And :head-slap: HA!  I can't believe I made recording that song a ton harder than I needed to.  Somehow I totally missed the export-to-audio-file option; thank you for pointing it out!

Don, yep... good advice.  I definitely appreciated having the demo version available (I REALLY wish more software instrument makers would offer this!!!) and then bought:
- Steinway D combo
- Petrof combo
- YC5 Rock piano
...and am enjoying them all!

(oh, and Key Fumbler... no offense taken at all, I was just chuckling and nodding my head re the 'safe' choice )

Key Fumbler, yes, heh, I did pick rather "safe" choices but I expect I'll branch out over time as I get a bit more adventurous with this instrument & my music'ing
And completely agree with your take on the YC5; it does seem to have more potential and I hope Modartt will give it a bit more love in the future.

I didn't mean safe to sound derogatory in any way.  For the vast majority of us premium concert grand pianos aren't even on the radar, let alone merely bread and butter options!

Lovely improvisation. Never thought about the piano as being a virtual representation, just the music.

tl;dr: I'm new to Pianoteq (I plan to buy v7 Standard), and I'd love some advice to help me narrow down my choice of 3 pianos; thanks in advance!

When I first bought Pianoteq it was version 3. I was able to play the version 2 demo for months before buying it. I'd say try the demo version. At the time I didn't have enough space required for the top sampled libraries, while Pianoteq was so novel and easy to use, very responsive, updatable, etc.

There are some demos on YouTube, but you can't beat trying it.
I'd say the Steinway Ds and two others.

I enjoyed relaxing last night with Pianoteq and -- after spontaneously doing a pleasant ~5 minutes improv -- I was super-grateful for Pianoteq's always-recording option.   ...  And my experience really highlighted how just fabulously playable Pianoteq pianos are; improv'ing in this situation felt almost like when I was sitting down at a 'real' piano!

Beautiful improv! Thanks for sharing.

Pianoteq can export the audio of a previously recorded MIDI file to an audio file (.wav, .flac, .mp3) rather than simply playing back the audio through the computer speakers or audio interface. Then that exported audio file can be imported into Logic Pro (or in my case in Linux, into Harrison Mixbus32C (also available for Mac and Windows), Ardour, Reaper for Linux, Bitwig Studio, Tracktion or whichever DAW app one is using at the time.

Pianoteq also includes a virtual instrument that can be used within a digital audio workstation program such as Logic Pro or any of the forementioned and others, to play and record audio produced by the Pianoteq plugin either while playing through/using the plugin live, or from a MIDI file produced by Pianoteq or other MIDI recording/editing app (including the DAW itself, in most cases) and played back or imported into the DAW. Lots of possibilities  for playing, recording and routing audio and MIDI within a computer used as a digital audio workstation, and lots of info and forums on the Web devoted to particular DAW apps and to computer-audio-recording within the various computer operating systems.

Anyway, beautiful.

Fleer, yep, the Blüthner was on my shortlist and I almost chose it!  It may well be my next purchase.

Tahlendorf, yes, that present on the Mistral is one of my favs and was a big reason why I chose that pack :-)

Anyway, while I have been stupid crazy busy with work (for a deadline this past Friday), I enjoyed relaxing last night with Pianoteq and -- after spontaneously doing a pleasant ~5 minutes improv -- I was super-grateful for Pianoteq's always-recording option.  Here it is, without any editing (though -- as you can likely hear -- it's far from perfect, particularly with a few overly hard-hit notes that stand out). Incidentally, it's the first time I can remember improv'ing in the key of b minor .  And my experience really highlighted how just fabulously playable Pianoteq pianos are; improv'ing in this situation felt almost like when I was sitting down at a 'real' piano!

