Searching For The Perfect Piano

I've tried all kinds of Piano VSTi's and seems no one by itself "does it" for me. Layering different ones together seems to cause more competition than compliment.
 
Then I bought Mixcraft 8 Pro and was pleasantly surprised by Pianissimo. A little weak in the low end but all-in-all the most playable and pleasant sounding piano so far. Play it as soft or loud as you like. More playable than a real piano. :O
It even beats the $200 vsti I bought (and never use anymore).
 
I tried layering it with True Pianos and others but wasn't impressed. Then I tried it with VSCO2 Piano (Kontakt). These 2 seem to be made for each other. It sounds like one vst and brings the overall sound up a notch.
 
http://vis.versilstudios.net/vsco-community.html
https://github.com/sgossner/VSCO-2-CE/tree/SFZ
http://bigcatinstruments.blogspot.com/2016/07/vsco-2-kontakt.html
 
I use the Pianissimo "Canyon Piano" preset w/full Sympathetic Resonance and pipe the VSCO2 thru BREVERB2's 1.Hall-7.Cathedral preset.
 
These are rather "soft" sounding vst's so they may not impress those who like a harder/brighter sound.

While you're out there looking for the perfect piano keep an eye out for that horse with one horn, will ya.
Thanks for the info on the piano layers. This is something I love doing but am aware it doesn't always give you something better or even useable.  And you never know when you will find a gem, too. It's not always easy but I'm learning to enjoy the journey more. Enjoy your journey and update us when you can.

Anyone have a view on
http://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/26-percussion/g49-the-hammersmith/
lots of mic options for layering without competing. They claim to approach sustain differently than other's (which they do with the vibrato on a vibraphone, which seems the best out there)
 

Whao, yeah, sorry I thought it was 139.99. I had been looking at the vibes and pan drums in the same collection and thought it was the same price.

soens
I've tried all kinds of Piano VSTi's and seems no one by itself "does it" for me.

Have you tried PianoTeq?  I promise you that even if you don't love the sound, you will find that it's the most responsive vst piano you will play.
 
https://www.pianoteq.com/

When you find that perfect piano, please report back!
 
Also let us know if you run across any unicorns during your search. 
 
I've got a bunch of piano libraries, but selecting the best one for a given application always entails some trial-and-error. My favorite these days is Keyscape. It's gorgeous. Wonderful for jazzy stuff, classical music or pop ballads - but I wouldn't want to crowbar it into a Lady Madonna cover. If rock 'n roll is your focus, look at sampled Yamaha C7s (there are many) or uprights.

Keyscape’s C7 is lovely, but not cheap as you’ll need to pay for the entire package. But it’s definitely worth it. The package I mean.
I do believe the ImpactSoundworks C7 is at least as good. Same goes for the ProductionVoices one.
Talking about unicorns, apart from mighty sweet OrangeTreeSamples Rosewood which should get an imminent update, there’s still that interesting TrueKeys Ravenscroft and the all-singing Wavesfactory Mercury.
Then, if you get serious, think Bechstein Digital. It’s the thinking man’s Bechstein from the C. Bechstein Manufaktur itself and allows for some serious sound design.
But now, lo and behold, the amazing Embertone Walker 1955 has landed. It’s the best sampled Steinway I know and it’s incredibly versatile. Furthermore, a very capable Lite version starts at $30-ish. Next in line, as far as cinematic grands are concerned, try the CineSamples CinePiano. But the Walker can do cinematic too, if you pick your mics right (in the full version).
Finally, even though sampled grands have become quite playable, it’s piano modeling by Pianoteq that takes the crown. Just demo their Blüthner and their latest Steingraeber. You’ll know why.
Conclusion? Get a sampled Grand to your liking as well as a Pianoteq favorite. Chances are you won’t leave your home for a while.

The OTS piano is a C7, and currently part of a group buy that's already at a 30% discount and easily on its way to 40%. If the group buy keeps growing at this rate, the Rosewood will ultimately be $71.60. A whole lot less than Keyscape, that's for sure. Although with Keyscape you get some really nice EPs and eclectic vintage instruments as well, and if you also have Omnisphere it'll expand that instrument's already-monstrous palette even further.

It seems most everyone believes there is really no alternative to a real live analogue piano and I tend to agree. Being a pianist, I've tried so many electronic versions I've have to write a spreadsheet with all their pro's and con's so I can go back and see what I've liked and not liked about each one.
I've not found one software piano that has the touch variations of a real piano (not by a long shot).
Maybe you can set up your electronic piano to give you the sound you want for any one particular song, but then you'll have to change that for the next song, or even passage of the same song.
I think, most every software piano has it's advantages over another, and it really is a matter of choosing the right one for the music you are recording.
My go-to pianos for use with Sonar are True Pianos and Addictive Keys, but this is mostly because I'm familiar with them and can get the sounds I need without too much grief. And True Pianos have a very small memory footprint, which is an issue for my 32bit systems.
I have four (read four) hardware keyboards. Two Roland's, a Yamaha, and an Ensoniq. I find these sometimes provide more realness in regards to playability, i.e. they have better touch control than pure software keyboards. But it's still 'horses for courses', that's why I have four.
If I want a real piano sound then I use the Feurich analogue I have in the studio. It's no Bosendorfer, but it's strides ahead of any electronic alternative I have, or have ever tried.
If you want a perfect piano, and you have the space, buy a real analogue piano. You won't be disappointed.

Duck, and cover.