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Embertone Releases: Walker 1955 Steinway 'D'

To owners of the full version: I'm hoping to upgrade from the lite version - what 2 additional mic sets (on top of the default mics) would you recommend for best flexibility?
Sometimes I play with room position only and I like it. Then after couple of weeks I enjoy so much in combination main plus close mics, after that in combination with hammer mics, then binaural, etc. Simply, get all. This is the only way to have peace in mind. :)
 
Sometimes I play with room position only and I like it. Then after couple of weeks I enjoy so much in combination main plus close mics, after that in combination with hammer mics, then binaural, etc. Simply, get all. This is the only way to have peace in mind. :)
Ha! Thanks Slobajudge - I suspected that would be the case!
 
I enjoy combining main with the close and room. Good for a rounded intimate tone for some piano ballads I am working on.

I’ve also got hammer mic but haven’t used it yet but suspect it might be good for combining for a sound that cuts through mix better.
 
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I enjoy combining main with the close and room. Good for a rounded intimate tone for some piano ballads I am working on.

I’ve also got hammer mic but haven’t used it yet but suspect it might be good for combining for a sound that cuts through mix better.
Interesting to hear that - that was the combo I was leaning towards.
 
Room and Binaural. Covers it all
Thanks Jake - do you hear any issues using the Binaural mics when played back over monitors/speakers? I've heard conflicting reports about compatibility with playback other than headphones (I have made a number of binaural recordings myself of live music performances and rehearsals, and they sound surprisingly good, with a lot of depth, width & detail, played through monitors/speakers/car stereo).
 
Thanks Jake - do you hear any issues using the Binaural mics when played back over monitors/speakers? I've heard conflicting reports about compatibility with playback other than headphones (I have made a number of binaural recordings myself of live music performances and rehearsals, and they sound surprisingly good, with a lot of depth, width & detail, played through monitors/speakers/car stereo).

I have not noticed anything that made me stop and think. When directly in front of the speakers, I prefer the intimate sound of the binaural. Feels a bit more like I’m behind the soundboard. At least for the initial playing, then I might switch the mic if I need to fit it in a composition but need a different perspective.
 
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I love this piano and agree that it's fantastic...however, aside from the half-pedaling which is coming soon...You really need to get in there and tweak the settings a bit to your taste. For instance, the Volume Dynamics should be smooth all the way down left, to all the way up right...and adjust the middle slider to show nothing (no black bar), this makes the volume linear. Do the same for the Velocity Dynamics. This also allows you to tailor the response to your MIDI controller better. For a good weighted action, set them all to linear and full range. Then turn ON the Adaptive Release samples for a more natural release depending on your dynamics. Then set the Velocities to 36...and the COLOR of the TONE should be in it's OFF position. This defaults to on, which cuts out certain frequencies, but the true sample is with this switch OFF (just a preference for me). Then adjust the release volume so that you can hear slight mechanical noise (more so with the close mics, not the room or wide mics as this will be unnatural)...but for an intimate sound, raise this a bit to your liking. And I personally set the reverb to about the 9 O'Clock position.

The mics I have are the Main, Binaural and Room...this for me covers all the tones I would want. I made these adjustments and saved the patch so it loads this way every time.

Side note tip: If your controller has multiple pedal inputs, assign the second pedal to control the soft pedal...works great. I love playing with both pedals. My controller already has a soft pedal/input 2 to default to the soft pedal...love it.
Thank you for this tip Jake, it makes the piano sound even better :)
 
To throw another spanner in the works re which mics to choose, my favourite (so far) combo that I have saved as a multi is Hammer + Wide. It just works for me. It's always going to be a very personal decision though.

And as above yes @jaketanner and @Funkybot are correct, you should tweak this from the default settings to suit your playing style, controller and sound preference. There is so much you can do with this and I can't make it sound bad. My only criticism is the long load times (yes, I have it on SSD and this may be related to my specific set-up) but I will live with it in order to get the sound and experience of the instrument. It's special (IMHO). I'm actually not fussed at all about waiting for the update. Half pedalling would be nice but it will come when it's ready and even if it never arrived I could not be more happy with Walker 1955.
 
Hey folks,

I'm a generally enthusiastically happy owner of the complete Embertone Walker library. It has definitely become my favorite grand piano library. Relative to other Steinways in my collection, I find it very good sounding out of the box, with lots of character that I find lacking in many libraries that I own, but not too much as found in one particular library I own.

