KVS Piano VST Blind Shootout - Arturia, Pianoteq, Ivory 3, and Synchron Steinway D

Arturia is having themselves a wonderful sale, but before I invested, I wanted to see if I could tell the difference between their modeled piano (presets included in Analog Lab V) and Pianoteq, my favorite modeled piano, so I set myself up a little blind shootout test using the basic presets of each Steinway D, with reverb removed, and the sound left un-mastered, but the tracks volume-matched as best I could. It was fun, so I thought I'd share!!
Then, I thought, why not compare with a couple of sampled VST's? So I added the new Ivory 3 Steinway D, as well as VSL Synchron's Steinway D. Have fun! Find new things to love about each maybe? I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments! I hope I earned a like and subscribe today! Thanks for stopping by!

[@erwinvdakker]

Piano 3 stands far above the others, in my opinion. I thought that was quite obvious, but I'm suprised by the comments.

[@klingervocalstudio]

Indeed, but I kind of love that, that everyone has their own preferences and favorites! But some are surprising to my ear as well!

[@user-cz6se1ve5k]

Certainly No3 is the best from here. How ever, still only the Synchron beats Garritan's Yamaha CFX. The others not that realistic like Garritan CFX ( and Synchron is only better, because of the tone color of the Steinway piano, which is the unique own tone of that particular piano used for sampling) In any case, Pianoteq 8 is a very good surprise for me. And when we compare the size of the softwares, Pianoteq is incredibly good. Unfortunately Synchron requires a nuclear-powered machine+ much more expensive. So I'm sticking with the Garritan Yamaha CFX, but I'm going to get a Pianoteq 8, what is just 50MB ! Thank you very much for the great video. P.S. Try the Garritan's Yamaha CFX !

[@markjohnson4885]

Indeed we did know that!

[@klingervocalstudio]

Those Synchron pianos are just something special! :)

[@Nico-rw2tl]

@@klingervocalstudio Not only in sound, but also in playability

[@klingervocalstudio]

@@Nico-rw2tl Right? I'm always surprised, after I've been playing my other VSTs, when I hit the VSL with my first forte chord and WHOA!!! BOOM! It responds to my fingers like a real piano does. :)

[@BrianAndersonTT]

4 for me. 3 sounds too processed but will fit better in a mix probably. Only thing I didn't like about 4 was the difference in dynamics. It sounded like the high notes were played with softer velocity.

[@whittymusic]

You should have the Ravenscroft in here which to me is the best. Great demo though! It shows (to me) they all sound one dimensional compared to recording a real piano in a real room. Im not sure what happens with samples, but they just don't sound the same. I own a studio in Nashville and have a Yamaha c7. When you listen to the real deal its so much better. Im not sure what changes in a sample, but it loses dimension.

[@klingervocalstudio]

The Ravenscroft is SO good, it almost wouldn't be fair! Lol. Yeah, for me, when I'm playing my real piano, it's a different mindset. It's live and alive and in the moment. When I'm at my computer, it's almost like I'm hearing what my piano would sound like when it's ALREADY on the record, you know? A different experience, but a fun one, especially when you can use pianos you recognize, like Piano in Blue, or Mr. Rogers Celeste. :)

[@dikrek]

There seems to be a lot of natural reverberation and stereo image in both the synchron and ivory, so not sure how apples to apples this is. But both 3 and 4 sound great.

[@klingervocalstudio]

Trying to make them all sound the same would be a whole different video, so it's not meant to be apples to apples, just a comparison of the sounds out of the box.

[@rickevertsz]

Ivory won for me. Synchron 2nd. Liked the Synchron, but it sounded artificially punchy, like it had strong effects on it. The Ivory just sounds SO natural.

[@klingervocalstudio]

The Synchron is a BEAST, and I have to remind myself, even with the settings ideally matched to my system, that it is DENSE in velocity layers! I'm still finding the best settings for Ivory, it seems to max out my 16-core CPU with only one mic position loaded and only a few notes played... but the weird thing is, sometimes it doesn't and it's EASY on the CPU with multiple loaded... so I hope this is an ivory issue, not a Marcus issue. Cheers, and thanks for the comment!

[@bg357wg]

Wow I actually got it all right, nice….time to reward myself with buying…none of these because I need to develop my self-restraint lol. Btw is that the full Synchron library or the standard one?

[@klingervocalstudio]

I think on the steinway I only have the standard microphones.

[@headsman2023]

The synchron d274 is another universe by itself, i have all of them and non of them can beat vsl, but fo be fair some of them come with a better out-of-the-box sound With the sunchrons you should spend hours to make them sound to your liking, which isn't surprising cause they're objective representations not some signature sounds Cool video BTW

[@peterlemer]

3 for me :-)

[@Nico-rw2tl]

VSL and Ivory 3 are in any case technically well above, however, it's impossible to decide between them, it depends on the pieces...

[@klingervocalstudio]

Yes, however, my point here was to see if I could tell the difference between the 2 real pianos and the 2 modeled ones.

[@framelessfilms]

Weird. I liked 1 and 3 the best. I didn’t expect that.

[@klingervocalstudio]

I'm often surprised by these too, which is delightful! Lol.

[@llRoBoBinHoll]

In my opinion, you cannot really compare a modelled piano with no reverb vs. a recorded piano with no reverb. The recorded piano will have some minimal amount of reverb from the recording process itself. Which will cause it to have a more smooth, airy sound vs a truly 100% bone dry modelled piano

[@csilt]

Totally blind I liked 4 the best. Listening on Shure headphones. Ivory is still the king by far

[@winfridzhao3216]

The 2 modeling ones' high notes are just bland to me, which makes me easily separate them from the 2 sampled ones.

