Modartt user forum - What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-25T23:30:18Z

LKingston wrote:

I just wanted to be able to do two tweaks. To my ears, the highest notes in all the presets I've tried ring out a little too long. I wanted to shorten just the highest notes with the impedance scaling. Second, I wanted to detune the double strings a little randomly. I believe some of the presets in the standard

I agree with you the higher notes ring a little too long , so if i upgrade to Standard ill have the option to shorten the notes is that correct ?

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-18T08:04:33Z

about calibration: feel free to experiment without performing the calibration Pianoteq is proposing. On several occasions, I felt the same as you, so I just began with a flat curve then added just 1 or 2 points in the curve to adjust it to my taste. Done.

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-18T05:03:48Z

I've been lurking here and bought the upgrade to Standard just before the offer expired. I think I should reinforce what others have said. Even if you don't want to fiddle with a lot of parameters, two things are a great boon in Standard compared to Play.
First is the ability to move the microphones. With Play I had often felt a little 'lopsided' playing and now I realize it is because in many piano models the microphones are set by default where a listener would listen - not where the pianist sits. Changing that is very easy in Standard and makes for an appreciably more realistic playing experience.
The second is the ability to choose tunings (temperaments) for old instruments. I've read that Equal temperament didn't become standard until the C19th, so it isn't what C18th composers were expecting. It is great fun being able to explore this aspect.
At the same time I got the Kremsegg 2 collection. Mainly for the Broadwood - which is indeed absolutely wonderful. But the other 3 pianos are terrific too. Even though the base piano collection includes a Bechstein and a Pleyel, the ones in Kremsegg are far superior. And the Frenzel has a great sound too.
What swung me to upgrade was my wife reminding me how much I had not spent by not buying a wooden grand this past summer. Pianoteq offers so much for the money.
Cheers,
Clive.

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-17T08:04:36Z

First feedback from a beginner piano player and beginner Pianoteq Standard user:

1. When using Stage I was always confused regarding microphones location. I was constantly afraid that I am somehow ruining the experience by selecting "Binaural" when default for that particular instrument was "Stereophonic". Since I didn't hear that 3D sound very well I was simply confused as to what is happening. All confusion is gone with Standard - I can just click on "microphone" button and just learn what is happening.

So... I believe that Stage should also get "microphone" button, but simply *without* the ability to move mics around. Even if I was the only confused person in the world about that I think that it would still be useful as a great demo of the feature - people would be eager to try and relocate those mics.

2. I know I said in the title that I'm not going to be a "tweaker", but I just became one What encouraged me to tweak settings were three things:
* Introduction to Pianoteq 5 video (I wish I have seen it before... somehow Pianoteq software seems very simple, so I didn't feel like I needed to check out any documentation or tutorials - I wish someone told me that I will benefit it that much!)
* I love Blanchet harpsichord. I started playing Bach pieces that I learn with it and it just made me appreciate alternative sounds.
* I was checking mics location on different instruments and I was puzzled when I found that D4 Binaural has that dummy head located on top of the piano, even beyond keybed. I thought that it should be located where the player's head is. So I just moved it to where I thought it should be and that was my first step. From there next steps are much easier. I started to tweak everything

Although I don't save my settings yet, I only experiment. It's probably silly but I am afraid that if I play with my mods it will somehow change my perception of what is a good piano sound

3. I only discovered calibration after I started with Standard. Whenever I calibrate it gives me less control, sound is too loud and less pleasant (sound is slightly different when you hit keys hard and that's what I hear all the time). I know it's not Pianoteq's fault - probably just me being beginner pianist and not having much control over my fingers (how light or hard I press the keys, what is appropriate amount of "half pedal"). Somehow as a beginner I'm getting worse experience when calibrating than without it. Or maybe it's just me being used to flat curves (after 2-3 weeks of playing with Pianoteq)...

And thank you OrganoPleno for the idea - I always wanted to try those and just didn't realize it's now possible!

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-16T19:55:09Z

kamil.t wrote:

But I know for fact I will not be tweaking my pianos...
So for my use case - would I gain anything by going Standard?

If you like to choose historic tunings for the historic instruments, then Standard is essential.

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-16T02:29:36Z

kamil.t wrote:

Coldsalmon, that was a great point - I wouldn't thought about it before!
And btw, I am now a happy owner of a Standard license - thank you everyone!

Congrats, and enjoy!

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-14T15:16:39Z

Welcome to the Standard club!

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-14T14:05:23Z

kamil.t wrote:

Coldsalmon, that was a great point - I wouldn't thought about it before!
And btw, I am now a happy owner of a Standard license - thank you everyone!

Please keep us posted as to your experience with the Standard license.

Cheers,
Joe

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-13T22:21:29Z

Coldsalmon, that was a great point - I wouldn't thought about it before!

And btw, I am now a happy owner of a Standard license - thank you everyone!

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-13T21:54:45Z

I upgraded from Play (now called Stage) to Standard to get the Sound Recording output. I prefer it, even through headphones, for most presets. "Sound Recording" is not the same as "Stereophonic," see this post:

http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/viewtopic.php?id=2996

"Actually, the stereophonic output is included in Pianoteq since version 3 mainly to ensure compatibility with the previous instruments that were not equipped with the possibility to place microphones around the instrument (versions 1 and 2). It is redundant with the "Sound Recording" output mode where you can place yourself the microphones."

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-12T22:44:07Z

I'm still not really convinced that I will get any better experience of Standard, but you guys were convincing enough for me to give it a shot That and the fact that I dislike the very idea of sampled pianos, so why not just support company that enables us to get into the future a little bit faster. Thanks!

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-12T18:49:07Z

I got the standard version along with a free extra piano model, then got the pro version with the upgrade and got a free extra model again. The cost of the standard version plus the upgrade to pro is ten dollars less than getting the pro version directly. Add that to getting a second model pack when you do the upgrade, and getting standard first then upgrading is a no-brainer.

Why did I want the pro version over the standard? Personally, I just wanted to be able to do two tweaks. To my ears, the highest notes in all the presets I've tried ring out a little too long. I wanted to shorten just the highest notes with the impedance scaling. Second, I wanted to detune the double strings a little randomly. I believe some of the presets in the standard version already do this, but I wanted that control. When you add "age" to the models it sort of does this, but it also throws some notes a little out of tune and I didn't want to do that.

Aside from those two adjustments, the standard version would have really been fine. Getting those two adjustments plus another model pack is why I immediately upgraded my new standard version to pro.

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-12T15:00:38Z

Personally, the microphone flexibility was already enough for me to pass on the Stage edition.

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-12T13:01:38Z

you will also be able to use all presets made by the Pianoteq community, and there are a lot of beautiful ones.

Re: What do I miss from Standard if I'm not a tweaker?

2014-09-12T11:26:20Z

kamil.t wrote:

So for my use case - would I gain anything by going Standard? Would I be able to somehow tweak mics to fell the sound better (on my headphones)?

Yes, you will be able to tweak the microphones and send each mic to a separate plugin output (or your surround system!). You will also be able to change mic types as well.

kamil.t wrote:

BTW, I'm not sure what is currently happening when I pick the piano that is "Stereo" by default and switch it to "Binaural" - it doesn't really feel like if I'm sitting in front of a piano, so what is it? Also, does this feeling would improve if I would go Standard?

Binaural mode is specifically designed for use with headphones. It's using HRTF and modeling dummy head recording method.

I would definitely suggest to go Standard. It's IMHO a lot more useful than Stage. And what do you know, perhaps you will start tweaking stuff and discover entirely new sounds!