Topic by BlackForest

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  • BlackForest
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  • Registered: 22-08-2024
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Topic: Which piano sound for Korg Kronos/D1/Grandstage user (decay/sustain)?

Hello there, am new to the forum and not yet an owner of Pianoteq.. I have been playing with the trial version so far and am really impressed what modelling has been able to achieve since the Yamaha VL-1 for example.

I am not sure which 2 pianos (Stage version) I would buy to start with (not wanting to spend too much money either).
Let me explain: Am looking for a piano sound with a longer decay, or rather sustain phase, compared to what my Korg Kronos 2 offers.

So, I address specifically (but not exclusively) you Korg Kronos users (and Korg D1 and Grand Stage) as you probably know what I mean, the pianos on the Korgs decay rather quickly…
I have the Italian Grand on the Kronos and like it the most. The Berlin Grand is not even installed anymore, neither the Japanese. The German Grand is “ok”.

-> I  am now looking for a softer, more intimate sound, not as harsh as the above mentioned ones (apart from the Ital.Grand), and with the mentioned longer decay/sustain.

What I had in mind is the new Boesendorfer 280, the Pretrof 284 Mistral or the Steingraeber E272.  I haven’t tried enough yet the Grotrian.
And then Steinway Model B or D to complement the ones above.

Do you have any thoughts here? Maybe like “this or that piano is very similar in sound so maybe rather don’t take x and y”?

I know all is a matter of taste in the end, but am interested in your opinion.

Reply by dikrek

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Re: Which piano sound for Korg Kronos/D1/Grandstage user (decay/sustain)?

BlackForest wrote:

Hello there, am new to the forum and not yet an owner of Pianoteq.. I have been playing with the trial version so far and am really impressed what modelling has been able to achieve since the Yamaha VL-1 for example.

I am not sure which 2 pianos (Stage version) I would buy to start with (not wanting to spend too much money either).
Let me explain: Am looking for a piano sound with a longer decay, or rather sustain phase, compared to what my Korg Kronos 2 offers.

So, I address specifically (but not exclusively) you Korg Kronos users (and Korg D1 and Grand Stage) as you probably know what I mean, the pianos on the Korgs decay rather quickly…
I have the Italian Grand on the Kronos and like it the most. The Berlin Grand is not even installed anymore, neither the Japanese. The German Grand is “ok”.

-> I  am now looking for a softer, more intimate sound, not as harsh as the above mentioned ones (apart from the Ital.Grand), and with the mentioned longer decay/sustain.

What I had in mind is the new Boesendorfer 280, the Pretrof 284 Mistral or the Steingraeber E272.  I haven’t tried enough yet the Grotrian.
And then Steinway Model B or D to complement the ones above.

Do you have any thoughts here? Maybe like “this or that piano is very similar in sound so maybe rather don’t take x and y”?

I know all is a matter of taste in the end, but am interested in your opinion.

I find the Blüthner and Bösendorfer to have the two most unique characters. I’d try those (you can demo forever anyway)

Reply by hebele

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Re: Which piano sound for Korg Kronos/D1/Grandstage user (decay/sustain)?

BlackForest wrote:

Hello there, am new to the forum and not yet an owner of Pianoteq.. I have been playing with the trial version so far and am really impressed what modelling has been able to achieve since the Yamaha VL-1 for example.

I am not sure which 2 pianos (Stage version) I would buy to start with (not wanting to spend too much money either).
Let me explain: Am looking for a piano sound with a longer decay, or rather sustain phase, compared to what my Korg Kronos 2 offers.

So, I address specifically (but not exclusively) you Korg Kronos users (and Korg D1 and Grand Stage) as you probably know what I mean, the pianos on the Korgs decay rather quickly…
I have the Italian Grand on the Kronos and like it the most. The Berlin Grand is not even installed anymore, neither the Japanese. The German Grand is “ok”.

-> I  am now looking for a softer, more intimate sound, not as harsh as the above mentioned ones (apart from the Ital.Grand), and with the mentioned longer decay/sustain.

What I had in mind is the new Boesendorfer 280, the Pretrof 284 Mistral or the Steingraeber E272.  I haven’t tried enough yet the Grotrian.
And then Steinway Model B or D to complement the ones above.

Do you have any thoughts here? Maybe like “this or that piano is very similar in sound so maybe rather don’t take x and y”?

I know all is a matter of taste in the end, but am interested in your opinion.


I think you would get many different answers, judging by the similar posts. So the standard advice goes; try and get the ones you like best

Maybe a minor consideration, I think stage version has limited customisation so it benefits from presets most. Steinway Ds and Petrofs has biggest variety of presets.

There are some knobs you can play to increase sustain of any piano. But I think they require standard version. Except maybe sustain pedal curve which is available in all versions. Again you can check it in trial to see if it helps.

Last edited by hebele (23-08-2024 19:37)

Reply by BlackForest

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Re: Which piano sound for Korg Kronos/D1/Grandstage user (decay/sustain)?

hebele wrote:
BlackForest wrote:

Hello there, am new to the forum and not yet an owner of Pianoteq.. I have been playing with the trial version so far and am really impressed what modelling has been a....

I know all is a matter of taste in the end, but am interested in your opinion.


I think you would get many different answers, judging by the similar posts. So the standard advice goes; try and get the ones you like best

Maybe a minor consideration, I think stage version has limited customisation so it benefits from presets most. Steinway Ds and Petrofs has biggest variety of presets.

There are some knobs you can play to increase sustain of any piano. But I think they require standard version. Except maybe sustain pedal curve which is available in all versions. Again you can check it in trial to see if it helps.

You're absolutely right, there is no clear answer possible.  I did go through the sounds recently and did a comparison. I was checking the sounds for length/decay.

Interestingly, I came to the same conclusion as you. I probably would/will be buying these 2 packs.
There were also other reasons why I do like these two more than the rest.