My pleasure, these were amazing to be able to play. You just have to have the system (CPU, Memory, and fast SSD storage) to have the best experience. I found I need to tweak some things a little more to avoid overloading things, but I have to remember I had a lot of other things pulling in the computer during the live stream. Thanks so much for watching.
Ok, thanks, as I get closer to ordering some new musical gear I don't want to be going in blind. Thanks for the helping me with the crawling to my first steps. It was a pleasure to chat with you tonight - Be well, Jim
Hello Mr. Amburgey! Congratulations on your excellent work, may God bless you greatly! I would like to ask you a question...I own the Ravenscroft 275 and I think a lot about buying the VSL Bosendorfer Imperial because I like the sound a lot, do you think it's worth it considering the high price charged for the Bosendorfer Imperial? ($540) What's your opinion? Do you have a favorite among the VST'S libraries? A big hug from Brazil!
Pedro, first of all, thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement, they are received with much gratitude. Regarding the VSL virtual pianos, they are probably the most detailed when it comes to the amount of velocity layers and number of mic positions, this is especially true with the FULL versions. The Synchron pianos being recorded on the VSL SYNCHRON stage have an almost larger than life quality to them. The recording space can tend to add a little too much as far as ambience, but the close mic positions help to remedy that. The Synchron Imperial is a monster of a piano, with such a commanding tone to it. Their latest Synchron Piano is the Bosendorfer 280 VC which was recorded in their smaller Synchron Studio B, I find myself going to this piano a lot due to the more intimate and close sound it has. There are times you need that LARGE sound of the stage and that is why you sometimes need more than one piano library to choose from, so you find the one that fits into the particular arrangement you are working on. All of this detail does come at a price and the VSL pianos are the Maserati of virtual piano libraries. A wonderful thing about their customer service is that you have a 14-day return policy. That means if you download a piano and find that it is just not working for you as expected, you can return it for a refund. I hope that helps answer some of your questions. Please let me know if there is anything I can assist you with in the future. Joyfully! 🎹
Mr. Amburgey, thank you for taking the time to write me this answer!! It was very helpful for me!! I also tend to prefer pianos with the closest sound. I'm going to start researching the Bosendorfer 280 VC! Thanks for the tips, friend! God be with you!
I see your SL88 works well for you - half the price of the MX88, yet giving up the inners of the synth. So, last Q for today, is this far down the road with advancements in music sampling and a good keyboard controller, is there any significant advantage to using a Dell Lap Top properly loaded with ram and all the recommended specs as apposed to a Mac Note Book. Are Mac's just the way to go configuration wise and ease of functionality. Thanks for your earlier response, Jim
Honestly it is what works best for you. In my situation I produce everything on a Windows machine Inbuilt last year. I chose an i9 and loaded it up with 65gb of RAM with a basic NVidia GeForce 1060 (I think). A full blown Mac OS machine would probably have cost three tines as much. I also have a 2013 MacBook that I take on the road sometimes to play live but I am really pushing it to the edge with what I am doing with some of the newer libraries. It all depends on what your production and performance goals are.
Thank you so much for the kind words, this is truly an outstanding piano library for sure. I will do some more research as it is a musical memory snippet that just popped nto my head while I was playing, I will follow up when I find out ;^) Thanks again for watching.
Hi Simeon. Well done! Through Your videos I bought the HAMMERSMITH PRO and the full version of GARRITAN CFX. Do You feel that if I buy a virtual Piano from VSL this BOSENDORFER IMPERIAL would be the logical and wise option? (because its a different piano from the ones that I have, besides the brand VSL itself). It sounds more round/sweeter and controllable than D-274 Steinway, and more bodied than Yamaha CFX from VSL. Let me know Your thoughts on this one. Its going be used with EASTWEST Orchestra and voice, percussion in any style of music. Thanks! Kind regards, Nuno 🙏
Well the VSL Bosendorfer Inperial is a real powerhouse, it has such a weight and explosiveness to it. Take all of that energy and place it on the Synchron stage and it flexes even more. I would say that while the full version is more expensive, having the extra mic positions really gives you so much flexibility, especially when trying to blend the piano with other instruments and spaces. On the flip side, I have been enjoying the VSL 280 VC as it was recorded in the smaller Studio B, which is also a quite a bit drier. I almost think with the Hammersmith you have the drier piano covered so the Inperial might be just the thing to complete your piano pallet. Thanks so much for your kind words and support. Joyfully!🎹
Hello, Mr. Amburgey. What's the piece that you played from around 3:15 - 4:10. It's really beautiful. I could guess it's more like improvisation but let me know. Thanks.
So glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I was just going where the sound takes me which always amazes me as I never really know where things might go. Thanks so much for watching and stay tuned for more 🤓
My pleasure. I have been using the Studiologic SL88: Grand for a little over a year and find it to be one of the most dynamic controllers in its price range. Thanks so much for watching and for the kind words. Joyfully 🎹
OK, I just had to check this. So, at the time of this video I was using a Studiologic SL880, which is over 15 years old. It is still a very dynamic controller as witnessed in the video, the SL88: Grand that I am using now just takes things to another level dynamically. Thanks again for watching. All the best.
Everything you are hearing is coming directly from the instrument through the audio interface and onto the video, so physical speakers are not involved other that my earbuds that allow me to monitor what is going on. Sound is very subjective and that is why I try and present the audio for my instrument reviews as neutral as possible so you can hear therm for yourself. I do use a small set of Tannoy monitors when I am working on projects, I also use a pair of Beyerdynamic headphones which I really enjoy. Thanks so much for watching.
Very impressive, amazing review! I'm looking some videos on youtube about the Bösendorfer Concert Grand 290 Imperial an your video is one of the best! Could you tell me what piece did you play at 30:00 ? It's amazing! I wish I had the same technique as you =)
Well, at that time I am just improvising allowing the notes to carry me where they wish 🤓 I did a live stream on Saturday on all of the Bosendorfer pianos as a sneak peek into this week's sale at VSL. Check it out. Thanks again for watching and the great support.
@@Rafael-zc6xy make sure you check the latest video where I covered the three Bösendorfer libraries VSL currently have on special. Thanks so much for watching.
@@PraiseTracks I watched that video and the live too! I got the Bösendorfer, but I can't reach high velocities like you. I have to press really hard my piano to get the same velocity as you. On 4:30 for example, I think you are not playing so hard, but you get a nice and bright sound that I still don't know how to reach. Did youi change something on your Synchron Pianos Host, or you just chose the Concert preset? Looking the bar on the top corner all your notes stays on the right half of the bar.. I can't do that.... If you can help me, I will appreciate!
What are your feelings comparing this to the Garritan Cfx ?? I have the Garritan , was thinking of getting the dongle and trying some of the VSl demo stuff . From what I have heard on You Tube the VSL Piano Library is the most detailed and realistic sounding. And I love the Garritan CFX .
As someone who has both the Garritan CFX and full versions of the VSL CFX and Steinway D (and I also tried the full version of the Imperial for about 2 weeks) I would advise you to get the VSL CFX. For me, it has the best sound and programming of them all. My preference goes CFX > Imperial > Steinway > Upright (I haven't tried the Blüthner). You can try out all Synchron pianos for 30 days (provided you have the dongle) - so just go for that and see if you like them.
@@musicman102357 Have you tried out the others? I find that the Steinway has a very distinct tone but I can't get it to sound round and truly dynamic. It was the first VSL piano I bought and honestly a lot of times I wish I hadn't. I find myself tweaking settings everytime I use it while the VSL CFX was way easier to get right.
@@mangodsky2809 I had to make adjustments to the midi and dynamic levels in the software in order to get it to respond the way I liked. Without those adjustments, I could not change the velocity curve on my Casio Privia enough where it responded correctly and did not sound "bright " all the time. I was only interested in the Steinway , having the Garritan CFX and Vienna is more than enough for me. At some point, I might try toe Bosendorfer mainly out of curiosity.
@@musicman102357 I have a Kawai MP11 and I didn't get the Steinway to respond correctly either. Honestly, just try the pianos with the 30 day free trial licenses and if you don't get them to sound right or respond right don't buy them. The CFX works the best out of all the VSL pianos for me. It's the best VST I have ever had the pleasure of using, but it took a bit to dial it all in as well.
