Piano tones - which do you like

paulmapp8306

Ive recorded 4 (quite similar) Piano tones.  There triggered from the same Midi recording so the playing is accidental.  2 are stock presets on my RD2000,  2 are tuned (using the piano designer and a little EQ).   As I say they are quite similar which kind of shows what I like personally - but there are differences in clarity, op end harmonics/harshness, bottom end body etc.   Quite how much of the differences come out on soundcloud Im not sure - but Id like some feedback please.



So - which do you prefer - and if possible why?  Playing isnt great, and ive tried to get some single notes, some chords, some soft and some hard playing.  Thanks

relic245

To me they are so similar that unless you had told me then I may have not noticed that they are different. 

Possibly a slight preference for number 3 more of a gut feeling than anything. If I was to try to articulate then perhaps it's a tad brighter. 

The difference is nothing to fret about though, all sound good. I'm sure that in a mix they would be indistinguishable even by a more trained set of ears than mine. 

paulmapp8306

yeh - there is a bigger difference "in the flesh".  Particularly on the bass end (some are deeper but more transparent) and the mid range where some have more clarity v warmer in others.

goldtop

Interesting. The difference seems negligible to me, too. So much so I had to keep clicking back and forth to try to A/B/C/D the louder and then quieter passages. Result: I'd be happy with any of them. If these patches are for performing solo, just a tiny amount of quality reverb would be enough to make any of them work. In a mix, I'd guess that EQ would make any sit right, too.

That being said, I've got an Integra with its SuperNatual pianos, and recently had a Montage with its CPS pianos, and I've stopped spinning through patch after patch, and just find one and use EQ for balance.

(Extra caveat: only got laptop speakers here)

paulmapp8306

@goldtop ;;

I deliberately turned the reverb off as the default patches always have little, in the hope the differences would show more.

The sounds are from my rd2000 and there v piano tones.  I  much prefer them to the sn sounds. To me, the v tones are much closer to the raw in the room sound of real pianos,  the sn tones are more mix ready (but sound too sharp and plinky solo'd in comparrison.  The sample transitions are so obvious once you play the v piano sounds).


 There are much brighter tones, and also some more mid range based in the v piano section.

The first is a standard acoustic piano with some custom changes (to the sound board resonance and lid height).  The last is the same patch but with default settings.   The other two are symphony grand, and modern concerto respectively.  They do all have a similar feel (my favoured).

I'm a busy mix id either go for a brighter, more mid scooped tone or eq one of these to fit.  This exercise is about the best for solo work, or with vocal and piano being the prime sounds primarily live rather than recorded (though I'll probably use the one I settle on as a base then as well).

Tone 1 and 4 have a deeper and fuller bass actually with 2 and 3 being more transparent in the room.  1 and 4 also have a sharper top end in the flesh.