peat said:


> It's got many improvements, but the stand-out ones are unquestionably acoustic morphing and layering. It also includes a new NY Steinway model.
> 
> Here's a video on the morphing:
> 
> ...



I'm confused, how do you morph between a pluck and a hit?! Lol


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## Windbag (Nov 10, 2020)

Casiquire said:


> I'm confused, how do you morph between a pluck and a hit?! Lol



You morph between the algorithm that's describing each.

Just from the videos, the Steinway updates sound like there might be some upper mid-range improvemnt from what I was practicing with all day yesterday...guess I'll be 30 euros lighter tonight


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## lychee (Nov 10, 2020)

I think they stole the morph idea from Sampleson and his ElectoNylon:


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## Toecutter (Nov 10, 2020)

Markrs said:


>



Love this guy!


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## doctoremmet (Nov 10, 2020)

lychee said:


> I think they stole the morph idea from Sampleson and his ElectoNylon:



I don’t know... morphing is not really a Sampleson invention, is it?


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 10, 2020)

does the upgrade price include the new Steinway?

If I upgrade to Pro at this time, will that include the upgrade to v7?


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## thomasjdev (Nov 10, 2020)

If I read it correctly, if you have the Steinway D already then when you upgrade to 7 you will have the Hamburg & New York variants (It's not considered a separate instrument).

From the Modartt site I have the option to upgrade my v6 Standard license to v7 PRO


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## ChristianM (Nov 10, 2020)

Windbag said:


> You morph between the algorithm that's describing each.
> 
> Just from the videos, the Steinway updates sound like there might be some upper mid-range improvemnt from what I was practicing with all day yesterday...guess I'll be 30 euros lighter tonight


me too !!


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## ChristianM (Nov 10, 2020)

Casiquire said:


> I'm confused, how do you morph between a pluck and a hit?! Lol


A pluckhit


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## lychee (Nov 10, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> I don’t know... morphing is not really a Sampleson invention, is it?



Of course, they even invented the wheel.


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## doctoremmet (Nov 10, 2020)

lychee said:


> Of course, they even invented the wheel.


Hahaha! But I have to hand it to you... I have now learned the name of yet another physical modelling developer ❤


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## TGV (Nov 10, 2020)

Casiquire said:


> I'm confused, how do you morph between a pluck and a hit?! Lol


I don't know how Pianoteq works, but in physical modeling, you can "excite" a "resonator" to get a sound. If that resonator models a string, you get a string(y) sound. The excitation of a pluck is one sort of signal (and some modulation), and a hit another. So by mixing the two, you can say you're morphing between a plucked and a hit string.


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## shropshirelad (Nov 10, 2020)

Dewdman42 said:


> does the upgrade price include the new Steinway?


Yes!


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## Jkist (Nov 10, 2020)

They have a sale right now on Pianoteq Standard. Its a 20% discount. Looks like in the past its gone as low as 30%...I wonder if we will see a further discount closer to Black Friday? Seems like that would be a crappy thing to do though...


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## ReelToLogic (Nov 10, 2020)

Thanks for the info! Can anyone tell me;
(a) what it will cost to upgrade Pianoteq Standard 6 to Standard 7, and
(b) if additional pianos I've purchased such as the Steingraeber will automatically be upgraded to version 7 or if I'll need to pay extra? 

I didn't see tthat info on the website, and I'm away and don't have access to my serial number right now. Thanks.


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## lychee (Nov 10, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Hahaha! But I have to hand it to you... I have now learned the name of yet another physical modelling developer ❤



It's not really physical modeling, I haven't fully understood the technique used, but it seems to be a good alternative to the sample and I hope others will follow this path.

Coming back to the subject (sorry).

I've been hesitant to take Pianoteq or Arturia's pianos for a long time.
If I take the Pianoteq Stage version, I only have 2 instruments to choose from plus a piano, or only 2 instruments?


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## shropshirelad (Nov 10, 2020)

ReelToLogic said:


> Thanks for the info! Can anyone tell me;
> (a) what it will cost to upgrade Pianoteq Standard 6 to Standard 7, and
> (b) if additional pianos I've purchased such as the Steingraeber will automatically be upgraded to version 7 or if I'll need to pay extra?
> 
> I didn't see tthat info on the website, and I'm away and don't have access to my serial number right now. Thanks.


It's €29. All your pianos move up to V7.