Getting back into music after being away for what feels like a 100 years. Would a Yamaha MX-88 work well with this software, can I use a windows laptop or is it only Mac Note books which seem to rule the day - Thanks - Jim
Jim, yes you can run these on both Mac or Windows machines. The thing you have to consider is that since there are so many sample layers to deal with you need a fairly robust CPU and fast storage. I have my Synchron pianos on an internal m.2 NVME drive. A speedy SSD would also work. Let me know if you had any additional questions and I will do my best to assist. All the best.
The MX-88 would also be a nice controller to use as well. The other thing to consider is an audio interface for low latency. If the MX-88 has an ASIO compatible driver then you might be able to get by using that,
So glad you enjoyed watching and listening. It is so amazing to me what actually comes out when playing these amazing libraries. Thanks so much for watching. All the best.
Which would be your favourite or most recommended piano vst? I love the LARGE bigger-than-life sound of this Bosendorfer, but I personally have a Steinway and love the Steinway sound more irl. Is there a comparable vst for Steinway? I feel the Grandeur is nowhere near as versatile (as the full library and all the diff mics/acoustics here), but not sure if that's just cause the versatility wasn't demonstrated in what I've found for Grandeur. Please let me know, and thank you so much!
WS, there are a few Synchron pianos and all of them are very detailed. They have the Steinway D274, the Yamaha CFX, and the Bosendorfer 280vc that was recorded in the smaller Synchron Studio B. The 280vc has been one I have found myself going to a lot due to the smaller studio space which allows you to get more intimate moments playing it. I have done videos on all of the Synchron Pianos as well as The Grandeur that you might want to check out, in fact I have created a Virtual Piano Playlist which you might find helpful. ua-cam.com/play/PLygzRhYzPtHgiNEqtudaakgJWxwhgrYiu.html
I do have several internal SSD drives, which include two 1tb NVME M.2 drives which have fast transfer rates that really boost using sample libraries. I also have a couple of large external uSB 3 drives that I use for backing up projects and data. I built my current setup earlier this year and it is an Intel i9 9900k with 64 gb of ram which helps to load some larger libraries into memory. Thanks so much for watching.
Wow! I forgot about that, thanks for the fun reminder. This was done about two years ago if you can believe it. So many pianos, it is amazing to be able to experience them. Thanks so much Paulie for the continued support. Joyfully! 🎹
Destyni, it took me a little bit to remember. At first, I thought it was the theme of Dr. Zhivago, but that was Somewhere My Love. It just clicked that it is the main theme from The Godfather. Thanks so much for watching.
Destyni, it was an improv while I was in the moment. For some reason the sound of the piano triggered that melody memory and off I went. I am sure there is an arrangement available for it on some of the online sheet music stores, check that out. I am so happy to have inspired a "Skywalker" ;^) If you ever have any additional questions, feel free to let me know as I am always glad to help when I can. I might be able to record a short MIDI file and send to you if that might help, just drop me an email to remind me.
Hearing Simeon’s sincere “wow” brings me joy.
This is incredibly beautiful, that's all I could say.
Thank you for the very artistic job you do and a Mary Christmas in advance! :)
It is my pleasure, thanks so much for your kind words. May you enjoy the peace of His presence this holiday season and a joyous New Year ahead.
best synchron so far (even the faziolis can't stand this one)
VSL just set the bar for piano libraries! Thanks for the great demo!
My pleasure, these were amazing to be able to play. You just have to have the system (CPU, Memory, and fast SSD storage) to have the best experience. I found I need to tweak some things a little more to avoid overloading things, but I have to remember I had a lot of other things pulling in the computer during the live stream. Thanks so much for watching.
And no-one can ever reach the point
4000samples per key
11 mic positions
Tweaking ability is almost none
And more
Ok, thanks, as I get closer to ordering some new musical gear I don't want to be going in blind. Thanks for the helping me with the crawling to my first steps. It was a pleasure to chat with you tonight - Be well, Jim
My pleasure. Please let me know how I can be of assistance to you in the future. All the best.
