In terms of a good balance between tone and playability, given the choice of any VST (or VSTs), which one(s) would YOU prefer for playing piano soloes of Pop, Jazz Standards (ie - Great American Songbook) and Showtunes? And if you really want to delve deeper, which preset(s) in that VST would you prefer for this purpose?

I know that this is highly subjective, so please keep it civil. FWIW, I own a VPC-1 (which I play mostly with headphones) and DON'T play any classical at all.

Just curious what the general consensus is on this topic.

Thanks!

FWIW I believe Garritan CFX is good for everything. It is both bright and dark at the same time, don’t know how’s that possible but it is

I agree with CyberGene - Garritan CFX (full version) would be a good option. I'd also consider:

1. Ivory American D (1950's era Steinway D) - very warm, rich & dynamic. Great response under the fingers. Huge range of tone shaping built in.

2. Embertone Walker Concert D (1955 New York Steinway D) - the lite version is remarkably good for the price. Updates are due soon (supposedly!)

2. EZkeys Studio Grand (a Hamburg Steinway B sampled in a studio in Sweden) - check out this demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPCJut5ICyo

I'd also add Production voices 'Concert Grand' to the list. The 'Concert Grand Compact' is an amazing deal at $29

Definitely Embertone Walker Steinway. Or Pianoteq Steinway Model B.

Ravenscroft 275

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj-Vmg91Q2A&t=243s

Production Grand from Production Voices is a Yamaha C7 is great for jazz improvisation. Their Concert Grand (Steinway D) is also good.

https://www.productionvoices.com/product/production-grand-compact/

There's a free demo (just a few keys enabled) you can download.

If you're quick you can catch this on sale. I've had a copy for a over a year and it's a beauty:

https://fluffyaudio.com/shop/scoringpiano/

Thanks for your thoughts on this, everyone!

Hmmm.... Just tried the demo and, while limited in the number of keys that work, was pretty impressed - especially at the current price. One thing I didn't find, though, was a velocity curve setting. Is the touch sensitivity slider supposed to do the same thing?

Thanks!

For Pop I'd use Addictive Keys - Studio Grand. You can easily put it in any mix. An awesome instrument for what it made for!







Also, for Pop and Jazz, I'd name Production Voices - Production Grand 2.

For Jazz: NI - The Maverick, Galaxy - Vintage D and Vienna Grand.

Following up on my previous comment -- I've been experimenting a bit with the demo and was almost ready to buy this VST. But then I came across a most peculiar behavior. Specifically on key C3, when you strike it with moderate force and no pedal, the tone repeats (albeit much quieter) about 1 second after striking the key, as if it's a distant echo. Strike the key with either minimal or lots of force and this behavior disappears. I can't try any adjacent keys to see if this affects an entire range of keys because they're disabled in the demo.

I've never come across this kind of thing before. Is there some kind of adjustment that gets rid of, or at least mitigates, this behavior?