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## Ivan M. (Nov 10, 2020)




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## Laptoprabbit (Nov 10, 2020)

Can anyone who's had 6 comment on the changes to the sound in 7?


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## jadedsean (Nov 10, 2020)

ReelToLogic said:


> Thanks for the info! Can anyone tell me;
> (a) what it will cost to upgrade Pianoteq Standard 6 to Standard 7, and
> (b) if additional pianos I've purchased such as the Steingraeber will automatically be upgraded to version 7 or if I'll need to pay extra?
> 
> I didn't see tthat info on the website, and I'm away and don't have access to my serial number right now. Thanks.


I paid €29 from my Standard 6 to 7, the additional Pianos you purchased will also be available in 7, at least mine were. Plus If you have previously purchased a Steinway you will now receive the Steinway New York and Hamburg versions. Hope that helps.


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## BassClef (Nov 10, 2020)

Confused here... I've had the Stage version 6 for 9 months. I just downloaded ver 7.0.1 and they never asked for an upgrade fee. Now I have both 6 and 7 installed and working. Where did I go wrong? I thought the upgrade was $39. And when I log onto my account on their web site it shows my licensed product as ver 7.


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## Fleer (Nov 10, 2020)

I believe you get free upgrades within a year from purchase. You won’t have morphing and layering though, as those are part of the Standard and Pro versions.


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## Michael Antrum (Nov 10, 2020)

Haven't had a chance to look at it yet. I never liked the Pianoteq tone, it sounded plasticky in the mid to high registers. Has this improved at all ?

If you have the Stage version withn no extras, do you get the new Steinway, or do you need to upgrade to standard to get that ? It doesnt seemto be clear on the website.


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## decredis (Nov 10, 2020)

Fleer said:


> I believe you get free upgrades within a year from purchase. You won’t have morphing and layering though, as those are part of the Standard and Pro versions.


Oh that's cool, I'm just within the window to update my 6 Pro. I'd have happily paid the twenty odd quid later today anyway


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## jules (Nov 11, 2020)

Markrs said:


>



Ah ! Looking this guy making his thing is always such a pleasure ! Pianoteq 7 looks promising !


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## ElectricFrog (Nov 11, 2020)

This thing sounds excellent.


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## Ivan M. (Nov 11, 2020)

Bought it, and loving it! I've got a few good sampled pianos, but the feeling is so much better with pianoteq. I'm steering away from sampled libs, they frustrate me so much (also bought some physical modelling strings). Do physical modeling instruments sound synthy at some very brief moments, maybe, but that's nothing compared to the akwardness of animating samples, like trying to make frankenstein come alive


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## lychee (Nov 11, 2020)

Ivan M. said:


> I'm steering away from sampled libs, they frustrate me so much (also bought some physical modelling strings). Do physical modeling instruments sound synthy at some very brief moments, maybe, but that's nothing compared to the akwardness of animating samples, like trying to make frankenstein come alive.



I'm in the same state of mind now, all I want is physical modeling stuff, but this market is so thin.


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## Ivan M. (Nov 11, 2020)

lychee said:


> I'm in the same state of mind now, all I want is physical modeling stuff, but this market is so thin.


There are some hidden gems, check this out: https://www.native-instruments.com/de/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/all/all/all/300659/ 
try the flute, clarinet and violin, and all free


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## Lukas (Nov 11, 2020)

Michael Antrum said:


> Haven't had a chance to look at it yet. I never liked the Pianoteq tone, it sounded plasticky in the mid to high registers. Has this improved at all ?


I never liked it either... until version 6. The improvements in V6 were huge in my opinion.


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## Ivan M. (Nov 11, 2020)

I'm gonna go all physical modeling, and buy me some mega giga new ryzen with gazillion of cores, one for each instrument of course, and it's gonna work super smooth


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## doctoremmet (Nov 11, 2020)

Ivan M. said:


> also bought some physical modelling strings


Friktion? SWAM? AM? Arché?


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## dcomdico (Nov 11, 2020)

I purchased Pianoteq 6 in the summer and also received the upgrade for free. A 1-year grace period for upgrades is a customer-friendly policy. I think Pianoteq is the most playable software piano but the sound itself is very dependent on the controller you use and its calibration to the software. With my Nektar T6 it sounds pretty bad. But with my Roland RD700nx and the Modartt suggested calibration profile it sounds (and feels) completely different, and is better than the piano sound from the Roland itself.


