Glyn Barnes
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/07/29 11:26:13
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konradh
To each his own and I won't keep plugging Ivory 
You don't need to Yorolpal is raving about it on the software forum.
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ltb
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/17 12:13:22
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In case anyone's interested cclarry posted this earlier, a good deal if you can use it. Addictive Keys Studio Collection No Brainer On sale today at Musicians Friend for $29.... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid/?icid=200510 *be aware it's boxed the version, not a dl so there's shipping. Free ground in the u.s. though...
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Wouter Schijns
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/17 19:26:07
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To me Dimensions Pro pianos sound awesome, not shure if they came with X1....or I got them with Dimension upgrade pack..
Medion pc,Line6 GX,Sennheiser280,Roland A500S, SonarX3
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robert_e_bone
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/18 20:49:58
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I kept the Akoustik Piano sample libraries from my Komplete 5, and added them into my Kontakt 5 libraries when I upgraded to Komplete 6 and then Komplete 8 Ultimate.
These are 24-bit samples where they sampled every note on the piano keyboard at 17 velocities, for 30 seconds each. The result is as real harmonics as I have ever heard from ANY real piano I have ever played on.
There are some decent sounding pianos in Kontakt 5's factory libraries, but they do not come close to what they had with the Akoustic Piano libraries from Komplete 5.
There are a bunch of other good sounding pianos out there, however, as noted by the above posters, so listen to demos and give one or more a try.
One thing that is VERY important for pianos is looking at EQ for keeping the piano frequencies from interfering with other instrument or vocal frequencies, and this is true for ANY piano sounds you end up using. Get yourself a good quality frequency chart, and tailor your sounds as needed for each project, and that will fix a BUNCH of issues with any piano sounds.
Bob Bone
Wisdom is a giant accumulation of "DOH!" Sonar: Platinum (x64), X3 (x64) Audio Interfaces: AudioBox 1818VSL, Steinberg UR-22 Computers: 1) i7-2600 k, 32 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 Pro x64 & 2) AMD A-10 7850 32 GB RAM Windows 10 Pro x64 Soft Synths: NI Komplete 8 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, many others MIDI Controllers: M-Audio Axiom Pro 61, Keystation 88es Settings: 24-Bit, Sample Rate 48k, ASIO Buffer Size 128, Total Round Trip Latency 9.7 ms
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backwoods
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/18 21:42:53
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I like Alicia Keys best and for uprights the Sampletekk ones. But I've never tried Ivory and they are supposed to be better again.
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konradh
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/18 22:28:57
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I promised not to say any more... 
Konrad Current album and more: http://www.themightykonrad.com/ Sonar X1d Producer. V-Studio 700. PC: Intel i7 CPU 3.07GHz, 12 GB RAM. Win 7 64-bit. RealGuitar, RealStrat, RealLPC, Ivory II, Vienna Symphonic, Hollywood Strings, Electr6ity, Acoustic Legends, FabFour, Scarbee Rick/J-Bass/P-Bass, Kontakt 5. NI Session Guitar. Boldersounds, Noisefirm. EZ Drummer 2. EZ Mix. Melodyne Assist. Guitar Rig 4. Tyros 2, JV-1080, Kurzweil PC2R, TC Helicon VoiceWorks+. Rode NT2a, EV RE20. Presonus Eureka. Rokit 6s.
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jimkleban
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/20 07:32:24
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Do yourself a favor and check out SAMPLETEKK... they have a few different models and a few times a year, do a 50% off sale.
WORRA has been making samples for musicians every since the late 90s... a musician making samples for musicians. Once you purchase one product from him, the bi annual sale pricing drop to 60% off.
I am talking about paying less the $50 for some beautifully sampled instruments during the sale periods. The BLACK GRAND is regularly $140 and is the best sounding piano for solo piano pieces but he has a STEINY D for $39 regular price, which works nice in mixes (less than $20 during the 50% off sale). The white grand piano is also great for "In the MIX" pianos but it lists for $119.
Check them out though, they all sound good. I have alot of piano sample programs and the ones that are $300 plus are really sampled too good for my work. I don't create solo piano pieces and as KONRAD says, the modelled pianos sound well, modelled, and are missing a little ingredient compared to real sampled pianos (can't explain why, they just don't sound as good to me).
Jim
The Lamb Laid Down on MIDI www.lldom.com Studio Cat Custom i7 with Thunderbolt (wonderful system built and configured by our own Jim R) Apollo Duo (via TB) UAD Quad UAD Duo WIN 8.1 x64 with 32 GB Ram 4 SSD for programs and sample libraries Splat (latest version)
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HeatherHaze
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/22 05:04:07
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jscomposer
EastWest also has a great Steinway and Bosendorfer in their Goliath VST, which I what I use for all of my piano sounds.
