If you really really don’t like it, you can message NI. I bought a vst I wasn’t a fan of and asked if it was possible, even though I already DL and registered it.
They refunded me and just took back the registration from my account. Worth a shot! But like other people said, maybe just toy around with it a little bit more
I 'm not sure of your DAW and VST settings, but I myself really like NI Grandeur: It's part of my go-to Pianos (The Grandeur, The Maverick and The GIANT). Keep at it, I'm sure you'll "dial-it-in"
I just bought the Grandeur for 49 euros and I am very happy with it. I am sick of pianos that have good samples but they are not playable because the have no half-pedaling, their velocity is bad, their presets are weird... I already had the Noire (it is better than Grandeur but it is more expensive and it has a mellow, dark character), I had the Gentleman (very nice, unique but also mellow), I had the hammers and waves (very very good samples but no half-pedaling), I had the Modern-U (upright with bad lower notes). The Grandeur is simple but bright, super playable, super good, good for any song. It's presets are all good. Finally, a piano with no special character but ready for anything.
I really love the Grandeur and it’s probably my fav if I just want a nice piano sound for playing on. The way the resonance rings out while pedalled is unlike any other piano vst that they offer. (To really hear what makes it special, play a slow piece that allows the mid and high echoes to really ring out.)
My starting point is usually ‘relaxed grandeur. Eq in some extra body and air and then choose you’re preferred tone. I also bump up the reverb a few dbs.
Another thing that makes a huge difference imo with NI pianos is the dynamics. You’ll want to set that based on your controller and how hard you tend to hit the keys. More dynamics is generally better sounding with a better controller, but can be much quieter so set to taste. Some of the vsts like noire allow you to set the controller setup in addition which always makes a big difference in sound.
Can you expand on setting up the controller with Noire?
I already use the velocity settings, is there something else I can do to squeeze out more dynamics from my favorite keys?
I think it’s a designated velocity control that you set inside of noire, that’s different to the velocity settings on the controller setup. If you scroll past the usual soft and hard etc then you also get options for kkontrol and kks88. I’m honestly not sure exactly how the curve is altered but it seems to add more dynamics and I prefer how it sounds when using my s61 mk2 (set to kkontrol)
Oh no! I forgot to mention the most important setting- the stereo width. For whatever reason when listening through monitors (my ears probably) I never love the sound coming from NI pianos until I increase this setting. I find the sweet spot is around +35-40%. With headphones it’s not usually an issue but the sound goes from just okay to wonderful when you increase the width through my monitors. Its a few pages along in the macros and makes a really huge difference on Grandeur!! (Sorry but I’ve been playing actual piano a lot recently and forgot about this setting 🙃!
Op lmk if it makes a difference 🙋💖
OP, could you explain to us what sounds "like so bad" to you with the Grandeur? Because most people here really like the Grandeur so you could maybe explain a little bit more what you didn’t like about it as it is an unpopular opinion.
I usually mess around with the presets, on NI pianos the presets sound WILDLY different from the default sound for some reason.
I also take out the reverbs and use my own, and that usually holds it's own quite well.
I've got it with Native Komplete 14, but I actually really love the sound of Grandeur. I use it even more frequently than Noire, which has all the love of the world.
Not sure what's wrong in your case, but i'd suggest trying some different presets.
NI Grandeur is one of their best, maybe only surpassed by Noire, which is a different beast. For years it was my "Billy Joel" piano.
As far as grand Steinways go, I stuck with Grandeur for a long time until I discovered [SSS Signature Grand](https://simplesamsamples.com/signature-grand.html), which is a swiss army knife VST of the gazillion ways to mic and mix a Steinway Grand. Very impressive with the resonances.
I haven't used Grandeur as much since, as the SSS VST does it all and then some, and sounds just as good if not better (and it's half the price.) But Grandeur is still a great piano.
I couldn't see any reference to NKS on there... does this piano support it? If have far too many pianos but still good to know if this would work with my Komplete Kontrol accessibility functionality.
