Piano shoot out results...

 

I just did a shoot out with Cakewalk's True Piano vrs East West's Steinway B from their Gold Complete Symphonic Orchestra program, and The Steinway and C7 from Ivory II. I used the same midi file for testing all the pianos. Here's my opinion...

True Pianos was a bit loud and harsh but still sounded okay for many uses.

East West's Steinway B sounded better, but Ivory's C7 was the big winner. It sounded warm but rich, a little bit quieter without so much noise that the other piano's had. It sounded like it was a very controlled sound, but in a good way. It sounded like it had better mics or quieter studio enviorment in it's recording process. The other piano's are very very usuable and not bad by any means, it really is a close call, but Ivory wins in my opinion. Is it worth the extra money ?? That's your call, but in my book, yes.

Purgatory Creek has the most comprehensive piano shootout around.  Google it.

true pianos that ships with sonar isn't the full version.. and it's not made by them either.. so a bit unfair to compare "like for like"

I use Reason pianos still and of course the ones I got with komplete

The True Piano is good for a rock band setting, when you want a piano to cut through the mix. In terms of expression though, forget about using it for classical or jazz.

If you tried true piano's without using the Atlantis module you missed out. I like it a lot even for solo work. If you want more expression from it dial in your level of responsiveness. Also enable the multi thread option for it and go. It may not be the best but IMHO it is very playable and not harsh if you set it up right.

Fog


true pianos that ships with sonar isn't the full version.. and it's not made by them either.. so a bit unfair to compare "like for like"

I use Reason pianos still and of course the ones I got with komplete

I have no choice I have to work with what I've already got.  I've got these and I wanted to become more familiar with them and find out my favorite. They all sound pretty darn good and could be useful. Ivory II is the smoothest sounding though. So thats what I'll probably be using.

I really like the Atlantis version of TruePianos. Also, I've found that getting the right reverb is extremely important when using a piano. 

Here are a couple tracks I did recently (in X2, by the way) that use TruePianos Atlantis:

http://soundcloud.com/mik..ghorn/anywhere-but-here
http://soundcloud.com/mik..ghorn/against-the-grain


Most of the piano sounds are routed through various granular effects, but there is some unmodified piano as well. I apologize that there's no guitar, rhythm, or bass, so I realize this might sound like radio static to some people.

djwayne

Fog


true pianos that ships with sonar isn't the full version.. and it's not made by them either.. so a bit unfair to compare "like for like"

I use Reason pianos still and of course the ones I got with komplete

I have no choice I have to work with what I've already got.  I've got these and I wanted to become more familiar with them and find out my favorite. They all sound pretty darn good and could be useful. Ivory II is the smoothest sounding though. So thats what I'll probably be using.

my point was , you can't compare the LE version that ships with sonar to the full version, as it's not the full picture.


I do have a secret piano I use that in a reason refill I bought, I never mention it much as the less people that use it the better (and obviously you have to use reason)

Fog

djwayne

Fog


true pianos that ships with sonar isn't the full version.. and it's not made by them either.. so a bit unfair to compare "like for like"

I use Reason pianos still and of course the ones I got with komplete

I have no choice I have to work with what I've already got.  I've got these and I wanted to become more familiar with them and find out my favorite. They all sound pretty darn good and could be useful. Ivory II is the smoothest sounding though. So thats what I'll probably be using.

my point was , you can't compare the LE version that ships with sonar to the full version, as it's not the full picture.


I do have a secret piano I use that in a reason refill I bought, I never mention it much as the less people that use it the better (and obviously you have to use reason)

I'm comparing the LE version because that's what I have. I can't afford to buy full versions of everything that's out there. I'm just trying to do the best I can with what I've got. Look, with X2 you can buy all kinds of extra full version goodies, after a while it adds up and gets expensive.

I don't know how it's installed - it might have the dll path set in the registry in which case you'll need to edit it.

Of course it's fair...they are all piano samples of which I can take my pick for my recordings.  It's just that's how it worked out, this is what I have and it'll have to do. Poor me, I have to settle with Ivory II.

If True Pianos wants to put out a cheaper version of their good stuff, I can't help that. Maybe they should have included the good version with Sonar...??

I've already spent my wad on Ivory II, as it came highly recommended to me. The samples sounded great, I got a great introductory price on it, and that's what I got. Complaining about it would be like complaining about owning a Les Paul.

That really doesn't look very safe. lol

Yep, they all sound very good and are all usuable. If I didn't have Ivory II, I could easily get by with the included True Piano's version or the East West Steinway B just as well.

The only time I ever had to worry about a Steinway v.s a Yamaha was when I was about to heli-lift a 12 footer onto the roof of a building in downtown Johannesburg for none other than Fourplay's Bob James. Sadly, the flights got delayed so I "only" got to record Harvey Mason doing three drum solo's to the beat of peak-time traffic. He called the TV audience onto the stage and made them sing and clap - and voila, the show was a hit! What a day it was!

Here is a heads up - Sampletekk have a half price sale starting 1st nov. (there is currently a pre sale for existing customers)

The merits of the various pianos have been discussed a length several times in the Software forum. Old lady, Emperor and Rain generally getting the most favorable comments. I like vertical Pop and Estonia too. All these will be available for $25 each and well worth it even if you have other options.

The down side is they need a full version of Kontakt, but NKI are provided for use as far back as Kontakt 2.

The New SampleTekk Black however has a fancy interface to take advantage of more advanced Kontakt features and is licenced to run on the free Kontakt 5 player. This will set you back $50 in the sale