Topic: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Wow.. just wow..
You guys did an amazing job!!!

- Sounds much better.
- AAC / MP3 exporting.
- Chord detection.

And that's from the 10 mins I got to play with it..
Was definitely worth the waiting!

Thank you!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

It's actually FLAC, not AAC export

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

What's up with the www.pianoteq.com ?   It is not reachable in a browser, and I cannot even ping it.   I have found the website to be unreachable many times in the past few months.   Now its rather frustrating since I cannot check out Pianoteq6.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

It's likely your provider... opens just fine from here.

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

varpa wrote:

What's up with the www.pianoteq.com ?   It is not reachable in a browser, and I cannot even ping it.   I have found the website to be unreachable many times in the past few months.   Now its rather frustrating since I cannot check out Pianoteq6.

Yeah, the website opens fine for me too here in New Mexico, US. Maybe try clearing/deleting your web-browser cache, or a force-reload (key-combination varies by browser and operating system, I guess)? If it's not reachable at all (by ping or traceroute or other network tools), then as EvilDragon mentioned, maybe a problem specific to your setup, provider or location.

Last edited by Stephen_Doonan (06-09-2017 18:38)
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Linux, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

EvilDragon wrote:

It's actually FLAC, not AAC export

Yeah, you're right
Still, a great version that exceeded my expectations!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

---
I'm grateful for FLAC export support, because while offering filesize compression, it's lossless (maintains every digital bit of the audio).

I love the new features of Pianoteq 6, and am particularly happy with the option to highlight the notes on the virtual keyboard as they are played.

Options --> General --> "Highlight pressed keys"

Last edited by Stephen_Doonan (06-09-2017 21:01)
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Linux, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Don't have time to install the new version right now... is there someone who has two samples of the same music from the same instrument to compare 5 and 6?

Also, how much more demanding (in term of performance) is on the computer?

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

If you have time to post on forums, you have a few minutes to download, install and try it out.

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Lucy wrote:

Don't have time to install the new version right now... is there someone who has two samples of the same music from the same instrument to compare 5 and 6?

Also, how much more demanding (in term of performance) is on the computer?

Just tried it, couldn't stop trying more and more.....
As soon as you play it, you will note the huge improvements.

For a quick review just listen at the new Steinway D demos, it is also obvious with them how the new versions sounds.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

I'm a long time follower/user of Pianoteq.
The thing is really fun to play.
Even with version 1, whose sound was really not great, there was instant fun as soon as you played it a little bit.
With version 3, it's sound became quite good.
But still these audio "artefacts" that give away its synthesis nature.
I was delighted today to see that the long awaited version 6 was out.
But to my deception, when i listen to the first demo of the demo page (the places we knew), as soon as i hear the first notes of the upper register (starting at 11 seconds), i immediatly hear the usual Pianoteq sound signature.
I finally think that i won't see the day when Pianoteq is on par with sampled piano on a pure tone level (i'm not speaking about behaviour and playability, which are the best).
Perhaps with another product or another team.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

EvilDragon wrote:

If you have time to post on forums, you have a few minutes to download, install and try it out.

I just did now,... it's OK, not what I'd expect but OK! Just kidding.

It most definitely sound different, at least for the D, there is more WOW effect. :b

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

vjau wrote:

I'm a long time follower/user of Pianoteq.
The thing is really fun to play.
Even with version 1, whose sound was really not great, there was instant fun as soon as you played it a little bit.
With version 3, it's sound became quite good.
But still these audio "artefacts" that give away its synthesis nature.
I was delighted today to see that the long awaited version 6 was out.
But to my deception, when i listen to the first demo of the demo page (the places we knew), as soon as i hear the first notes of the upper register (starting at 11 seconds), i immediatly hear the usual Pianoteq sound signature.
I finally think that i won't see the day when Pianoteq is on par with sampled piano on a pure tone level (i'm not speaking about behaviour and playability, which are the best).
Perhaps with another product or another team.

Sampled pianos have their shortcomings too, there is no one single perfect instrument...