I just love the Bosendorfer in Goliath. That's easily my favorite piano in my library, so far. I layered it with strings and a little bass on the lower octave for a particular song, and the result is gorgeous. I liked it so much, I actually loaded it up on my laptop and took it to a live gig...and was completely disappointed. Sounds fantastic in the studio, but it really didn't work in a live setting. Oh well, it's still wonderful for recording, which is really what it's for. I caught that Addictive Keys deal on Musician's Friend's "Stupid Deal of the Day" for $29 (normally about $150)...so I'm eagerly awaiting that box in the mail. It can also run stand-alone, so I'm hoping it will work live, as well as give me more solid options in the studio. The package looks great, the demos impress and the reviews are largely positive. I'll let you all know how it goes. I find the quest for the "perfect piano" to be more or less never-ending. Generally, you get what you pay for (stupid deals not withstanding). But with the rising state of technology, even the "cheap" libraries can trump what everyone thought was the "best" just a few years ago. I think the top packages win out, however, not only with the size and quality of samples, but with the flexibility of the engines that drive them. ~ Heather
)-|-( HeatherHaze http://heatherhaze.com/ "This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." ~ Leonard Bernstein Cakewalk by Bandlab Studio One 3.5, Cubase 9.5 Intel Core i7 8700, 32Gb RAM Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 V-Studio VS-700 Slate Raven MTi2 Windows 10 Professional 64-bit ...and a whole bunch of other stuff.
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backwoods
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/22 06:13:03
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The thing that put me off EastWest is the size. I bought Quantum Leap pianos but haven't installed it yet because it came on about 30 dvd's.
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garrigus
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/22 09:04:56
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shmuelyosef
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/23 21:40:05
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☄ Helpfulby meh 2013/08/25 09:54:19
SilverfoxUK
meh
It seems that no matter what piano True, SI Electric or Demension, it's like the attach is too brittle for lack of words.....
They don't seem to fit in the mix with other "live" instruments.
Best way I can describe it.
rafone
Soft synth instruments, in their raw form, are designed to sound bright and strong: otherwise we wouldn't say: "that sounds great, I'll buy it". But when it comes to blending them together, they can't all stick out: like having too many sharp, prominent flavours in a meal; they fight each other.
......
I've learnt that is amazing what a simple bit of EQ can do on tracks. It's why every board since the dawn of time has basic EQ.
.......
"Attack is too brittle" you say? Try using a compressor with a fast attack to slow that bad boy down, not to mention some soft-synths have an attack parameter. OR, try Eq'ing the highs slightly, to make it more 'mellow' It's not just soft synths. I have my Fender Rhodes 73 set up very 'bright' (close and high on the pickups) and go directly off the harp into a tube pre. I record that raw, but typically run a monitor back out thru an RNC compressor and some EQ (the same rig I use live) because it's painful to listen to otherwise. But with all that richness and aggressiveness in the sound, I'm able to tailor it to be a lot of different Rhodes-like sounds with EQ and compression. Gives me a lot more flexibility in mixdown as to where the Rhodes sits in the mix. Same with my Mason&Hamlin grand. Have a mic bar in it and close mic the sound board. Very harsh and uneven, but I get all the sound and I can mix and EQ the different mic placements (and save that as a template...as I don't have enough hardware to do it in realtime like on my Rhodes, but I can monitor with a large diaphragm room mic).
- Sonar Platinum 64-bit; Reaper; Ableton Live 9; Samplitude - PugetSystems Serenity Mini: WIN 10-PRO 64-bit; Intel Quad i7-4670 turbo to 3.8GHz; 16GB RAM; ASUS Gryphon Z89 - Antec P180 case. - Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 - DSI OB-6 (love child of a Prophet and an Oberheim) - NORD Electro 3HP - Roland XP-10 - Customized Fender-Rhodes Dyno Stage 73
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konradh
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/23 22:34:46
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Have I mentioned Ivory II?
Konrad Current album and more: http://www.themightykonrad.com/ Sonar X1d Producer. V-Studio 700. PC: Intel i7 CPU 3.07GHz, 12 GB RAM. Win 7 64-bit. RealGuitar, RealStrat, RealLPC, Ivory II, Vienna Symphonic, Hollywood Strings, Electr6ity, Acoustic Legends, FabFour, Scarbee Rick/J-Bass/P-Bass, Kontakt 5. NI Session Guitar. Boldersounds, Noisefirm. EZ Drummer 2. EZ Mix. Melodyne Assist. Guitar Rig 4. Tyros 2, JV-1080, Kurzweil PC2R, TC Helicon VoiceWorks+. Rode NT2a, EV RE20. Presonus Eureka. Rokit 6s.
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billkeys2
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/28 16:43:58
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I have all the Kontakt pianos including Alecia's Keys. For me nothing compares in quality and versatility to Ivory 2. The Steinway and the Yamaha are really all I ever use now. Occasionally I use Alecia's Keys for a mellow, New Age sound.
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river
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Re: Suggestions for piano plugins
2013/08/28 17:17:40
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I just upgraded from Pianoteq 3 to 4, also have the E/W Bosendorfer 290 library. Pianoteq 4 hands down for me. $320 for the Standard version and a 20 Meg footprint, infinitely tweakable and a large assortment of preset models to start from.
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