That sounds amazing, even on my iPad speaker! Nice, detailed review. Thanks!
My pleasure. I am so glad you enjoyed watching.
Hello Mr. Amburgey! Congratulations on your excellent work, may God bless you greatly!
I would like to ask you a question...I own the Ravenscroft 275 and I think a lot about buying the VSL Bosendorfer Imperial because I like the sound a lot, do you think it's worth it considering the high price charged for the Bosendorfer Imperial? ($540)
What's your opinion?
Do you have a favorite among the VST'S libraries?
A big hug from Brazil!
Pedro, first of all, thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement, they are received with much gratitude.
Regarding the VSL virtual pianos, they are probably the most detailed when it comes to the amount of velocity layers and number of mic positions, this is especially true with the FULL versions.
The Synchron pianos being recorded on the VSL SYNCHRON stage have an almost larger than life quality to them. The recording space can tend to add a little too much as far as ambience, but the close mic positions help to remedy that.
The Synchron Imperial is a monster of a piano, with such a commanding tone to it. Their latest Synchron Piano is the Bosendorfer 280 VC which was recorded in their smaller Synchron Studio B, I find myself going to this piano a lot due to the more intimate and close sound it has.
There are times you need that LARGE sound of the stage and that is why you sometimes need more than one piano library to choose from, so you find the one that fits into the particular arrangement you are working on.
All of this detail does come at a price and the VSL pianos are the Maserati of virtual piano libraries. A wonderful thing about their customer service is that you have a 14-day return policy. That means if you download a piano and find that it is just not working for you as expected, you can return it for a refund.
I hope that helps answer some of your questions. Please let me know if there is anything I can assist you with in the future.
Joyfully! 🎹
Mr. Amburgey, thank you for taking the time to write me this answer!! It was very helpful for me!! I also tend to prefer pianos with the closest sound. I'm going to start researching the Bosendorfer 280 VC! Thanks for the tips, friend! God be with you!
I see your SL88 works well for you - half the price of the MX88, yet giving up the inners of the synth.
So, last Q for today, is this far down the road with advancements in music sampling and a good keyboard controller, is there any significant advantage to using a Dell Lap Top properly loaded with ram and all the recommended specs as apposed to a Mac Note Book.
Are Mac's just the way to go configuration wise and ease of functionality.
Thanks for your earlier response,
Jim
Honestly it is what works best for you. In my situation I produce everything on a Windows machine Inbuilt last year. I chose an i9 and loaded it up with 65gb of RAM with a basic NVidia GeForce 1060 (I think).
A full blown Mac OS machine would probably have cost three tines as much.
I also have a 2013 MacBook that I take on the road sometimes to play live but I am really pushing it to the edge with what I am doing with some of the newer libraries.
It all depends on what your production and performance goals are.
Mr. Amburgey, this is amazing review. So interesting and hearing awakening. May I ask what piece is it when it’s 27:35-28.04?
Thank you so much for the kind words, this is truly an outstanding piano library for sure. I will do some more research as it is a musical memory snippet that just popped nto my head while I was playing, I will follow up when I find out ;^) Thanks again for watching.
OK!!! It just came to me, it is the Love Theme from The Godfather.🤓
Hi Simeon. Well done! Through Your videos I bought the HAMMERSMITH PRO and the full version of GARRITAN CFX. Do You feel that if I buy a virtual Piano from VSL this BOSENDORFER IMPERIAL would be the logical and wise option? (because its a different piano from the ones that I have, besides the brand VSL itself). It sounds more round/sweeter and controllable than D-274 Steinway, and more bodied than Yamaha CFX from VSL. Let me know Your thoughts on this one. Its going be used with EASTWEST Orchestra and voice, percussion in any style of music. Thanks! Kind regards, Nuno 🙏
Well the VSL Bosendorfer Inperial is a real powerhouse, it has such a weight and explosiveness to it.
Take all of that energy and place it on the Synchron stage and it flexes even more.
I would say that while the full version is more expensive, having the extra mic positions really gives you so much flexibility, especially when trying to blend the piano with other instruments and spaces.
On the flip side, I have been enjoying the VSL 280 VC as it was recorded in the smaller Studio B, which is also a quite a bit drier.