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## Ivan M. (Nov 11, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Friktion? SWAM? AM? Arché?


sample modeling, they have ensemble patches


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## ProtectedRights (Nov 11, 2020)

I'd like to hear a direct sound comparison between 6 and 7. I don't need the features, I'd only be interested in more realistic sound.


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## Fleer (Nov 11, 2020)

Michael Antrum said:


> Haven't had a chance to look at it yet. I never liked the Pianoteq tone, it sounded plasticky in the mid to high registers. Has this improved at all ?
> 
> If you have the Stage version withn no extras, do you get the new Steinway, or do you need to upgrade to standard to get that ? It doesnt seemto be clear on the website.


Well, a sampled piano sounds like a recorded piano but doesn’t really play like one. Pianoteq does. 
The new NY Steinway is part of the Steinway D instrument pack (with its Hamburg sibling) but needs Pianoteq 7, as I understand. You’ll find the requirements under each instrument. Anyway, you don’t need Standard for any instrument. But you do need Standard for the new morphing and layering stuff.


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## fakemaxwell (Nov 11, 2020)

Grabbed a midi file to do a straight sound comparison of Pianoteq 6, 7, and the updated NY Steinway in 7. All are the default "Prelude" presets, nothing else has been changed.


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## BassClef (Nov 11, 2020)

Michael Antrum said:


> Haven't had a chance to look at it yet. I never liked the Pianoteq tone, it sounded plasticky in the mid to high registers. Has this improved at all ?
> 
> If you have the Stage version withn no extras, do you get the new Steinway, or do you need to upgrade to standard to get that ? It doesnt seemto be clear on the website.



Yes... I only have the Stage version... upgraded to 7 and got the new Steinway.


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## Sean (Nov 11, 2020)

Eh still sounds not great to me, I've never been a fan of the sound of Pianoteq but all the modelling stuff is super cool. No doubt the playability is amazing.


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## Windbag (Nov 11, 2020)

Anyone happen to upgrade from player to Standard? I'm curious if you need to select these new steinways as an additional pack (i.e. the one included with that upgrade) or if previously-licensed "Steinway D" ends up translating to this new set or any part of it. I'm kinda hoping those come along and I can spend the upgrade allotment on the harps


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 11, 2020)

The new steinway does sound a bit better to my ears, better definition.


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## Dewdman42 (Nov 11, 2020)

I expect they will come out with some new instruments soon based on the V7 engine that everyone will want to spend their pesos for.


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## Jake Johnson (Nov 11, 2020)

SupremeFist said:


> Interesting. I don't care about morphing or layering but it will be interesting to see if the new string modelling improves the sound overall.


You will come to like the layering. You can much more with it than just create synthy layers.


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## doctoremmet (Nov 11, 2020)

I can’t wait to hear what Simon Stockhausen will do with the morphing...


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## Fleer (Nov 11, 2020)

Windbag said:


> Anyone happen to upgrade from player to Standard? I'm curious if you need to select these new steinways as an additional pack (i.e. the one included with that upgrade) or if previously-licensed "Steinway D" ends up translating to this new set or any part of it. I'm kinda hoping those come along and I can spend the upgrade allotment on the harps


I’m pretty sure the new one will come along, as it will also do when you simply upgrade to version 7. But you will need version 7 anyhow to play that new NY Steinway D: v7 is clearly mentioned as its minimum requirement.


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## AllanH (Nov 11, 2020)

Wow - this is a surprisingly good upgrade. The tone and "liveliness" is greatly improved. The piano pretty much "rings out" the way I would expect from a concert grand in a good hall (referring primarily to the NY Steinway here). I very much like the NY Steinway - it has the darker and deeply resonant tone typically found in American Steinways. The middle register is somehow also improved.

All my old pianos and other instruments carried over.

Back to playing.


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## hag01 (Nov 12, 2020)

Purchased the upgrade yesterday, here's my opinion:
I just lately got back to Pianoteq 5 because it suddenly hit me, that Pianoteq 6 sounds like a step backwards from Pianoteq 5. It sounded to me that the difference between Pianoteq 6 and 5 is mostly about eq, 6 was mostly brighter - not great. And they completely ruined the lovely Blüthner of Pianoteq 5, which was my favorite instrument of Pianoteq 5.

Now Pianoteq 7 - at last, the upgrade I'm waiting for since Pianoteq five. And the new New York Steinway is wonderful.