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Just updated to V.6 and had a quick run through with the Steinway Model B Bright preset. Definitely a clear improvement overall - very impressed. The attacks are more 'woody', the synthetic qualities/tone of previous versions are all but gone, and as before, the response to nuances of touch & pedalling are in another league compared to Sampled pianos. I'll upload a bit of improvised playing I've just done, which merges into the ending of a tune by the composer Vince DiCola.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Just uploaded now:
http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/uploads.p...20demo.mp3

Pianoguy wrote:

Just updated to V.6 and had a quick run through with the Steinway Model B Bright preset. Definitely a clear improvement overall - very impressed. The attacks are more 'woody', the synthetic qualities/tone of previous versions are all but gone, and as before, the response to nuances of touch & pedalling are in another league compared to Sampled pianos. I'll upload a bit of improvised playing I've just done, which merges into the ending of a tune by the composer Vince DiCola.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Vjau,

When comparing Pianoteq 5 with my Native Instruments sampled pianos, the sampled sounds of Native Instruments' "The Grandeur" and "Alicia's Keys" are more realistic-sounding on my speaker setup than any of the Pianoteq 5 presets on their pianos.  With respect to Alicia's Keys, it has a sweet tone especially in the mid-high treble that is much more like my Steinway F than it is like a typical Yamaha grand (so there must be advantages to having a super-special Yamaha C3 Neo), but Alicia's hammer sound is too percussive for me.  If I could blend "The Grandeur" with "Alicia's Keys", then I would have the electronic match for my 1885 acoustic Steinway F with the lid open.

But that was Pianoteq 5.  And now there is Pianoteq 6.

The new models sound better than my sampled pianos. I have gone from frowning upon the old Model D, K2, and YC5 in Pianoteq 5 to now thinking that these have jumped to the head of the pack as the best instruments. I am finally getting to the time that when I sit down at the piano, I have to think twice to recognize whether I am listening to Pianoteq or I am listening to my acoustic piano, if I have forgotten which way I left the switches and levers set up.

Vjau, your mileage may vary depending upon how you are listening to things (for example, my choice of instrument presets varies greatly whether I am listening to my monitor speakers alongside my piano, or I am listening to headphones). But, I would strongly suggest that you give some serious time trying out the following piano models and presets that sound fantastic on my "player" system:

Steinway Model D, preset Home
Steinway Model B, preset Improv
Grotrian, preset Concert Royale
YC5, preset Player
K2, preset Player Jazz

These are fantastic.  And, despite the 'silly' presets in most of the Native Instruments piano packs (other than the 'Basic" or "Initial" NI piano sample sets, those in Pianoteq are far more serious, increasing my enjoyment.

Thanks, Phillipe and Julien and the others,

Last edited by dklein (07-09-2017 03:11)
- David

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Very nice! Thanks for this wonderful playing and demo.

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Linux, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Thanks for listening and your kind words. I'm really thrilled with what version 6 has added to the realism.
I can see my multi-gigabyte, resource-hogging sampled pianos being called upon less and less . . .

Stephen_Doonan wrote:

Very nice! Thanks for this wonderful playing and demo.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

just tried Bluthner on the trial version 6 demo(which I do not own. yet. )
wow, I like it.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Vjau, I wonder if some of what you find not completely realistic about Pianoteq has to do with reverb and mic positioning. I've heard recordings of real pianos that I thought were fake before, sometimes in part because of the pianos themselves, but also because of how they were mic'ed. I know there are endless opinions on the ideal way to mic a piano, just as there are endless opinions on the ideal piano. I, being a classical pianist, tend not to be a fan of close mic'ed pianos -- I tend to like a main omni pair at least 6 or 7 feet back in a nice hall.

After playing around with mic setups in Pianoteq, I found one I thought worked nicely for a more traditional classical recording sound. I had to tweak it a bit for version 6 (and it likely needs more work), but I think it's getting close to my ideal piano recording sound.

DISCLAIMER: Some people will find this extremely "muddy" -- but it at least demonstrates the amazing flexibility of Pianoteq, even if it's not your taste. I recommend closing your eyes while listening and imagining you are sitting in a Carnegie Hall.