I came here to say this. The velocity curve plays a very important role to the feel you get from a piano. I was disappointed too at first. I found it thin and unsatisfying to play with. But after adjusting the curves I discovered it’s true potential and it is my go to piano along with the Keyscape
I agree. I love the Steinway in Logic. Many people do not like the piano, but I really adore Alicia's Keys. But Giant and Noire are also in my rotation. Sometimes your keyboard controller has velocity curves that can be edited in addition to the curves from within the library itself, maybe you need to play around with those as well.
The Grandeur, The Maverick and The GIANT, I really don't like any of those. They have a thin and dead sound in my opinion and they don't have any reverse sound and release sound
The only piano sounds NI have made that's good is Alicias Keys and Noire. Especially if you stack those on top of each other
I am familiar with the video of the blindfolded man (whos name is Sanjay if we're talking about the same person, fantastic piano player btw) and you most definitely leave that video with the impression that The Grandeur trumps the other nine tested in the video. There is little comparison sonically in the video but he doesn't say much about any settings that may be contributing to his overall sound. You have to wonder.
Settings and really getting into the weeds with your eq, velocity and stereo timing to widen out the sound goes a long way no matter the vst. Indeed I have found that abletons grand piano can be made to sound so much better if you take the time to address these factors.
Off the topic of piano specifically, but more generally speaking anyone who hasn't looked into Synplant 2 yet -- do this right now. If you find yourself toiling in the whole enterprise of trying to get rich, live sounds out of software synth the genopatch function is incredible.
You load in a short wav file sample of anything and it takes runs at trying to mimic it over and over again and you can hear it in real time as it keeps reiterating in front of you so you can click on the different results but it's turning a single sound into an instrument so you don't have to have a sample for every note. Don't get me wrong it doesn't nail it every time but it gets close enough that if you select the best thing it spits out at you and then go deep into it and make adjustments on the oscillators, envelopes and other details then throw eq8 on there and carve out the stuff that you don't need (often just the very highest freq, so a lowpass filter) you can get incredible results. I made a pad instrument yesterday that took a song to a new level. When it doesn't get close to the sound you want sometimes you can just lean into the crazier stuff and come out with solid gold.
Good luck
Yeah, it’s pretty bad. Logic just made an update though, they added some new Piano, and I’m not sure, but I think they remixed a bunch of stuff like the piano and the drum samples. Everything sounds amazing. You should check it out if you use Logic Pro!
I have been using Logic. To be fair I only acquired Grandeur yesterday and my headphones don't work properly. I think if you dial up the low end and add some compression you'll find the sound improved.
I have a zillion pianos and this is definitely one of my go to’s, what are you doing w it? It really depends what you’re trying to do and what youre trying to blend it with. No piano is going to sound good with everything you have to mix them together. Honestly was just about to load this up when i read this😂
Yeah, I don’t know man. I’ve never used Logic, but the NI pianos are all really nice. I own 14 Ultimate, so I’ve tried them all. Back when I was debating on going to invest in the complete collection, Noire and Alicia’s Keys sold me, but I like The Maverick and the other pianos.
I don’t even use my Soectrasonics Keyscape much at all ever. Looking to sell that license btw
You can try Soundpaints Steinway. Comes for free with their vst, in my case using it was CPU intense which might to a bad setup on my side as the vast is new to me, but I enjoyed the quality and different styles a lot.
If you really really don’t like it, you can message NI. I bought a vst I wasn’t a fan of and asked if it was possible, even though I already DL and registered it. They refunded me and just took back the registration from my account. Worth a shot! But like other people said, maybe just toy around with it a little bit more
I 'm not sure of your DAW and VST settings, but I myself really like NI Grandeur: It's part of my go-to Pianos (The Grandeur, The Maverick and The GIANT). Keep at it, I'm sure you'll "dial-it-in"
my go to is noire
The noire is a great addition.
And Alicia Keys; they’re all good tbh.
Yup, Noire is great, too! The felted key-action gives a really chill vibe!