[@ericaron7621]

I guessed the 4, obvious sound differences, and Ivory remains the best.

[@afrosymphony8207]

3 and 4 best

[@olivierw.frappier]

3 > 4 > 1 > 2

[@klingervocalstudio]

Hey, nice. Good ear!

[@olivierw.frappier]

@@klingervocalstudio VSL have done an update 14/3/2023 today for M1/M2 silicon mac (Native)

[@klingervocalstudio]

@@olivierw.frappier Indeed! I helped them test it, as the previous version was crashing my system. So far it’s working beautifully! Are those some of your favorite pianos as well?

[@olivierw.frappier]

@@klingervocalstudio see me channel : I use VSL D_274 Full version (Room mix+Ribbon+Condenser ) scripted in Logic 10 or Reaper, to use it With Pianoteq 8 only for Resonance. It's my hybrid Piano = modeled + Sampled. ( Files presets are in my description in my last piano video on my channel) . I'm currently check Ivory 3 too. My favorite are Full VSL D-274 Steinway with my Pianoteq 8 hybrid soluce, and Ivory 3. On my channel i've a velocity optimised 60 layers map for VSL D-274 too :) . i don't like the default velocity.

[@winterheat]

you may have to wear a headphone to hear it well

[@nichttuntun3364]

Piano 1: Static, very synthetic sounding. Piano 2: Muddy and undifined. Piano 3: Excellent for a VST. Piano 4: Good, a bit too boxy and with odd attack transients.

[@klingervocalstudio]

Ah, an excellent ear, and a fan of sampled rather than modeled pianos! I look forward to the day that Pianoteq completely fools us! Lol.

[@nichttuntun3364]

@@klingervocalstudio That would be great. ❤️

[@DonswatchingtheTube]

For me 1 or 3, then 4, then 2. 1 and 3 had that extra piano sound.

[@bg357wg]

Exactly…the “sparkle”. Something tells me you might be a big fan of production voices production grand 2…maybe

[@DjBydLo]

3 is exaggerated in scoop, too many lows and trebles, i guess people likes it the same way we tend to like things with more salt and sugar. I thought that No4 was very realistic... i like pianoteq an it is what i bought. I think the test is too short. Anyway, thanks!

[@c.h.graham115]

Preferred 1 and 3 immediately and consistently. Arturia's offering was the worst of the bunch.

[@peterpeper4837]

3, 2, 1, 4

[@richardpenrose1968]

4 > 3 > 1 > 2

[@ericaron7621]

First 2 pianos are horrible, 3 is average (I have tried it and immediately returned, unplayable in classic context because of many defaults, poor tuning and harmonization, no una corda ) I will surely update my Ivory 2 (german D) to this 3. Meanwhile, I hear some muffled sound and lack of clarity in the harmonics, and more boxy sound, this compared to the 2, which is still remarkable and shiny.

[@user-ov3ci9oh5x]

Ivory 3 the best

[@klingervocalstudio]

I love Ivory so much!

[@nichttuntun3364]

It's good but it stands no chance against the Synchron. Did you use effects on the Ivory3? I find the odd attack transients, in particular on higher notes very odd. How is that? I don't know that from Ivory2.

[@Nico-rw2tl]

vsl is way ahead of the competition, but it's very expensive. Ivory 3 sounds artificial, it's not a bad vst, but clearly not up to par with the best.

[@klingervocalstudio]

@@Nico-rw2tl I hard-agree with you about VSL... just superb playability, and always has more to offer than I'm asking of it, you know? And yes, I love that ivory sound... but the more I play with it alongside my others, the more I wish there had been a leap forward with the sound, but there's not for me. In fact, I like the American Concert D by Ivory more... Thanks for stopping by!

[@Nico-rw2tl]

@@klingervocalstudio I agree, their American D is nice.

[@qqow327]

I will not use piano 1 and piano 2 within any of my music production. The sustain of piano 1 is very synthetic. Piano 2 is even more unusable: lifeless, thin, lacking dynamics, robotic attacks. It doesn't even sound like a piano that it's supposed to be.

[@ikstephan]

4 Is the best, then 3 and 1&2 suck. Way too thin and pling-plongy.

[@klingervocalstudio]

You for sure have a good ear for what is a real piano vs a modeled one! :)

[@ikstephan]

@@klingervocalstudio As a matter of fact I do. If I may give you an advice concerning your test method: In this video you've played and recorded a test phraze once and took that same midi data to trigger all different libraries. That's however not the best method as each library has it's own unique response and feel. I'm saying, the midi data will be quite different depending on what library you use while playing. Next time you should practice and play the phraze for each library individually and then record a unique take per library. That will result in a much better comparrison.

[@klingervocalstudio]

@@ikstephan Thank you for your feedback! I've been playing VST's for 20 years, and I'm afraid my hands have the ability to make one VST sound like another, at least to a small degree, and I wanted to hear the stark differences between the pianos in terms of their functionality over their musicality... specifically, if I could tell Pianoteq from Arturia, and unless I played exactly the same midi, the test wouldn't be as evident for me, as the midi was the "control." I hope that makes sense! I'd be happy to make one where I play a piece of music differently for each piano, bringing out it's strengths! :)