Pianoteq

[thorr]

I just upgraded my Pianoteq to version 7, and I have to say that in my humble opinion there is something very special about Pianoteq that my Fantom is not currently capable of. The pianos in the Roland all sound fine, but they don't have the special character of the "real" pianos that are modeled in Pianoteq. The Pianoteq pianos all sound so different and beautiful, where most of the Roland pianos sound very similar to each other. I have not yet tried the SuperNatural pianos, so those might be different/better also. I just wanted to share my experience so that people here won't be missing out by sticking with only the Roland piano choices. You can download a free demo of Pianoteq to try out all the instruments. A few notes won't play in the demo version and there is a 20 minute time limit, but otherwise it is fully functional. I love the new NY Steinway D Warm, the C. Bechstein DG D 282 and the Grand Bluetner Model One. I had Pianoteq Stage version 6 and upgraded to Standard version 7 because it is on sale and includes an extra instrument. If you are just starting, Stage will be fine for most people unless you really want to tweak the sound.

[FGM]

Thank you very much.
Please, remember you can adjust any sound in Fantom in as many ways as you would ever dream, until it matches your needs...and beyond.

[thorr]

Thanks FGM. I have been able to adjust and layer Fantom sounds to recreate sounds (synths, orchestra instruments, etc.) that I want from old songs and they match nearly perfectly when going back and forth to compare them. I am certainly no expert, but have been able to do something at least that sounds pretty close to the original. However, I don't believe I could ever come close to fully recreating a real (specific model) piano with all its subtle nuances on all notes, hammer hardness, string length and thickness, soundboard reverberations, etc. they way Pianoteq does. This is what the Vpiano does, but it doesn't sound anything like the Pianoteq pianos. They probably modeled a real Roland piano, but not any of these other models. I played for hours last night simply because I loved the sound so much from Pianoteq. It was that dramatic for me. Playing soft and hard and everything in between sounded great.

[FGM]

Just finished doing the same, but with a trumpet, a drum and the Fantom Overture (Z-Core PR-A 0229).
Bb, 4/4 and tempo 50. I play in D, easy fingering, still learning by my own, with the help given by the masters, see attachment, with transposition (-4).
My eyes in tears...with just three zones, drum under arpeggio, three simple octave chords and huge dynamics, barely from 35 dB to some 85 dB that could surely be more, most probably north of 105 dB, but my ears are a treasure to care of.
As the trumpet fades slooooowly, Fantom Overture takes over, and here comes the trumpet back with more energy than before, the drum in between, effortlessly going on...and on....
I am approaching a dangerous scenario where stopping my playing Fantom is nonsense !!!!
I dreamed with a machine like this since I was a child !!!!
My dream is fulfilled.
I also dreamed that when I grew older I would go to the candy store and buy everything there was, but that's another story....

Almost forgot: should you happen to achieve the real thing, remember the experts say Steinways from Hamburg sound much better than those made in New York.

[thorr]

Sounds great. I am glad you are getting so much enjoyment! You are way further ahead than me on learning all the features to take advantage of to make the sound great. You should make a recording so we can hear it! I have plans and aspirations to do the same, but I have many hobbies that all take up my time and I can only do one or two things at once and haven't gotten to it all yet.

Thanks for the tip on the Hamburg. Those are also available in Pianoteq. I will definitely check it out and see what I think in comparison to the NY. Last night I played with several of the different pianos that I own in Pianoteq: Steinway D NY and HB, Steinway B, Grotrian, C. Bechstein DG, Steingraeber, Bluethner, and K2 (I didn't try all of these last night). They all have their own character and there are many variations within each to choose from with different microphone placements, rooms, tuning, etc. plus you can adjust things on your own such as how new the piano is. Dialing the newness down a bit can make it sound even more realistic because pianos are rarely brand new.

[FGM]

Truly outstanding....!!!!
I wonder what they have inside Organtech.

Also wondering what could possibly come next for we, so lucky people.

[thorr]

If you want to hear it without installing anything, they have sample recordings for each of their instruments (including the organs). Here are a few...
https://www.modartt.com/modeld
https://www.modartt.com/bluethner
https://www.modartt.com/bechstein
https://www.modartt.com/grotrian
https://www.modartt.com/organteq#sound

I forgot to mention the most amazing part. The whole Pianoteq download with all of those pianos is something like 40MB in size. There are no samples.

[FGM]

Very good indeed.
Thank you very much.

[DNGmaestro]

Is the V-Piano inside the Fantom not that impressive?

[thorr]

It is fine, but limited in comparison. Pianoteq has a lot more variety of great sounding pianos. V-piano is great in the same way Pianoteq is great, in that it models a piano and is not limited by polyphony and other things that sample based pianos are. Roland didn't model all the great pianos that Pianoteq did.

[Per]

Pianoteq just sounds more organic and rich, it’s not as good as a good sample based piano like you find in Nord or Kawai keyboards, but it’s quite convincing and definitely quite a big step up from the V-Piano which is showing it’s age. Hopefully Roland will invest more time in developing a more natural and harmonically complex sounding virtual piano in the future, maybe modeled on a few different instruments and with a UI that allows you to set the model across the keyboard in one go rather than per key as it is currently.

[thorr]

Per, have you tried version 7? It is a definite improvement over 6. I think this is the reason:

Refined physical model

Modartt introduces a new refinement in its physical model: the double polarization. It consists in modelling string vibrations that can take any direction, e.g. parallel or perpendicular to the soundboard. The new physical model allows more complex tones to be produced, and as observed by a pianist, the sound becomes "three-dimensional". It also allows longer sustain, particularly in the bass range, with notes lasting up to a couple of minutes, just like on a real acoustic piano. All pianos in Pianoteq 7 are constructed and revoiced using this new physical model.

[Andy Keys]

I'm still on Pianoteq v3! I should probably look to upgrade...

[thorr]

Definitely! Each version is better than the last, so that should be a very significant upgrade. It is on sale right now so get it while it lasts!

[Fleer]

Pianoteq 7 really is pretty amazing. An incredible model engine. A wonderful new NY Steinway D (included with the Hamburg one). And magical morphing and layering.