Pianoteq, is it worth the effort?

Thanks. Still waiting for others to submit.

Btw, how to access the PM?

The differences are obvious in the first few seconds (but less afterward)!

Is it worth using Pianoteq? Pianoteq strength is that it's more expressive. So the differences are more striking where less speed and more expression is required.

The beginning of the piece already distinguishes the three samples. I won't say one is ''better'' than the others, sampled sounds have their strengths. But pay particular attention to the third sample, the first few seconds (and compare it with the first and second)! I won't try influencing you, so I won't tell you what is right or wrong with it.

See also at 0:14 transition in sample 3 and compare it with sample 1 and 2?

To be more explicit, there are chances the poll will end up with sample 3 having the least votes (less stability, particularly since the opening has a lot of importance in the appreciation of a piece), it sounds like my Casio Keyboard (at the opening). Results might have been different if you left your fingers a little bit longer (maintaining same speed) with better transition between notes at the beginning. While I voted, my personal opinion is that there are segments of the piece which are better with one, and others with another. There are segments which are OK in the three samples.

Usually it is little things like this which give an edge to one and in a specific piece or segment only. And often which is the better depend on circumstances and tastes.

Edit: I don't think this poll can be neutral, the noise of sample 2 will lead many to conclude it's not Pianoteq (don't forget it's a Pianoteq forum)... then proceed through elimination between 1 and 3.

Hi,

The G sounds the more pleasant to me.
I think the D is not Pianoteq.
There is something I don't like in the attack of the B.

These 3 sounds are credible as piano sounds

SK

Recordings are not enough for me to decide which instrument is best. It's how the thing feels under my fingers that matters. And with Pianoteq I always tweak the instruments to my liking: hammer hardness and sympathetic resonance being the parameters I change most frequently. Also the key release noise I tend to turn down. The defaults often seem excessive to my ears. Sure I'd love to get an acoustic, even just a Yamaha U1, but I still would not stop playing Pianoteq.

Having the Pro version gives me a virtually infinite library of different instruments that I enjoy playing and playing with. And if I find something I don't like about a note here and there, I can fix it in the Pro version. But even the Stage version is great for a student.

The weak link in my chain is the keyboard. It's a Numa Nero - not bad, but nothing like the Kawai VPC1 or MP11.

Is it worth it? IMO very much so. The software is a bargain for what it does.

Hi, off course the software it self is worth it. But one can skip the hassle of adding sound card, laptop, tweaking latency etc, if they just want to get the feeling of the piano is there with you. With cheap DP + good speaker + placement you can achieve it.

On the other hand i raise my hat to pianoteq that they achieve such realism. Out of curiosity I bought a sample piano Addictive Keys Stuido Grand + Modern Upright. Will share my impression later in this post.

Btw just need 1 more person to take the poll, then we can draw a general conclusion.

Thanks

I must admit that the latency and occasional stall or crackle sound issues kept me purchasing Pianoteq for a few years. Now that I have it all figured out (on Linux) I can set up a 10 y.o. laptop to run it flawlessly with no perceptible latency and no snap-crackle-pop. It's not at all hard but should be better documented IMO. I use a $200 ~5 y.o. second hand laptop (Dell E6220) that's dedicated to Pianoteq. And an inexpensive external USB DA soundcard.

Cannot speak for Windows users. But once the latency issues were fixed (ASIO I hear will take care of that in Windows), the main issue for me was CPU frequency throttling. Every time the OS would switch frequencies, there'd be a delay and glitch in Ptq. Very annoying and making it basically unplayable. In Linux it takes a bit of BIOS tweaking and a handful of lines of shell script to fix all that. I'm sure in Windows there are similar "easy" fixes.

Also some computers are better suited to the task than others. CPU fan noise e.g. is very intrusive. So I run all cores at no more than 80% max normal speed and turn turbo boost off in BIOS.

Excuse me for repeating myself, all is lacking is documentation for all this that should make it easier for users to set up their computers to run Ptq without a hitch.