I did initially hit a bit of a roadblock:  I was honestly stunned that I couldn't just easily record what I played by hitting PLAY [on the midi file] on the PianoTeq interface into QuickTime or Logic Pro or whatnot on my Mac.  Why on earth does the Mac require a third party program just to record internal sound?!  But the well-respected Audio Hijack program really came through :-).  (Heh, I guess this marks me as an online music n00b, since maybe everyone else already knew about this system default limitation?)

Oh, almost forgot!  The Pianoteq piano in the recording is the Steinway D, "studio" preset (unaltered).

EDITED TO ADD:
Daaaaayum, I had no idea Soundcloud embeds were so huge on this forum.  I really need to do something about that terrible(y cropped) photo

BEST REGARDS

Okay, I couldn't wait until the weekend, so I spent some more hours playing (with headset and also studio monitors) and ended up picking:
- Steinway D combo
- Petrof combo
- YC5 Rock piano

The YC5 is the one I was least sure of; I really enjoyed playing the Studio preset but was meh on pretty much all the other presets.  But I have such nostalgia playing Yamaha grands growing up and I liked the sound and feel for pop & rock playing with that preset .

I'll spend some time on Saturday checking out the non-grand-piano sounds, but my sense is that I largely have those covered well enough for my tastes with my Komplete Ultimate 13 bundle.

Thanks again for all the food for thought and encouragement .  Happy to begin my Pianoteq journey with such a friendly and helpful community!

Good choices and welcome.
As someone already wrote, get the Blüthner too, especially for jazz.

Okay, I couldn't wait until the weekend, so I spent some more hours playing (with headset and also studio monitors) and ended up picking:
- Steinway D combo
- Petrof combo
- YC5 Rock piano

The YC5 is the one I was least sure of; I really enjoyed playing the Studio preset but was meh on pretty much all the other presets.  But I have such nostalgia playing Yamaha grands growing up and I liked the sound and feel for pop & rock playing with that preset .

I'll spend some time on Saturday checking out the non-grand-piano sounds, but my sense is that I largely have those covered well enough for my tastes with my Komplete Ultimate 13 bundle.

Thanks again for all the food for thought and encouragement .  Happy to begin my Pianoteq journey with such a friendly and helpful community!

YC5 is a very safe choice.  Together with the Steinway you've got the two most common grand piano sounds for all the forms of popular music and Classical.
I would like to see them further improve the YC pack. It doesn't need an official license, we all know what it is because they are so ubiquitous.

YC5 pack could do with more presets, and maybe be joined by YC7, and or CFX (YCFX?).
That said in the Pop and Rock genre this is probably the piano model most likely to be treated with 3rd party FX plugins anyway.

It does feel slightly marginalised because it doesn't have an official licence. Same with the K which I prefer much of the time.

Have fun. Lots of new pianos.

The YC5 is the one I was least sure of; I really enjoyed playing the Studio preset but was meh on pretty much all the other presets.  But I have such nostalgia playing Yamaha grands growing up and I liked the sound and feel for pop & rock playing with that preset .

I'll spend some time on Saturday checking out the non-grand-piano sounds, but my sense is that I largely have those covered well enough for my tastes with my Komplete Ultimate 13 bundle.

Thanks again for all the food for thought and encouragement .  Happy to begin my Pianoteq journey with such a friendly and helpful community!

The questions I would ask (I guess for others considering a purchase, since you've already moved forward) are (1) what sounds do you love and (2) what sounds support the music you make?

I got the Steinway package because it supports my classical work and I love the sound.

I got the U4 package because it supports my other work. I also like the sound.

I didn't get the YC5 package, even though I compose rock, because I didn't love the sound.

I got the xylophone package because some of my composing calls for it, and I enjoy the sound.

I added the harp package, even though I don't really write for harp, because I adore the sound. It will probably encourage me to write for harp, and I want to encourage that. (I initially wasn't going to get it because harps use an unusual system for key changes, but that turned out to be learning curve issue; Pianoteq lets me switch between pure keyboard mode and harp (diatonic) mode at the click of a button.)

