When I first got into recording with Cakewalk products awhile back I realized my old keyboard just didn't have the piano sound I was looking for. There were plenty of good digital piano sounds but no true "acoustic" sound that tickled my ear. Of course, when it comes to acoustic pianos no one beats Steinway, so I was thrilled to see the Steinway Grand Piano expansion pack by Digitial Sound Factory availabe as a download from the Cakewalk Store.
The download process was fairly cut and dry and within minutes I was ready to go - except the sounds weren't showing up whenever I opened my Cakewalk Sound Center soft synth. After several rounds of fruitless Marco Polo with my system, I called customer service and they helped me locate it within minutes. It was simply a matter of moving the .dll file from the default folder assigned during setup to the one under the Program Files (x86)>Cakewalk>vst plugins. Knowing this beforehand, one has the option of installing the download to the proper location using the browse feature during the installation dialogue. Still, it would be nice if Cakewalk could eliminate this step so the product installs correctly without the need to do so.
Folder locations aside, the installation process wasn't too difficult on the whole.
But no one reads a product review to learn about the installation process. You want to know about the sounds.
I was initially a little put off by the product containing only ten sounds. Those sounds are Concert Grand 1, Concert Grand 2, Concert Grand 3, Concert Grand 4, Hard Grand, Honky Tonk 1, Honky Tonk 2, Medium Grand, Parlor Grand, and Soft Grand. Considering some of the other Sound Center expansion packs offer upwards of 100 or more sounds, it seemed a bit costly but I hoped the more compact package meant quality would trump quantity. I'm pleased to say this was the case.
I've used the product for a few months now and have found the sounds very realistic and useable, particularly in a crowded mix. Part of this is because the tones were sampled in such a way they avoid the "muddy middle" so prevalent in many "piano" products. All too often digital pianos will have a deep, rich bottom and sparkling highs only to have a midsection that sounds like a walk through a jar of molasses. Many players do the vast majority of their work in the mid-range so it's always been peculiar to me that so many products are lacking in this important area. I find it a joy to actually use the middle range of my keyboard now when using these sounds.
A wonderful feature included with just about any of the Sound Center expansions is the editability of the sound palette. You can control the Tone Velocity, Resonance, Low EQ, Mid EQ, High EQ, and FX Amount of each sound. You can also choose to turn off the effects altogether. The range of lavish acoustic piano to a much more brittle sounding attack. For the most part though the samples are brilliant to begin with and as mentioned above - very useful, so I don't find myself tweaking them much.
I'm not a big fan of Honky Tonk piano sounds in most keyboards and synths but found Honky Tonk 2 actually to my liking, which makes up for Honky Tonk 1 which sounds more like a duck tangled in piano strings. Overall though, nine of the ten sounds were pretty amazing, especially considering the cost. The product generally sells for 29.99 but is often found in the Cakewalk store on sale for 19.99. It's worth the investment either way if you use alot of piano sounds in your workflow.
If you really want and need a "true" acoustic piano sound, I suppose you can shell out enough to make a good down payment on your next home and buy a Steinway. However, if such a purchase may land you in divorce court, I would recommend the Steinway Grand Piano expansion pack as an alternative. It sounds good and won't break the bank. What more could the hobbyist or even working pro ask for?
David