I almost think with the Hammersmith you have the drier piano covered so the Inperial might be just the thing to complete your piano pallet.
Thanks so much for your kind words and support. Joyfully!🎹
@@PraiseTracks Thank You so much! I really appreciate Your advice and truly I am grateful. Best wishes 🙏
Hello, Mr. Amburgey. What's the piece that you played from around 3:15 - 4:10. It's really beautiful. I could guess it's more like improvisation but let me know. Thanks.
So glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I was just going where the sound takes me which always amazes me as I never really know where things might go. Thanks so much for watching and stay tuned for more 🤓
Sorry Simeon if you've been asked this 100 times, but what is your keyboard reference? Great review, thanks! :)
My pleasure. I have been using the Studiologic SL88: Grand for a little over a year and find it to be one of the most dynamic controllers in its price range.
Thanks so much for watching and for the kind words. Joyfully 🎹
OK, I just had to check this. So, at the time of this video I was using a Studiologic SL880, which is over 15 years old. It is still a very dynamic controller as witnessed in the video, the SL88: Grand that I am using now just takes things to another level dynamically.
Thanks again for watching. All the best.
Hi I am wondering what speakers you are using to cover the range of the piano samples youare using?
Everything you are hearing is coming directly from the instrument through the audio interface and onto the video, so physical speakers are not involved other that my earbuds that allow me to monitor what is going on.
Sound is very subjective and that is why I try and present the audio for my instrument reviews as neutral as possible so you can hear therm for yourself.
I do use a small set of Tannoy monitors when I am working on projects, I also use a pair of Beyerdynamic headphones which I really enjoy.
Thanks so much for watching.
Very impressive, amazing review! I'm looking some videos on youtube about the Bösendorfer Concert Grand 290 Imperial an your video is one of the best!
Could you tell me what piece did you play at 30:00 ? It's amazing! I wish I had the same technique as you =)
Well, at that time I am just improvising allowing the notes to carry me where they wish 🤓
I did a live stream on Saturday on all of the Bosendorfer pianos as a sneak peek into this week's sale at VSL. Check it out. Thanks again for watching and the great support.
@@PraiseTracks Awesome improvisation! I'm going to watch your live stream right now to decide which one I will buy. Thanks!!
@@Rafael-zc6xy make sure you check the latest video where I covered the three Bösendorfer libraries VSL currently have on special. Thanks so much for watching.
@@PraiseTracks I watched that video and the live too! I got the Bösendorfer, but I can't reach high velocities like you. I have to press really hard my piano to get the same velocity as you. On 4:30 for example, I think you are not playing so hard, but you get a nice and bright sound that I still don't know how to reach. Did youi change something on your Synchron Pianos Host, or you just chose the Concert preset? Looking the bar on the top corner all your notes stays on the right half of the bar.. I can't do that.... If you can help me, I will appreciate!
What keyboard controller are you using. Also are you using the stand alone Synchron player or inside of a DAW? Well see what we can do. 🤓
What are your feelings comparing this to the Garritan Cfx ?? I have the Garritan , was thinking of getting the dongle and trying some of the VSl demo stuff . From what I have heard on You Tube the VSL Piano Library is the most detailed and realistic sounding. And I love the Garritan CFX .
As someone who has both the Garritan CFX and full versions of the VSL CFX and Steinway D (and I also tried the full version of the Imperial for about 2 weeks) I would advise you to get the VSL CFX. For me, it has the best sound and programming of them all. My preference goes CFX > Imperial > Steinway > Upright (I haven't tried the Blüthner).
You can try out all Synchron pianos for 30 days (provided you have the dongle) - so just go for that and see if you like them.
@@mangodsky2809 I bought the Steinway - D
@@musicman102357 Have you tried out the others? I find that the Steinway has a very distinct tone but I can't get it to sound round and truly dynamic. It was the first VSL piano I bought and honestly a lot of times I wish I hadn't. I find myself tweaking settings everytime I use it while the VSL CFX was way easier to get right.