My controller is Kawai MP11SE.


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## Michael Antrum (Nov 12, 2020)

Well I got the 29 euro upgrade, and I still don't like it. I certainly don't begrudge the upgrade fee (which I think is very reasonable), and I want the developer to get lots of orders to keep making it better, but it still doesn't quite float my boat.

I only have the stage version and I've just spent an hour playing though the presets of the new Steinway.

I know this is subjective, but for me there's no real 'weight' to the bass and there's no real 'sparkle' at the top. In some ways it feels as if the whole thing were overly compressed.

It's still a real achievement to get this into 199mb, but it isn't for me, at least not yet.

I'll be going back to my beloved VSL Synchron D274 - All 260gb of it.....


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## Fleer (Nov 12, 2020)

You’re missing out on the morphing, Michael.


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## Michael Antrum (Nov 12, 2020)

I'm not sure that morphing the Steinway D with a ukulele is quite going to do it for me. I really just want a Grand piano !


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## Fleer (Nov 12, 2020)

Among lots of sampled ones, I just love the playability of Pianoteq. In a way, a sampled piano is just a recorded instrument, while Pianoteq is alive. Now, morphing and layering (in Standard and Pro) allow for unique sounds only modeling can bring. Pretty amazing addition to already great software, if you ask me. Of course, I’m using Pro and the note-per-note adjustments are mind blowing.


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## Quasar (Nov 12, 2020)

I have 6 Standard, and like a lot of people, I ADORE the playability and response aspect, which blows away sample libraries (at least the ones I've tried), but sonically I still prefer the Vintage D, especially for notes in the center of the keyboard within an octave or so of middle C.

I don't care about the morphing or layering at all, but the "refined physical modeling" of the string vibrations (whatever that means in the real world) might make it worth it if it improves the sonics. The new Steinway D interests me too, at least a little bit.

In short, if v7 *sounds better* (as hag01 and some others are reporting) then I want this. If not, or the difference is trivial, unnoticeable to anyone not listening carefully for it, then I don't need it.

I'm hopefully going to get to hear a range of side-by-side comparisons to decide.


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## Neutron Star (Nov 12, 2020)

I have had pianoteq since version 4 onwards and now have 7. However for me, the Arturia V2 Japanese grand, with a few tweaks, switch of any EQ and a few other things, will still be my daily player and production piano. Including all the numerous highly rated sample libraries i have. Version 7 is better than 6, but conceptually it is like the mic is over the strings, ( with first class sympathetic string resonance and sustain tone ) However, it lacks the solid tonal attack of the best of the others, and that makes a much larger difference to the ear than any other parameters been spot on.


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## Virtuoso (Nov 12, 2020)

Love it! Now I'm wishing they would release a DX7 instrument pack to layer with the pianos for that classic 80s Dave Grusin sound.


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## Technostica (Nov 12, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> I can’t wait to hear what Simon Stockhausen will do with the morphing...


He posted a short clip on YT yesterday which gives a sense of what can be achieved.


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## Laptoprabbit (Nov 12, 2020)

Just downloaded the demo and I get a distracting "laser gun" like background effect playing high velocity notes in the lower register. Anyone else notice this?


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## AllanH (Nov 12, 2020)

Laptoprabbit said:


> Just downloaded the demo and I get a distracting "laser gun" like background effect playing high velocity notes in the lower register. Anyone else notice this?



There is a bit of a hard clanging in lower register wiht the NY Steinway (imo), but nothing like a "laser gun". It sounds a bit more metallic than I recall, but it could be accurate.

EDIT: I should have been clearer. The "default" NY Steinway Forte hammer hardness is too hard for my taste. That's where the metallic clang comes from. I just lower the Forte hardness in the Voicing panel on the front page.


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## Hywel (Nov 14, 2020)

I bought v6 standard earlier in the year and wanted so much to like it but never really spent the time to customise it to my hands/ears/keyboard and the "out of the box" settings never really floated my boat.

Since upgrading to v7, I've taken the time to go into the settings and change things and that for me at least, has made such a difference. For example - experimenting with adding some "wear and tear" to the sounds makes it more "lived in" and less clinical.

So my advice to folks would be that spending some time with the settings and calibrations will be very rewarding in the long run and remember to save them as a preset so that they can be applied when you change instruments etc. Or alternatively you can "freeze" parameters so that they don't change when you load a different instrument.


