What's new

Best VST Piano to start with

What kind of piano sound are you after? (Classical, orchestral, upright, cinematic, don't care?)

I definitely wouldn't recommend a very specific instrument like LABS felt piano, Emotional piano or Woodchester for that "bread and butter" sound.

Galaxy Vintage D, Garritan CFX (also lite version), Embertone Walker D, Ivory American D, all VI Labs instruments, Hammersmith by Soniccouture, Pianoteq - all good options - and there are plenty more.

Please specify...
 
What kind of piano sound are you after? (Classical, orchestral, upright, cinematic, don't care?)

I definitely wouldn't recommend a very specific instrument like LABS felt piano, Emotional piano or Woodchester for that "bread and butter" sound.

Galaxy Vintage D, Garritan CFX (also lite version), Embertone Walker D, Ivory American D, all VI Labs instruments, Hammersmith by Soniccouture, Pianoteq - all good options - and there are plenty more.

Please specify...
A piano for what kind of music?

Both Orchestral, classical and cinematic. Like Thomas Newman and Dario Marianelli sound.
 
I'd personally go with Garritan CFX, very flexible and playable instrument.

And was that - beginner - remark? Are you looking for something slightly worse?:)
 
Arturia Analog Lab. The grand and upright piano presets (and all of the other included instruments/presets) cover almost every keyboard scenario I have ever encountered. Free demo well worth downloading and giving a spin.
 
Arturia's pianos are really great and flexible. Garritan CFX gets a ton of praise from dedicated pianists, though I don't have it myself I often hear about it.
 
Make sure you give a good listen to all the demos of any piano library you're interested in before you buy it, everyone has a different taste in sound, and it's something you'll be playing a lot so you have to be satisfied with it enough to hear it quite a lot. :)
 
For a first piano I recommend to get something not too exotic.

As very versatile pianos I love these:
  • Alicia's Keys :) (NI)
  • Addictive Keys Studio Grand (XLN Audio)
or for more special cinematic pianos:
  • The Giant (NI)
  • Emotional Piano (Soundiron)
 
The Grandeur or Ivory American D or Garritan CFX Lite. All of them are pretty flexible in the genres you mentioned, they even include tons of presets tailored for that.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom