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Any fellow piano nerds - which pianoteq models to go for?
I’ve been playing around with the models, deciding which two to go for initially with the stage license.
Does anyone have any opinions or thoughts on my impressions as obviously it’s down to your own preferences. Just wondering if mine rang true for others as I’m not experienced playing these massive expensive grands.
Having gone through them, my first definite purchase will be the u4. I just prefer the naive kind of innocent tone of a nice upright, and feel like it works with my songwriting. Doesn’t take over the song so much and carries the chord progression better in my opinion. Others may differ 
Having played the rest a bit, I’m just really interested to hear anyone’s thoughts. At the moment I feel like I’m naturally drawn to the Petrov and Grotian, that they sound softer although lacking a bit of definition compared to the others. I feel like I’ll already be getting the u4 though, and perhaps the Steinway would be nice to have for a change of pace. I find the clarity less emotionally affecting, and big grands for me sort of diffuse that within a short song rather than a big expansive instrumental piece. It’s just the name really, but I also thought most of the others sounded thinner, or less rich and complex. Barring one beginning with b I can’t remember now.
The only other thought I have at the moment is that the Yamaha grand had a really interesting sound - it resonates in a much higher range than the Steinway and the others, seems to go on for ages like a cloud floating above it all - it’s really nice
Thanks
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i like the Yamaha grand piano YC5, good allrounder. no ringing in the highs.
I did a pretty exhaustive blind taste test of all the pianos a while back, where I ranked everything blindly and randomly both listening and playing in different ranges/dynamics. I ended up with U4 tall K2 ranking significantly higher than the others to my personal taste.
The U4 sounds fantastic.
For grands, I finally made up my mind for Petrof and Bechstein, after 2-3 months of extensive trials.
I was highly in love with Petrof (still are), but, agree on Yamaha YC5 who’s my new favorite in Pianoteq v8…
I bought the U, the Steinway D, and another one a month ago, and all I have played is the Steinway.
The problem is that they’re all so good. I got the Steinway D and Bechstein when I first got it, but haven’t added to it. I’ll probably add the electric pianos when I do.
My personal favorite is the Blüthner but the Petrof and Upright are also great. I ended using my 2 purchases for the Hohner and Classical Guitar packs though and use Just Piano for pianos. No shade at Pianoteq, I just wanted those other 2 packs more and Just Piano is good enough for me lol
I’m still surprised more people haven’t cracked the code on this app:
YOU CAN PLAY ANY INSTRUMENT WITH ALL THE OPTIONS FOR 20 MINUTES.
Anyway, if you need to pick 2 don’t forget the benefit for a songwriter of having a decent guitar, harp, steel drum, E-Piano. The Petrof is a great piano by the way and with the complete controls you can turn it into an amazing array of sounds (for 20 minutes at a go). It’s harmonically very rich. Some of the E-Pianos and the Clav are also great starting points for really unusual sounds.
I think it was @sonosaurus who mentioned he used the app for a year (for free) before deciding on what to invest in. I, on the other hand, used the app for one day and just bought the whole enchilada with credit card bonus money (which no one except me was watching. closely… our secret).
I don’t think that’s true is it? It skips some notes, and you can’t access any of the options at all (changing instrument settings and options). I was trying yesterday.
Edit” the basic mallet stuff is there but the proper options if you scroll up and hold on the picture say only available with license
You need to activate the 20 minutes trial in the in-app store, either standard or pro license.
You have to activate the pro demo and not the basic demo for the standard version. But even then you’re correct about the handful of muted notes. Those don’t go away until you buy the full unlock.
Thanks for clarifying. For anyone that creates with generative inputs the missing few notes are small nits to gain access to every instrument for 20 minute sessions.
These instruments are something else for people that like percussive sounds but there are controls to make things sound bowed or like wind instruments.
Watch for sales.
Handful of muted notes is no barrier whatsoever to anyone making their mind up about these. Nobody really needs anyone else's opinion on what's good, they have all the time in the world to try and to make up their own mind. Not to say that it's not useful or interesting to get other people's opinions, but you really do have as much time as you need to check out all the paid instruments inside the free version. As mentioned, the demo modes can also be accessed multiple times, you just need to start the clock again when they finish, or do I remember that wrongly?
The only issue with this, is the longer I listen, the more I just want everything 😂 Yeah you hit the clock a load of times, or at least I have been doing that for some type of demo mode. The one thing you can’t demo I’ve found are the kivir (sp) things which is annoying as I want them
Yes haha, I had the same problem which is why, like McD, I ended up just buying the whole shebang, which I did get a discount on but still couldn't really afford and have not been getting enough use out of to justify - occupational habit of having a channel like mine - but still don't regret, as I love these. You really probably don't need everything, but it's definitely hard not to want the lot! Being able to tweak and morph is great. I'm sure if you're very good ast EQing and mic placement etc you could go a long way with just one piano, but they definitely do have their own tones and I feel that pianoteq really know how to bring out the best sounds of each in their presets. I've often thought 'I want to use X', then tried it, found it didn't work as well as I had hoped, and, because I have the lot, was then able to scroll through them quickly and grab something else that felt better.
