IK released Pianoverse piano virtual instrument

Gran Concerto 278 has been released!
Adding the distinctive voice of the Fazioli F278 to the Pianoverse virtual instrument



IK Multimedia releases Gran Concerto 278, the latest addition to IK’s groundbreaking Pianoverse virtual instrument, which combines the world’s finest concert-grade pianos with inspiring, cinematic effects. For subscribers, Gran Concerto 278 is included with the Pianoverse update released today through the IK Product Manager or may be purchased separately.

Pianoverse lets users explore a breathtaking sonic range, from the most true-to-life acoustic piano experience to the wildest atmospheric and interactive creative textures, all in a single plug-in. And all with incredible ease of use and an inspiring workflow.

Gran Concerto 278 is based on a robot-assisted deep multisampling of a 9.5’ Fazioli F278 Concert Grand piano manufactured by Fazioli Pianoforti of Sacile, Italy. Made from the finest materials, this masterpiece of craftsmanship uses wood from the same red spruce forest in the Carpathian Mountains where Antonio Stradivari cultivated his rare and celebrated violins. It’s considered by many jazz and classical players to be the finest piano in the world.

That's quite nice.

star.keys said:

Nice Steinway and Yamaha. If you guys fix tuning issues within the top 3 octaves, I will happily trash all my VSL Synchron pianos but until then, I need to unsubscribe because anything above C5 is practically unuseable to me. You had almost perfect pianos if you had not overlooked this issue, which is very basic and I'm surprised how you let these untuned notes getting sampled.

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I totally agree with you but I just tried the new Fazioli that came out today and it's in tune! They finally have one piano in tune in the top 3 octaves. I had to resubscribe to try it after unsubscribing when all the other pianos were out of tune.

Just had a quick play with the new Gran Concerto (Fazioli) 278, which IK Multimedia kindly provided me.

Here's the Close Mic with some soft improvised playing:
View attachment PIANOVERSE Fazioli 278 - Close - CGR improv demo.mp3



The opening section of a Schumann piece I've just started learning, with the Side mics:
View attachment PIANOVERSE Fazioli 278 - Side - CGR - Schumann Op. 26 Allegro.mp3

I'm really liking the directness and warmth of the close mics. I'm still tweaking settings with the Side mics – there's some "fuzziness" around the F above middle C which is catching my ear, and some reverb spaces make that more noticeable than others.

Great dynamics and very involving to play, like the other two Pianoverse grands I've tried (Yamaha CFIII and Bösendorfer 280VC).

dhowarthmusic said:

I totally agree with you but I just tried the new Fazioli that came out today and it's in tune! They finally have one piano in tune in the top 3 octaves. I had to resubscribe to try it after unsubscribing when all the other pianos were out of tune.

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Good to know! Let me try my hands on it based on your experience

CGR said:

Just had a quick play with the new Gran Concerto (Fazioli) 278, which IK Multimedia kindly provided me.
...
I'm still tweaking settings with the Side mics – there's some "fuzziness" around the F above middle C which is catching my ear, and some reverb spaces make that more noticeable than others.
...

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I also noticed this unpleasant behaviour. Even with external reverb, there is the "fuzziness" you described. I also think that the Fazioli needs some reworking in the upper 3 octaves. The differences in volume between neighbouring keys are far too much for my taste. Similar weakness as the CF3.

horowitz said:

I also noticed this unpleasant behaviour. Even with external reverb, there is the "fuzziness" you described. I also think that the Fazioli needs some reworking in the upper 3 octaves. The differences in volume between neighbouring keys are far too much for my taste. Similar weakness as the CF3.

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I hope that @IKMultimedia has the ability to fix these fuzziness, volume, and tuning issues in updates to the sound libraries without new sampling sessions.

@IKMultimedia

There are issues with the subscription.

After reinstalling my computer after adding 2 new SSD drives and giving it the same name (meaning the hardware ID changed but not the name of the machine), Pianoverse doesn't show any library or preset.

I tried to change the payment method used to subscribe to see if it helped, but the page stays stuck with a message saying not to close the page. The change never got processed.

Then I bought Grand Concerto 278 and Royal Upright Y5. Both appear now, with permanent licenses.

