Piano VST recommendations

[solomon23.st]

Hi all,

I am looking for good quality stand alone piano VSTs that cost less than $200

My long term plan is to purchase keyscape however it is not affordable for me at this point in time. I also only want to use VSTs for the grand piano sound and don’t need any other features/sounds.

I am new in the DAW world and struggle enough with navigating through reaper, which I believe is less complicated than other DAWs. I am aware some VSTs require additional sample players such as kontakt, however I am trying to avoid complicating the process with additional software as I am still trying to learn the basics of how to use a DAW.

I would be open to any existing YouTube tutorials on how to use kontakt etc that you have come across.

I currently use Addictive Keys piano VST.

[Hayden]

Our video editor recently sent me this new piano VST product:

• Modartt: Pianoteq overview

I see that their lowest price VST pack is €139.

I believe it’s a synthesiser using physical modelling instead of samples, so the file size is only 50MB.

To quote our video editor, he told me:

It’s the exact opposite of Keyscape which immediately provides a good sound as standards. Apparently PianoTeq 9 requires more tweaking of the settings to match each individual player and their keyboard, but once the settings are optimised it sounds substantially more realistic than Keyscape.

Might be of interest!

[Hayden]

Also the Ravenscroft 275 has been discussed extensively here in the community area.

That’s $199 - so just in your budget:

• https://www.vilabsaudio.com/Ravenscroft-By-VI-Labs

Here’s a thread from our software section:

Ravenscroft 275 Virtual Piano

Congratulations on your new lesson production and your performance sounds FANTASTIC! The rich sound of the piano used with your performance is very nice. I’ve been shopping for new piano performances recently. I’m curious about that piano voice source and name.

[kevinrhart]

Hi, I have got Ravenscroft and Pianoteq with the Pianoteq ( In my humble opinion) coming in miles ahead of the Ravenscroft.

[scott1]

@solomon23.st
At that price point, the Ravenscroft is a good choice. I have never tried the Pianoteq 9, but it sounds great. You might find this video useful.

Hope this helps.

- YouTube

[scott1]

Quick follow up: You might also want to take a look at the Dexibell TL2 VST, priced at $95.00.

- YouTube

- YouTube

[solomon23.st]

Thanks for your recommendations I will check these out

[solomon23.st]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll give these a lesson and also compare it with Addictive Keys to see if there are any observable differences as they are similar in cost

[kevinrhart]

The new Logic Studio Grand is definitely also worth a look so if you have Logic Pro it is a free vst.