Agree with what bit said...

I own a bunch of sample-based pianos, and Old Lady, as old as it is, is still one of my favorites. It's just a nice, warm, round, full tone in the lower velocity ranges, and still a little bite in the upper velocity ranges... Lots of character, but not "crazy old piano" character, if you know what I mean.  check out the "moonlight low" and "moonlight high" velocity demos to get a sense of the available dynamic range...
http://www.sampletekk.com/proddemos/PMIOldLady/MoonlightOldLadyNormal.mp3
http://www.sampletekk.com/proddemos/PMIOldLady/MoonlightOldLadyLoud.mp3

It's just a good recording of a good sounding old piano, and I think has stood the test of time against it's "more technically advanced" peers. IMO.

At those prices, my personal recommendation for somebody on a budget would be to get Old Lady for those full steinway grand sounds, where piano is a major harmonic element to the tune... and 7CG Jr for those times where you need that classic, bright Yamaha grand sound to punch through... pop, rock, etc. Total $50... can't go wrong with that.

For punchy, bright tone I think the 7CG/7CG Jr. might be a bit more dynamic and varied than Emperor... The Emperor sounds like a Bosendorfer, and that's the tone you get. Unless you're really looking for just that Bosendorfer sound, in which case, go for it! Though I admit I've never been a huge fan of the Bosendoerfer sound compared to Steinway and Yamaha and some others... :) I think both are bright in the mid to upper dynamics, but the Yamahas are less honky than the Bosendorfer, and therefore more versatile for a range of things. In EQ terms, I've always thought of the Yamahas being boosted in the low and high (especially) ranges, whereas the Bosendorfer is boosted in the middle, giving it more of a throaty, honky sound. Anyway... my $.02.
 

 I am wondering if the older Old Lady and Emperor will work with Kontakt 5 . Does anyone know if they will play on K5?

I have to find out on tuesday...

Starise


 I am wondering if the older Old Lady and Emperor will work with Kontakt 5 . Does anyone know if they will play on K5?

Starise

 I am wondering if the older Old Lady and Emperor will work with Kontakt 5 . Does anyone know if they will play on K5?

Yes, both Old Lady and Emperor work with Kontakt 4 and 5.  They are just samples with no complex or unique scripting.  I think they were written to work with Kontakt 2.

Bitflipper:  Thanks for the details.  Nice.  Agree with your assessment--The Old Lady is really dark, warm and perfect for those ballads.  The Emperor is big and bold and great for rock, but also good for bold and big solo "classical" pieces.  

Mesh:  Yes, I think both of these are great foundation pieces.  If I had it to do all over again, I would definitely get both of these and probably the new SampleTekk Black for Kontakt 5 simply because it is so versatile, easy to tweak and dial in a tone that is dark or bold or bright.  I really don't use the PMI Yamaha C7 that I bought earlier this year.  

To be very honest-- I suspect that this new SampletTekk Black for Kontakt 5 will become my default piano because it can be tweaked to get so many tones and works well for ballads and rock.  Well---it will become my default once I get the full version of Kontakt 5--it does work perfectly with the free K5 player, just wish that this spec had been made clear. 
 
Craigfowler:  Yeah, I wasn't going to get the White Sister, but really liked the demo mp3s; so I got it with the White Grand and the new Black since I got the extra discount being a repeat customer.  I really like the new Black.
      
At these prices both Old Lady and Emperor are  "no brainers" at $25 a piece and the new Black comes in for less than $50 (that's while this the 50% discount sale is happening).  

Thanks for the info Ceceilus2.

cecelius2
If I had it to do all over again, I would definitely get both of these and probably the new SampleTekk Black for Kontakt 5 simply because it is so versatile, easy to tweak and dial in a tone that is dark or bold or bright.      

To be very honest-- I suspect that this new SampletTekk Black for Kontakt 5 will become my default piano because it can be tweaked to get so many tones and works well for ballads and rock.  Well---it will become my default once I get the full version of Kontakt 5--it does work perfectly with the free K5 player, just wish that this spec had been made clear. 

Could you do me a favor and upload a demo of the Sampletekk Black? The official demos don't convince me. For example it would be good to know how the EQ affects the sound.

Melodyshine

Could you do me a favor and upload a demo of the Sampletekk Black? The official demos don't convince me. For example it would be good to know how the EQ affects the sound.

Understand your skepticism with manufacturers' demos.  Sorry, but I have unbelievable trouble uploading files onto this forum or any other website with my pathetic internet service.  


