Re: peregine - Thanks so much man...I just pulled the trigger with your promo code without even hesitating. Downloading now. Can't wait to try it out! I'm tempted to buy ALL the pianos recommended in this thread!!! =)

Does anyone use (or have used) both the PMI Bosendorfer 290 and PMI Old Lady sample sets?  If so, any comments or thoughts?   I see they're both on sale for $25 at the moment...
 

 Yes, I have both. The Bosendorfer 290 is probably the better bet. I found the 'Old Lady' sample set had some disconcerting pedal thumps which I disliked and couldn't seem to get rid of. Having said that I've been running both of these through the rather archaic Kompakt sample player which sternly warns me that these sample sets 'may not play back as intended'. Kontakt 5 is currently being installed as we speak, since their crossgrade offer was so attractive (120 euros if you own a qualifying product, and to my surprise Garritan Personal Orchestra counts as a qualifying product). So it's possible I may get better results when I try K5. Do try the free Piano One VST, though. It's a rather nice Yamaha C7 which sounds surprisingly natural and is absolutely free, so worth a look. Very short load times, too.

Thanks, aj.    
 
I'm currently waiting for confirmation from NI that I qualify for the crossgrade, so if I do I'll shoot for the Bosendorfer if there's still time. 
 

 Actually now I have Kontakt 5 up and running I have to say the Old Lady sounds much better. I can control the body and pedal outputs separately and the result is much much nicer. She has an ethereal quality and lovely singing tone and a rich plummy bass whereas the Bosendorfer is somewhat brighter with a steelier bass. They're really both rather nice. The pianos that come with K5 are pretty crappy. I have to say at 25 each, now I've tried them in K5, really, both are worth having. I paid a lot more than that a few years ago. They are superb value especially as you get the raw WAV samples so you can do almost anything with them. (tip: run 'em all through the free R8Brain sample convertor and make a set of 16 bit 44.1KHz samples. They take less resource (and are a darn sight smaller), and since the instrument's already sampled, you're not losing any fidelity by so doing. PS: I really dislike TruePianos. A very odd 'plasticky' quality to the sound which I loathe. I know it's a modelled piano but it really does, to my ears, sound artificial. Some people really love it though and I'm told it does sit well in a mix. But since I mainly noodle around as a soloist, it just doesn't inspire me.

Thanks again, aj.    It was pretty much a toss-up between the two just listening to the demos over crappy ear buds, which was why I was curious to hear from someone who had actually used them in a better listening environment.   If I can get both I will, but based on your latest description I'd probably choose The Old Lady since your description of her "character" just seems like something I'd like.  The Bosendorfer sounds like more of a tradtional tone which while great, doesn't seem as difficult to find out there.
 
Regarding True Pianos, it seems that most people either love it or hate it.   I don't mind it so much since it is low on resources and fairly playable, but it certainly doesn't have any "woodiness" about it and doesn't really "breathe", which are qualities I'm looking for.   On a budget.  
 

Re: AJ - Can you explain ONE MORE TIME for amateurs such as myself the pros/reasons for using r8brain? Are you implying that the load times are faster and use less system resources? I have a brand new Dell XPS with 16GB Ram that I can't wait to "challenge" - ha! Also - how do you all insert paragraph breaks so that your posts don't look like one long sentence (like mine...)?

 If you convert the samples to 16 bit then the WAV files that have to be loaded are smaller. Also, if the sample rate is converted to 44.1KHz when you do this, assuming of course that's your default project sample rate, then instead of having to convert the 48KHz samples every time, they will be converted once and then the CPU load required to play them back is further reduced. Because the instrument is already sampled, the main reason for using 24 bit is largely irrelevant (increased recording headroom). After all, the samples have already been recorded, although I will freely admit I haven't checked how normalised the low velocity samples are. Might be worth checking that if you're concerned about losing bit depth.

peregrine


Just remembered Best Service has a promo going until 8/12. The code is promo2012 and gives you a euro30
discount at checkout. That makes the Galaxy D about $96, I think. An absolute steal deal.

Thank you for this peregrine,
 
I just picked up the Vindage D and it's pretty damn wonderful ... Half Pedalling - YeHaa.
 
I just set up my expression pedal on CC64, had a quick play and set the range - WOW.
 
This is one very nice package, it's going to get thrown in to some old projects to redo them.
 
Thanks man - I owe you one :-)
 
 
Cheers - Cliff

g_randybrown


So the free True Piano in X1 wouldn't be worth trying?

True Pianos doesn't get the respect it deserves.  It lacks the sympathetic resonance that my Garritan Steinway and NI Alecia's Keys have but many (including my self) feel it's the best playing piano out there with the most realistic dynamics.  In the end it's all about how it sounds in the mix.