I am finally going to take the plunge with the Black Friday deal. I am going with the Steinway NY and Electric Pianos, but I get 1 more with Standard. It is down to the Kawai and the Bechstein. I can't decide and I like them both, but not enough to buy both. I play mostly rock, Jam band stuff. Page MConnell sounding stuff.
Kawai, and it's not even close. I just got it today after practicing on the Bechstein for a week. Night and day.
It's totally subjective! Can't give you advice. I'm married to Bluethner.
I've tried Kawaii and Bechstein and they're both not winners to me. Still the Kawai spoke to me a little more... Hope you'll be happy with your choice?
I'm going to say that while it's a bit subjective whether the Kawai or the Bechstein is the finer grand piano*, my feeling is that the Kawai is the better executed Pianoteq model. As a later addition to the fold, it seems to have benefitted more from recent refinements, leading to a well-rounded sound and really extensive tonal control.
That said if you like the general sound profile of the Bechstein**, I'd recommend looking at two further alternatives: The Steingraeber, which I personally got as the "Bechstein but Better" entry in my collection and am extremely happy with. It has that same germanic percussive blockiness as the Bechstein but sounds far more organic to me. It also happens to be an amazingly adaptable and morphable one.
The other one worth looking at is Kremsegg 2, which features a beautiful Bechstein from 1899. It sounds amazingly modern but has a bit more character compared to the main Bechstein pack, as it was modelled from a specific specimen. It gives you realness without sacrificing the clean sound you may be enjoying.
* disclaimer: I'm a Kawai stan
** this kind of makes sense from your other choices: the Bechstein is more distinct from the Steinways than the Kawai
agreed on the Kawai, seem like the most refined and robust model this far.
I also love the steingraeber (actually it was the 1st pack I picked way back when) but I find it has a tendency to develop a certain kind of nasality, mid "pressure" so to speak, when tweaked with a heavy hand - or maybe it´s just m speakers that don´t like it.
I actually think that for rock the Bosendorfer is not bad suited at all (there, I said it), with its strong punchy attack and well defined high end.
It's totally subjective! Can't give you advice. I'm married to Bluethner.
I've tried Kawaii and Bechstein and they're both not winners to me. Still the Kawai spoke to me a little more... Hope you'll be happy with your choice?
Bluethner is the one with most individual sound.
It's totally subjective! Can't give you advice. I'm married to Bluethner.
I've tried Kawaii and Bechstein and they're both not winners to me. Still the Kawai spoke to me a little more... Hope you'll be happy with your choice?
I completely agree with that. This is all completely subjective. I continue to experiment from time to time, I have had the Pianoteq license since 2014, I acquired it in version 4.5. I made all the updates
Today, the YC5 Basic impresses me, although until now I have played this model very little. It sounds very good on headphones and that suits me.
My opinion is that technically all pianos are equal. Don't waste your time, follow your instinct and your ears and when you like a preset, go for it, adjust it to your liking and have fun.
I went ahead and purchased today. Thanks for your input, but I totally went in a different direction. I was running the program through the Ipad. I downloaded the demo on my computer and mixed some tracks via midi with some songs I wrote. I ended up going with the YC as my 3rd, as it really cut through the mix in a rock setting. Everything sounds amazing though so far. Blows my Yamaha and Nord internal sounds away.