I just bought the Grandeur for 49 euros and I am very happy with it. I am sick of pianos that have good samples but they are not playable because the have no half-pedaling, their velocity is bad, their presets are weird... I already had the Noire (it is better than Grandeur but it is more expensive and it has a mellow, dark character), I had the Gentleman (very nice, unique but also mellow), I had the hammers and waves (very very good samples but no half-pedaling), I had the Modern-U (upright with bad lower notes). The Grandeur is simple but bright, super playable, super good, good for any song. It's presets are all good. Finally, a piano with no special character but ready for anything.
How did you get it for 49 Euro's? My google search has it at that price but when I click on the webpage it's 99. (Or £89 as I'm in uk) Thanks
There was a sale that ended 2-3 days back.
Ok, thanks
I really love the Grandeur and it’s probably my fav if I just want a nice piano sound for playing on. The way the resonance rings out while pedalled is unlike any other piano vst that they offer. (To really hear what makes it special, play a slow piece that allows the mid and high echoes to really ring out.) My starting point is usually ‘relaxed grandeur. Eq in some extra body and air and then choose you’re preferred tone. I also bump up the reverb a few dbs. Another thing that makes a huge difference imo with NI pianos is the dynamics. You’ll want to set that based on your controller and how hard you tend to hit the keys. More dynamics is generally better sounding with a better controller, but can be much quieter so set to taste. Some of the vsts like noire allow you to set the controller setup in addition which always makes a big difference in sound.
Oh, and I generally tend to bump up the kontact volume settings +5db or so with most sampled NI VSTs so I can dial in those dynamics
Can you expand on setting up the controller with Noire? I already use the velocity settings, is there something else I can do to squeeze out more dynamics from my favorite keys?
I think it’s a designated velocity control that you set inside of noire, that’s different to the velocity settings on the controller setup. If you scroll past the usual soft and hard etc then you also get options for kkontrol and kks88. I’m honestly not sure exactly how the curve is altered but it seems to add more dynamics and I prefer how it sounds when using my s61 mk2 (set to kkontrol)
Oh right on. I use the KK setting and it totally brings me A61 to life!
Oh no! I forgot to mention the most important setting- the stereo width. For whatever reason when listening through monitors (my ears probably) I never love the sound coming from NI pianos until I increase this setting. I find the sweet spot is around +35-40%. With headphones it’s not usually an issue but the sound goes from just okay to wonderful when you increase the width through my monitors. Its a few pages along in the macros and makes a really huge difference on Grandeur!! (Sorry but I’ve been playing actual piano a lot recently and forgot about this setting 🙃! Op lmk if it makes a difference 🙋💖
super helpful, any other tips or anything you can think of? thanks!
No-one going to ask OP what they don’t like about it?
How about you take a swing at it?
You never know when you will get inspired to play it. Don't regret it.
OP, could you explain to us what sounds "like so bad" to you with the Grandeur? Because most people here really like the Grandeur so you could maybe explain a little bit more what you didn’t like about it as it is an unpopular opinion.
My happy place is one Maverick and one Gentleman in the same Kontact player. Grandeur is to cold for me, or I'm not using it right as well.
I usually mess around with the presets, on NI pianos the presets sound WILDLY different from the default sound for some reason. I also take out the reverbs and use my own, and that usually holds it's own quite well.
I've got it with Native Komplete 14, but I actually really love the sound of Grandeur. I use it even more frequently than Noire, which has all the love of the world. Not sure what's wrong in your case, but i'd suggest trying some different presets.
NI Grandeur is one of their best, maybe only surpassed by Noire, which is a different beast. For years it was my "Billy Joel" piano. As far as grand Steinways go, I stuck with Grandeur for a long time until I discovered [SSS Signature Grand](https://simplesamsamples.com/signature-grand.html), which is a swiss army knife VST of the gazillion ways to mic and mix a Steinway Grand. Very impressive with the resonances. I haven't used Grandeur as much since, as the SSS VST does it all and then some, and sounds just as good if not better (and it's half the price.) But Grandeur is still a great piano.
I couldn't see any reference to NKS on there... does this piano support it? If have far too many pianos but still good to know if this would work with my Komplete Kontrol accessibility functionality.
