Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)(Note: I wrote this about the Pro Version in the Basic product review but I noticed there is the Pro version on Amazon, so I am going to repeat it with slight editing.)
I noticed this product last year. I recently purchased the Pro version and it is a real hoot! I remember being frustrated last year as it was announced and months later there was still no release. I then really forgot about it.
It came to my attention recently and found it was available so I purchased this full version that has the 24 bit samples. I have ran both 24 bit and the Pro version "high quality" 16 bit versions and I am not sure after listening the short amount that I have it IF there is any material difference. BOTH are quite impressive.
I was going to buy a 10,000 RPM hard drive for my Icy Dock Sata, Firewire 800 enclosure (these are VERY sweet because they, different hard drives, just slide and snap-in, taking seconds and you just buy accessary trays that you can use as many hard drives you have as long as they are compatible like SATA) but I found my 7200 external quite nice and effective, a Western Digital, for the 24 bit samples going USBII into my 2.2GHz, Macbook Pro.
Earlier, I changed my Macbook Pro (laptop) hard drive to one of those Momentus 7200 RPM drives so the minimum requirements of the Garritan Steinway to run on a 7200 RPM are there actually, *inside* the laptop without an external.
So I tried it. I ran the laptop having the samples on the *internal* using a Firewire 800 connection to an RME Fireface 800 rack acting as my sound-card. Worked GREAT! right from my laptop!!! (with no external drive). HOWEVER, after playing for about an hour or so, the program crashed. (not the laptop, obviously it's a MAC!!). I suspect that it was system file interference, OR one would have to disconnect Airport temporarily to run the Steinway samples direct from the Macbook Pro. I will play with that later, while in the meantime, I am running the 24 bit samples from the Icy Dock with no issues.
The first thing I noticed with playing the Garritan Steinway is the 'singing' capability of the 'instrument'. I am currently using a Yamaha graded action (P80). I should add that the touch of 'hard' 'soft' etc work on the actual P80 and surely other digital pianos to the Garritan for different players' choices since it is adjusting the midi-out velocities though obviously, this can be controlled via the software. Singing notes of the strings or selected tones that are struck harder just stand out with it's dynamic range, something I only perceived at this level by playing a actual acoustic grand. The tone is sweet and not artificial. It is warm and addicting to play and if you intend to play for only a few minutes you will likely get up an hour later.
This software will get you back practicing. You will not tire of the quality like another version of your hardware, digital piano comes out 3 to 6 months later that you wish you waited to buy. The instrument if you look up on the forums is worked on profusely for upgrades by the developer(s). It IS a sampled piano but offers the versatility of having some DSP programming to add and tweak to your desired sound the peripheral tones of the instrument. Hammond actually did this with organ to bring out a new B3. They combined samples with modeling as a hybrid to get just about the EXACT sound in the recent model vintages but tweakable. This was called VASEIII though surely not on the same model parameters as the Garritan but the concept is the same.
The Pro version has 5 perspectives. You need to try them all to find out which one is 'you', having the ability to change to another perspective (mic positions with 5 sets of samples) for a change-up or for a targeting sound for a certain tune or location where you are playing.
For *loud* bands that want to use this: the dynamic range may be a problem for cut. The solution has been to use on the 'loud band' stage a compressor, it would seem. The best compressor methods, imo, have been the upward compression available with some compression software that does not effect the attack or the envelope of the struck string. Using compression, the tone with a lower dynamic range can hang longer, cut through the mix, before it decays (not as realistic but can improve the piano-cut with loud music, as I said, where you really cannot hear the fine nuances of an accurate emulation and sympathetic sounds).
For my playing, I see no need for this. Can't see that compression would be necessary for moderate band volumes either.
This software is really a great gift to the digital piano world, in my view. Garritan should be congratulated as I suspect this has been and still is, quite a 'life event' struggle to get this right from start to finish. These Garritan Authorized Steinway packages are a phenomenal deal to get the REAL sound to those of us who cannot affort the real-deal. Does it replace the real Model D Steinway? No. But it is sure fun to play something this close.
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