Using a simple 'Minuet' I wrote for students, I've put together a video comparing 4 Pianoteq (version 6) pianos with this "distant" piano preset. It isn't completely fair to the Steinways or Bluthner as I tweaked the settings based on the Grotrian, but I think they still hold up well. Also I should note, the built in reverb doesn't work great with this preset (it seems to do better with close mic positions, but I haven't experimented enough to say for sure), so this uses a third party reverb:

https://youtu.be/ABUZhJCNONY

Last edited by NathanShirley (07-09-2017 20:59)

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Beautiful work Nathan. I think you've achieved a very natural classical recording sound - extremely realistic with his Minuet. I really enjoyed listening. How does it hold up with more dense playing and chord clusters?

NathanShirley wrote:

Vjau, I wonder if some of what you find not completely realistic about Pianoteq has to do with reverb and mic positioning. I've heard recordings of real pianos that I thought were fake before, sometimes in part because of the pianos themselves, but also because of how they were mic'ed. I know there are endless opinions on the ideal way to mic a piano, just as there are endless opinions on the ideal piano. I, being a classical pianist, tend not to be a fan of close mic'ed pianos -- I tend to like a main omni pair at least 6 or 7 feet back in a nice hall.

After playing around with mic setups in Pianoteq, I found one I thought worked nicely for a more traditional classical recording sound. I had to tweak it a bit for version 6 (and it likely needs more work), but I think it's getting close to my ideal piano recording sound.

DISCLAIMER: Some people will find this extremely "muddy" -- but it at least demonstrates the amazing flexibility of Pianoteq, even if it's not your taste. I recommend closing your eyes while listening and imagining you are sitting in a Carnegie Hall.

Using a simple 'Minuet' I wrote for students, I've put together a video comparing 4 Pianoteq (version 6) pianos with this "distant" piano preset. It isn't completely fair to the Steinway's or Bluthner as I tweaked the settings based on the Grotrian, but I think they still hold up well. Also I should note, the built in reverb doesn't work great with this preset (it seems to do better with close mic positions, but I haven't experimented enough to say for sure), so this uses a third party reverb:

https://youtu.be/ABUZhJCNONY

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Nathan, your demo is beautiful. I agree that with your settings, the result is very good. There is still a little bit of "pianotequism", but i am not sure i would have cared if i didn't knew before this was made with PTQ.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

NathanShirley wrote:

After playing around with mic setups in Pianoteq, I found one I thought worked nicely for a more traditional classical recording sound. I had to tweak it a bit for version 6 (and it likely needs more work), but I think it's getting close to my ideal piano recording sound.

Nathan, very-very beautiful result! Can you share this preset (I'm mostly interested in Grotrian preset) for other academical pianists, such as me?))
UPD I found this in fxp corner already! Many thanks!

Pianoteq 6 Pro (D4, K2, Blüthner, Model B, Grotrian, Ant.Petrof)
Studiologic SL88Grand, Steinberg UR22mkII

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!  Indeed it is!

Thanks MODARTT

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

I like the upgrade, well-done team. Good to see Modartt involving Steinway in the process and getting their name on it.
Now the same with Bosendorfer?

Hands up who find it difficult to describe the sound and character of a piano, here's an attempt at it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edqRl1IExo8

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

DonSmith wrote:

Now the same with Bosendorfer?

THIS is my wet dream for Pianoteq! I really hope that will happen in v6 cycle...

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Nathan, I agree. Your D4 Distant .fxp (the Steinway D Home preset with distant microphones) sounds very nice.

Interesting idea, to have the primary pair of microphones fairly far away from the piano at perhaps head height, and another pair even more distant, as far away as you can place them (against the right wall, up into the corner of the ceiling of the virtual room) with level compensation turned on to avoid too much loss of signal/volume, and delay compensation turned off (to keep the mics from sounding too near and "present" or "in your face" perhaps?).

Anyway, wonderful mic preset that inspires one to play more with "concert hall" placement rather than "recording studio" mic placement. Thankfully the room is quiet with no audience coughing. Now one might wish that Modartt's virtual room in the mic section had a somewhat higher ceiling.

Last edited by Stephen_Doonan (07-09-2017 15:24)
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Linux, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

DonSmith wrote:

I like the upgrade, well-done team. Good to see Modartt involving Steinway in the process and getting their name on it.
Now the same with Bosendorfer?

