Best piano kontakt library?

[Conduit]

I'm looking into getting a good library for piano since the default ones suck, and right now I'm thinking either 8Dio's 1928 Steinway, or SoundIron's Emotional Piano. Just wondering what your guys experience with either of those is, or if you know of any other really good libraries in the same price range (~$130).

Links:
8Dio 1928 Steinway
SoundIron Emotional Piano

Edit: I picked up Emotional Pianos, and will post a review along with a song featuring it sometime next week. For the mean time I threw some midi's through it, and these are the results. If you want to see a song just send it to me.
No demos use reverb or anything other then the default patch settings.

Katawa Shoujo - Innocence
All setting are at default. Using the master patch.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8poml67x639hk ... ocence.mp3

Yiruma - Kiss the Rain
The left hand is dropped down a couple decibels due to velocity errors in the midi. Using the master patch.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q14iq8f6hrnm5 ... 20Demo.wav

[Callenby]

Yeah, the factory pianos are quite lacking. Even the ones that come with Komplete aren't particularly great, in my opinion.

I have Emotional Piano and I love it to death. I'll probably use it forever and always. It's definitely my favorite of all the VSTs I have so if you're willing to spend the money then I would absolutely recommend it. As for the Steinway, I've never tried it but I've listened to all the demos and it certainly gives E.P. a run for its money, I have to admit, though it's marginally more expensive. Also, Soundiron is more lenient than 8dio with how many different machines you can use their products on, if that's a factor for you.

Off the top of my head those are the two best VSTs for that price range. I know of another that's even more expensive ($350 or something) but I haven't really looked into it.

[TheMalenEst]

I strongly recommend Emotional Piano, it's amazing at low velocity playing.

Native instruments pianos is also very good, but there is one thing that bugs me about them. They are really out of phase

But i would go with 8dio or SoundIron's Emotional Piano.

[Conduit]

I'm thinking I'll go with emotional pianos, it's a bit cheaper, and seems to be the standard most people are using right now. I've also heard that theres some pretty bad issues with noise artifacts in the 8dio library, so thats a bit of a turn off.

[Captain Ironhelm]

Synthogy's pianos sound decent:
http://www.ilio.com/products/synthogy-instruments

Fazioli Ebony Concert Grand:
http://www.imperfectsamples.com/website/samples/fazioliconcertgrand/index.php

Supreme Pianos (Piano One is free!):
http://www.supremepiano.com/product/sp.htm

And then there's Native-Instruments pianos. I like the sound of the New York one. The Giant is ok if you happen to like it's timbre.
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys/

[ChocolateChicken]

This thread is also very relevant to me since I am a pianist myself and I cannot personally stand the sound of most sampled pianos. I've been looking for a decent library as well, not samples that have a shockingly unrealistic decay of about five seconds, which is pretty common.

Pianos One is not good at all in my opinion, and you'd have to be really desperate if you use that one, but I suppose for a free instrument it's nothing too bad.

I've looked at the East West Quantum Leap pianos, which don't work for Kontakt, and they don't seem to be too great either, although they have a good sound overall.

It seems like Emotional Pianos is coming out to be the best piano library out there, seeing as it's favored by piano extraordinaire PhillyPu, and also from what I've heard in Makkon (RIP)'s work.

If I'm not mistaken, Komplete 9 comes with all the NI pianos (except for Alicia's Keys), which would include Berlin Grand, New York Grand, and the almighty The Giant. That to me already makes Komplete 9 worth getting.

[Conduit]

Just for your information, I have komplete 8 (includes all but alicia keys and the giant) and I find Berlin, New York and Vienna grand all extremely lacking. If your thinking about buying komplete 9 just for them you should consider some other options, although the rest of the komplete set is great.

[ChocolateChicken]

Just for your information, I have komplete 8 (includes all but alicia keys and the giant) and I find Berlin, New York and Vienna grand all extremely lacking. If your thinking about buying komplete 9 just for them you should consider some other options, although the rest of the komplete set is great.

Oh really? I'm surprised because those libraries were recommended by other MLR members on here. I think Kyoga was the one who praised Berlin Grand in the past. Well then if those pianos aren't good, then I suppose the only piano libraries worth getting are either The Giant or Emotional Pianos, Emotional Pianos probably being the better of the two.

And although The Giant doesn't come with Komplete 8, it is included in Komplete 9, so I suppose Emotional Pianos would be the only other piano library worth getting if one were to purchase Komplete 9.

