Synthogy Ivory, Steinway Authorized Garritan or EastWest/Quantum Leap Pianos

[TiPo]

Hello to all,

This is a repost from the V.I. Forum because of the lack of responses.

I have listened to the demo samples of all 3 (I think the 3 best in the today's market) of the Virtual Piano Instruments mentioned in the title of this post and I am having trouble deciding which one should I buy. The most authentic sounding might be the Garritan, but what I am also looking for is the one that can be used best for music production purposes that is authentic enough and also easy to implement its sound into a mix of other instruments.

I am looking for people who have actual first hand experiences and mostly mixing experiences with any or all of these V.I.s.
Need some input from people who are using these instruments.
Please share your honest opinion which one you like the most and why.

Thank you!

[Intini]

Hi! I have the East West Goliath (for Structure) that comes with a Steinway piano and it is great. However, I must ask you if you tried the Pianoteq plug-in: small, light on CPU, no samples, ultra flexible, great great response and feel, and sounds amazing. If I was to buy a piano only plug-in, I would definately consider it. I used on Pro Tools and it worked perfectly. Just my $0.02.

[ronwasserman]

I have most piano plugs and libraries out there. Lately for a pop project I've found Ivory Upright Pianos are the best of the bunch. I also have all the Sampletekk stuff which is really good.

[Eric Lambert]

Ivory!

Garritan and EW are fine, but not on the same level.

The ONLY thing I liked about pianoteq was its playability. It did feel pretty natural, but sonically it just didn't cut it.

[JGuth]

I use Ivory. I checked out Garritan, nice sound but very non mono compatible.

[JFreak]

Ivory !!

[WernerF]

Ivory. I've used it on many projects where the label wouldn't pony up for the extra cost of another studio with a great real piano. Most of the time the band isn't too happy about the corporate cheapness but when we start using Ivory, especially the Upright Pianos, everyone ends up happy.

I've used a lot of real pianos as well and, as far as my experience goes, Ivory's more than just a make do substitute.

[relaxo]

How does the new built-into-PT8 AIR piano compare with the best out there?

[hlj3]

I make my living playing the piano. The Ivory Italian Grand is in my opinion the closest I have heard to a real miked up grand piano.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by relaxo

How does the new built-into-PT8 AIR piano compare with the best out there?

It's actually pretty good. Considering the cost, it's excellent!