Given that "Bosendorfer" is a Yamaha brand... I think it VERY UNLIKELY that they would in any way "endorse" a pianoteq emulation of one of their products.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Doesn't have to be endorsed as far as I'm concerned. I just want a "B290" model in Pianoteq.

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Stephen_Doonan wrote:

Nathan, I agree. Your D4 Distant .fxp (the Steinway D Home preset with distant microphones) sounds very, very good.

Looks like the D4 has been replaced by the Steinway D. Its gone from my list even though I still have C3, C2, C1 and M1.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

aandrmusic wrote:

Given that "Bosendorfer" is a Yamaha brand... I think it VERY UNLIKELY that they would in any way "endorse" a pianoteq emulation of one of their products.

I think its great that while Yamaha provides support and corporate resources to Bosendorfer, it has an admirable and characteristic Japanese reverence for the tradition and history of the company and has adopted a primarily "hands-off" approach to Bosendorfer, its manufacture location and processes, its craftsmen and their legacy, its ideals, etc.

Last edited by Stephen_Doonan (07-09-2017 14:18)
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Linux, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Dear all,
we are glad that you like the new version!
For those interested, we added a short comparison page between Pianoteq 5 and Pianoteq 6.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Philippe Guillaume wrote:

Dear all,
we are glad that you like the new version!
For those interested, we added a short comparison page between Pianoteq 5 and Pianoteq 6.

Excellent comparisons. The wonderful improvements in the Wurlitzer W1 and the Vibraphone are surprising and impressive. The updated acoustic pianos all sound so realistic, rich, detailed and nuanced.

Last edited by Stephen_Doonan (07-09-2017 17:11)
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Linux, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Hm. I compared some Bluethner Presets and first thing I hear is a little overall EQ, treble boosted a bit and bass lowered a bit. Sounds almost like a tilt EQ, I can match that with an AutoEQ pretty well. Second thing is a different sustain behaviour, higher partials seem to resound longer, at least some of them. Not sure if this is really a breakthrough difference. It's like two different sounds, I could not say which one I would prefer in the first moment. Of course the new one with the longer sounding partials sounds brighter also for this reason. But again, not that much of a difference imho.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

User123123123 wrote:

Not sure if this is really a breakthrough difference.

I disagree. In Pianoteq 5 I appreciated the even character of the Model D and the lush beauty of the Bluthner, but almost entirely ignored them in practice, in preference to the Model B and the Grotrian. The Model B (Steinway B) has been improved, the Grotrian sounds great, but the largest improvements, to my ears, were those for the Steinway D and the Bluthner, both of which now sound extremely convincing to me, when they did not before.

This is of course just another personal opinion.

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Linux, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Stephen_Doonan wrote:

Excellent comparisons. The wonderful improvements in the Wurlitzer W1 ....

Oddly enough, this is the one comparison I have a little doubt about.. Is the difference purely the difference between v5 and v6?.. because it sounds to me like the Flanger is switched on in v6 (which is indeed the case for the v6 preset "W1 Bright".. I've just looked ), whereas I don't hear any flanger in the v5 demo. (In fact, I've just checked the v5 version, which I still have installed.. there is no flanger in the v5 version of that preset.)

Last edited by vic_france (07-09-2017 19:45)
Mac Pro Quad-Core (2009) 2.66 GHz | 16GB RAM | MOTU PCI-424/2408mk3|MOTU Midi Timepiece AV | Mac OS X 10.9.5 | Cubase 9.0.30.266| and others ;)

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

cool. it all has a bit more shimmer, sympathetic release sounds more organic and wich each version it's more and more a far cry from how pianoteq 1 estarted out , the static sounding C3-F3 and highest notes are ever less audible with each version. I wonder if by 2020 it's really going to be virtually inaudible

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

User123123123 wrote:

Hm. I compared some Bluethner Presets and first thing I hear is a little overall EQ, treble boosted a bit and bass lowered a bit. Sounds almost like a tilt EQ, I can match that with an AutoEQ pretty well. Second thing is a different sustain behaviour, higher partials seem to resound longer, at least some of them. Not sure if this is really a breakthrough difference. It's like two different sounds, I could not say which one I would prefer in the first moment. Of course the new one with the longer sounding partials sounds brighter also for this reason. But again, not that much of a difference imho.