That said, I find one annoying issue that I've not heard too much talk about.

That issue is a "click" on the low E2 at higher velocities. To my ear, it sounds real (not a sampling artifact). It also sounds mechanical, like some piece of the hammer mechanism is hitting something else. I notice it in every mic sample set (I have them all). It gradually comes in as velocity increases, and becomes very annoying (to my ear) at the higher quarter of velocity. It is present on other notes; mainly Eb2, D2, Db2, C2, to a much lesser degree. In fact, for me, a livable degree. But the E2 is too much.

The issue can be "hidden" by moving the rotary control of sample start time well to the clockwise, but I don't like that solution much as it de-emphasizes much of the wonderful attack characteristics for the rest of the keys.

Other than this one issue, I find the Embertone Walker absolutely incredible; my go-to piano without reservation. And even with this flaw, I will continue to use this in most of my work. The flaw as-is sounds natural; but it sounds like a maladjusted action that I would want to have fixed if I owned/used this physical piano.

So I'm wondering if
  1. other folks have noticed this E2 click and/or find it as annoying as I do,
  2. other folks have found any work arounds for this issue that doesn't compromise the rest of the keys, and
  3. if Embertone is aware of this issue and plans on addressing this in their long awaited update.
 
Hey folks,

I'm a generally enthusiastically happy owner of the complete Embertone Walker library. It has definitely become my favorite grand piano library. Relative to other Steinways in my collection, I find it very good sounding out of the box, with lots of character that I find lacking in many libraries that I own, but not too much as found in one particular library I own.

That said, I find one annoying issue that I've not heard too much talk about.

That issue is a "click" on the low E2 at higher velocities. To my ear, it sounds real (not a sampling artifact). It also sounds mechanical, like some piece of the hammer mechanism is hitting something else. I notice it in every mic sample set (I have them all). It gradually comes in as velocity increases, and becomes very annoying (to my ear) at the higher quarter of velocity. It is present on other notes; mainly Eb2, D2, Db2, C2, to a much lesser degree. In fact, for me, a livable degree. But the E2 is too much.

The issue can be "hidden" by moving the rotary control of sample start time well to the clockwise, but I don't like that solution much as it de-emphasizes much of the wonderful attack characteristics for the rest of the keys.

Other than this one issue, I find the Embertone Walker absolutely incredible; my go-to piano without reservation. And even with this flaw, I will continue to use this in most of my work. The flaw as-is sounds natural; but it sounds like a maladjusted action that I would want to have fixed if I owned/used this physical piano.

So I'm wondering if
  1. other folks have noticed this E2 click and/or find it as annoying as I do,
  2. other folks have found any work arounds for this issue that doesn't compromise the rest of the keys, and
  3. if Embertone is aware of this issue and plans on addressing this in their long awaited update.

Just tried that, and yes it's definitely there. Hope often do I hit that note? not too much to really notice, but maybe if it were a piece that had repetitive E2s, probably. But agreed, sounds like a defect in the piano note. I tried adjusting the sample start but for me, it's still there.
 
its more of a knocking than a click.
Yep. I agree. The downside to subjective terms. To me, like I mentioned in my first post, it reminds me of a misaligned hammer causing some sort of undesired collision in the mechanism. And I would concur that "Knock" is probably a better description than "click".
 
That issue is a "click" on the low E2 at higher velocities.
I don't know if it is the same note, but I could encounter this click a couple times when editing a piece. Then, with 36 velocity levels, editing dynamics made them disappear, and I'm not able to find them again.

If we meet them again, it would be better to note the pitch and velocity value, and let Embertone know. Maybe it is a fixable issue.

Paolo

EDIT: Maybe I could find three of them in an older, louder file I had archived. But one of them could also be pedal noise. Hard to say in the mix. I should analyze the sequence file.
 

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I don't know if it is the same note, but I could encounter this click a couple times when editing a piece. Then, with 36 velocity levels, editing dynamics made them disappear, and I'm not able to find them again.

If we meet them again, it would be better to note the pitch and velocity value, and let Embertone know. Maybe it is a fixable issue.

Paolo

EDIT: Maybe I could find three of them in an older, louder file I had archived. But one of them could also be pedal noise. Hard to say in the mix. I should analyze the sequence file.

These are similar, although not as noticeable as the ones I'm referring to. Mine are always on E2 at louder velocities, and always right at the start of the note. I'm not at home, but I'll try to record some examples this evening and post.
 
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