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## ElectricFrog (Nov 15, 2020)

Here is a large collection of Pianos and Presets for Pianoteq 7.


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## hag01 (Nov 16, 2020)

Hey friends, I did three recordings of Pianoteq 7 yesterday, for you to have a demo(which wasn't done by professional producer like the official Moddart demos, just the simplest Pianoteq recordings), and for the fun of it.






I tweaked a bit the mic positions and settings to my liking.
I think we got here something that actually sounds(almost) like a real concert grand.


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## Fleer (Nov 16, 2020)

I like what sound wizard Brian Eno is saying about Modartt on their website: «I bought Pianoteq 6 a couple of weeks ago. I think it is the most well-realised and intelligently constructed piece of music software I've ever had the pleasure of using. It is an absolute milestone. Aside from its incredible power as an emulator of pianos, the possibilities that unfold when you start to edit the models are astonishing. I've been lost in it since I bought it, and keep dragging friends into the studio to show them this miracle. The randomisation possibilities are so intelligently constructed and are a great help in understanding the enormous variety of possibilities this instrument offer. I don't think I've ever been so impressed by a piece of software design and I just wanted to thank the team who put this together.»


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## pianophile (Nov 16, 2020)

hag01 said:


> I tweaked a bit the mic positions and settings to my liking.
> I think we got here something that actually sounds(almost) like a real concert grand.




I like very much the Bach recording, it sounds so real, thank you! Could you share the fxp and the audio on the Pianoteq forum fxp corner https://forum.modartt.com/fxpcorner/index.php ? It would be nice


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## hag01 (Nov 17, 2020)

*pianophile, *uploaded it just now to your request, it based on the Bluethner pack.


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## pianophile (Nov 17, 2020)

hag01 said:


> *pianophile, *uploaded it just now to your request, it based on the Bluethner pack.



Thank you very much *hag01*! Very nice mic settings and reverb choice.


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## Fleer (Nov 21, 2020)

Found another morphing example:


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## good (Nov 21, 2020)

The upgrade from Pianoteq 6 to 7 is similar to the upgrade from the iPad Pro 3rd to 4th. Morphing and layering are of course good functions, but improvements in sound were more important to me.


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## CT (Nov 21, 2020)

I last demo'd Pianoteq back in 2013 or 2014, I think. It was cool, but that was all. I am trying it again right now, and it's something of a revelation.

On the other hand, the less said about Organteq, the better.


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## Fleer (Nov 22, 2020)

Great vid by Simeon:


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## StillLife (Aug 14, 2021)

As a pianist, I was aware of Pianoteq, but I always thought samplelibs sounded better. Today I have spent a good few hours demoing (which in itself, is a great feature!) the new 7, and wow. I am blown away by the playability and inspiration it offers. Tweaking is also easy, and still very deep. I already knew of the condition slider, but today I found the mic page... you can place 4 mics anywhere you want, even behind a wall, and the effect on the sound is very real. This is amazing software indeed.


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## Markrs (Aug 14, 2021)

StillLife said:


> As a pianist, I was aware of Pianoteq, but I always thought samplelibs sounded better. Today I have spent a good few hours demoing (which in itself, is a great feature!) the new 7, and wow. I am blown away by the playability and inspiration it offers. Tweaking is also easy, and still very deep. I already knew of the condition slider, but today I found the mic page... you can place 4 mics anywhere you want, even behind a wall, and the effect on the sound is very real. This is amazing software indeed.


Totally agree, Pianoteq is the best physical modelling I have ever heard as it is incredibly realistic


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## StillLife (Aug 14, 2021)

Just bought Standard, including Steinway D, Petrof, Electric piano’s. Contemplating: Bechstein, Steingraeber, U4, Hohner. Maybe Bluthner.


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## Fleer (Aug 14, 2021)

Contemplating will lead to buying. Including that wonderfully subdued Blüthner.


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## Markrs (Aug 14, 2021)

StillLife said:


> Just bought Standard, including Steinway D, Petrof, Electric piano’s. Contemplating: Bechstein, Steingraeber, U4, Hohner. Maybe Bluthner.


The great thing is you can demo all of them. I found a piece of midi plano music I liked them demoed each one.

The bad thing is they are all great and you will want them all. I got everything on your list except Steingraeber and U4, which along with the Grotrian sound great, but I needed to keep the spend reasonable.


