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Hi everybody,

Just letting you know that you can test out ALL our Synchron Pianos are now available with 30 days demo licenses, including the new German Upright 1904, a beautifully captured Bechstein!

Best of all, you don't need a key for this anymore. Simply use the iLok Cloud to store your licenses, and this also works with demo licenses.




Enjoy!
Paul

Yes!

Downloading now!

Hmm very excellent news.

Dear god, this is a wonderful day!

yeah, good news, thank you very much

hmm and it looks like ALL of the VSL pianos are currently on sale

Major discounts on all Synchron Pianos, only through July 18, 2022!

good because I bought a new computer to give these a go again

Do you think you will ever produce any virtual pianos for IOS?

May I suggest you a booster for your kind offer?. You could give away one license (or more, depending how much you want to boost it ) randomly among people who test them (i.e. who actually download them) while the testing period lasts or by a period defined by you.

Just a marketing idea

Jose

tried 280vc. very nice. gonna need a bigger ssd

Does anybody know how you go about getting a demo license. I don't see it anywhere.

You just go to the page on the VSL site for the instrument you want to demo, and underneath the options to add the regular paid versions to your cart, there should be another button for a free 30 day demo.

Add it to your cart, check out, and you’ll get an email with download instructions.

Got it thanks.

You have to be in the individual piano page. Does not show up on the main page.

Thanks

I’ve downloaded the other six that I don’t own and been playing with them for the past day.

The Steinway is still my favorite, because I think it’s the best overall in terms of having the most tone range: it’s got the brightness, sparkle, shimmer, & brass metallicism that Bosendorfer and Yamaha instruments have higher dynamic ranges, while also being able to produce very round, solid-fundamental, soft and muted tones like Bechsteins and Fazioli.

However, the Yamaha CFX is a very well done virtual instrumental also, and I think I may buy it once the demo period is over. It’s SUPER faithful to the Yamaha CFX sound and feels great playability. Didn’t even need to alter the velocity curve. The website says it has up to 4200 samples per key while the other big grands have 4000 samples per key, and I feel those extra 200 samples do show up a bit in resonances and key off, especially when half-pedaling. It’s subtle though, so not a huge difference, but I feel like I noticed it. May have been a placebo effect of just having read the stats though. It also does a good job with the faux una corda the way the Steinway does.

The Bosendorfer Imperial was also well done. Great with key-off samples and resonances as well, especially in half-pedaling and the subtleties. I simply am not a fan of the Bosendorfer sound, on their big grands. Otherwise, I’d like it too.

The 280 VC is probably my least favorite of the modern grands, because I’m not crazy for the Bosendorfer tone and because of the weaker, dry top notes. But if you like the Bosendorfer sound, you’ll like it. And it seems like it’d work better with more modern genres too.

The Bluthner is a great character instrument. I can’t see myself playing it as a main instrument, but if you want that particular sound (antique/refurbished/old piano) for a particular performance or in a mix you’re doing, it’s a great instrument.

The the two uprights are great character instruments also, or can be a main instrument if you’re partial to the upright sound. They distinctly sound “upright”, especially with the Mid 1 mic which is set behind the instrument and gets that sound from the exposed soundboard, which is what we usually hear the most. I preferred the Bluthner (German) upright to the Bosendorfer though, surprisingly. The Bosendorfer almost sound a bit honky-tone with some mics. The Blutherner also seems to have more samples for more playability.

Overall, some really well done instruments, and great different options.

Fingers crossed that the Fazioli recently acquired by VSL will be their next instrument available. (And, since you’re here Paul, please sample it with una corda this time . I know it’ll be double the work, but VSL fans will love it, as I’m sure you’re well aware that una corda is the one thing we want the most lol).

Seems we have similar thoughts! Which is encouraging given the difference in skill level =P

I go back and forth on whether I prefer the Steinway or the CFX. TBH I'd say I like just about everything more about the CFX except the Steinway, despite being harder out of the box, can still get softer at the absolute lowest velocities. It feels like from ppp to mp every few velocities brings a noticeable tonal change. The CFX *almost* gets as soft -- closer than any of the other instruments -- but not quite. On the other hand it is indeed much more playable out of the box, probably because of the built in Disklavier system. I also think the more prominent releases feels more like the grands I've played, albeit never anything tuned for a concert level.

I do personally enjoy the tone of the imperial, but for some reason it feels like from velocity 1-30 ish there's almost no dynamic variation with the pedal down and it keeps a hard tone. With the pedal up it is able to get quite a softer tone.

Anyway, I second the una corda for the Fazioli. Recognizing that doing true una corda properly would nearly be like sampling the entire piano twice, VSL could release una corda as a separate add on and I think some people would still buy it.

Hi guys,

No sound coming from Steinway Demo

Hoping someone has an answer here before I contact Vienna,

Laptop to piano.

280 (I own) installed on HD working fine.

No room for Steinway so loaded the demo on a external HD

Everything is installed, Ilok key working.

280 sound, Demo no sound. (it also does not seem to be loading the presets, but not sure.)

Any ideas ?

I assume that you have activated the license in Ilok, if you are then if your piano is in a different place from other pianos that work, then add that folder in the synchron pianos settings and reload again synchron pianos program.

Everything seems to be place.

Also, if I play the piano I can see the software keyboard moving. So I know the Steinway is hooked up to the piano.

very weird

I see here a trend... Yesterday I installed the new VSL Synchron Pianos player and then all my purchased ones stopped working. And ALL are on an external SSD. Reverting back to previous version, the functionality was restored. I tried a second time to upgrade, and got same problem, so went back again to previous version.

Please, VSL, check what is happening!

Jose

If the samples aren't loading when you select a preset, I suspect that it's probably still looking for them on the internal HD instead of the external SSD. I had a similar problem when I first moved my sound files from internal HD to external SSD, and I remember I had to change something in the settings in order to update the retrieval path, but unfortunately I don't quite recall exactly what it was I did.

Are you using it through a DAW or just straight up in the Synchron player?

I downloaded demos for all the Synchron pianos on my external SSD this week, and updated to the latest version of the player, and have had no problems whatsoever.