Thanks for the discussion, guys.
 
In answer to the questions:
1-I am a pianist.  I've had many years of classical training, but due to some minor hand injuries and lack of practice, you won't see me competing in the Van Cliburn.   I've also had a lot of years as a studio player (piano, synths, drum programming, acoustic guitar, etc.)
2-I am very happy with Ivory.  What prompted the question was a song I wrote and am arranging right now for piano, orchestra, and voice.  The piano is very exposed in the first verse.  Ivory sounds good--no complaints at all.  I was just looking for a brighter sound without getting it too harsh or thin.
3-The solution I found was a combination of scaling the velocity and using the EQ options in the Ivory player.  But the quest for the perfect piano continues.
 
The first studio where I worked as a regular session player had a Steinway with two pencil mics.  Those ran to a Third Octave graphic EQ with the most complicated set of boosts and cuts I've ever seen.  There were at least four signs on the EQ that said, "DO NOT TOUCH! EVER!" along with some skulls and crossbones. I will admit that it sounded good.  The engineer did not have the kind of technical understanding that most of you do, but he had several gold records and he knew how to use mics and EQ to get good organic sounds.  Unfortunately, he died recently due to his alcohol use, so I can't call on him for help.
 
PS I have a Kawai digital piano in my living room just for fun. People say it is awesome but I wouldn't put it on a record.
 

and let the search continue. Funny you would use the word "perfect piano", I had that one as well as a sample library years ago as well as in an Ensoniq ASR 10 and ZR76 I think it was called. Happy is good. Because you started this post I went back and acquired new respect for the Quantum Leap piano (East West) which is Ivory's main competitor. I will load up Ivory again, but that means once again loading the library from the DVD's. Best to you in your search and I will continue mine.
 
Michael

Thanks.  Your love of some of the keyboard solutions you mention indicates to me that you have very different idea about piano sounds that I do--and that's good.  If everyone did the same thing, we wouldn't have ever had Debussy or The Beatles.
 
Reviews of Ivory in trade magazines consistently put it in the top 2 or 3.  I don't think that means it's best but I do think it means it fits a lot of people's idea about a "standard piano sound."
 
Since I have a big Vienna collection, I also have their Imperial Grand but it doesn't have the velocity responsiveness of Ivory which is 20 levels.  (Obviously, 127 MIDI velocity levels but 20 different samples per note to represent the timbre changes associated with velocity.)  The Kurzweil I used to love and still have was famous for its "triple strike"--three velocity layers.
 
Back in my studio session days, some producers would tell me to "beat the $h!t" out of the piano, even when playing a ballad because they liked the bright tone a Steinway would give when played hard.   If I had a day full of country session, my forearms and wrists would be cramped from hammering chords all day long.

Think I will point my project to Kurzweil tonight and record a separate track for a side by side comparison--just for fun.

I seriously want to get back into eastwest sounds and get one of their multimiked pianos. Although I did biy Grand Rhapsody from Waves. Isn't too shabby and doesn't need a lot of eq really because of the different microphone pick-ups.

Actually, we probably have much more in common than you give us credit for. We have spent endless hours and a fair amount of cash to try and make something digital sound warm, real, and alive. This has been my only quest. Best to you.

You may find this interesting since you mentioned Ivory being in the top 2 or 3. I have the Quantum Leap piano as well.

http://forums.musicplayer...ads.php/topics/2010298

I am hardly a pianist, but still I love to play and learn/transfer anything I do learn or know on guitar (54 years "pro" yesterday!) or mandolin, to piano.
    I found this thread very interesting. I still use my trusty old K2500 for piano, though I have added xln's collection ($29), NI The Giant, the IK Alan Parsons Imperial Grand and then there are some others, like in DSF, GPO5, and TruePianos Amber. I am always messing with the EQ and "room/reverb", trying to achieve the sound I heard (or thought I heard!), whenever I got to try a real Steinway D.
   I worked with a woman for a "one off" concert, and got to try her Bosendorfer a few times. She went to Germany to buy it and had it shipped back to Michigan, saving thousands and thousands of dollars. It was extremely nice, but I seem to "hear Steinways", still! LOL
    Though I've thought about Ivory, I haven't taken that plunge, yet. Most recently I've thought about the Waves Rhapsody, Sonivox and after Craig Anderton's review in the latest Music + Tech, the Rapture Pro SampleTekk.
    I can tell that it's like "casting" an acoustic guitar for a part..... "this one? Nope"   ?that one?  Nope"   "how about this one?" etc till you find one that suits the track/part/arrangement, etc.
     Thanks for the thread guys. It's been informative. Konradh; I hope you find that elusive "twinkling air".
Michael

I actually don't mind the Addictive Keys Grand as long as you avoid the close mic tubes (which I normally prefer).

And I think part of it is probably the same thing guitar purists have - no ampsim will ever really replace an amp humming/singing in your room and neither will any soft piano ever truly replace feeling a grand vibrate under your fingers.

Thank you KonradH for getting me to give Ivory a third try (I had it years ago, stopped using, loaded again a few years later, stopped using, and this time is charm. I can hardly practice on my other pianos now. I load up Cantabile now just to play when I only have a few minutes. I have it going through 2 Elac Subs ever so slightly to give me the warmth I was missing (aka soundboard) for tracking and playing, and will experiment with recording possibilities to give it more depth. I have tried Waves S1 Imager but it thins it out and I don't want that.
 
It will never sound as real as a real piano but I don't think they are developing anything better to my knowledge. Keyscape didn't seem to be that much different or better. I have Quantum Leaps. Will send you my settings (ambience, eq, pedal, resonance) someday. If you have one you like, I would like to give it a try.

In addition to all the good advice previously, here are my thoughts: What (imo) gives a piano its particular sound is often the resonance (sympathetic in particular, but also the frame). I find it very difficult to adjust the sound of a piano with EQ as the entire instrument vibrates with all frequencies.
 
Sometimes, however, I've found that gently reducing between 500 Hz and 3500 Hz can take some of the rumble out, especially when sitting an a mix. I would suggest trying a 3 DB band. The "bell sound" for the highest two octaves are often (imo) piano specific and hard to induce into a dull piano.
 
You could do a second track with just the upper 3 octaves, EQ the lower end out, and add that on top of your primary track.