Piano's

Does anyone have the Native Instruments definitive piano collection or any of the three? The three are, The Gentleman, Maverick and The Grandeur. Are they worht the $200 they are asking?
How to do they compare to Modartt Pianoteq pianos?
I guess It's hard to find good piano's on the cheap but I can't afford to spend 400 on one piano.
Thanks.

Yes I have all the Addictive keys. I also have the Modartt Pianoteq D4 Concert Grand and K2 Grand piano. The audio demo's always sound good so I wanted to ask if the NI Collection is as good as the demo sounds.

Mosvalve,
 
Sorry I don't have a link, and this has been in the past shaded by some controversy, but get the Yanleo free pianos.
 
Stopped collecting new expensive pianos a long time ago because I found a system that works really really well for me, although my sights and requirements may be less than what is current life in the fast lane. Take this advise thus for what it is worth.
 
Poor man's secret is in thoughtful series layering of the initial sound. Two or three pianos in series, tuned, equalized, volume balanced. What may be lost depending on your requirements is the velocity and response of a megabux single entity.
 
All depends on the application. If it is a subtle solo rendition, may actually need a hi end and hi expensive unit to impart realism. If it is in a general mix with other instruments, you are wasting money buying anything since so many beautiful pianos are out there for free.. Again, in a general mix, series layering can get you super pro delivery for free. Save your money for the winter heating bill.
 
John
 
 

Neat idea, John. I've layered electric and acoustic pianos, but it's never occurred to me to layer two acoustic pianos. Next time I'm doing a piano piece, I'm gonna try it. Maybe a Yamaha over a Steinway.

Ditto on that...   In my limited options, I like layering AK and Sonivox's Eighty Eight.
 

Here is a like to a thread I started on the same topic http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3116690
People dont seem to be falling over theirselves to recommend these pianos even though quite a few people here say they upgraded to Komplete 10.
 
A big plus 1 from me for SampleTekk. The Emperor, Old Lady, Rain and Black 2 being my favorites.

hi,
for my part,I use Pianissimo and I combine it with the Yamaha C7 frm DSF.
Sometimes it gives good results.
Olivier

Mosvalve
...I may bite the bullet and get version 5. It's something I've been thinking of doing for a while now.

Do it. Having Kontakt opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
 
There are lots of cheap libraries for it that will quickly offset the cost of Kontakt. Libraries that require full Kontakt are typically half the price (or less) of libraries that use either the free Kontakt player or some other (e.g. Play) sample player. Prices range from free to might-as-well-be-free to price-of-a-lunch to under $200.

So when you layer pianos, are you high passing/low passing them differently?

I own Komplete 9 and Alicia Keys. Alicia Keys is my favorite Ni.I. piano. It has 13 velocities layer verses 9 from the Gentleman, Maverick and The Grandeur.
If you own Pianoteq have you check out the Bluther piano demo? I like it and would get sometime in the near future.