Pianoteq version 2 (& HS2004)

Author
Post
Essentials Only Full Version
Paul_UK
Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
  • Total Posts : 23
  • Joined: 2005/06/24 09:51:17
  • Location: England but 5 miles from North/Mid-Wales border
  • Status: offline
2007/04/22 07:19:53 (permalink)

Pianoteq version 2 (& HS2004)

I know this has been raised before but I would like to revive this discusion seeing as Pianoteq verson 2 is now available including use as a standalone piano. I have a long time been searching out a decent digital piano sound for solo work - my Roland XV gear, great as it is for all other aspects, just doesn't make the grade. Too many inconsistencies especially when burned to CD and/or played through a quality sound system. I have downloaded the Pianoteq trial version and first impressions are impressive. Has anybody any experience here or advice?

Also relevant to this forum: I can't get Home Studio 2004 to find Pianoteq as a soft synth - any guidance please. Looking at the manual I am assuming I would find it in the same place as EDIROL and Dreamstation, i.e. Insert...Dxi synth...

Thanks, Paul

Schimmel acoustic upright
PianoDisc MIDI interface retrofit
Roland XV2020
MidiSport 2x2
Home Studio 2004
acer aspire 5101 AW LMi
Win XP
#1

6 Replies Related Threads
    rjt
    Max Output Level: -70 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 1017
    • Joined: 2003/11/08 10:12:44
    • Location: Portland, Oregon
    • Status: offline
    RE: Pianoteq version 2 (& HS2004) 2007/04/22 16:59:36 (permalink)
    I am not sure what you mean by find..... do you have it located (ie scanned) by your plug-in manager? It is located (for me) under VST Instruments (VSTi)..... under the name Pianoteq20. If it is there, you should be able to find it for insertion. Don't forget to rescan you VSTi files.

    As far as quality, that's a pretty subjective experience. I see you have an accoustic piano.... I have a Kawai Grand, and doubt if I will every find a soft-synth that will remind me of playing that. I got Pianoteq because it sounds good (not great) has a low footprint in terms of space (on the hard drive) and a lot of upside in terms of development. Would I ever use it on a recording instead of my real piano.... no, unless I wanted a slightly different sound. But is it good for quick noodling at the computer.... yes. But that is just my two cents and that is just about what my opinion is worth!

    Talk is cheap; supply outweighs the demand.

    Light travels faster than sound, that's why some people look bright before you hear them speak.

    Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys, Andy Reid owns them!!

    #2
    Paul_UK
    Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 23
    • Joined: 2005/06/24 09:51:17
    • Location: England but 5 miles from North/Mid-Wales border
    • Status: offline
    RE: Pianoteq version 2 (& HS2004) 2007/04/23 13:14:01 (permalink)
    OK thanks for your 2 cents worth, that's a great help. Scanning is the key here and the manual/help doesn't mention any of this. Fortunately Cakewalk's Tech FAQ page does.

    I agree that digital sound will never replace or approach acoustic reproduction but the Pianoteq is the best I've heard (in my limited experience) and, as you say, with minimal PC overheads. I presume you are recording the acoustic in a domestic studio rather than pro which can be problematic in terms of capturing that sound faithfully. Listening to the various efforts at pianosociety.com proves the point but there are some excellent results there. What success do you have?

    Incidentally, the export to Wave is (potentially) really useful but I am finding the resulting wave file plays much faster than the original midi – pitch and quality are fine. Have you tried this? I have logged it with Pianoteq who are investigating.
    Thanks, Paul
    #3
    rjt
    Max Output Level: -70 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 1017
    • Joined: 2003/11/08 10:12:44
    • Location: Portland, Oregon
    • Status: offline
    RE: Pianoteq version 2 (& HS2004) 2007/04/23 23:41:04 (permalink)
    I (Fortunately? Unfortunately?) record my piano in my own studio (read living room.) My synths/computer are in a spare bedroom. I roll a Yamaha AW4416 into the living room and hook up (usually 3) mikes. I give two AT4047s a bit of room, maybe 2-3 feet away from the open lid.... pointed at the treble and base strings. I mike a BLUE Kiwi a little closer. I sometimes pan the mono Kiwi down the center and at other times mess with it and do pseudo-stereo stuff with the signal...before mixing it back in with the ATs. I have a vaulted living room with wall to wall carpet and the piano is several feet from the walls, with the opening out to the middle of the room. Not having a "golden ear" it sounds pretty good to me and to a few other people who've heard it...but no one was trying to be too critical of the sound.

    As to speeding up the wav. I havn't exported a PianoTeq wav, but I did bounce to track on a recent song when I want a quick piano reference and that came out okay. I like the sound in general and think it as good as anything I've heard from a softsynth.... but again, I don't have those golden ears!

    Take care!
    post edited by rjt - 2007/04/23 23:44:18

    Talk is cheap; supply outweighs the demand.

    Light travels faster than sound, that's why some people look bright before you hear them speak.

    Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys, Andy Reid owns them!!

    #4
    Paul_UK
    Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 23
    • Joined: 2005/06/24 09:51:17
    • Location: England but 5 miles from North/Mid-Wales border
    • Status: offline
    RE: Pianoteq version 2 (& HS2004) 2007/05/01 12:11:00 (permalink)
    Further to the tempo issue above. Pianoteq advise that this is a bug (if you set the synth to sample at anything other than 44100 hz). Quote - "The wav files are recorded at 44100 kHz, but the [Pianoteq] midi sequencer was still basing its timing on the internal sample rate..." Version 2.0.1 is imminent.

    I have a further problem using Pianoteq within HS2004 in that I get constant crackle on playback. I suspect this may be related to my Echo Indigo IO soundcard that Cakewalk support thinks is a problem because HS won't configure audio for anything other than MME. The Echo works fine in ASIO mode when using Pianoteq as standalone ( and works OK with all other applications). The Echo and HS simply don't like each other. Any ideas?
    Thanks
    Paul



    Schimmel acoustic upright
    PianoDisc MIDI interface retrofit
    Pianoteq Soft Synth
    Roland XV2020
    MidiSport 2x2
    Home Studio 2004
    acer aspire 5101 AW LMi LAPTOP
    Win XP
    AMD Turion 64, 2.0 GHz.
    Tascam US-144 USB Audio/MIDI interface
    #5
    strungdown
    Max Output Level: -79 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 573
    • Joined: 2007/04/12 13:15:26
    • Status: offline
    RE: Pianoteq version 2 (& HS2004) 2007/05/03 12:57:02 (permalink)
    Paul - I get crackle in PianoTeq if it's sample rate is higher than 44100. This seems to happen when I set my projects to 96kHz audio. I think it is a bug in the Pianoteq.
    #6
    Paul_UK
    Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 23
    • Joined: 2005/06/24 09:51:17
    • Location: England but 5 miles from North/Mid-Wales border
    • Status: offline
    RE: Pianoteq version 2 (& HS2004) 2007/05/03 13:32:34 (permalink)
    A different problem I think. You are probably overloading the CPU and/or busting the voices limit - Pianoteq's facia displays all that's going on so easy to spot problems.

    I now realise all synths within my HS2004 crackle including the resident Dreamstation and Edirol as well as TRuepianos demo i have since downloaded. Not an overload problem I'm sure. Time to try ASIO4ALL perhaps?
    #7
    Jump to:
    © 2024 APG vNext Commercial Version 5.1