Topic: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

I've been thinking about buying pianoteq during the summer sale, and noticed that I could technically just buy stage version, then upgrade to standard during the sale, for an extra £24, so not too bad if I get it ~2 months earlier.

I was looking at the comparisons between versions, and saw this quote:

"In PIANOTEQ Stage, preset loading is limited to parameters that are present in the interface. Presets built with PIANOTEQ PRO can be loaded in PIANOTEQ Standard without limitation."

What does this mean? It makes it seem like the mic positions won't actually load since Stage doesn't let you tweak mic positions, those params aren't present in the interface of Stage, so they will be ignored when loading the preset. Is this true? I thought that maybe it meant that you just had limited access to the mic settings, but it would still load them, but after reading the second sentence, it makes it seem like you don't even get the preset mic positions, and just get a default one.

Last edited by JamesC01 (08-06-2024 15:02)

Re: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

All the factory presets will be sonically the same across all three versions. You just have reduced access to change the sounds. 

With Stage you are highly limited in terms of how much of the user presets you can hear in the fxp section of these forums.

In Stage you won't even hear certain Pro users adjustments to the elements that aren't within Stage.

The Pro users can alter certain sound parameters that Standard users do not have access to, however Standard users can at least listen to/play with the efforts of the users with the Pro version, even if they just cannot adjust those settings for themselves.

Re: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

Key Fumbler wrote:

All the factory presets will be sonically the same across all three versions. You just have reduced access to change the sounds. 

With Stage you are highly limited in terms of how much of the user presets you can hear in the fxp section of these forums.

In Stage you won't even hear certain Pro users adjustments to the elements that aren't within Stage.

The Pro users can alter certain sound parameters that Standard users do not have access to, however Standard users can at least listen to/play with the efforts of the users with the Pro version, even if they just cannot adjust those settings for themselves.

So this only applies to non-factory preset loading? If so, I feel like they should clarify that, because it isn't obvious from the quote I posted.

Re: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

JamesC01 wrote:

So this only applies to non-factory preset loading? If so, I feel like they should clarify that, because it isn't obvious from the quote I posted.

Correct.

Stage (or Play as it was years ago) is essentially all factory presets hard baked using the same engine that the entire PTQ lineup uses.  I bought Play version 3 (which should tell you how long ago I did that), and then within a year or two upgraded to Standard and after another few years upgraded to Pro.  I got value out of all three.  Stage/Play worked excellently as I got started, and all of their presets were great: it just worked/works.  Standard was a great value upgrade as I needed it for sharing recordings as Stage was too limited for anything other than my practice needs.  Pro became needed when I wanted to recreate a lot of rare, antique pianos that I'd liked and the specificity of the sound control quality was necessary, and I wanted to tweak presets downloaded from the FXP corner as well in ways that Standard doesn't allow.  Essentially Pro gives you the note edit for nearly everything, while Standard only allows you to change the average value or baseline of a given note edit curve.

So, yes, I agree that wording is ambiguous in the documentation, but from my own experience, your upgrade plan sounds very solid.  I'm quite sure you'll be pleased, and of course, the trial/demo versions were extremely helpful on so many fronts for me.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2xHiPcCsm29R12HX4eXd4J
Pianoteq Studio & Organteq
Casio GP300 & Custom organ console

Re: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

JamesC01 wrote:

I've been thinking about buying pianoteq during the summer sale, and noticed that I could technically just buy stage version, then upgrade to standard during the sale, for an extra £24, so not too bad if I get it ~2 months earlier.

I was looking at the comparisons between versions, and saw this quote:

"In PIANOTEQ Stage, preset loading is limited to parameters that are present in the interface. Presets built with PIANOTEQ PRO can be loaded in PIANOTEQ Standard without limitation."

What does this mean? It makes it seem like the mic positions won't actually load since Stage doesn't let you tweak mic positions, those params aren't present in the interface of Stage, so they will be ignored when loading the preset. Is this true? I thought that maybe it meant that you just had limited access to the mic settings, but it would still load them, but after reading the second sentence, it makes it seem like you don't even get the preset mic positions, and just get a default one.

Late to the party but also, in my experience, the audio results may differ at higher sample rates. The highest sample rates are restricted in lower cost PT editions

Last edited by bani223 (20-01-2025 23:15)
MOTU M2 using native ASIO driver, Windows 11, weird tweaks needed to make it work, but seems fine now.
I have posted several times about tweaking Pianoteq

Re: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

Late to the party me too.
Admittedly, the Pro can manage to play a really high sample rate, but since we still can't hear the difference, it's unnecessary (except possibly for dogs who might be able to perceive more than us so high up in the frequency spectrum).
Once I understood that my dog heard a loud/high noise that I did not hear, a moment later the ambulance came by.Then I heard it too.

Best wishes,

Stig

Re: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

Also, I'm quite sure you can do separate free trials of both Stage and Standard to do any side-by-side testing of specific presets.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2xHiPcCsm29R12HX4eXd4J
Pianoteq Studio & Organteq
Casio GP300 & Custom organ console

Re: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

tmyoung wrote:

Also, I'm quite sure you can do separate free trials of both Stage and Standard to do any side-by-side testing of specific presets.

There is no difference in sound between Stage and Standard or Pro as long as they use the same presets.
But I noticed that years ago.
btw, thanks tmyoung for your knowledge you share, you are important and needed in this forum. I leave this topic now, everything has been explained.

All the best, everyone

Stig

Last edited by Pianoteqenthusiast (23-01-2025 23:07)

Re: Do presets sound different in Stage vs the other versions?

So to clarify, if I have stage and I wish I could play with more resonance, you can still access that features in a very restricted way, by browsing the demo version of pianos you own, to find a preset with higher resonance, then removing the effects to play it somewhat dry?

Last edited by eudjsok (29-01-2025 12:02)