[Conduit]

Oh really? I'm surprised because those libraries were recommended by other MLR members on here. I think Kyoga was the one who praised Berlin Grand in the past. Well then if those pianos aren't good, then I suppose the only piano libraries worth getting are either The Giant or Emotional Pianos, Emotional Pianos probably being the better of the two.

And although The Giant doesn't come with Komplete 8, it is included in Komplete 9, so I suppose Emotional Pianos would be the only other piano library worth getting if one were to purchase Komplete 9.

They're easily better then the default sounds most DAWs have, and better then the stock kontakt ones, but I'm used to playing on my Yamaha P-105 (pretty mid-range electric piano, cost ~700) so the sound quality just doesn't compare.

[Conduit]

@CaptainIronhelm I'm really impressed with the Ebony Grand, it sounds stunning. If I had $500 laying around I would definitely go for it.

[ChocolateChicken]

They're easily better then the default sounds most DAWs have, and better then the stock kontakt ones, but I'm used to playing on my Yamaha P-105 (pretty mid-range electric piano, cost ~700) so the sound quality just doesn't compare.

I stand corrected then!

[ChocolateChicken]

For a kontakt piano library, or any piano library in general, the most discouraging thing for me to hear is if the average note decay is at around five seconds. That to me is one of the most annoying parts of any sample library because actually piano keys take up to ten seconds or longer to decay in volume. Keys that barely last audibly when struck gently are a dead giveaway that they are crappy samples. I sure hope Emotional Pianos doesn't disappoint. Hopefully The Giant doesn't have a bad volume decay either.

[LoreRD]

Dang, just saw that there's a sale going on for Emotional Pianos (it's now ~$100). Might actually get it now

[CaptainFluffatun]

Yeah, Emo Pianos is great

[LoreRD]

Welp, just got Emotional Piano. Let's see how this goes...

[Conduit]

Tell me how it is, I'm pretty sure I'll be picking it up today too if its still $100.

[LoreRD]

Only messed around with it a little so far. Tbh, the piano itself is just slightly better than the Komplete ones (New York, Alicia's Keys, etc.), but the built-in FX are some of the prettiest I've heard. I'd probably say it's worth it. Keep in mind that it seems to be quite CPU-heavy.

[ChocolateChicken]

Only messed around with it a little so far.

Pick any one random note, like middle C or something, and press it and hold it down. No reverb or effects. How long does it take for the note to decay in volume until it is inaudible?

[Fimbulin]

I would have to agree with Ironhelm on the synthogy pianos.

http://www.ilio.com/products/synthogy-instruments/ig

Seriously this is AMAZING. Listen to the Chopin demo!

[LoreRD]

Only messed around with it a little so far.

Pick any one random note, like middle C or something, and press it and hold it down. No reverb or effects. How long does it take for the note to decay in volume until it is inaudible?

Around 20 seconds or so until the sound disappears completely, but generally inaudible after 10 seconds

[ChocolateChicken]

Pick any one random note, like middle C or something, and press it and hold it down. No reverb or effects. How long does it take for the note to decay in volume until it is inaudible?

Around 20 seconds or so until the sound disappears completely, but generally inaudible after 10 seconds

Wow, I'm impressed! If that is truly the case, Emotional Pianos is the only piano library that has a realistic volume decay! That makes it even more worth buying.

[Conduit]

Just picked up emotional pianos. Its great so far, I love the sound of it. I should have a full track featuring it up next week, so I'll get that posted along with a few shorter demos and a semi-full review. The sale goes for another week (until the 12th) so those of you thinking of buying it have time. I'll make sure my review is up before the sale is over

[Conduit]

Actually, if you guys want to see some well known songs played through the library I could do that. I have some Yiruma, Chopin, and Kyle Landry midi's laying around so I could throw those through Emo Pianos. If you have some other songs you would like to hear just throw me the midi.

[Conduit]

Updated with some demos

[HMage]

Around 20 seconds or so until the sound disappears completely, but generally inaudible after 10 seconds

Wow, I'm impressed! If that is truly the case, Emotional Pianos is the only piano library that has a realistic volume decay! That makes it even more worth buying.

Most standalone piano libraries have long realistic decays.

Galaxy Steinway: 22.7 seconds
Emotional Piano: 23.6 seconds
Vintage D: 32.7 seconds
The Giant: 27.7 seconds

With that said, emotional piano's decay is postprocessed — the amount of noise increases over time very noticeably — when I play sustain on low velocities noise becomes unbearable.