@@mangodsky2809 I had to make adjustments to the midi and dynamic levels in the software in order to get it to respond the way I liked. Without those adjustments, I could not change the velocity curve on my Casio Privia enough where it responded correctly and did not sound "bright " all the time. I was only interested in the Steinway , having the Garritan CFX and Vienna is more than enough for me. At some point, I might try toe Bosendorfer mainly out of curiosity.
@@musicman102357 I have a Kawai MP11 and I didn't get the Steinway to respond correctly either. Honestly, just try the pianos with the 30 day free trial licenses and if you don't get them to sound right or respond right don't buy them. The CFX works the best out of all the VSL pianos for me. It's the best VST I have ever had the pleasure of using, but it took a bit to dial it all in as well.
Getting back into music after being away for what feels like a 100 years.
Would a Yamaha MX-88 work well with this software, can I use a windows laptop or is it only Mac Note books which seem to rule the day - Thanks - Jim
Jim, yes you can run these on both Mac or Windows machines. The thing you have to consider is that since there are so many sample layers to deal with you need a fairly robust CPU and fast storage.
I have my Synchron pianos on an internal m.2 NVME drive. A speedy SSD would also work.
Let me know if you had any additional questions and I will do my best to assist.
All the best.
The MX-88 would also be a nice controller to use as well. The other thing to consider is an audio interface for low latency.
If the MX-88 has an ASIO compatible driver then you might be able to get by using that,
Taking a few diversions from the Polonaise, I hear. haha and Well done!
So glad you enjoyed watching and listening. It is so amazing to me what actually comes out when playing these amazing libraries. Thanks so much for watching. All the best.
52:51 AMEN.
Which would be your favourite or most recommended piano vst? I love the LARGE bigger-than-life sound of this Bosendorfer, but I personally have a Steinway and love the Steinway sound more irl. Is there a comparable vst for Steinway? I feel the Grandeur is nowhere near as versatile (as the full library and all the diff mics/acoustics here), but not sure if that's just cause the versatility wasn't demonstrated in what I've found for Grandeur. Please let me know, and thank you so much!
WS, there are a few Synchron pianos and all of them are very detailed. They have the Steinway D274, the Yamaha CFX, and the Bosendorfer 280vc that was recorded in the smaller Synchron Studio B.
The 280vc has been one I have found myself going to a lot due to the smaller studio space which allows you to get more intimate moments playing it.
I have done videos on all of the Synchron Pianos as well as The Grandeur that you might want to check out, in fact I have created a Virtual Piano Playlist which you might find helpful.
ua-cam.com/play/PLygzRhYzPtHgiNEqtudaakgJWxwhgrYiu.html
How can you use many libraries? Do you use external hard drive? What is it? :)
I do have several internal SSD drives, which include two 1tb NVME M.2 drives which have fast transfer rates that really boost using sample libraries. I also have a couple of large external uSB 3 drives that I use for backing up projects and data. I built my current setup earlier this year and it is an Intel i9 9900k with 64 gb of ram which helps to load some larger libraries into memory.
Thanks so much for watching.
Whoa! At 44:30, Oscar Peterson shows up! 😎
Wow! I forgot about that, thanks for the fun reminder. This was done about two years ago if you can believe it. So many pianos, it is amazing to be able to experience them.
Thanks so much Paulie for the continued support. Joyfully! 🎹
What's the piece at 27:39? So beautiful!!
Destyni, it took me a little bit to remember. At first, I thought it was the theme of Dr. Zhivago, but that was Somewhere My Love. It just clicked that it is the main theme from The Godfather. Thanks so much for watching.
@@PraiseTracks Thank you!!
@@PraiseTracks Do you have the arrangement, or was that improv? I'd love to play it too!
Destyni, it was an improv while I was in the moment. For some reason the sound of the piano triggered that melody memory and off I went. I am sure there is an arrangement available for it on some of the online sheet music stores, check that out.
I am so happy to have inspired a "Skywalker" ;^)
If you ever have any additional questions, feel free to let me know as I am always glad to help when I can.
I might be able to record a short MIDI file and send to you if that might help, just drop me an email to remind me.
7:01 extra bass notes
Yes, very unusual and powerful. Thanks so much for watching.
@@PraiseTracks I love the extra bass notes. I love the sound.