Craig Fowler

Thanks for the heads-up! I couldn't pass it up at that price...I'm sure I'll get around to installing it someday!

The WG2 combines white grand & sister, right? I've always liked that VI!

Somehow, I've never ended up buying Black Grand or TVBO...could this be the time?! 🙂

You guys are lucky; we're up to about $9 per gallon here in NZ.

But as to the original question, yes 🙂

The last time I was in the market, I thought the G&L's Tribute line was the best import series. Honestly, I probably prefer the MIK ASAT Special I had to the USA model I replaced it with.

23 hours ago, Christian Jones said:

We probably wouldn't 

That's the spirit!

2 hours ago, Christian Jones said:

Lol you still never told me what your favorite acoustic piano library is. That was when you were testing NOIRE. I said "if someone had a gun to your head and was forcing you to pick a single favorite, what would it be?" - but instead of you breaking down and picking a favorite you used an emoticon to act like you got your brains blown out lol

I'm no Simeon, Christian, but I'd pick VSL CFX as my single favourite acoustic library. If you couldn't bring yourself to use e-licenser, I'd pick VI Labs Modern U.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't invest in 20-30 other libraries too, just to make sure you've got your bases covered.

12 hours ago, Fleer said:

Meanwhile, anxiously looking out for that Rosewood upgrade

How's the playability compared to some of the better sampled instruments (e.g., Modern U) and Pianoteq? I in no way 'need' this, but a C7 is a piano I don't actually have covered well with other libraries (though I have 3 versions of the CFX 🙂 ).

I was sort of expecting to upgrade one of my VSL pianos from standard to full this month, but the discounts aren't good enough to make me pull the trigger which means I'm looking at OTS instead. 

3 hours ago, Marshall said:

I have to say I was SO looking forward to the Vox. I didn’t see one negative review. Fortunately I tried the demo before pulling the trigger, because I couldn’t get it to sound halfway good. I felt I was in a minority of one! Just shows how subjective amp sims are.

I still plan on picking the Vox up at some point when it's on sale, just because there are so few halfway decent sims out there covering that ground. But I agree; there's part of me that really likes Nembrini stuff, but I like the Kuasa set up + a few others that they don't get much use.

So...pianos are my weakness. Can I justify this to myself on the grounds that I don't have a Fazioli? 

With all the other excellent pianos I have, is there any point shelling out for a collection that's what? 7 or 8 years old at this point?

Someone talk me in or out of it! 

Those things are louder than any 30W amp has any right to be! I had one and just couldn't make use of it!

5 hours ago, Bapu said:

I've had my HD-600s for quite a few years now. Eventually the inner headband wore out as did the foam covers over the transducers. Replaced them both for under $20.

 

These are my non-DAW hp's that I use to check final mixes on.

Where'd you get the spare parts Bapu? I thought it was just me acidic ear sweat that had melted the transducer covers!

1 hour ago, Zo said:

Eden is he reason i m selling my neural dsp .... it s just my fav , if i need more dirt i open AT , but basically all one might need ...

Also the trace elliot is one of my fav seems we have some taste in comon ...

That Trace in Amplitube is really good. I have an early 90s Trace combo that (I think) was a series or two before the one IK emulated, but the sim is uncannily close! It also sounds like nothing else, which...can be a blessing or a curse!

4 hours ago, Esteban Villanova said:

Price is crazy, but I like that there are new amps being coded. No one complains that there are too many Marshall emulations. There are WAY too few bass amp sims. I did an exhaustive comparison between most of the ones available and, although there are some great sounding ones, the ONLY one that actually felt like playing a real amp  was the Softube Eden emulation. The sound quality is way better than anything else I tried. There's just way more options for guitar.

Edit: If you want some great bass tones, use Airwindows BassDrive in front of the amp sim. INSANE tones.

Nice to see a fellow Eden fan!

I agree that it would be nice to have some more options in terms of bass amp sims. I'm pretty happy with what I've got (all the IK and Bx Ampeg stuff + the IK Trace Elliot/Softube Eden). I'd be interested in a good Hartke and a more valvey Trace.

The price is a really tough sell when there are *already* really good Ampeg options available, and I think the gains are more incremental in the lower frequencies (at least with my hearing), so this offering would have to be really special to make me shell out that much.

1 hour ago, Christian Jones said:

I'm gonna have to look into what the deal with felt piano is as I haven't paid it much attention. What are some of its most useful.. uses?

It depends on how extreme the felting is. "Heavy" felt can transform the sound into something thick, soft, and plummy. I prefer a lighter felt which just mellows/tames the attack. My upright used to have a light felt, and it could almost feel like playing a rhodes at times. Alas, it wore through and was replaced with a really thick felt that's kinda deadened it.

TLDR; a felted piano is a thing of beauty!

3 hours ago, MusicMan said:

Thanks Fleer and Cclary, I downloaded the demo for TVBO and quite liked it, so I'll probably get that one.

WG Mk II could be interesting Fleer. I was considering Black Grand as well, but I'd like something for modern/pop as well on this one, so WG might be a better choice I guess.

It's very useful - quite different from most grands!

2 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

I have a bunch of Sampletekk/Per's pianos, but I still haven't picked up Vertikal. I suppose now is the time. I'm a sucker for upright pianos. 

Vertikal's worth having!

I feel anxious just looking at that GUI...

Get thee the Eden bass sim if you don't already have one you like (or even if you do!)

BARGAIN!

11 hours ago, Soundwise said:

It's a masterpiece! One of the best amp-sim plugins ever built.

It was rather difficult to pick the second plugin to go with Train II. I tried  Rockergain100 and Overdrive Supreme but wasn't impressed. Also Matcha, although decent, has a very limited functionality, i.e., no portamento, impossible to change pickups, etc.

I feel validated! I *like* the ODS, but the Train II is one of the few sims where the sounds I can get from it actually resemble those in the demos.

4 hours ago, Soundwise said:

Couldn't pass this by. Snatched Train II and MasterDesk. Quite a bargain for $25.

Be interested in your verdict on Train II - it's one of my favourites.

I really want the Clarent; I'm just not doing enough music at the moment to justify yet *another* amp sim! It sounds pretty terrific though.

Feel better, Marc!

Here's something you can kill time doing if you feel up to it - try out the new Nembrini DC30 and let us know what you think!

The problem with Simeon is that he makes everything sound good 🙂

There's a post from the VSL account at the Pianoworld forums saying they're shifting from e-licenser to iLok (no dongle required), so I wouldn't read subscription into the changes. Maybe Steinberg just can't be bothered to make the dongles anymore 🙂

I thought those demos sounded really impressive @Bajan Blue. I'll be getting the Clarent at some point!