What about this?.  I will send you a pm with my email.  You could then just send a midi file to me with a piano part of your choosing (so it is the kind of music you want to test), I will put it in Sonar with SampleTekk Black, do a couple of different eq versions successively on a track, and send it back to you via email with the wave or mp3 file attached.  That's probably the best I can offer, but I will gladly do that.  Let me know if that would work for you.    Cecelius2

[Edited:  I just sent you a pm with my email contact]  

 After doing some pretty extensive listening to the Old Lady,The Emperor, White and Black. I concluded that what I really wanted is the white piano. The white has a really nice sound to me that cuts through a mix well. I already had pianos that cover what the Old Lady does. The Old Lady is a nice piano though no doubt about it.
 In a few of the demos of the White it appears capable of similar sounds to an upright if adjusted and can get that honky tonk sound if needed, but also can be dialed up for jazz or classical...seemed like a very versitle piano.

 Like you say it is all subjective. The black sounded to me to be too distant and would sit well in a classical mix as a solo piano or as a background piano part IMO. The Emperor was a nice piano too and had more of a cut to it but not quite the forwardness I heard with the white.The white seemed to have the ability to cut but sound very pleasant. The demos might not have been very good but they should be giving the potential buyer the best idea and if they aren't doing that then whats the point?

 Cecelius2 I seem to feel the same way about the white that you do about the black. I feel that I can always knock some of the bite off with EQ if it came across as too apparent in a mix.To me it would be more difficult to add the bite with the black JMO. 

None of the sampletekk pianos are bad pianos, on the contrary really. They all are nice. Even though Old Lady and Emperor are dated they hold up well and are a bargain at these prices.

 For anyone looking at pianos I would also recommend at least trying pianissimo and pianoteq. Pianoteq just released a new update and pianissimo has a close sound to the Old Lady when recorded at lower midi velocities.I had some trouble with it recording at higher velocities with clipping. A nice Old Lady like sound though. Tha advantages are low cpu,no huge files to stream and pianos that are tweakable to a number of settings. I noticed that Sampletekk has a similar piano in their lineup. Seems to use samples but augment them with some of this kind of technology.

 I'm waiting on that confirmation email now and hoping my order goes off with no trouble. I can't wait to play the white.

Starise


 After doing some pretty extensive listening to the Old Lady,The Emperor, White and Black. I concluded that what I really wanted is the white piano. The white has a really nice sound to me that cuts through a mix well. I already had pianos that cover what the Old Lady does. The Old Lady is a nice piano though no doubt about it.
 In a few of the demos of the White it appears capable of similar sounds to an upright if adjusted and can get that honky tonk sound if needed, but also can be dialed up for jazz or classical...seemed like a very versitle piano.

 Like you say it is all subjective. The black sounded to me to be too distant and would sit well in a classical mix as a solo piano or as a background piano part IMO. The Emperor was a nice piano too and had more of a cut to it but not quite the forwardness I heard with the white.The white seemed to have the ability to cut but sound very pleasant. The demos might not have been very good but they should be giving the potential buyer the best idea and if they aren't doing that then whats the point?

 Cecelius2 I seem to feel the same way about the white that you do about the black. I feel that I can always knock some of the bite off with EQ if it came across as too apparent in a mix.To me it would be more difficult to add the bite with the black JMO. 

I think you will be happy with The White Grand.  It is clear, but not harsh, and yes you can always EQ and even add just a touch of convolution reverb of a concert hall and you have a nice near concert piano, well not really, as there are no hammer and pedal noises.  I don't think it will every be as warm and round as the Old Lady, but if you are wanting a piano for a mix either pop, jazz or rock, it is a real contender and for the price, just great.  It is not as crisp/sharp to my ears as a C7 but it is clear and sounds great for what it is designed to do.  It is a large download of 16 .rar files in addition to the initial file which will be given by your email from SampleTekk.  Total size is something like 4.96 gigs.  BTW, on the White Resource page there are two economy (CPU lite) versions of .nki files that you might want to download just to have as options.  

The reason I like the new Black is that it is so versatile and that it has the Black Grand as its core, but it is so easy to tweak and adjust right out of the box.  The GUI is much more friendly (than the stock Kontakt one) and you have easy adjustment knobs for velosity adjustments (great for my weak hands), and the one band EQ is right there on the screen, the room resonance, string resonance, and the reverb etc...  

  Give us your critique when you get your White Grand.  We would love to hear what you think.

 Yes Cecelius2 I am looking for a piano for rock and pop type mixes.I can't wait to try it!

  So far I haven't received any info on a download site or a serial number and I payed two days ago. Not even a confirmation other than the one I got from paypal saying they had my money. I guess I'll send them an email and see whats up.

 I appreciated hearing your take on the pianos too.