Anyone try the new HD piano samples yet?

bladetragic


Is Dimension even capable of getting as detailed as the competition such as Ivory, Kontakt, Halion when it comes to multiple velocities, scripting, mic'ing/room emulation, etc? 

I'm just wondering how flexible and realistic a piano library can be in Dimension b/c it's definitely coming in at a pretty hefty price point.

BobbyT

I would love to know how it sounds before i buy. 

konradh


I am a huge fan of Ivory II Grands, but it now has some competition.  Some people like the EastWest product.  For sound, stability, and system load, I am still in the Ivory II camp.  When I play the Ivory II Steinway, I can smell the wood.  That is how good and evocative it is.

djwayne

Last week I bought a larger SSD so that I could have the full three Ivory II piano's available to me, I'm glad I did that, because now the Borsendofer is becoming one of my favorites.

bitflipper

thepianist53


I went ahead and bought the Steinway HD pack, and I've been using it for a week or so. My reaction is mixed. I have used the True Pianos Amber module so long that my first reaction to the Dim Pro Steinway was very negative, in that the samples sounded thin and clunky to me. Now I used to sell Steinway pianos, so I know what they are supposed to sound like. After using them a bit, adjusting the tracks with ProChannel, reverb, etc., I am feeling like there's some decent samples there, but I've heard better. Keep in mind they are sampling the Steinway L, which is a nice piano, but not in the class of the D, which has a much larger soundboard. Having tried Ivory, Pianoteq, etc. as demos, I think those programs are superior. The other issue is the sample loading times are very long on my (underpowered) system, since they load into memory, so it slows down my ability to try the different variations. My favorite patch is the EQ patch, the 1st and 3rd are kind of clunky to me, and some of the samples sound awful (although they are purposely designed to add chorus, reverb, etc.
I had a store credit when I purchased, so I only paid $80, but I still think it's a little bit overpriced for what you get.
That's my $.02 worth. I'm not sure I would have bought it if I had heard or tried it out beforehand. I'm also wondering if there is any difference in sound quality on a more powerful DAW computer, as mine is on it's last legs and will be replaced soon. 

Well, there you have it. I'm inclined to give weight to the opinion of someone with the screen name of "the pianist"! If anything, the above review is a bit too polite - I mean, if the product is disappointing alongside True Pianos Amber, it must be really weak.

I wonder how it compares to Garritan's Steinway. It's officially endorsed by Steinway and is in the same price range. Personally, my search ended with Sampletekk's The Old Lady, which cost all of 25 bucks on sale.

konradh


I have a Kawaii digital piano in my living room just for general purposes.  (It sounds as good as most pianos and better than some, but nowhere close to Ivory II.)  I have thought about hauling it upstairs to the studio as an 88-key three-pedal controller for Ivory because the action is really nice, but I like having a piano in the living area.

If you come up with a recommendation for the ultimate controller that doesn't cost a fortune or weigh a ton, let us know.  Lots of choices out there but it is hard to know how they feel when shopping on the Internet.
 

Regarding true staccato, are you asking if staccato notes were recorded sampled separately as opposed to just using normal samples that respond to on/off commands?  I don't know, but I have not noticed any deficiencies so far in the sound or response.  Your ears may be more sensitive.  (This does make a huge difference in string samples.)
 
The Bosendorfer sample set is excellent, although I am generally a Steinway guy.