Didn't plan to throw almost 200€ just to see if it works, especially on Christmas time with family gifts still to buy and a baby to care for. But damn those two pianos sound great!

So, IK, please fix those issues. Already contacted support.

Did someone else got those issues?

Just note that the introductory pricing on the original four pianos released will end soon (first days of next year).

I decided to give a try to the subscription to have a play test. Was mostly interested by the Steinway.
Sadly, I got an issue with the NY Grand S274 soundbank. C5 note is unusable, got a weird click each time I'm playing it.
It makes the whole piano useless...
Am I the only one?
If not, @IKMultimedia is there a patch/fix planned soon?

Adding D3 to the list, it's not clicking but the key sounds like slapped. I hope these are personal issues with corrupted files, it'd be a shame if not.
I will try to download the samples pack again...

Francis Bourre said:

I decided to give a try to the subscription to have a play test. Was mostly interested by the Steinway.
Sadly, I got an issue with the NY Grand S274 soundbank. C5 note is unusable, got a weird click each time I'm playing it.
It makes the whole piano useless...
Am I the only one?
If not, @IKMultimedia is there a patch/fix planned soon?

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear you are having a problem. The IK Support team would be happy to provide direct and official technical support to help resolve your issue, and if there is a global issue they'll report it to the developers. They can be reached at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/contact-support

Thank you.

IKMultimedia said:

Sorry to hear you are having a problem. The IK Support team would be happy to provide direct and official technical support to help resolve your issue, and if there is a global issue they'll report it to the developers. They can be reached at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/contact-support

Thank you.

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Thanks for the feedback! I did at the same time, but I guess I will have an answer after holidays...
At the same time I tried to reinstall.
- Delete all the previous files on the 4 different folders.
- Open IK Product Manager app.
- Choose the Pianoverse NY Grand S274 soundbank.
- Click on reinstall after deleting all the file.
- Selecting the folder (tried the same folder, tried a new one)
- Installed is displayed in green but nothing happens, I mean no loading, no file writing...

Anyone knows the trick for reinstalling a soundbank please?

Found nothing in the FAQ: https://www.ikmultimedia.com/faq/in...vaW5kZXgucGhwPyZqZmwxPTEzMCZqZmwyPSZqZmwzPQ==

IKMultimedia said:

Just note that the introductory pricing on the original four pianos released will end soon (first days of next year).

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So now the question is will you fix the 2 notes on the Steinway, and if yes, when?
Tbh I tried them all, the Yamaha is Ok, a bit lack of body, the others are under average to my taste.
I like the sound and the playability of the Steinway, found some nice settings, but sadly this one has 2 broken sample assignments. Hope you understand, it's hard to invest in something which is partially broken for now with no fix visibility.
Did you report the 2 issues to your team on your side?
Is there a known release date for the Hamburg one?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Francis Bourre said:

So now the question is will you fix the 2 notes on the Steinway, and if yes, when?
Tbh I tried them all, the Yamaha is Ok, a bit lack of body, the others are under average to my taste.
I like the sound and the playability of the Steinway, found some nice settings, but sadly this one has 2 broken sample assignments. Hope you understand, it's hard to invest in something which is partially broken for now with no fix visibility.
Did you report the 2 issues to your team on your side?
Is there a known release date for the Hamburg one?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.

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The IK Support team would be able to answer your questions. You would need to report issues you encounter to them and they will assist you directly and if necessary they would alert the dev team of any global issues.

I do not have information on a specific release date for the next piano but it shouldn't be too long now.

IKMultimedia said:

The IK Support team would be able to answer your questions. You would need to report issues you encounter to them and they will assist you directly and if necessary they would alert the dev team of any global issues.

I do not have information on a specific release date for the next piano but it shouldn't be too long now.

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I did the day I discovered the issue, let's see... Thanks again!

Francis Bourre said:

I did the day I discovered the issue, let's see... Thanks again!

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Great! I did pass along the note too so let's have them recreate and move forward with the issue. Thanks!

Hi. I'm observing the same issue. Installed the samples in default location. But that was in C drive. Now I deleted those samples and I tried to reinstall the YF3 after selecting ask for location on product manager. I selected the custom location post clicking ok on the reinstall pop-up, nothing happens.

