Topic by Amen Ptah Ra

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  • Amen Ptah Ra
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Topic: Compare Pianoteq Recordings with and without Preamps

This post of Pianoteq recordings has been presented for anyone interested to hear the effects often described as color microphone preamps can impart onto any otherwise unmodified Pianoteq preset recording.

Last edited by Amen Ptah Ra (06-03-2020 20:53)
Pianoteq 8 Studio Bundle, Pearl malletSTATION EM1, Roland (DRUM SOUND MODULE TD-30, HandSonic 10, AX-1), Akai EWI USB, Yamaha DIGITAL PIANO P-95, M-Audio STUDIOPHILE BX5, Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 DSP.

Reply by jcfelice88keys

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Re: Compare Pianoteq Recordings with and without Preamps

Amen Ptah Ra wrote:

This post of Pianoteq recordings has been presented for anyone interested to hear the effects often described as color microphone preamps can impart onto any otherwise unmodified Pianoteq preset recording.

[

Hello Mr. Ra,

It is amazing how people's minds are able to be "steered", if they know what to listen for and/or of they are informed of what they are listening to.  As an experiment, I had my wife select from your your various pairs of your PTQ performances (with- and without the preamp).  I did not change the volume of any settings during this little experiment, and I listened intently through AKG 702 headphones.

The result:  When I did not know whether the "preamped" version was played first or second in each pair, I honestly heard some sonic differences in the midi performance, but in neither pair did one piano jump out at me and say that it was equivalent to a studio recording of an analog piano.  Sorry, but I was really hoping I could discern a difference with "better-than-chance" results as to which condition was which.

* * * * * *
As an Aside:
I also believe it is possible to saturate our brains with a given sound, and "believe" it to sound just like the real thing.  A different personal example:  Starting way back in 1990, I had purchased an Emu ProFormance hardware sampled piano module, with a whopping 1MB (yes megabyte) of hardwired RAM.  This means that the entirety of the piano had to be sampled with a total of "six seconds" of audio (since 10MB of audio is required for one minute of audio at 16-bit@44.1kcps, so it follows that one 1MB of RAM required one-tenth of one minute).  By today's standards, the audio quality was a joke:  not all notes were sampled individually, and there was probably at most one velocity layer modulated by volume and a high pass filter to make louder notes sound brighter.  But back in 1990, I had actually convinced myself I could not tell the difference between this piece of junk's audio -- played through audio cassette, mind you(!) -- from the sound of a real acoustic piano!!!

It goes to show that, from time to time, we need to "step away"  from what we are using, to allow our brains to re-calibrate what real acoustic instruments sound like and how they behave musically.

Please do not take this post as dismissing your fine efforts.  Overall, you did a great job in presenting your case.

Cheers,
Joe

Reply by Amen Ptah Ra

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Re: Compare Pianoteq Recordings with and without Preamps

Joe, I take no offense and agree wholeheartedly!

People enthusiastic about PIANOTEQ may come off a tad overzealous.

I'm willing to admit I've long been encapsulated by it and always anxious to get an update.  Right now I got absolutely no defense when I got the preamp plugins.

Just as your wife helps you to discern, I've kept a browser tab to an opened page of my ex-girlfriend as she played on a real Yamaha piano and sang together with another songstress in a rather large and just vacant newly built auditorium.  And, just as I type now the tab is still appearing on my browser toolbar.  So, I am myself constantly making comparisons, even though my mommy always advised against them.  (Smile.)

You know Joe, possibly I'm wrong in my thinking.

I just feel something about these preamps says studio recordings to me and takes a digital piano sound from drab to professional sounding, enough for me perhaps too easily to envision anything other than a truly human performance  —with all its sentiments, shortcomings, and frailties somehow better represented.  I do feel and as disorderly as they are, they were communicated too effectively, er efficiently via the preamps, for me possibly ever to deny any of their validity!

Sure enough, my ex's playing on a real Yamaha sounds differently; something you may want to hear for yourself at this topic thread: Stage to Standard upgrade questions.

Man, since Guillaume is sensitive he really may dislike my 'drab' remark and now reject any and all considerations for preamps.

Pianoteq 8 Studio Bundle, Pearl malletSTATION EM1, Roland (DRUM SOUND MODULE TD-30, HandSonic 10, AX-1), Akai EWI USB, Yamaha DIGITAL PIANO P-95, M-Audio STUDIOPHILE BX5, Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 DSP.

Reply by Amen Ptah Ra

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Re: Compare Pianoteq Recordings with and without Preamps

Say Joe if I'm really honest, ever since I got my original copy of PIANOTEQ VERSION 2.1 in 2007 I've been unable to distinguish its sound from others, especially piano parts in recordings.  Sometimes this present version performance sounds sound more believable and authentic more-so than many other known actual recordings of wood bodied pianos.  Perhaps they're more believable because PIANOTEQ can use high resolution MIDI.

Check some of this out: that demonstrates MIDI files the extended MIDI XP format using Pianoteq 6.

One today technically hardly sees a dichotomy of fake and real.

https://youtu.be/K7TsOz7CWOc

Last edited by Amen Ptah Ra (10-03-2020 15:56)
Pianoteq 8 Studio Bundle, Pearl malletSTATION EM1, Roland (DRUM SOUND MODULE TD-30, HandSonic 10, AX-1), Akai EWI USB, Yamaha DIGITAL PIANO P-95, M-Audio STUDIOPHILE BX5, Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 DSP.