![]() ufs format), a Bechstein baby grand (18 GB) and a Fazioli F308 (24 GB) compatible with the free UVI Workstation player, and thus with MachFive 3, which we used for this test. True Keys was originally a bundle of three pianos, but recently VI Labs has started to sell them as single units: a Steinway D (21 GB in. The prices have unfortunately risen again since the introduction of SSD, but we hope to see them drop again soon, considering that their speed, and corresponding time saving, is phenomenal (but what about their longevity and stability?). Do bear in mind that a high-end G4 400 was sold back in 2000 with a hard disk of… 10 GB, so it should be easy to appreciate what the constant decrease in computer memory prices has done to improve the quality of sampled instruments (don’t forget orchestra sounds as well). Synthogy, another developer of generous sound banks (led by Joe Lerardi, mastermind behind the Kurzweil pre-K2600 acoustic pianos, which means those that only had 4 MB of samples…), offers a 28 GB Bösendorfer, a 29 GB German D and a 23 GB Yamaha. ![]() When personal computers allowed extensive sampling at high sampling rates, things started to change up to the point that we saw the emergence of 250 GB libraries dedicated exclusively to acoustic pianos, like the four EastWest pianos with 73 GB, 87 GB, 58 GB and 46 GB for the Bechstein D-280, Steinway D, Bösendorfer 290, and Yamaha C7, respectively. ![]() Without going over the whole history (you can refer to the different reviews published on Audiofanzine), it all started a long time ago with somewhat rudimentary tools, we then lived moments of grace with several hardware units (especially with the Kurzweil pianos like the K250 which, as the legend goes, even managed to cheat privileged ears in A/B tests, or the fabulous K2600's triple strike feature with only 12 MB, but with the VAST synthesis engine and KDFX behind), as well as other more painful ones (the dreadful M1 "pianos, " for example). Developers have made enormous progress in recreating, by means of sampling (or modelling), what many call the king of instruments: the acoustic piano.
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