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Favorite Rhodes VST?

So many!

Like pianos though, so much of it is preference. You would not be unhappy with either Lounge Lizard or Pianoteq. And as an added bonus both have super tiny footprints.

You didn't like the Vintage Keys in Komplete? There's a couple in there I use all the time.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of Keyscape but most people love it... seems like a logical step if you have Omni. I find the rhodes almost "too good" in Keyscape, which doesn't make any sense but it's how I feel.
 
I use several, Lounge Lizard among them. Lounge Lizard tends to win the nod when I need to customize/tweak the sound. However, I almost always start with sample libraries, and especially those from SampleTekk, Scarbee, and Soniccouture.

As has been mentioned, there are a LOT of different options.
 
These replies are incredibly helpful! Some serious users on this site! If anyone is willing to weigh in... I posted a question in the "Omnisphere..." forum. Kind of a detailed "what's that sound" question. Some sounds I hear just "haunt" me and there are two links in my post that kind of show what I mean. very subtle, interesting sounds. Any input welcome!!! And thanks again
 
chillbot said:
So many!

Like pianos though, so much of it is preference. You would not be unhappy with either Lounge Lizard or Pianoteq. And as an added bonus both have super tiny footprints.

You didn't like the Vintage Keys in Komplete? There's a couple in there I use all the time.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of Keyscape but most people love it... seems like a logical step if you have Omni. I find the rhodes almost "too good" in Keyscape, which doesn't make any sense but it's how I feel.
Click to expand...
I will review. them!!! Thank-you!
 
My default is still the Scarbee Rhodes that came with my NI Komplete.

The Arturia one is nice too, but it's more of a system drag.
 
Starry_Music said:
These replies are incredibly helpful! Some serious users on this site! If anyone is willing to weigh in... I posted a question in the "Omnisphere..." forum. Kind of a detailed "what's that sound" question. Some sounds I hear just "haunt" me and there are two links in my post that kind of show what I mean. very subtle, interesting sounds. Any input welcome!!! And thanks again
Click to expand...
Link?
 
Starry_Music said:
I am not satisfied with my Rhodes sounds, which I get from Omnisphere, Spitfire Labs, and some Komplete sounds. Any recommendations ?
Click to expand...
Yep.

Get a real Rhodes and run it through a BF Fender Twin Reverb amp.

Your life will change in two ways: No VI will ever sound as good to you after that, and your back will need constant attention from a physical therapist of some sort.
 
studiostuff said:
Yep.

Get a real Rhodes and run it through a BF Fender Twin Reverb amp.

Your life will change in two ways: No VI will ever sound as good to you after that, and your back will need constant attention from a physical therapist of some sort.
Click to expand...

The amp part, okay, but I used to have a real Rhodes and for me having another one wouldn't make any difference whatsoever!

Leaving aside that with no MIDI in you have to be a keyboard player (as opposed to a "keyboard-as-tool" player like me), I've found that Rhodes is one of the instruments that sampling/synthesis does incredibly well. It's a sine wave with a short hammer attack! And once you've added tremolo, chorus, etc., I couldn't possibly tell the difference.

My first reaction to the old Scarbee Rhodes was that it made my Kurzweil K2500X keyboard feel like the real thing. There are other really good ones as well, all mentioned here except Velvet, which comes with Pro Tools.

By the way, they're not "VSTs," they're V.I.s, sample libraries, whatever.

I know, I'm crabby, but that term has always annoyed me.
 
Scarbee's newer EP88 is wonderful to play. IME. He's really good at making keyboards very PLAYABLE as opposed to simply "sounds like"....turn that finger latency UP, yo....

That said....Keyscape is a better buy for EPs in general, having two very different Rhodes, digital EPs (which aren't as easy to get right as many seem to think)...Wurli....a lovely C7 to layer in....

So.... $99 for a lovely to play Rhodes88....or $399 for "all EPs you will ever need for a long time"...Canterbury is a nice rough sounding unit. "unique". It would be hard for me to call that the best one, because it's SO unique....like if Keycape ONLY had that modded up "LA Blue"...the Canterbury sounds like a modded up Rhodes. Lovely....but, not definitive. It's more for EP playing geeks (guilty) who smile at having 10 options for the family of sounds. :)
 
Nick Batzdorf said:
The amp part, okay, but I used to have a real Rhodes and for me having another one wouldn't make any difference whatsoever!

Leaving aside that with no MIDI in you have to be a keyboard player (as opposed to a "keyboard-as-tool" player like me), I've found that Rhodes is one of the instruments that sampling/synthesis does incredibly well. It's a sine wave with a short hammer attack! And once you've added tremolo, chorus, etc., I couldn't possibly tell the difference.

My first reaction to the old Scarbee Rhodes was that it made my Kurzweil K2500X keyboard feel like the real thing. There are other really good ones as well, all mentioned here except Velvet, which comes with Pro Tools.

By the way, they're not "VSTs," they're V.I.s, sample libraries, whatever.

I know, I'm crabby, but that term has always annoyed me.
Click to expand...

Crabby people are my people!! ;)

As I mentioned, there are some reasons to use Rhodes VIs, most are great reasons. I have a bunch and use them when I'm in a hurry. No-one has ever said to me, "Wait! Stop playback...!!! That's NOT a real Rhodes, is it?"

For me, the low-mids and low freq stuff on the real deal seems richer, more emotion-producing for me, more soulful. It's probably an equal mix of nostalgia and my imagination.

But having backtracked from my comment as much as I dare, for me, nothing but the real deal comes close.

It's probably the aroma of cigarette smoke and stale beer I'm attracted to...
 
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