B sounds the most realistic in terms of sounding like a real piano. But I feel like it sounds more like a so-so quality piano more than a top-notch one. The other two have tones that are more 'smoothly beautiful' but not quite as realistic. Thus, I would enjoy having all three available for use.

Caveat: it's not like I hear drastic differences between all three so my analysis above can be considered very "fine grained".

Also, I would likely have different opinions of all three if I were to play them myself. Hearing the tone of a piano I am playing and hearing the tone of one that has been recorded are vastly different experiences even with the same virtual piano.

Thank you again guys for all of your comments and thoughts. I think it is time to reveal the sound I use. First I would like to lay down my thought a bit.

TBH I am surprised you can tell this by listening. I feel the same by playing all 3 sound.

Totally agree with you. Not all pianist out there is techie. How can our kids play pianoteq? But perhaps this true to all software base piano out there. Btw I like your signature. It is the perfect fifth frequency, isn't it?

I think you might be surprised that it probably the other way around. Btw win10 is just fine.

@mabry & pianoteqenthusiast
Agree, one must try to playing it instead of just hearing it. It was the thing that bring me to pianoteq.

As mentioned, out of curiosity I bought Addictive Keys, a sample based piano. I found the sound is beautiful. But something is not in the league of pianoteq and my digital piano. First, the attack is not 'attack' enough (I don't know how to express it). Second, when I quickly depressed then pressed the pedal, the sound was just cut. There was no resonance whatsoever left. Don't know if more expensive sample based piano software behaves the same. I think this is important for pianist. Another story for recording though. Kudos for pianoteq and my cheap digital piano.

As of now, score for the poll: B is 4, D is 4, G is 1. Not include the preference in the comments. And the sounds used in the recordings are:
B: Pianoteq Bluethner Model One
D: Yamaha DGX 650 (about 600USD new in Indonesia)
G: Pianoteq Gotrian Player

For pianoteq I have Model D, K2, Bluethner, Gotrian and Model B. Love them all in different ways. I use win10 core2duo 1.8ghz laptop, zoom r16 as sound card, and roland ua ex1 sound card + andoid tablet to record the sound. I have casio px 150, the keyboard action is really good IMO, the sound? Not so much. Would love to try the more expensive keyboard though. I also have Yamaha DGX 650, the sound? Surprising, as shown in this topic posts/poll.

Last, I very much looking forward to Pianoteq 6. Hope they will also improve the existing sound to the next level. It will be like a dream, having all those gorgeous acoustic piano in your living room..

I can understand that for those who do the Tweaking it might sound it's the other way around. :b I merely pick Pianoteq D4 (it's the one I like most) and all its variants (also from FXP corner) and leave others do the tweaking. I actually do not spend any time tweaking in Pianoteq. Regarding my comment about Linux, I was answering another user comment. I use Pianoteq on a Celeron N3060, and with Pianoteq under Win10 I get very often the message that the CPU is overloading.

I like C the most. But no idea wat kind of source it is.......Let,s assume it is Pianoteq ( I hope...)

That would depend on the preset that was the starting point for the tweaking, though, was it AB or BA, no? So you could be easily fooled if you just thought that panning is the smoking gun.

The background noise of the middle sample would lead many to conclude that it wasn't Pianoteq. Pianoteq records in midi, then generate the wav file (no such noise is generated). So it was the least probable it was Pianoteq.

Such elements are more determinant than presets which can all be changed.

Sample 3 start was very weak, but like I had already mentioned, it require a change in the playing style to do justice to the instrument.

I just read the answer, Im a proud-er pianoteq owner now

Btw, I didnt like G that much either thats why I didnt comment on it but it was better than D, D was thin and has artifacts, which is funny as I dont like the Gotrian at all, I prefer the bluethner

Sounds a good software, but does not work on Linux.

Like I have previously mentioned there are a lot of taste involved.

For my needs Pianoteq is the best , it might not be the best for you. I am running it in a netbook which has 32 GB of SSD... it takes minimal space!

The really important thing is that you are satisfied with what you have.