Topic by AlphaTerminus

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Topic: Suggestions for Pianoteq from a fan

I am a huge fan of Pianoteq and tout it on about every forum I can.  That being said, here are my suggestions / wishes.
I mainly use Pianoteq and Synthogy Ivory.  Pianoteq is far more fun to play while the sound of the Ivory Steinway (German D) is my favorite realistic grand sound.

First, the things I love about Pianoteq:  1. The sound envelopes me while I play, like a real Grand, even if it is not the same exact sound as a real grand.  2. The ability to customize everything is lovely.  3.  I'm a fan of modelling, and I think it is the future.

Now, the things I wish were better:
1. Listen to the bass in Ivory, make Pianoteq sound like that.  Ivory has a rich, deep, real bass.  Pianoteq's bass is sluggish sounding.  2. I want to hear strings in the mid-range of pianoteq in the M3 and C3, but not the banjo-like strings of the rock piano mode. 

I don't know if this can be done with pure modelling, I guess I don't see why not.  I try to adjust things like the bass but I end up with it too harsh or too wishy-washy.

Always a fan... keep improving!

Reply by Ecaroh

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Re: Suggestions for Pianoteq from a fan

I think you sum the main points that many of us will agree. But I can say that PTQ is developing maybe faster than any other product, so let's just wait for a next update. Also, because of its great modeling character, PTQ is also very natural responding with so many midi-controllers. In fact I don't need to do much anything with my Roland RD700GX. It feels like a real instrument (of course latency have to be dealt with). With Ivory I have spent too much time trying to match it with my Roland and still with no result: it doesn't feel right. It feels not like a piano - it feels like artificial sample player. Many hardware pianos are much better than Ivory in this respect: compared to Ivory they have ridiculously small amount of sample memory but they respond very naturally with (their own) keyboard.

Last edited by Ecaroh (06-03-2010 15:29)

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Reply by glittle

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Re: Suggestions for Pianoteq from a fan

I've noticed that too.  For some reason some of the even older hardware pianos with their minimal sample sizes still seem to feel more musical than the big sample sets.  I wonder if it's a lack-of-latency issue.  Or perhaps just a more consistent latency.  Always been puzzled about that.

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Reply by Ecaroh

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Re: Suggestions for Pianoteq from a fan

I think it's just the fact that recording piano is just too complicated to do well. And if you think about recording it evenly for example 88 x 8 velocity layers it's SO difficult. So let's put our hope in modeling which gives us so much flexibility. Anyway there're some problems still to solve. I agree with AlphaT. that natural bass with natural attack is the most obvious one.

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Reply by AlphaTerminus

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Re: Suggestions for Pianoteq from a fan

Ecaroh:

Yes.  Even with Ivory, which is a relatively new investment to me... a couple weeks v.s. a little less than a year with Pianoteq, I end up using Pianoteq about 90% of the time.  I guess I should specify that the base is better in the C3 mode than the M3, but I like the M3 mid range and treble for jazz/blues.  I suppose Pianoteq pro would solve some of my issues, but I just shelled out $350 for Ivory so I'll wait until the next Pianoteq update before I decide if I want to upgrade to pro.

My local piano dealer is a bit upset with me.  My daughter and I (I'm intermediate, she's a beginner) take lessons at the local piano shop and he's always trying to sell me a baby grand and I tell him. "I have a stage piano in a custom wooden case with 2 8 inch monitors and a subwoofer built in and it blows away anything you have in this store less than a $30,000 Yamaha C6."  Then he tries to sell me a Clavinova grand.  I played it for about 5 minutes and declared "this sucks, Yamaha needs to license Pianoteq technology."  I tell him  I will buy a C6 acoustic grand in a couple years, which I do intend to do, but that I'm not going to waste my money on anything less, because the Yamaha C6 and C7 are the only items he has in the store that sound better than my Pianoteq set-up.  He thinks Clavinovas are the best digital experience around.  I tell him if my current DP breaks I'll buy a Clavinova from him to use as a midi controller for Pianoteq.  He acts insulted and thinks I'm crazy.  It's akin to walking into a Catholic church and proclaiming "Superman could totally kick Jesus' ass!" ha

Reply by AlphaTerminus

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Re: Suggestions for Pianoteq from a fan

Since I started this thread I figured I will thank you for update 3.6.  The K1 Grand answers a lot of my suggestions / criticisms in a big way.

It is now my default setting on Pianoteq and I just wanted to say "Good Job!"

Keep them coming!

Reply by Glenn NK

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Re: Suggestions for Pianoteq from a fan

AlphaTerminus wrote:

Since I started this thread I figured I will thank you for update 3.6.  The K1 Grand answers a lot of my suggestions / criticisms in a big way.

It is now my default setting on Pianoteq and I just wanted to say "Good Job!"

Keep them coming!

Do you think some of the doubters at PW will be convinced?

Glenn

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Reply by AlphaTerminus

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Re: Suggestions for Pianoteq from a fan

Glenn NK wrote:

Do you think some of the doubters at PW will be convinced?

Glenn

I doubt it because many people will not be satisfied with anything!  Another issue is the various set-ups  that people have.  I prefer Pianoteq to Synthogy Ivory on my 8-inch monitor / subwoofer set-ups.  I generally do some tweaks like turning of the limiter and making the  reverb setting very dry.  I also usually increase the amount of sympathetic resonance and string length to 3 meters.   With my Sennheiser HD 380 headphones I still prefer Synthogy Ivory.

I think with each update your are winning more believers.  You had me as a partial believer after 3.0, and a full-fledged fan after 3.5.   After 3.6 I'm even more of a fan though I hold Ivory in high regard as well. 

In your "Which Is The Acoustic" thread I could not tell sample 3 was not acoustic if not for  the hiss in sample 1.

Once you post a full song with lots of bass with release sounds on the acoustic as well as the Pianoteq verson, and trick me consistently I'll be a 100% Pianoteq groupie!