Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Dorian Marko Piano-- New Steinway VST to watch out for?

Just came across this vst, the Dorian Marko piano by Auddict, set to release on the 27th:



14 velocity layers, (7 una corda layers), adjustable sympathetic resonance, hammer noises, releases, three mic positions.

"Recorded and brought to life by a professional virtuoso pianist who knows exactly how a piano should feel and sound. Rest assured, this sounds and plays like the real deal." Whatever that means

The claim of being "the most realistic piano VST" is as usual, likely to be outlandish. But I have to say, the couple of demos so far sounds really nice. In particular the quiet parts sound pretty legit, and that's a part I feel libraries often feel at or skip over in demos. They say they "put extra care to ensure we get all the fine-grades of the low velocities." 14 velocity layers seems a little low for that, but after testing the Galaxy Vintage D with 13 layers I know that you can make a smooth library without resorting to modeling or VSL levels of overkill.

Just thought it might be one to watch.

thank you for the info. i think it will be hard to place another steinway d. the level of the already existing vsts is already very high.

Agreed, Klausi.

I think companies are on a hiding to nothing if they enter the piano vst market with a Steinway D!

For some users the presence of una corda might be enough to interest. The VSL Steinway is eminently playable once you get the velocity curve down, but I personally don't like the sound of piano itself all that much. This sounds like it might be somewhere between the VSL and Embertone tone wise, which I'd love. But we'll see.

Like me, haha. But what I don't understand is, is it 14 layers counting una corda (7+7), or 14 without +7 with una corda =21 layers in total? If it's the latter, then that's a force to be reckoned with, along side older Steinways like the Ivory II instruments.

That would be 21 total!

I've come to realize that I don't care that much if the same model piano has been sampled multiple times; it's really so much more about the character of the individual VST, both in it's sampling process and the characteristics of the physical instrument itself.

For instance, I'm ambivalent about both the Noire and Garritan CFX, only using them occasionally, and I've always said I don't like the sound of the CFX as piano all that much. But now VSL CFX has become my most used VST of them all -- and I own all the VSL pianos.

That's for sure. I mean, I give my pianos out for free, and it's been interesting seeing how marketing, the instrument itself, and sampling technique are valued by the consumer end product. It seems like this guy has some piano chops, and I'm beginning to think that the playability of a VST is somewhat related to the abilities of those who test them. Hoping the instrument is great.

BTW, its uncanny that a guy with a name so similar to mine actually makes piano libraries like I do. I was freaked out when I saw this.

Dore, You need to unite. =)

I'm probably outclassed. But I guess we'll see when the library is released.

agree - this is one of the most important elements with any instrument, real or virtual

For sure. The Skybox audio piano used a robot for sampling, like VSL, yet it's not as playable as many libraries that were made purely by touch.

Speaking about a robot for sampling - what about PNOMation OT?
All you need to do is write MIDI files.
Half-pedaling, re-pedaling, catch pedaling can be automated with its pedal pusher module.
The only manual hack required would be to find a way to press the una corda pedal (place a heavy object on it?) during una corda sampling.

Well, we shall see. I'm looking forward to some classical demos, ETC. If the piano can make articulate phrasings in Bach / Mozart / one of them from that crowd, then that's indeed a force to consider.

😄 David, these days you seem to be all into "Forces to Consider and/or to be Reckoned With" 😉.

Cheers and may the Forces be with us,

Hz

Haha, HZ! For some reason I forced these expressions on ya? LOL. There, I said it again with Force.

Oops, sorry...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more reports on this VST, to see if they can get my wallet interested... I've commented on their video and the replies were fast.

😄

HZ

Thanks for the link! Anyone else finds it super weird that the music and the playing do not match? And I hope that the Novation Launchkey 49 was not the reference for calibrating the velocity response of the library ;-)

Oh I know, that would be quite a disaster if it were the case.

There's always something. No half pedaling, it turns out. Though they'd consider it as a future upgrade.

A little surprising for something that's claiming to be a top tier piano library in 2022. I know half pedaling isn't a big deal to some people, but it's just something supported by my most of the top libraries for playability.

Well, that means... the waiting continues. Thanks for the report!