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IK released Pianoverse piano virtual instrument

@IKMultimedia, your pianos are really good, UI great, which I have praised here in the thread several times. But I would like to post a small wish list here, of which I hope that something will come as an update.
- Some keys (e.g. on the CF3) stand out too much.
- The una corda sound is not convincing.
- Sympathetic resonance would be great. (or as a chargeable upgrade)
- Extends the setting options (min, max, shape) for the velocity curve.
- Add the piano name inside the piano image or in front of the preset name.

And don't take too much time to releases the remaining four pianos. ;)
 
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@horowitz Thanks so much for taking the time to reply in detail and apologies for not being clear.

What I meant is that when you compare two VIs there are differences that have to do with the sampling technique, micing, programming etc. and differences that have to do with the source sound itself i.e. the instrcument being sampled and the space it was recorded in.

When comparing Garritan CFX to Pianoverse your best bet is to compare the Yamaha Piano in Pianoverse. But those are two different pianos (CFX vs CF3) that have distinctly different character. Furthermore, Garritan is recorded in a top studio (Abbey Road ) so emphasis is given on the ambient sound whereas Pianoverse's emphasis appears to be on bone dry recording + algorithmic reverb. So it's kind of an apples and oranges comparison to me. I personally cannot predict how the Garritan CFX Piano in Abbey road would sound if sampled by IKM using their technique and programming, neither how the CF3 in Fonoprint would sound if sampled by Garritan.

But arguably the end result is what matters and this is kind of subjective. I can certainly see uses for both Garritan and Pianoverse and I am happy to own both.

I certainly agree with you that any digital reproduction of an instrument is inherently limited. But from a recording/production perspective, a *recording* of a sampled piavo vs a *recording* of a real piano is getting very close and the percentage of people who can actually hear a difference is very small.
 
Costis said:
@horowitz Thanks so much for taking the time to reply in detail and apologies for not being clear.

What I meant is that when you compare two VIs there are differences that have to do with the sampling technique, micing, programming etc. and differences that have to do with the source sound itself i.e. the instrcument being sampled and the space it was recorded in.

When comparing Garritan CFX to Pianoverse your best bet is to compare the Yamaha Piano in Pianoverse. But those are two different pianos (CFX vs CF3) that have distinctly different character. Furthermore, Garritan is recorded in a top studio (Abbey Road ) so emphasis is given on the ambient sound whereas Pianoverse's emphasis appears to be on bone dry recording + algorithmic reverb. So it's kind of an apples and oranges comparison to me. I personally cannot predict how the Garritan CFX Piano in Abbey road would sound if sampled by IKM using their technique and programming, neither how the CF3 in Fonoprint would sound if sampled by Garritan.

But arguably the end result is what matters and this is kind of subjective. I can certainly see uses for both Garritan and Pianoverse and I am happy to own both.

I certainly agree with you that any digital reproduction of an instrument is inherently limited. But from a recording/production perspective, a *recording* of a sampled piavo vs a *recording* of a real piano is getting very close and the percentage of people who can actually hear a difference is very small.
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Now I understand what you mean. I can fully agree with you. :thumbsup:
Here you can find a demo of another good CFX Piano VI:
300 Grand (CFX)
 
eagle007 said:
Then I added the serial I got from the subscription. Installing the binary was flawless, but installing the sound files.. nope. You cannot install it if you need the files to be on a different drive than your OS. Selection the options, choosing the install location will not fix it. It keeps popping the same error.
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You can install sound libraries to a different drive using the ... menu's "Install to..." option. The location setting in the Settings is just for the downloads themselves, not the installation.
 
IKMultimedia said:
You can install sound libraries to a different drive using the ... menu's "Install to..." option. The location setting in the Settings is just for the downloads themselves, not the installation.
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Yes, but the problem is that Pianoverse may default to selecting an undesirable (or in my case, non-existent) folder for its sound source. The sound source folder in Pianoverse and the sound installation folder in the Product Manager must match, otherwise the installation of sounds will throw out a somewhat cryptic error message and fail.

I ran into that problem and solved it by realizing the error message was referring to Pianoverse as the "host program". So I created a new folder for Pianoverse sounds, then opened Pianoverse and pointed it to that folder for sounds, then pointed the Product Manager to install the sounds to that directory, and then the sounds installed fine.
 
IKMultimedia said:
You can install sound libraries to a different drive using the ... menu's "Install to..." option. The location setting in the Settings is just for the downloads themselves, not the installation.
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I know, but it does not work on my Mac Studio M1. As described, I had to set the path inside the app, relaunched the installer for the path to be picked up. Looks like the chose path is not stored in the installer app when choosing "Install to..."