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## jonnybutter (Aug 15, 2021)

Hywel said:


> I bought v6 standard earlier in the year and wanted so much to like it but never really spent the time to customise it to my hands/ears/keyboard and the "out of the box" settings never really floated my boat.
> 
> Since upgrading to v7, I've taken the time to go into the settings and change things and that for me at least, has made such a difference. For example - experimenting with adding some "wear and tear" to the sounds makes it more "lived in" and less clinical.
> 
> So my advice to folks would be that spending some time with the settings and calibrations will be very rewarding in the long run and remember to save them as a preset so that they can be applied when you change instruments etc. Or alternatively you can "freeze" parameters so that they don't change when you load a different instrument.


I think this is very good advice. Customize the velocity curve and as much else as you can, depending on the version you have.

A problem with Pianoteq for me is still the sound, and it has always been. I would buy a new version or instrument, and yes it’s always very playable, but the sound is still less than great. It has that ‘resiny’ sound that I can’t get used to - which I hear in the version 7 video above too, by the way. I then hear repeatedly from ppl that the problem is I don’t have the pro version, which can be extensively tweaked, per note, etc. But does that make sense? It should sound good at any version. Maybe the pro version will sound better once you get it set up, but any version should sound good. Maybe it’s my ears, but it just doesn’t yet. I’ve been waiting for 10 years! Someday…..

There’s a *lot* to be said for playability of course - the emotion and skill you can encode on a very playable instrument can definitely make up for an inferior sound at times. But I find myself almost never loading up their pianos. Other Modarrt instruments - like harp, vibes, vintage electronic keyboards - yes. But not acoustic piano.


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## Fleer (Aug 15, 2021)

As for me, Pianoteq feels like an actual instrument, whereas sampled grands, as grand as they may resonate, sound and play like recordings. Comes with the process, of course.


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## StillLife (Aug 15, 2021)

Fleer said:


> As for me, Pianoteq feels like an actual instrument, whereas sampled grands, as grand as they may resonate, sound and play like recordings. Comes with the process, of course.


This. Exactly my experience too. I finally feel like playing a piano again.


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## AllanH (Aug 15, 2021)

Fleer said:


> As for me, Pianoteq feels like an actual instrument, whereas sampled grands, as grand as they may resonate, sound and play like recordings. Comes with the process, of course.


My sentiment, exactly. It plays like an instrument. To my ears and fingers, the Blüthner is the one I like the best and what I always start with. The new American D is also quite good and closely matches what I would expect.


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## Buz (Aug 15, 2021)

Are there any demos out there that convey this feeling? Kinda been holding off on the trial until they get it sounding vaguely like a piano. Might be something that needs to be experienced though?


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## Thundercat (Aug 15, 2021)

Buz said:


> Are there any demos out there that convey this feeling? Kinda been holding off on the trial until they get it sounding vaguely like a piano. Might just be something that needs to be experienced though?


Trial is not timed for a month or something. It's "perpetual." You can download it anytime. They limit you to 20 minutes of playing at a time, and a few random notes are silent.

I didn't like Pianoteq until I trialed it. Now I own it.


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## StillLife (Aug 15, 2021)

Thundercat said:


> Trial is not timed for a month or something. It's "perpetual." You can download it anytime. They limit you to 20 minutes of playing at a time, and a few random notes are silent.
> 
> I didn't like Pianoteq until I trialed it. Now I own it.


Yep, same. 
it is a really great demo as it gives you all functionality and access to all expansion packs. When the 20 minutes pass, you stay in the program. You just have to click your mouse button a few times and of you go again. Great service.


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## Stillneon (Aug 15, 2021)

Glad this thread got bumped as I remembered to pick up the Electric Piano pack before the sale ends  - many thanks!


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## Markrs (Aug 15, 2021)

Stillneon said:


> Glad this thread got bumped as I remembered to pick up the Electric Piano pack before the sale ends  - many thanks!


Electric Piano pack is excellent, one of the best ones to get for me. I heard a comparison with Keyscape and that does sound better, but the pianoteq version still sound wonderful.


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## BassClef (Aug 15, 2021)

Classically trained horn player here... just a hack on piano... loving Pianoteq. Bluthner is my favorite and I just added the U4 to my collection of 5 others... loving it in the "felt" mode!


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## StillLife (Aug 15, 2021)

Added the U4 and the Hohner collection to the Steinway D, Petrof and Electric Piano's I got with Standard. Seemed to me to be the most versatile collection of different key sounds, for now.


