The Very Best Digital Piano

[azure sky]

I've been using William Cockley's perfect piano Vol. I and love it. I sold my SCell card and am getting a Roland XV-5080 synth. Roland makes an outboard expansion board (64MB) of dedicated piano sounds. Does anyone here have an informed opinion comparing the Roland and the Cokley Vol. I or III? (The Roland synth can load AKAI samples hence the Cokley pianos). Or maybe you've heard an even better piano somewhere.
I'm hoping to buy an Kawai MP9000 digital piano (the one with the real wooden keys and hammers) and use that as the midi controller and then use the Roland for the sounds and fly 'em S/PDIF into my AMIII Thanks!

[knewbee]

I asked the same thing myself recently, with regard to pianos samples and the XV-5080.

You should go to the forums here:
http://www.5080land.com/

[Rams Boy]

Listen to "The Ultimate Sample Grand Piano Library". The Fazioli patch is truly unbelievable. I also like the new Roland Expansion Board (5080/3080).I have not heard the Cokley, but please before you buy chack out that Fazioli!

[Oli P]

Originally posted by Rams Boy:
Listen to "The Ultimate Sample Grand Piano Library". The Fazioli patch is truly unbelievable. I also like the new Roland Expansion Board (5080/3080).I have not heard the Cokley, but please before you buy chack out that Fazioli!

It sounds like a Fazioli with no dynamics. It covers maybe 40% of the dynamic range of a real grand, so all playing gets very limited in terms of expression.
How you can find it truly unbeliveable puzzles me....to me it was dissapointing.
I still get the best results from the Yamaha P300...but I don't love it at all.

[lukemaniak]

I like the Fazioli a lot too but it's just 3 dynamic layers...it's stills very usefull though.
With Gigasampler you can Load a Bosendorfer with, 1.8 Gb sampled, 8 layers per note. Nice sound.
But the big problem here is to make PC-Windows and Gigasampler (or Gigastudio) to work propely.

hey Nemesys, a MAC version PLEASE !!!!!!!!

[Kenny Gioia]

I use the Bitheadz Unity DS-1's Black & Whites.

It actually sounds pretty real with a little tweaking and some nice reverb.

[Mount Royal]

I'm not sure if I belong in this forum, but I find the Roland XV-5080 Concert Piano expansion board sounds lovely. I'm no classically trained pianist,
mind you, but I have reasonable ears.

John Caldwell

[Rams Boy]

Oli P,
I had to adjust the filter settings, but after that, the dynamics were nice. Obviously not the real thing, but better than what I've heard so far. I have never heard the Yamaha you are soeaking of.

[roberts]

Yamaha P-50M Piano module
Great Piano sounds
BTW this was the piano used on the last Shania Twain tour

[snoopy]

Roberts! You just gave away my best kept secret!

(can't have everyone knowing one of the best piano modules is only $200)