New to Pianoteq, requesting help picking packs - Resolved!

i think the best thing to do is to spend lots of time with the demos.  really there's no way i could say what to do because they're all so different and people have such different tastes in pianos.  i spent hours playing/recording with the demos before deciding.  and even then i couldn't settle on two!  i ended up buying two more.  since then i've bought all the acoustic and electric pianos.

If you are simply asking for a personal opinion of the Pianoteq pianos, all of which I have bought, my personal favorites are the C. Bechstein, the Steingraeber and the Steinway D, although all of them including Pianoteq's own K2 sound great and have their own character.

Just to make your life more complicated, make sure you audition the historical instruments too!  The Kremsegg collection includes an 1899 Bechstein.  This might be a nice middle ground that sounds not too different from a modern grand, but definitely not the same either.

Also, Pianoteq allows you to "copy" presets from one instrument to another, via the "freeze parameters" feature.  I'm not sure if this is available in the demo, but it works for me on Standard.  Choose a Steinway D preset, freeze all parameters, change instrument and save as a new preset.  Now you have the new instrument with the preset microphone positions and other settings.  It may not sound quite right with a different instrumental sound, you might want to spend a bit of time tweaking things, but it's a quick way to try out a variety of sounds.

Gladly second this.
If it were up to me, I’d start with Bechstein DG and Steingraeber, then add a Steinway or two, and the Blüthner. Don’t forget that sweet Blüthner.

I'd really recommend listening to the demos.  Hidden away inside the many classical pieces are some interesting pieces done using unexpected combinations.  For example the new Karsten pack has some demo tracks including a very different use of the Ph. Schmidt square piano (1780).  I'd suggest to start with try the Bechstein you want and the free instruments - some experimentation with them will lead to some very different thinking.  The point here is the "experimental and progressive" aspect of your needs.  Just grabbing instrument packs won't work for you - you need to try things and experiment with what they can do.  As a guitarist you might find the clavichords and pianofortes more interesting than modern grands, so think about that.

As Pianoteq comes will all the instruments (except, oddly, the free ones !) installed by default but demo limited, you can really do that without purchasing and nail down your needs when you're ready.

If you want a recommendation, I'd consider the Kremsegg 2 pack - has a beautiful Bechstein 1899 and (a personal favorite) the Frenzel and two more fine instruments.  The Karsten pack looks interesting, but isn't quite what I'm mainly interested in - your needs may be different.

I get the impression you're looking at Stage.  For someone with the technical skills (or willing to learn them) I'd suggest upgrading to Standard when you can.  There are a lot of great options for experimentally inclined musicians in there, not least of which is the advanced tuning capabilities and the ability to place microphones.  These are, IMO, indispensable for someone with your interests.  Also note that while Stage cannot properly use FXPs posted on the site, Standard can, so it's very useful from that point of view.

You can upgrade to Standard from Stage anytime and the total cost works out the same, AFAIK, so you can defer Standard until you're ready.

I just bought Kremsegg 1 & 2 yesterday. My interest was initially piqued by the C. Bechstein 1899 & J.B. Streicher 1852.

A bit late to the discussion and I agree with most everything the other posters have said. Of course it is a very personal choice, but you may notice that Steinway B and Steingraeber come out very often as favorites. After playing with every piano model for hours over months (and with my wife's input as well   these are the ones I always go to. And my third favorite is the Bechstein DG as well! And you can always take advantage of occasional rebates to add another one later!

THAT’s the best Blüthner description I ever read.

That's perfect!

And also that's maybe the best advice I've seen here too.

Wonderful Viridis.

The Blüthner was the piano which sold me on the grand piano range, def. don't overlook it.

Late reply but here it goes. I would follow the logic of Modart starter pack where you get D4+K2 and suggest a grand and a shorter grand. The reason is quite simple, you have a much more flexible palette of sound. As first choices you cannot go wrong with either the Bechstein or the Steingraeber (as much as I love the Bluthner or the Petrof, their sound is unique and perhaps not to everyone's taste). They're very flexible.
The Steinway B covers all the other situations where you don't truly need a grand (chamber music, jazz) because it offers a rich sound which shines in a context where you need a more colorful sound out of the piano.

Sorry, off topic, but I can't leave this alone.  To any "soloists" out there: you'll sound better if your accompaniment (piano, band, orchestra, whatever) is an equal partner in the music, not a bland backing track. You'll perform better from having something truly alive to respond to, the whole track will sound more vibrant and engaging, and that puts you in a good light.  I've met artists who understand this, and I've met artists who are too insecure to share the stage with a real musician.  The second group tend not to do as well.

Normhart, if indeed you’ve all the packs with the exception of the K2, that included in just an upgrade to the studio bundle from MODARTT might allow access to any additional instruments and even new software version releases without your having to pay anything over the price of just the upgrade itself, or, in your case the K2 piano.  Whenever new instruments and a new version update comes within the span of one year (12 months) following a studio upgrade or purchase, the studio user gets any of those additions but without they incurring additional charges.

Before you make another purchase you may want to contact people in support, explain your situation to them and see if you can get some sort of a deal, a discounted studio.

I myself got one very recently as I received an upgrade from PIANOTEQ PRO to all the instruments of the PIANOTEQ Studio Bundle at a price reduction.  I got even the Karsten Collection as part of it!

My current signature shows just the instruments I had previously.

If you have to narrow things down to a few pianos, the style of music can be key.

I had been mostly ignoring the K2 piano and not even considering it as an option... until I realized that it was the PERFECT piano for a song I was working on. It hit the mark better than any of the others, so it suddenly changed from a "reject" to a "favorite" must-have.

Please, be reasonable!