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## Fleer (Aug 15, 2021)

Good choice indeed, even for morphing.


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## Stillneon (Aug 15, 2021)

Markrs said:


> Electric Piano pack is excellent, one of the best ones to get for me. I heard a comparison with Keyscape and that does sound better, but the pianoteq version still sound wonderful.


Still exploring the Bluthner, Steinway D and Petrof I picked with Standard. So much detail, so deep. The Electrics will be great for me not having Keyscape.


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## hayvel (Aug 16, 2021)

I wonder why there are no morphing examples between acoustic piano models. I mean, I get that it is interesting to morph different instrument types, but I am personally more interested in a hybrid between different grand pianos or say the upright and a steinway or something in that regard. Has anyone played around with this? :-D

I have no opportunity at the moment to test pianoteq myself, just picked up Standard 15 minutes before the end of the sale on good faith (yeah I know... ) because of the generally great reviews and examples. I also have a piano background and never found a sampled piano I like to play, so....


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## Dewdman42 (Aug 16, 2021)

Pianoteq has improved a lot over the years. It was totally unacceptable to me in earlier versions. However v7 is actually quite good as are some of the models and now i use it almost exclusively. It’s very dynamic and does not produce sample ear fatigue, among many other things. It used to sound too synthetic to me in earlier versions but they have come a long way. In the long run I ended up buying half a dozen models and full advanced version of the software as well as the Epiano models. I just enjoy playing it a lot. In orch production though, i use vsl pianos and sometimes when I’m in a C7 kind of mood I simply have to play Garritan’s CFX


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## StillLife (Aug 16, 2021)

Been playing the U4 closed preset and it was as if I was playing the piano at my parents' house, many years ago.


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## Stephen Baysted (Aug 18, 2021)

Pianoteq is fantastic, and has replaced all my other piano libraries.


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## NULL_Bits (Sep 21, 2021)

Hello all!

I just found this community by googling everything Pianoteq and this seems like a really nice little corner of the internet!

I just purchased this last night and I have to say that I can’t get enough of this thing! For a little context, I’ve been playing bass for about 30 years and once I hit 40 I decided that I need to branch out and learn a chordal instrument for real (was a tinkerer before) so I started taking up piano (only been playing for about a year and a half). It has been an awesome journey thus far!

I do a little of amateur music production/mixing so I’ve done plenty of tinkering around with various piano plugins over the years, almost all being sample-based, and for some reason didn’t really even consider a non-sample based piano plugin because I figured all would sound way too fake. I have a MIDI keyboard set up in my living room with some nice speakers and an HTPC and growing tired of massive multi-hundred GB sample libraries, longer load times, etc I decided to take a peak at what’s out there and came across Pianoteq and I’m completely blown away!

I absolutely cannot believe what can be achieved through modeling and synthesis these days! It’s still not yet 100% perfect so there’s a little room to grow, but it’s WAAAAAY closer than I imagined. Within the context of a mix it’s basically impossible for my (albeit aging) ears to detect that it’s not sampled.

What I can’t get over is the playability. I have a pretty nice (to me) hybrid with real full length grand piano keys, so I decided to hook up my laptop to see how it felt on a “real” piano (well much more real than my MIDI keyboard) and it’s a COMPLETELY different instrument with Pianoteq! I can’t even describe how much better it is.

Of course stock it’s using samples and they sound really good, but to my ears Pianoteq is just as good and maybe better sound-wise, but even being a complete beginner I can 100% feel the difference in playability. It feels so amazingly real. Now when I go back to the stock piano it’s just not the same, there’s a clear limitation with how they did the sampling, for instance it feels gimped when I play super duper soft or really really hard, like it’s compressed, and I get a sense of the various thresholds when it switches between various samples, whereas with Pianoteq it’s so organic feeling, I just can’t go back. I’m now researching how to build a Raspberry Pi based thing so I can have a headless version of this running so I don’t have to use my laptop.

Anyway, sorry about all the gushing and the massive wall of text, I’m just so excited I had to tell someone and this seems like a really friendly and welcoming place so I decided to dump out all my thoughts right here!

I think within the next 2-3 iterations, assuming they can continue improving (it’s sooooo close!) this will be indistinguishable from samples even to highly trained ears and there will be no need to use samples anymore, which eat up hundreds of GB and don’t offer anything like this type of playability.


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