I also came to the same conclusion - it seems the new models sound more like preset tweaks than total refreshes, like with Pianoteq v4 vs Pianoteq v5.
Though, with 49 models, one can't expect too much out of a small development team. I'm amazed they even took the time to go over all of them!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

They are not just "preset tweaks".

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Pianoguy wrote:

Beautiful work Nathan. I think you've achieved a very natural classical recording sound - extremely realistic with his Minuet. I really enjoyed listening. How does it hold up with more dense playing and chord clusters?

Thanks! See what you think of the improvisation I just made with it. Exact same settings.

vjau wrote:

Nathan, your demo is beautiful. I agree that with your settings, the result is very good. There is still a little bit of "pianotequism", but i am not sure i would have cared if i didn't knew before this was made with PTQ.

I know what you mean about that Pianoteq quality. I would imagine there would be a curve involved in the process of perfecting the realism -- that last 5% will be a slow process, but I think they're definitely heading in the right direction. For me the Grotrian was a very significant breakthrough. I'm sure I could improve the settings of my preset further, I haven't spent that much time on it as realism isn't actually my first main interest in Pianoteq (just my second main interest). I do find it quite remarkable how far they've come and how flexible it is.

Kridlatec wrote:

Nathan, very-very beautiful result! Can you share this preset (I'm mostly interested in Grotrian preset) for other academical pianists, such as me?))
UPD I found this in fxp corner already! Many thanks!

I made that preset in v.5, so I should upload this new v.6 preset which I think is a better match with it. Also, keep in mind this preset sounds a bit off without any reverb, but I do think it sounds best with 3rd party reverb, at least from my limited experimentation with it.


Kridlatec wrote:

Nathan, I agree. Your D4 Distant .fxp (the Steinway D Home preset with distant microphones) sounds very nice.
Interesting idea, to have the primary pair of microphones fairly far away from the piano at perhaps head height, and another pair even more distant, as far away as you can place them (against the right wall, up into the corner of the ceiling of the virtual room) with level compensation turned on to avoid too much loss of signal/volume, and delay compensation turned off (to keep the mics from sounding too near and "present" or "in your face" perhaps?).
Anyway, wonderful mic preset that inspires one to play more with "concert hall" placement rather than "recording studio" mic placement. Thankfully the room is quiet with no audience coughing. Now one might wish that Modartt's virtual room in the mic section had a somewhat higher ceiling.

I assume the mic interface in Pianoteq has no walls, but is rather an infinite space. If that isn't true then it would explain why adding the built-in reverb doesn't give the effect I was looking for. I moved the mics far further back than I would in real life in version 5. But in version 6 I found it was too far, and I had to move them to a somewhat more realistic distance. Not sure if that was due to a change in the mic system, in an instrument change, the underlying engine, or what, but it seems to behave a bit more like I would expect.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying v.6, a lot of great improvements and a lot to explore. Here's that video I promised:

https://youtu.be/UyO-2zwLXW8

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

WOW! Nice improvements!
I think it justifies the upgrade to V6 ( which I already have done it).
Congratulations to Modartt!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Congratulations to the developers and the community with this new version!

Just my humble comments. I did not extensively tested the new version, just played on a usual basis using a couple of custom piano presets I have from v5. Yes, the sound is better, I would say very so slightly better, subconsciously I would rate it as about 5% better (which indeed may be considered as being a huge improvement). When switching back to v5 now it feels like it is a bit more thin and flat in comparison to v6. Overall I can't say I'm tremendously impressed, to me it is a bit too conservative, a bit less than what I would call a major upgrade. I was hoping for some more radical changes both for the sound and/or for the interface/tweaking/modulating. At the same time I can't say I'm disappointed, the upgrade price is very reasonable so I was quite happy to upgrade, so obviously it will now be my 'new' everyday go-to instrument. Sorry for my criticism, I guess I'm just unable to see the lower part of the iceberg.

