Hammers & Waves 50% off at NI

[Craig Fowler]

I know there's been a general post that NI have lots of partner libraries on sale, but this is an especially good deal; haven't seen them this low before.

Most of the packs end up at $65 (e.g., the rhodes/wurli combo); the acoustic pack with three pianos still comes out <$90 which is a darn good deal. These are *excellent* instruments.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/pricing/hammers-waves-electric/

[dumbquestions]

To someone with more of a trained ear i guess, How do these stack up against what you get with k ultimate, like noire, the maverick, etc. as well as the scarbee and all of the electric ones included - i listened to the demos from skybox but does it make a noticeable difference to go for these? I’m not sure how to tell the difference in sound. I’ve also started thinking.. if i want the best, and most versatile - should i just bite the bullet by saving up for keyscape, and call it a day? I’m not a “collector” per say (there are too many piano vi’s to enter that league), but if I had to pick something as the one trick pony, that’s what I’m trying to figure out 

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by dumbquestions

[Craig Fowler]

The acoustic pianos are very much of Noire's spirit in terms of combining really well sampled pianos with the fun sound generation engine. I like Noire a lot, but I find the acoustic H&W pianos more expressive - and to me the pair of acoustics uprights are lightyears ahead of the maverick.

In terms of the electrics, I don't (yet!) have the Skybox duo; only the standalone featuring the rarer 'tube' Wurli. The Scarbee versions in Kontakt still hold up quite well, especially the Wurli (IMO) - but in terms of realism and what you can do with the sound the Skybox versions are, I think, a long way ahead.

FWIW, I don't think you'll find Keyscape the best/most versatile based on what I read on the pianoworld forum (in particular, they seem unlikely to wow people who've got the better VSL pianos).  For $150 here you'll get a very nice mid-sized grand, two very different uprights, and both main flavours of e-piano. That's hard to beat, and the only thing really missing would be a concert-sized grand piano (or something that isn't a Yamaha, I suppose).

Even if you *only* want the equivalent of Noire 'pure' - the straight sampled instruments - these are really, really top notch. Add in the sound shaping engine, and they're a hard package to beat. A many-trick pony that does them all excellently!

Obvs, I'm a big fan 🙂

Edited September 16, 2023 by Craig Fowler
wrong word