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John,

Thanks for the very informative description. I love learning new things.


So you use the Ribbon and Decca (Main L/R), but not the Decca Center, correct?

God Bless,
David

My pleasure. I love this stuff!

I use the ribbon and just a touch of the L/R for ambience. The L/R can be used as well by itself but it's a little bit too reverberant for my tastes.

@johnstaf - I also would like to thank you for these educational insider posts. They are a pleasure to read.

I've purchased the Standard version of the BI, and have immediately compared it to the old VI.

Well, they are really different instruments. The way to approach them is different. BI seems to be smoother than VI, whose dynamics I've always found to lean toward the forte. The position of the piano relative to the player is different, with the BI being farther, more into the space than under your fingers.

VI is a stronger piano. A studio piano, with a marked desire to be first, forward, in your face. BI is more laid back. It has a larger dynamic range, but it dominates it better.

The room mics in the Standard version are fine for me. To be true, I immediately switched from the Room Mix (including the surround mics) to the Decca tree, containing all the room information I need.

I would like to have the Tube mic, for that slighly far from the hammers sound; but the included Condenser mic seems to have the right balance between brightness and smoothness, never being harsh. And, mixed with the Mid 1 pair it gives a perfect blend, incisive and full.

As much as I would save money and give the BI back, I understand that it is a much more "classical music" piano, whereas the VI is still a more "jazz club" piano. So, both seem to be useful tools in production. And both are incredible fun!

Paolo

If you shoot an email to support, they would likely let you trial it. Don't ask how I know. ;-)

The condenser mic of BI works much better than that on their Steinway. I like to blend the condenser with the tube mic for BI.

By comparing it to the one in the Lite version of the Steinway I own, and to the mic demos heard in VSL's site, it is clear how piercing and harsh the Steinway's condenser is, and how bright and round the one in the Bösendorfer is. Both reproduce the exact nature of the instrument.

The VSL Steinway came as a surprise for many of us, accustomed to the old 'balanced' and a bit on the mellow sound of that brand. Times are changing, and Steinway (and VSL) are adapting to the times. VSL's Steinway is a Yuja Wang piano, while the Bösendorfer is a Fedorova piano. They cover the opposites in the spectrum of modern pianism.

Paolo

Found out today in my piano lesson BI doesn't have the very top B note. It shows on the keyboard display within the Vienna Synchron player that the key is being pressed but no sound is generated.

It was the first time using BI with the piece of music that required that note.

Very much confused me.

Mine has all the notes. Maybe it's your controller?

That it works for you is a useful bit of information for me, thanks David. In this case I know it isn't the controller, as I said within the Vienna Synchron Player it shows the note being played on its virtual keyboard just that no sound is produced. I'll see if I have somehow changed a setting within the Vienna Synchron Player to turn off the top note. The Vienna Imperial piano which I have used previously for this piece has no problem.

If I can't sort it, I'll ask on the vsl forums, which is where I should probably have mentioned this in the first place.

I've had problems like this with VSL libraries before.

If there's a problem with the download or installation, you can end up with corrupted libraries that appear to be installed perfectly well.

In my case I think it was a dodgy USB 3 hub that caused the problem.

Kevin, the Timbre Shift causes samples to shift, so that keys play higher or lower samples transposed accordingly. As a result, shifting the timbre down means there are no samples for the highest keys to play. I wish they would just extend the range of the highest / lowest samples to cover the full compass of the keyboard.

Are you sure you do not have Timbre Shift set to -1 or -2? This silences the top notes. Not sure exactly why.

Ah, this is exactly what I've done. I've got -2 on my Timbre Shift set. Thanks all.

That's interesting. I didn't know that. Thank you for sharing.

God bless,
David

Here are a couple explanations that are better than mine. From the Synchron Player manual:
Timbre Shift: Shifts the timbre by pitching samples upon playback, resulting in a warmer sound with negative values and a brighter sound with higher values.

And from Paul Kopf (the OP of this thread) on the VSL forum:
What happens in the background is that the samples are pitched for playback (up to an octave up and down), with interesting results, especially suitable for low velocities.
(https://www.vsl.co.at/community/posts/t50675-NEW-FEATURE-Synchron-Pianos--Timbre-Shift#post279452)

Adjustments by +/-1-3 semitones can do wonders to the character of the pianos.

Hello Everyone,

First time, long time.

Read through this entire thread this past week. Now seriously considering purchasing the Synchron Bösendorfer - especially now with the Black Friday Deals announced today. My question for everyone is how much computer hardware power/memory is needed for it to function with-out hanging or avoiding hardware/software issues?

I do not compose and rarely use a DAW. I will use it to play the piano - it will be an alternative to Pianoteq 6.

My current set-up is an RD-2000 with MIDI out to a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 that interfaces with a Mini mac 2018 with (only) 8 GB RAM; 256 GB SSD; 3 GHz 6-Core i5, using Pianoteq 6 out to Focal monitors. There is no problems with Pianoteq on this current set-up such as latency, hardware/software issues, etc.

I am already looking for an external SSD (1 or 2 TB), and on at OWC’s site looking to get more RAM for the Mini mac.

My question: How much RAM to procure so this set-up will play the Synchron Bösendorfer Full Library smoothly with no latency or other unforeseen problems? 16, 32, or 64 GB? Or, alternatively, will this not be enough computer power to get the job done.

Thank you for your help and assistance. Take care.

Cheers.

Scott

16GB of RAM will be enough to run 3-4 mics concurrently which is what I usually do.

Harpuia

Thank you for your prompt response - and the information.

Scott

Yep, the VSL samples/software seem to be a resource hog compared to Pianoteq. I also have a MacMini 2018. I have 16GB of ram and can run 4/5 mics if I wanted to @ 64 buffer.

You should be OK with 16. However, 32 would be better.

God Bless,
David