Regards,

Last edited by AKM (08-09-2017 01:04)

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

lowendtheory wrote:
User123123123 wrote:

Hm. I compared some Bluethner Presets and first thing I hear is a little overall EQ, treble boosted a bit and bass lowered a bit. Sounds almost like a tilt EQ, I can match that with an AutoEQ pretty well. Second thing is a different sustain behaviour, higher partials seem to resound longer, at least some of them. Not sure if this is really a breakthrough difference. It's like two different sounds, I could not say which one I would prefer in the first moment. Of course the new one with the longer sounding partials sounds brighter also for this reason. But again, not that much of a difference imho.

I also came to the same conclusion - it seems the new models sound more like preset tweaks than total refreshes, like with Pianoteq v4 vs Pianoteq v5.
Though, with 49 models, one can't expect too much out of a small development team. I'm amazed they even took the time to go over all of them!

Suppose that you're right and that they're all preset tweaks... all the minor updates of a software takes time and resource, employees have to be paid. Many major companies offer yearly licenses now (like Adobe, Microsoft, etc.) as an efficient method to maintain the softwares.

My point of view is that even if Pianoteq 6 was to be identical to 5 (in term of sound quality), there is more than sound in Pianoteq... there are bug fixes, not to mention that hardwares and OSes evolve... so softwares to run flawlessly have to evolve also... so even if the sound was to be identical... the software itself would require a minimum of changes. 40$ for each couple of years is a small contribution to maintain the software.

Last edited by Lucy (08-09-2017 03:10)

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

AKM wrote:

Congratulations to the developers and the community with this new version!

Just my humble comments. I did not extensively tested the new version, just played on a usual basis using a couple of custom piano presets I have from v5. Yes, the sound is better, I would say very so slightly better, subconsciously I would rate it as about 5% better (which indeed may be considered as being a huge improvement). When switching back to v5 now it feels like it is a bit more thin and flat in comparison to v6. Overall I can't say I'm tremendously impressed, to me it is a bit too conservative, a bit less than what I would call a major upgrade. I was hoping for some more radical changes both for the sound and/or for the interface/tweaking/modulating. At the same time I can't say I'm disappointed, the upgrade price is very reasonable so I was quite happy to upgrade, so obviously it will now be my 'new' everyday go-to instrument. Sorry for my criticism, I guess I'm just unable to see the lower part of the iceberg.

Regards,

In my opinion, radical changes were not required to improve Pianoteq. I can certainly hear the deep level of work which has gone into refining the models and improving the realism and depth of sound from V5 to V6, and can only imagine the maths & coding behind it all to make that happen. IMHO, calling it 5% better is a misjudged assessment. I'd suggest spending more time playing and listening critically to gain an appreciation of what the Modartt team have achieved.

Last edited by Pianoguy (08-09-2017 07:01)

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Great update, all pianos sound better, can’t stop playing the Steinway D Classical Recordings with headphones, they sound wonderful!

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Pianoguy wrote:
AKM wrote:

Congratulations to the developers and the community with this new version!

Just my humble comments. I did not extensively tested the new version, just played on a usual basis using a couple of custom piano presets I have from v5. Yes, the sound is better, I would say very so slightly better, subconsciously I would rate it as about 5% better (which indeed may be considered as being a huge improvement). When switching back to v5 now it feels like it is a bit more thin and flat in comparison to v6. Overall I can't say I'm tremendously impressed, to me it is a bit too conservative, a bit less than what I would call a major upgrade. I was hoping for some more radical changes both for the sound and/or for the interface/tweaking/modulating. At the same time I can't say I'm disappointed, the upgrade price is very reasonable so I was quite happy to upgrade, so obviously it will now be my 'new' everyday go-to instrument. Sorry for my criticism, I guess I'm just unable to see the lower part of the iceberg.

Regards,

In my opinion, radical changes were not required to improve Pianoteq. I can certainly hear the deep level of work which has gone into refining the models and improving the realism and depth of sound from V5 to V6, and can only imagine the maths & coding behind it all to make that happen. IMHO, calling it 5% better is a misjudged assessment. I'd suggest spending more time playing and listening critically to gain an appreciation of what the Modartt team have achieved.

