Buy a cheap piano or VSL Concert D Standard

[keepitsimple]

For sure. There are a lot of subpar piano vsts, and a solid Roland will sound better.

I don't know what the Kawai engineers did when sampling their SK-EX Competition Grand to make it genuinely sound like you are at the player's bench, but I do know that my Focal headphones and that 901 are a beautiful combo.

Acoustics you gotta treat the room properly, too. I have all kinds of custom dispersion/absorption from GIK acoustics that do a wonderful job, but that CA901 with good headphones and that competition grand... ooh la la...

The speaker system in it is nothing to sneer at either. The soundboard on the back of it will bang, but then here we go again with room treatment lol. Digital pianos and headphones are just so worth it for practicality and realism on the dollar. (Recording, Midi, Different Voices, Headphones, No Upkeep etc. etc.)

I'm currently shopping for a new board. Went yesterday to the Roland dealer and i was shocked by how good the FP-10 sounded with the built in speakers. Played also an FP-60X and i kept coming back to the FP-10 for some reason. Shame it doesn't have dedicated line-outs....but for midi controller use with vsts and practicing, i think the FP-10 is a steal.

Big fan of the Roland PHA-4 action.

 

[Clearstone]

I'm currently shopping for a new board. Went yesterday to the Roland dealer and i was shocked by how good the FP-10 sounded with the built in speakers. Played also an FP-60X and i kept coming back to the FP-10 for some reason. Shame it doesn't have dedicated line-outs....but for midi controller use with vsts and practicing, i think the FP-10 is a steal.

Big fan of the Roland PHA-4 action.

100% agree. There are some things you don't get that are in their higher end models. However, you get the PHA-4 action, which is amazing, and if someone is in the market for a great keybed to play their vsts and and for neighbor-friendly/sleepy household headphone practicing, the FP-10 gives fantastic results for very little money.

 

[quietmind]

The VSL Steinway side-chained to the resonance engine of Pianoteq 8 and its Hamburg Steinway model D is well worth exploring. I’ve posted about my tests with it in the past on this forum. It helps make up for the inadequacy of the VSL Synchron Piano sympathetic resonance engine, and lack of sustain re-pedaling.

Sounds interesting... Could you please give a link to this post?

 

[quietmind]

I was thinking about getting a cheapish piano but also looking at maybe getting the VSL Concert D standard in the meantime and save some extra money and get a decent piano, upright that would be.

I have Pianovere, Garritan and many more sample libraries, but none really sound like a piano. There is this sound that they all have, it's like clunky 2D sound, I think it's very noticeable when you play repeated chords, it has this block-like sound ( I am sure that doesn't make much sense)

What I have heard from the Concert D VSL, it might be the closest I have heard from a sample library.

Anyways, would be interested to get people's thoughts and suggestions. Thank you.

I found the same thing about those VI pianos. Even though I have a very good acoustic instrument, I still prefer the qualities that a good VSL concert grand provides compared to trying to get a good recording myself, and, yes, I have great mics etc. The VSL that works very well for my uses is VSL Fazioli F308. I also like the CFX and Boz, depending on the project though. Since the F308 came out, it pretty much wins most of the time. But if you like the timbral quality and control of the Steinway D best, I'd say get it. I've seen it on sale, well priced, on the classified forum here. And VSL usually has a piano sale every year. I ultimately found it was advantageous to have the full version, and upgraded. Glad that I did. There's even more timbre control.

 

[quietmind]

Side note: A Yamaha dealer near me has a Yamaha C7X in the showroom. Every time i go play it, i come back and have some day/night dreams about owning it. I just need $45,000 and i'll be ready to sell my soul

I know what that feels like. Years ago I frequented a Yamaha dealer in my neighborhood like that. Somehow, in a strange series of indirect coincidences, I ended up with the piano of my dreams at a vastly reduced cost, the money for which also suddenly appeared. So you never know....

 

[CGR]

Sounds interesting... Could you please give a link to this post?

Adding Pianoteq Resonance to Sampled Pianos

This is a technique which has been discussed briefly here, and in more detail on other forums, but I thought I'd share the results of my tests implementing this mixing technique over numerous months. This feature is only available in Pianoteq 8, and it allows a user to setup a side-chain input...

vi-control.net

 

[proggermusic]

I'm currently shopping for a new board. Went yesterday to the Roland dealer and i was shocked by how good the FP-10 sounded with the built in speakers. Played also an FP-60X and i kept coming back to the FP-10 for some reason. Shame it doesn't have dedicated line-outs....but for midi controller use with vsts and practicing, i think the FP-10 is a steal.

Big fan of the Roland PHA-4 action.

That is some VERY interesting information (particularly knowing that you can really play)... I'll be keeping that in mind if/when I ever finally decide to replace my venerable Yamaha P85. It ain't perfect but I know it and love it! It's old enough to buy liquor, though, and I'm sure it won't last forever. I like Roland's fully-weighted key-beds, and this is a very reasonably-priced board. Built-in speakers are handy, too, one of the things I like about my P85.

 

[keepitsimple]

That is some VERY interesting information (particularly knowing that you can really play)... I'll be keeping that in mind if/when I ever finally decide to replace my venerable Yamaha P85. It ain't perfect but I know it and love it! It's old enough to buy liquor, though, and I'm sure it won't last forever. I like Roland's fully-weighted key-beds, and this is a very reasonably-priced board. Built-in speakers are handy, too, one of the things I like about my P85.

I would opt for something like the FP-30x which has dedicated line outs and usb audio.

I bought mine just yesterday along with Roland DP-10 half damper pedal and I couldn't be happier with the onboard sounds and speakers. It has an upright piano patch that in combination with that PHA-4 keybed, takes me back to the days when I was 8 years old learning on a U1. Shockingly good.

Just beware about the noise in key returns with that action. It has a clunky noise with most of the black keys that might be a deal breaker for you. Just search YouTube for "FP-30x key return noise" and you'll find a dozen of videos about it!

This is due to some grease that needs to be distributed and from what I read online, you either gotta live with it or wait for it to go away after intense playing time (1 year or so).

 

[proggermusic]

Yes, that FP30x looks like a winner. That's a strong contender for whenever my ol' P85 finally gives up the ghost (bought for two hundred bucks on Craigslist from a guy on the upper east side in Manhattan year ago, that board has the grease of history on it). Built-in speakers are SO great for practicing without having to boot up the computer, they've been a bigger plus than I'd anticipated.