Hope this helps.

Also, I appreciate you highlighting that -- even though I'm generally not one to tinker in this context -- making a few straightforward tweaks may be able to significantly improve how I enjoy some of the instruments.

At the moment, I'm pretty stressed with work and kinda tired, so I'm going to dedicate a good amount of time this Saturday (I know, I know, cutting it close) to do some more playing and listening and deciding and will report back!

Thank you again!

Are there certain pianos which *audibly* take advantage of new features or capabilities in Pianoteq 7?  I'm not so interested in tweakability because I'm impatient and there are already so many handy default presets

The biggest new feature would be layering and morphing.  With that in mind mixing piano becomes a really nice feature that is easy without a DAW.  I'd suggest pianos that cover different tones for that reason.

The NY Steinway (which includes the HB Steinway) is a no brainer.

For jazz I'd suggest looking at the Bluthner as well.

The K2 now sounds very good and I'd take a really close look (listen) at this as I think it's neglected by many people.  It's not got a mainstream name attached but it is a great sound.  Earlier versions had issues (IMO) but it is now lovely.

You might consider the Klemsegg 2 collection which has four instruments including the 1899 Bechstein and a the Frenzel.

Note you also get for free two grands from the 1920's (Pleyel and Erard) and several other instruments.  Don't neglect these as they will have uses.  Ever since I heard Erroll Garner use a harpsichord on a Jazz album I've tried to think outside the usual piano box (and you'll get a free harpsichord with it).

The new layering system really does make creating sounds much more interesting.  The flexibility in Pianoteq 7 compared with 6 is enormous IMO.

Experiment, experiment, experiment.

For classical pieces, I agree that the Steinway D concert grand piano collection is the way to go.

For jazz, it seems to me that a brighter piano would be appropriate. The Steinway B is a great choice. Although it still has a big sound, it does have a more intimate feel. My personal experience by playing the B is that it also has a fun touch response/playability that translates well to jazz. By the way, the real Steinway B seems to be favored by jazz pianists and it is THE piano of choice at the Jazz Standard club in NYC.

The third piano should be your own personal choice. Do you want a piano more inclined toward classical music or toward jazz? From various sessions of testing and playing, the sound of the Grotrian Grand really captivates me due to its remarkable sympathetic resonances. But I am more into learning and playing classical music.

I feel like all the Steinways sound good bright, so if you know you want the NY, maybe consider complementing it with a model that sounds good dark.

It's all a matter of taste, so definitely test things out and make your own choice. Load up a "player" style preset on each piano you're considering, and just dial back all the hammer hardnesses. Maybe turn the Q factor up and the Cutoff down too. Overdo it just a little, it's illuminating. Does the sound get uninteresting to you with less highs? Keep looking.

When I did this, the one that really stood out to me was the Grand Grotrian, the Petrof and SteinGraeber being close seconds. But your tastes may be different! Give it a spin and find out what you like.

Good luck, and enjoy!

What I did is, with the trial versions installed I just played through all of the candidates, spending only a few minutes on each. I then simply chose the ones that had a "love at first sight" quality to that very brief first encounter.

I don't think that's the only good way to do it. But knowing myself, I figured I was best served by making a quick, intuitive decision. I have no regrets about the decisions I made.

You say you only want Pianos, does that mean only acoustic pianos? If you're open to the electric ones, I can also second the Vintage Tines recommendation above. I have never played a Rhodes or Wurly emulation that is this satisfying. Every real Rhodes I've ever played has differences between the keys, and regrettably most emulations smooth those out. PianoTeq strikes a better balance with that, in my opinion, many of the presets feel very genuine to play.

I have the Hohner Electric pianos also. They're a little weirder, and I find myself dialing them in to get even weirder most of the time. The Tines are definitely better suited for most genres, the way they sound out-of-the-box. Since you're a jazz player I guess these might come in handy? Or if they won't, plenty other good options exist.