I agree overall. To me v5 = great for my needs, v6 = great for my needs. Personally I would be happy if Pianoteq have just one piano model, would be totally fine about it. But it should be THE piano. I'm Ok understanding that the world don't revolves around me but still want to express my point of view. I don't really appreciate new xylophone, e-pianos, etc. reworked models. I wonder how many people buy and use Pianoteq for Harp, Harpsichords, ets. My personal use for the Pianoteq is as THE piano for serious everyday classical repertoire practice. It don't have any competition for me in this regards. Also I do quite a lot of piano-composition freelance jobs, and I don't see myself using Pianoteq for it - the sampled pianos ALWAYS sound better for the final product that people pay for. Also I use some other "keyboard" VST's like Harpsichords, etc. for the jobs - don't see myself using Pianoteq for that also. When people ask me about Pianoteq, say, on other forums my short answer is - for pure 'sound' Pianoteq is one of the worst around, for 'playability' - number one. I am hoping to see this gap shrinking, maybe I'm hoping to see some more ambitious moves from Modartt team like, say, making a hybrid type of virtual piano (sampled-modelled, say, using it to improve the attack sound), or making a dedicated hardware-software solution (keyboard with continuous monitoring of key parameters vs. velocity approach), etc. I'm using Pianoteq since v5 and the first impression was jaw-dropping, v6 - let's honestly say I really need to spend more time playing and testing to fully appreciate it. But I mean, again, for now to me v5 = great, v6 = great+0.1 something.

Last edited by AKM (08-09-2017 10:35)

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Thanks to the amazing team at Modartt. Without specifying details, I can hear the difference - sounds better. There are so many positive comments already so I dont need to mention them again. Just say that Bluethner is my favourite and now it is even more full, deep, pleasant. I am glad that Modartt have many pianomodels/sounds and the possibility to change them, because in my opinion, as I have experienced, there is no one right piano sound that meet everyones need. As someone said, the beauty is in the ear of the beholder. Well, thats what I think about it.

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

After living with V6 for a few days, my overall impression is the acoustic pianos now have more weight/heft/body & depth than before. When you play an acoustic piano, the vibrations and resonances from the piano's case, soundboard and key-bed are transmitted through to your fingers & hands (and entire body) and in turn your brain & muscles instinctively react and respond to that feedback in a continual loop throughout the performance. Whilst this experience is difficult to replicate in the digital domain (the Yamaha Avante Grand has approached this), Pianoteq now seems to me to be in that realm, and given the optimal keyboard & sound system, makes for an extremely rewarding experience in music making. Steinway don't endorse a product without considerable thought to their reputation and brand, and have obviously recognised the ground-breaking work the Modartt team have developed over many years.

Last edited by Pianoguy (08-09-2017 14:47)

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

Hi all!

New Pianoteq sounds better and upgrade was worth for its reasonable price for sure!

Still I must admit that I was hoping little more, but I understand that it's difficult to make miracles with modeling
In my opinion there are still those clear strenghts of this modeled sound and then some weaknesses or difficulties. Sound is very playable, round (and sometimes it's too round to my taste) and works best for kind of sound when piano is listened is space and from some distance ("classical recorded piano sound"). Still I don't get/hear that sound when I am in front of Yamaha Grand Piano, lid is fully opened and I can hear this clear attack of the hammers (without much space, reverb etc., just pure piano sound listened very closely). If you are after this kind of piano sound for your recording, Pianoteq is maybe not the best option.

I haven't yet spent that much time with new PTQ but I'd say that sound has become more realistic. Still I can hear "pianotequiness" (some artificial characters) but little by little realism is taking over...

Re: Pianoteq 6 is AWESOME!!!

We will need some sort of linguistic updade, since in the next version we will run out of positive superlatives, given the fact pianoteq 6 reached incredible quality and incredibles elogies so far that will require create stronger positive words.


More and more the digital modelled tools are closer and closer to the real thing. What will be the near future??? Something that sounds natural and better than the real thing??  Probably something like that will happen.

Last edited by Beto-Music (09-09-2017 02:22)