i've given up looking out for piano soft synths. they're usually too big and require a lot of processing power, like the steinway in GPO or require an enormous amount of hard disk space, like The Grand. or something in the sound that i dislike, like the plugsound keyboards. kinda hard when i'm running a laptop with limited ram and hdd, and still got other VSTis to run during the gig. i've settled with hardware stage pianos, and for me it works better than almost anything else. ease of use, acceptable sound.
For stage use, I agree that most hardware pianos are OK - whatever sound that comes out from the speakers are not that defined anyway. For recording and production, it is a different story.
Anyhow, I'm surprised GPO piano takes up a lot of power. It's supposed to be a very streamed down piano. Anyway, if you want quality software piano, I would suggest softsamplers rather than VSTis. Standalone VSTis tend to take up more power - softsamplers are better programmed to handle CPU and RAM. Gigastudio handles memory and CPU better than Kontakt. And most of the samples are not that large - max a few GBs (usually not more than 3 or 4 for the largest sample). Most HD can take that. As for processing power, I've used my Gigastudio in live situations running more than 20 instruments at the same time (huge samples - more than 10GB in total) without dropping a single note. I don't think one piano will take up that much - unless it is TBO. Problem with Gigastudio is that you can't use other plug-ins when it is running. But Kontakt can.
Hey since we're at it, here's my setup (though I don't use it much these days!) but keeping them around for "sentimental" value
These are my "vintage" setup (some more than others!):
Alesis QS7
Korg WavestationAD (rack mount)
Emu Proteus 1
Korg M1R
Kurzweil P1000
Ensoniq ASR10 (rack)
Boss DR660
....and now the REAL vintage stuff *deep breath*
Korg EX8000
Korg MS20 and MS50
Korg Synth-Bass (this one is pretty rare, I think)
Korg Poly Six
Roland SH101
Roland SH09
Roland TB303 (with Kenton MIDI)
Roland Jupiter 8
Prophet Pro-1
Yamaha SS30 (strings machine)
Moog Source
ARP Odyssey
Kenton Pro-2 MIDI/CV converter
Rhodes Suitcase 73
Casio CZ101
(did I mention that I'm a vintage collector?!)
As for softsynths, well, enjoying my "fair share" of free VSTi and DXi running thru Cakewalk, Cubase and Reason.
Hi Mr.QF,
Since you own the real Korg MS20 and Poly Six and the WavestationAD ,
what do you think of the current software Korg Legacy edition of MS20,
Poly Six and Wavestation?
Are they as good as the vintage ones or better?
May seek your opinion?
Ha,Ha!!
Believe it or not, I've NOT tried the software version yet!!! :P
I guess, my "excuse" would be since I own the "real" thing, why use the "fake"?!!
No offense to those who are using the virtual ones, ah?
Quite true, but also have to watch the software development as well. Coz, IMHO, I think that one day, the software will "catch up" with all these!
Also, with all the added burden of having to MAINTAIN a hardware piece, sometimes, the software versions start to get to be a tempting alternative!
QF... remember you are still able to make some nice music with the 20-30 year old hardware you have, and it has resale value. You will never be able to do the same with software and computers
