Making the plunge into VST?

Rubens · 2024-10-28T03:36:32+00:00

The NV10S discussion from a few weeks ago made me realize. It's not the action that needs the most improvement in good DP's, it's the sound. No, I don't own a NV10S, I own a "lowly" ES920, BUT I am very happy with its action, and this is after having tried the NV10S which I didn't find to be much more realistic than my ES920!! Call me crazy, stupid, incompetent or whatever insult you want, but in terms of action I am happy with the RHIII in my ES920. SO, if the next upgrade is in terms of sound, I believe VST is the way to go, but which one would you recommend? I am looking for one that would best emulate the glorious growling of my acoustic (a Baldwin SD-10 concert grand) through my headphones so I can experience a similar eargasm at night. I understand that there are no libraries that include that specific piano, but something similar would already make me very happy. Perhaps an emulation of a Steinway D with some tweaks that I would do, or perhaps something from Pianoteq which is even more tweakable? Or something else? Your suggestions please, thank you!

Rubens

And then there's NI Claire:

Pushing the "Tone" slider to the right (at 10:44 in the video) certainly brings the sound close to what I'm looking for. So many things to try...

HeartKeys

Rubens I got Claire the other day, and currently think it'll be difficult to attain the action/touch you'd have in mind. It sounds amazing. But the way the instrument was coded, it likely will be less optimal than the Modern D for the combination of the roar tone, and playability.

Rubens

HeartKeys

Thanks for your advice. Yes I figured there'd be more to it than just hearing a demo and liking the sound. There's also the complex interplay between feel and sound, and more variables that I don't even know yet...

Jazzpunk

navindra The long and short of it is that if you get into VSTs, you'll either make your peace with one of them, or you'll eternally spend the rest of your years searching for The One

Wiser words have never been spoken. 😆

I’ve been fortunate to have found my “one” in Noire for the past couple of years but even then I am always keeping an eye out for something “better”.

Rob

I found mine in The Giant from Native Instruments. It has everything, and more for the kind of music i like to play.

I often wondered if I should try some others, so bought The Grandeur, then Noire, but for some reason, I keep going back to the Giant. It is all subjective, in the end.

TulipAcid

As I imagine new folk to the digital world end up asking this question year over year, I thought it not too late for me to chime in here.

I am simultaneously new and not new to the world of virtual instruments as I’ve had keyboard/computer setups geared for this for 20+ years. I dabbled, then quit, then checked in again when the Logic Pro stuff matured, then paused again, then came back this winter (2026.)

Virtual instruments have greatly matured as has the software to manage them.

Retired now, free-standing house and one remodel under my belt, I have the space and the time to refine my setup and really get down to it. An actual purpose organized music room of adequate size. Privacy.

Not looking for the holy grail, but for something that truly sounds natural. I think I’ve settled for now with the current stable. Which are as follows, organized by favorite:

Native Instrument's Noire - I like felted pianos and Nils Frahm, and this VI is his Yamaha CFX in natural and felted state. Very cool. Impressive array of tools to calm down or accentuate the mechanical and felted sounds.
Vienna Symphonic Library’s Studio Bösendorfer 280VC - I like the studio dryness and the presets can take it from that to damper ‘room’ configurations readily. They all sound good.
Synthogy’s Ivory 3 Steinway German Model D. This is nice. And for reasons similar to the VSL Bösendorfer.

Others I have and are OK:

VSL Synchron German Model D and Yamaha CFX - the natural, in Synchron hall, state is just too wet for me. I also sense (subjectively) that taking away the “room” from the mix might effectively detract from the true sound of the instrument, and that notion bothers me… The ‘player’ and ‘intimate’ presets are really different between the models.
Synthogy’s American Model D - it would be just as good as their German version, but there are specific notes that have a bit of an audible fuzz to them that bug me. Repeatable across all presets.
Apple’s pianos in Logic Pro/Mainstage - these are perfectly OK, but just seemed too vanilla, which launched me off on this search. I missed the old Bösendorfer/Steinway VI’s that they replaced.

KevinM

When I stopped playing four years ago I had a bunch of VSTs. I've diligently not got into investigating VSTs since returning to play because that way lies madness and have been using the VSTs I have and the now ancient hardware that I bought for VSTs then. Thank you apple for bringing out the new M based chipsets soon after I had spent a fortune on an Intel Mac Mini with 1TB internal drive and 32GB of Ram. If I was going to try out anything new my big concern would the new (for me) VI Labs modern D work on my now ancient hardware that I'm not ready to replace yet.

But I had come to the conclusion that there is no just "the one" VST but whole library of VSTs and you can pick and choose which one you want for the situation you are in. I think this is the crux, which VST works best for the current piece and switch when necessary. But this means knowing your VSTs well.

Since I've returned to playing, I started with the VSL Bösendorfer Imperial that is the most forgiving of my VSTs. But since then I've spent considerable time playing the now very ancient Vienna Imperial from VSL, plus more recently the VC280 and currently am playing the Blüthner.

The Bösendorfer Imperial is controllable with a good dynamic range and has a decent growl but overall for me is somehow lacking, I don't connect with it. If I want to get a recording it will be the first VST I can get a recording without glaring mistakes or sudden loud or ghost notes since it is so even.

The Vienna Imperial is such a rich sounding piano, and it has great una corda samples, but the dynamic range is not great over the full keyboard.

The VC280 is an interesting beast. But can be harsh and metallic in the upper registers if fortissimo. But overall it is lively, has real character and I like it a lot.

The Blüthner is by far the most quirky of the VSTs from VSL. In some ways it sounds more real like an actual piano than the others, but it does lack in dynamic range and is definitely not even over the full key range.

I've got a couple of other VSTs that are hardly used. VI Labs Truekey german D which has very little sustain, but I do find works ok for pieces from the baroque/classical crossover period that are very busy with lots of notes.

And the worst I think is the Ivory II modern D that is just way to bright.

TulipAcid

KevinM

I just checked the specs for the VI Labs Modern D and seems like your setup would work just fine. The website says the Intel Mac is supported. You have plenty of memory. As for me, I just did what may be my last-in-my-remaining-lifetime upgrade cycle for Apple products, with the possible exception of my iPhone.

I went and ‘dried-out’ my VSL Synchrons by choosing the player preset and then setting reverb to zero. Now I can do the taste testing and see which sound most ‘real,’ and eliminating any glitchy ones (fuzzy notes and whatever.) Then I can match those that remain with the type of music I’m playing, as you suggested.

As far as dynamic range goes, thanks for your observations. I’ll hit forte from time to time. I imagine most of those will handle that. As for sudden ‘booms,’ for now, I’m blaming my rusty playing rather than the ‘instrument.'

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