Topic by minor7add9

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Topic: Choosing 2 Pianos

Im purchasing the Stage version, which i tryed for more than a week, soon.
Now i need to decide which pianos i want to get, because budget is limited, but I dont really liked the Steinway D. Maximum 2 pianos for me...
It's so annoying that you cant choose at least one of the two included pianos.

My favourites are definitly:
Steinway B: Most detailed sound, seems most realistic in sound (string resonation), more believable to play on in many scenarios because of smaller size.
Bluethner: Warm tone like Grotrian, but doesnt lack in moredimensional detail as much.
Upright U4: Different feeling in sound, because of soundboard in front of you, louer and different noises (damper), many presets which differ much from eachother.

Im playing mostly Classical and Jazz. What are your opinions on these models, after a longer time of evaluation? Which one may get more use overall?
The reason i dont like the Steinway D is, that it sounds like its left behind the newer models. Less dimensional and detailed sound, and the sustain/string resonation after note playing is strange to me.
I also would like to know, if you agree on my statements on the Steinway B concerning realism, it seems that its not that much used, or am i wrong?

Greetings,
minor7add9

Last edited by minor7add9 (29-09-2018 16:22)

Reply by stamkorg

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

Why not the brand new Ant. Petrof?
That will allow you to get a 50% discount on your 2nd piano with the actual offer until 15 oct.

Personally, the 2 I play the most are the Steinway D and the Bluthner.

Last edited by stamkorg (29-09-2018 17:11)

Reply by minor7add9

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

Yeah, the discount for the pretrof is nice. I tested it breefly, i found it quiet nice, that it has its own characteristic. Its very clean and acurat.
But to me it seems that it hast not a strong bass, when played fortissimo in a chord.
For example: Play the first few powerful chords of Chopin's Prelude Op28 No 20, in fortissimo, as it is written. The Petrof doesnt sound as strong in the lower key, as other pianos...

Reply by johnstaf

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

I love the Steinway B. I think it's in many ways better than the Pianoteq version of the Steinway D. However, compared to the Petrof, I think it has that distinctive "honk" in the bass that you don't get with a concert grand.

Last edited by johnstaf (29-09-2018 18:00)

Reply by peterws

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

Can you not get the Erard on yours?  I think it was a free addition; I never paid for it, it's there and it's excellent.  So's the Bechstein from the vintage klemscregg 2 collection.  But that wasn't free.  These two pianos, and the Grotrien, have an earthy ring to them.

I'm playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order

Reply by johnstaf

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

Yes the Bechstein is wonderful. It's probably my favourite. I love the "recording" preset. I hope Pianoteq keep updating it and it doesn't get left behind.

Reply by aWc

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

The Steinway B is very nice, versatile., I agree with other poster: overall better than the D. However, now that I have tweaked the YC5 to my liking (as demo), I'm getting it along with the new Petrof. These two are my favorites right now. Somehow, they make the Steinway B sound a little small and hollow. I think one day Modartt will remodel both Steinways...

PT 7.3 with Steinway B and D, U4 upright, YC5, Bechstein DG, Steingraeber, Ant. Petrov, Kremsegg Collection #2, Electric Pianos and Hohner Collection. http://antoinewcaron.com

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Reply by dazric

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

The Erard, which peterws mentioned, will only be available to you on the purchased version of Stage. But when you do purchase, make sure you don't miss out on the Erard, along with the other goodies in the free KViR collection (you have to download the module and install it). There's also a Pleyel, which I think is lovely, but it's a very vintage sound. And if you like historical pianos there's a Walter, a Graf, a couple of harpsichords...
For what it's worth, I like the Model B more than the D. The B is based on a smaller piano, more like the sort of thing you might actually play in a domestic setting. It's a good all-rounder.

Reply by minor7add9

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

Okay thanks for the hints on KVir and Kremsegg2, the KVir im checking out as i purchase the Stage and before getting any other instrument.
But i need to correct my opinion on the Petrof: It has a very good bass, hard to describe. Just didnt notice it with bad headphones before. But i think its pretty hard and unforgiving when trying to play it softly, it just wouldnt be versatile enough for me.
But the Bluethner is out of choice i think.