I have tested both the 280VC and Fazioli extensively, and I'm really surprised that there isn't more widespread coverage of the many issues plaguing the unevenness/playability/sour notes/ugly resonances that make these pianos liabilities for recordings(the reason I bought them).

Far and away the words problem is C#4 on the Bosendorfer. When playing lightly, around p thought mf, it's a very prominent PWANNNGGG. when you play a scale with that C#, it stands out like a sore thumb. When you try to voice a chord or use inner movement involving that note, forget about it. it's BRUTAL.

The Fazioli has a few high-pitched ringing when sustaining some single notes. most noticeable to me is F#4.

On both instruments, the treble octaves, C5-G6, that range, the volumes are so uneven when playing piano or pianissimo. sometimes you even lose entire notes. And yes I have a good controller, the roland A-88MkII which performs perfectly on all my other pianos VSTs. It's not a hardware issue.

I don't know if any of you tried the Una Corda function with a second pedal, but, while it sounds very good/very real, the playability is nonexistent. it's impossible to play lightly with una corda. unless you SLAM the treble keys, you lose notes playing chords and passages.

The only way around this currently is to jack the velocity offset to 10 and change the velo curve to something quite convex, but the tradeoff is, you lose control and timbre control at lighter dynamics. For loud pop music you can play them this way and they perform okay, but IMO the current way these products were released are pretty unacceptable.

It's a shame too because I really dig the realism and was looking forward to making records with these. As it stands they're liabilities.

I have a ticket open for that Bosendorfer's C#4. I'm hoping to get eyes on these other issues. It feels like these weren't even tested very much by players before launch. I find it really hard to believe these things would have been missed.

For those who haven't, try the una corda pedal, and play piano/pianissimo around the 5th octave and tell me you don't lose notes left and right from poorly regulated action.

neutralomen said:

I have tested both the 280VC and Fazioli extensively, and I'm really surprised that there isn't more widespread coverage of the many issues plaguing the unevenness/playability/sour notes/ugly resonances that make these pianos liabilities for recordings(the reason I bought them).

Far and away the words problem is C#4 on the Bosendorfer. When playing lightly, around p thought mf, it's a very prominent PWANNNGGG. when you play a scale with that C#, it stands out like a sore thumb. When you try to voice a chord or use inner movement involving that note, forget about it. it's BRUTAL.

The Fazioli has a few high-pitched ringing when sustaining some single notes. most noticeable to me is F#4.

On both instruments, the treble octaves, C5-G6, that range, the volumes are so uneven when playing piano or pianissimo. sometimes you even lose entire notes. And yes I have a good controller, the roland A-88MkII which performs perfectly on all my other pianos VSTs. It's not a hardware issue.

I don't know if any of you tried the Una Corda function with a second pedal, but, while it sounds very good/very real, the playability is nonexistent. it's impossible to play lightly with una corda. unless you SLAM the treble keys, you lose notes playing chords and passages.

The only way around this currently is to jack the velocity offset to 10 and change the velo curve to something quite convex, but the tradeoff is, you lose control and timbre control at lighter dynamics. For loud pop music you can play them this way and they perform okay, but IMO the current way these products were released are pretty unacceptable.

It's a shame too because I really dig the realism and was looking forward to making records with these. As it stands they're liabilities.

I have a ticket open for that Bosendorfer's C#4. I'm hoping to get eyes on these other issues. It feels like these weren't even tested very much by players before launch. I find it really hard to believe these things would have been missed.

For those who haven't, try the una corda pedal, and play piano/pianissimo around the 5th octave and tell me you don't lose notes left and right from poorly regulated action.

Click to expand...

For me, the Fazioli works the better than anything else I've found, because it has for my music the most pleasing, solid and consistent timbre of a solo instrument. And yes, I have most all the piano libraries. That said, before a final rendering, I sometimes do need to address a few notes here and there that stick out, as you say. I've been able to successfully do that by substituting a pitch-shifted note on a different track, shifting by a semitone only. But I do understand it's an entirely different matter if those notes disturb your feel of the playability of the instrument. I have an acoustic Hamburg D and it rings in certain notes... I just get used to it.