Pianoteq 5 is out.

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Tobor
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Re: Pianoteq 5 is out.

Post by Tobor »

I just got the 'Stage' version which is a little over a hundred and added on the Bluthner for an extra 50 or 60. There's a lot to work with here for around $175. You can still tweak velocity and pedal noises etc. to customize the presets to your liking in the Stage version. Plus the demos of all the other instruments are always available and give you a pretty good feel, so if you find you really need the full version of the add-ons you know what you're getting.

Pretty good value, I'd say.
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stubbsonic
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Re: Pianoteq 5 is out.

Post by stubbsonic »

I'd go listen to the demos (or better yet, install the demo) and see which pianos you like.

All of the pianos are gorgeous, but the differences in tone are pretty clear. I especially like the Bluethner and the Upright U4 for the kind of stuff I do.
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SixStringGeek
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Re: Pianoteq 5 is out.

Post by SixStringGeek »

FWIW, 5.0.1 just released - no idea what bug got fixed. :)
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David Polich
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Re: Pianoteq 5 is out.

Post by David Polich »

SixStringGeek wrote:FWIW, 5.0.1 just released - no idea what bug got fixed. :)
They added back the old D4 preset from Pianoteq4, and reduced the "metallic" overtones
on some of the lower octaves for some models. Some users complained about both of these
issues.

Personally, I like the "metallic" overtones, that's what piano strings are made of - metal. I had
no qualms about the initial release, but I guess that's just me.
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mhschmieder
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Re: Pianoteq 5 is out.

Post by mhschmieder »

I thought that update came out eons ago. I'll check when I get home; maybe they used an even lower number for the first update that I downloaded.

I've been moving away from Pianoteq lately as I am unable to get acceptable results when re-tracking stuff with P5. It's a strange thing, because it's better than ever when playing live, but I am especially having problems with staccato style playing when using it with MIDI recorded from earlier versions, even if I heavily edit the MIDI to try to deal with differences in the envelope or heavily edit Pianoteq itself.

Orange Tree Samples Rosewood joined my collection recently, and along with Ravenscroft (MachFive) has become my most reliable renderer of pre-existing tracks from MIDI that I recorded earlier (regardless of source). Not always the timbre I want, of course. I have to edit a bit to get the right results with those as well, and I don't use them when tracking new stuff live (whether permanent takes or audio plus MIDI for later cleanup).

I'm referring mostly to jazz oriented contexts, just to be clear.

I am tempted to start using the older D4 again myself due to the issues mentioned above. I'm actually having better luck with the patches that have NOT yet been tweaked for the new engine. But I haven't had time to look further into these issues since my first weekend with P5 in serious sessions. I had to move on; time is money. I figured I'd give it another go after some more updates and see if I have the same issues.

Now I am starting to see the downside of non-sample-based products and their ability to continuously update, which is that the vendor will constantly be torn between different people's needs and possibly see-saw back and forth. It is doubtful the engine can be tweaked to be idealized for every situation, but maybe I'm wrong there.

Currently, I am making more use of Erard and some of the less known models than the main engine. I'm finding they sit in the mix better, in most cases.

This may sound like a lot of complaining, but nothing else (in my view) even comes close to Pianoteq, even with its occasional flaws, than the two libraries I just mentioned above -- both of which are extremely new.
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