My advice would be, if you know you really love these and can easily afford it, buy the lot. If you can't afford it, or have to think hard about whether you can afford it, just keep sticking with the free version until you really settle on a few that you know you will often use, then buy one, see if you end up using it as much as you expected, if you do, then eventually treat yourself to another and build up a collection slowly over time. When we see something new, we imagine we'll use it a lot, but often that turns out not to be the case. I have a ton of apps that are fantastic but that I just never really use because I simply have far too many apps and I end up forgetting about them.
They all sound really great, but I could only get 2 at the time, so I bought the Steinway D and the E-Pianos. Absolutely love the Wurli and Rhodes.
Yeah, my songwriting is very piano centric and i love piano so i feel semi justified. I dont have the money but i will spend it anyway. I think I’ll start with the upright and either Steinway one of, and/or petrof. I will end up with most.
I dont think things are a waste even if not used much, as sometimes just the timbre of an instrument can inspire a thought process that leads in a completely different direction.
For sure. Most of the percussive instruments like the steel pan aren’t even affected by the muted notes as the octave doesn’t reach that high/low.
I only hand the standard so the pro trial still being there and still being AUV3 is super generous and appreciated. I’m sure I’ll buy the whole thing some day, but I’m glad to have what I do now.
Anybody here who tried Pianoteq at low cost MIDI controller?
I have small AKAI LPK25 and MVave SMK25 Mini and definitely can't say that I'm impressed of Pianoteq sound in demo mode. I'm not a pianist so I'm focused to simple chords and long-lasting tones. The main thing I don't like is sustain on higher velocities. Sounds weird, chemical, unnatural for my ears. I know, I know. It must be me or my keys because Pianoteq is highly praised as the best of the best and I saw many YT videos where it sounded phenomenal. But I can't explain to myself why I hear what I hear.
Here is my small comparison between free NumaPlayer and Pianoteq, please listen and tell me what you think. I really hope I'm not deaf or crazy
It’s hard to know what it is that you think is wrong here. Why did you pick that particular part of the register, and does the issue you hear occur in other registers?
I have tried it with the MIDI out on my digital piano, with other full size key controllers, and even with a virtual keyboard on my MacBook, but haven’t noticed any difference other than how that particular keyboard feel influences my playing.
It’s so true: 90% of us should be satisfied with the “Numa Player” app which is free. It is produced and supported by the MIDI Keyboard Company “StudioLogic”.
I expect they think it might sell more weighted key MIDI keyboards to smart consumers. It also has:
I went “All In” on PianoTeq because it’s a type of synth. I use the options to make sounds that are decidedly un-Piano like. I upload all my Presets to https://forum.modartt.com/forum/fxpcorner/. You can download any and use them for 20 minutes free.
Of course, these types of sounds are easy to produce with typical synth apps but it’s still a lot of fun to tweak a modeling app and layer or its packages. I don’t think they are done making instruments either.
Midi is midi, so it's not clear to me how a low cost controller would adversely affect things. You can use Pianoteq, or any synth, straight from a sequencer if you want, no need for a keyboard at all.
First, the sound of Pianoteq demo is identical to what you'd get from a purchased version.
The samples you posted sound different, for sure, but I'm not sure what it is that's bothering you. I would say that I don't think long sustained pure tones are where Pianoteq shines. I assume this is because romplers or sample-based synths can, in essence, play a recording of a tone from a top class piano. So it seems not surprising they might sound better. Where Pianoteq shines is in the flow of multiple notes, with differing durations and changing dynamics/touch. Especially when you're playing on a good keyboard, Pianoteq feels more "responsive" in a way that's difficult to describe with words. It certainly sounds "good", whether it sounds better than the best sample-based pianos I'll leave to others. But it seems to me that the psychological experience of playing Pianoteq with a good keyboard, which comes from the combination of sound and the feel of your hands playing the keys, is better than anything else out there.
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As mentioned, cost of your controller will make no difference in this experiment. Do a google on tweaking Pianoteq. There are things you could tweak to decrease these resonances that you don’t like - any parameters you don’t have access to in the free version, you could still experiment with in the demo modes for the paid versions. Or - just try a different Pianoteq piano that has the sound you like.
Thank you @michael_m, @McD, @hes and @Gavinski.
I am grateful for all your replies, they have helped me clarify my situation. As I wrote, I'm not a pianist and I don't even know what a live Steinway D sounds like. Frankly, I don't even care. For me, it is enough if I like the sound generated by the app. Pianoteq is obviously not for me. Thanks to you, I already know that everything is in my head, or my sound preferences. I'll give Ravenscroft and PurePiano a try. If that doesn't work either, I'll just go back to Numa Player.
Pure Piano was my favorite (before PianoTeq) because it is so useful to dial in the type of piano tone you want with its clever interface and the tone quality is on a par with Ravenscroft. The Pure folks also make a Pure Upright if you lean towards that singer/song writer sound that’s less formal.
Check out JustPiano if you haven’t. IMO, it sounds excellent and I even slightly prefer it to Pianoteq. And it’s much cheaper than any other big name options. Numa Player is also very nice, especially for free.
The amazing thing about Pianoteq is the amount of parameter control. You can really twist and meld the sounds into the weird and bizarre quickly and I love it for that.
I already tried JustPiano. Can confirm it sounds good but I didn't like having to download x GB every time I wanted to switch to a different piano type. Sorry for OT, I'll be quiet now.
Gotcha. It downloads fairly quickly for me, but I mostly stick with my favorite. Their other app, Genuine Sounds has them (plus way more) all available at once.