Reply by jcfelice88keys

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

Although I simply love the Steinway Model B (~7' length), it is a studio grand and not a 9' concert grand piano.  As such, it doesn't have quite as forceful bass that the bigger other grands have.  Surely, you can work around that with EQ, but in the end I think this explains why the Model B sounds slightly thin in comparison to other fine Pianoteq examples.

That said, I do use the Steinway B very very often as it is one of my go-to instruments in the Pianoteq lineup.

Cheers,

Joe

P.S.  Regarding the YC5 (which I think is a Yamaha Model C5 that the Yamaha corporation does not wish to endorse for reasons of competition), again we are talking about a nominally 6'7" piano instead of a ~9' concert grand.  The YC5 has an absolutely glorious sound to it, as long as the pianist tries not to "over play" it with excessive keyboard velocity.  In my opinion, it is better to turn up the volume of the piano via electronic amplification (rather than moving Pianoteq's volume slider and risk overloading the signal), and let your fingers do the walking, so to speak.

Last edited by jcfelice88keys (30-09-2018 20:46)

Reply by Fleer

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

I'd go Blüthner and Steingraeber first. Subdued and grand in a great duo. Then add Steinway B and D as well as the new Ant. Petrof. But do jump for Standard at least, allowing you to use all fxp's you can find in their full glory and add mic settings.

Pianoteq Pro Studio with Bösendorfer, Shigeru Kawai and Organteq

Reply by sjgcit

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Re: Choosing 2 Pianos

minor7add9 wrote:

Im purchasing the Stage version, which i tried for more than a week, soon.
Now i need to decide which pianos i want to get, because budget is limited, but I dont really liked the Steinway D. Maximum 2 pianos for me...
It's so annoying that you cant choose at least one of the two included pianos.

A couple of points to consider :

* When buying Stage (or Standard) you get a limited choice of which instrument packs come with it (for free).  As your interest is piano sounds you'll naturally choose the D+K2 pack.  So you're getting the D and K2 anyway.

* The question then becomes what, on a limited budget, (welcome to my world) to do to maximize your value from those.

* Extra packs are basically 49 euros a set, so two more will cost 100 euros, unless you get the Petrof on offer with something else (works out at 75 euros).

* The "Standard" version costs 150 euro more (unless you get it on offer as an upgrade - you just missed that, it's usually once a year).

* Upgrading from Stage to Standard can be done anytime and never costs more a straight purchase of Standard, so you can defer that.

* However the Standard version gives you a lot more access to FXP files (and there are many for the D) which have quite a different sound to the presets in Stage.

* Standard also gives you access to the microphone/sound recording functionality which also adds a lot of control to getting sound customized to your own taste.

* Standard, unlike Stage, can fully use FXP files.  Stage only uses those parts of an FXP which you could customize directly in Stage, whereas Standard lets you use customization effects added in the FXP which are only accessible in Standard or Pro (Standard can fully use Pro FXPs).

So with that in mind I'm going to suggest a very simple strategy to you :

* Get Stage now
* Get the D and K2 pack with it
* Upgrade to Standard when it suits you
* With the exception of the current Petrof offer, you can get more instruments anytime.

Use the D+K2 and experiment with the various Equ3 and Equalizer settings on presets to see if you can get your existing sounds.

My suspicion is that, in a week or two of experiment, you have only barely touched the variations that are possible with Stage.  Even more are possible with Standard.  My feeling is that you will discover there is more to be had from the D+k2 pair than you think.  I'm note sure if you experimented with the rest of the settings, but I would also say that getting Standard (as I did myself as a later upgrade when on offer) is a great idea - just the microphone settings makes a huge difference IMO.

Also note that you can play two instances of Pianoteq at the same time (just start the app twice) and hence mix the different presets and effects and you can also do even more work using a DAW to get more changes.

I think you are jumping the gun on rushing to buy more instrument packs straight away.  I think you have a lot to explore yet, even in the Stage version.

StephenG