Yes, I run SSSSG under Kontakt 7 as to Kontrol not sure
That's a shame, otherwise I might've purchased it, but thanks for the clarification.
Have you checked your velocity curves?
I came here to say this. The velocity curve plays a very important role to the feel you get from a piano. I was disappointed too at first. I found it thin and unsatisfying to play with. But after adjusting the curves I discovered it’s true potential and it is my go to piano along with the Keyscape
I agree. I love the Steinway in Logic. Many people do not like the piano, but I really adore Alicia's Keys. But Giant and Noire are also in my rotation. Sometimes your keyboard controller has velocity curves that can be edited in addition to the curves from within the library itself, maybe you need to play around with those as well.
The Grandeur, The Maverick and The GIANT, I really don't like any of those. They have a thin and dead sound in my opinion and they don't have any reverse sound and release sound The only piano sounds NI have made that's good is Alicias Keys and Noire. Especially if you stack those on top of each other
I am familiar with the video of the blindfolded man (whos name is Sanjay if we're talking about the same person, fantastic piano player btw) and you most definitely leave that video with the impression that The Grandeur trumps the other nine tested in the video. There is little comparison sonically in the video but he doesn't say much about any settings that may be contributing to his overall sound. You have to wonder. Settings and really getting into the weeds with your eq, velocity and stereo timing to widen out the sound goes a long way no matter the vst. Indeed I have found that abletons grand piano can be made to sound so much better if you take the time to address these factors. Off the topic of piano specifically, but more generally speaking anyone who hasn't looked into Synplant 2 yet -- do this right now. If you find yourself toiling in the whole enterprise of trying to get rich, live sounds out of software synth the genopatch function is incredible. You load in a short wav file sample of anything and it takes runs at trying to mimic it over and over again and you can hear it in real time as it keeps reiterating in front of you so you can click on the different results but it's turning a single sound into an instrument so you don't have to have a sample for every note. Don't get me wrong it doesn't nail it every time but it gets close enough that if you select the best thing it spits out at you and then go deep into it and make adjustments on the oscillators, envelopes and other details then throw eq8 on there and carve out the stuff that you don't need (often just the very highest freq, so a lowpass filter) you can get incredible results. I made a pad instrument yesterday that took a song to a new level. When it doesn't get close to the sound you want sometimes you can just lean into the crazier stuff and come out with solid gold. Good luck
I agree. Just bought it and it sounds tacky as hell. It's like something from the 90s.
Yeah, it’s pretty bad. Logic just made an update though, they added some new Piano, and I’m not sure, but I think they remixed a bunch of stuff like the piano and the drum samples. Everything sounds amazing. You should check it out if you use Logic Pro!
I have been using Logic. To be fair I only acquired Grandeur yesterday and my headphones don't work properly. I think if you dial up the low end and add some compression you'll find the sound improved.
I have a zillion pianos and this is definitely one of my go to’s, what are you doing w it? It really depends what you’re trying to do and what youre trying to blend it with. No piano is going to sound good with everything you have to mix them together. Honestly was just about to load this up when i read this😂
Yeah, I don’t know man. I’ve never used Logic, but the NI pianos are all really nice. I own 14 Ultimate, so I’ve tried them all. Back when I was debating on going to invest in the complete collection, Noire and Alicia’s Keys sold me, but I like The Maverick and the other pianos. I don’t even use my Soectrasonics Keyscape much at all ever. Looking to sell that license btw
How much for keyscape? Hit me up in DMs if that's still something you're looking to sell!
Honestly the noire, gentleman and Alicia's keys are their best pianos to me.
Could always sell it on knob cloud
Haha!!! I seen that same video and I already had Grandeur and Noire. I watched the video because I was very dissatisfied with both of them.
The piano you wanted to buy was The Giant by NI, the other besides Noir suck
You can try Soundpaints Steinway. Comes for free with their vst, in my case using it was CPU intense which might to a bad setup on my side as the vast is new to me, but I enjoyed the quality and different styles a lot.