Setting the download location does work.
 
eagle007 said:
I know, but it does not work on my Mac Studio M1. As described, I had to set the path inside the app, relaunched the installer for the path to be picked up. Looks like the chose path is not stored in the installer app when choosing "Install to..."

Setting the download location does work.
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Got it, I've forwarded a request to make Install to... persistent (or personally I'd rather see it as a full-blown setting like the download location so there's less confusion between the two, or do both of these things).
eagle007 said:
@IKMultimedia Peter, when does the introduction pricing end?
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I do not have a specific date to share, but you will be safe through the end of this month at least.
 
Just an FYI for anyone who hasn't dipped their toe in the Pianoverse world... I just got the subscription to test them all out and the Concert Grand YF3, without question, is the best sampled piano I've ever played. It's exquisite. Playability equal to the incomparable sound. I'm sure there are competitors out there I haven't experienced, but, as far as I'm concerned, this will be the only piano I use. The default is incredible, but it's versatility and options will keep me intrigued for quite a long time. ESPECIALLY the St. John's Wood Grand! Congrats @IKMultimedia you've knocked it out of the park.
 
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IKMultimedia said:
You can install sound libraries to a different drive using the ... menu's "Install to..." option. The location setting in the Settings is just for the downloads themselves, not the installation.
Click to expand...
I asked it to install to my SSD external... and I see the pianos at 24 - 30 gigs... but the USERS/SHARED/IKMULTIMEDIA/PIANOVERSE folder is still 89 gigs... ? Does that make sense? When I went to move that to the SSD it said it couldn't detect any sounds?
 
I wonder if it's possible for a demo like Pianoteq uses where a few notes are disabled so that the possible user can decide to purchase, whether full or subscription, without losing any money? It hasn't done Pianoteq any harm.
 
StevieB said:
I wonder if it's possible for a demo like Pianoteq uses where a few notes are disabled so that the possible user can decide to purchase, whether full or subscription, without losing any money? It hasn't done Pianoteq any harm.
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I think IKM has a very expensive internet provider for their services, as you also still need to pay for downloads after 180 days (though I do not think that OVH Hosting is that expensive).
 
Pianoteq is a few hundred MB in download size, compared to these Pianoverse pianos at 20+ GB, so that would be a factor I’d assume.
 
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.
 
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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But then it would be perfect.
 
star.keys said:
.. 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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Perfect? Really? Sorry, don't be upset with me. Nice joke. ;) It would be the perfect piano for you, which I respect!

For me, there can never be a perfect piano VI, nor will there ever be. A "perfect Piano VI" would not be distinguishable from a real instrument in a blind test. Just the vibrations you feel in your fingers and from the pedal in your foot is something no VI can offer. Of course, with the right amount of effort, many things can be brought closer to a real instrument. And this also requires first-class technical (and very expensive) equipment on the side of the user. I have over 120 piano VIs (including all VSL full) and none of them can replace the playing experience of a real piano for me. Never!

I think the Pianoverse pianos are really good for the price and I share your criticism, but they are not in the top tier for me. All this from the perspective of a solo player, which I am.
 
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I also picked up a one-month subscription and have been playing around with each of the available models for the past few weeks. Overall, I would say that these are quite solid and may be a very good option for many, although I would not consider them quite in the top-tier for solo piano (which for me would be VSL and Garritan).

On the plus side, the pianos are well recorded - very close and dry with good presence. The 2 mic positions provide a nice contrast without going overboard. The GUI is attractive, thoughtfully laid out, and can be expanded to fit the full screen, something which is still relatively rare among piano VSTs.

I can't say I'm all that wild about the built in space/reverb engine - the different room options are serviceable enough, but the overall effect isn't entirely natural sounding to me.

Playability is good, but not quite as smooth, responsive, or dynamic as VSL/Garritan. Could've probably used a few more velocity layers and/or some more gradual blending of layers. Pedaling is decent. Strangely, I've heard others complain that the soft pedal effect is too strong, but it doesn't seem to do anything at all in my setup. When I press the soft pedal it very clearly engages on the GUI (virtual pedal goes down and soft pedal sign lights up) but there is absolutely no change in volume or timbre that I can detect. Not sure what the problem is, but it's a rather glaring issue.

Among the various models, I think the Yamaha Concert Grand and the Bosendorfer 280 sound the best. The Steinway sounds curiously veiled to me - for some reason it's not quite as clear and present as either of the other 2 grands. The upright is also quite nice, as good as any other sampled upright I've tried.

All in all, I'm glad I gave it a try, and it could be a good go-to resource for many, but I don't think it quite makes the cut for my particular needs. But I may visit it again if they keep making improvements, and I'll be curious to try some of the other models when they come out.
 
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