So many pianos! Which are your faves?

SixStringGeek · Post by **SixStringGeek** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 12:36 am

I'm a total Kronos noob - just picked it up and am blown away by the stock grand it comes with but I keep seeing ads for other pianos for sale from various sources (Epic Grand among others) and am now curious if I'm missing something. I do mostly pop, rock, gospel, power ballads.

Any picks?

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:24 am

Despite all the alternatives, my favorites are still the German (Steinway) and the Austrian (Boesendorfer) grand.

NuSkoolTone · Post by **NuSkoolTone** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 2:36 pm

jimknopf wrote:Despite all the alternatives, my favorites are still the German (Steinway) and the Austrian (Boesendorfer) grand.

How is that Austrian grand? What do you find it most useful for? No matter how hard I try I just can't get on with the Yamaha Piano. It's just too peaky, bright, and grating. I've messed around with EQ, but no dice.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 3:43 pm

I use the German Grand mainly for acoustic and solo stuff, and the Austrian Grand mainly for rock, funk and electric jazz.

The Austrian sounds a bit strange in solo play, due to hard attack and less body in the sustain. But if you adjust it a bit to to your needs and liking, it works great in loud band context. It has completely replaced the Japanese (Yamaha) grand in my Kronos, which I really dislike for sounding much too thin and ontrusive for my taste (while I normally like real Yamaha grands and their mostly warm tone).

Moonglow · Post by **Moonglow** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 3:34 pm

My rig formerly consisted of a Nord Stage 88 (on which I was happily using the "Bright Grand" sample) and a Jupiter 80, but I recently replaced the NS with a Kronos 88. During my first gig with the new rig, our sound guy came up to me and said, "What the ____ happened to your piano? It sounds horrible!" This observation was confirmed by our long-time lighting tech. I had the Kronos sounding good (but not great) on stage through my single (i.e., mono) monitor, so I encouraged him to experiment with the EQ...which he said he did to no avail. He maintained the piano sounded "clunky" and "not smooth."

Hugely disappointed, I was ready to go back to my former rig. As a last ditch effort, after listening to the demos, I purchased the Epic Grand pianos, which completely revived my rig. These pianos really SING, for lack of a better word. The Epic Grand pianos feature a Yamaha sample with a dedicated mono patch, which works well in my classic rock band. Customer support was outstanding, through both pre- and post-purchase phases.

andrewt · Post by **andrewt** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:38 am

NuSkoolTone wrote:
jimknopf wrote:Despite all the alternatives, my favorites are still the German (Steinway) and the Austrian (Boesendorfer) grand.
How is that Austrian grand? What do you find it most useful for? No matter how hard I try I just can't get on with the Yamaha Piano. It's just too peaky, bright, and grating. I've messed around with EQ, but no dice.

Do you mostly use the pianos in a studio setting, or live? I prefer the Yamaha over the Steinway for live (rock) playing; I think its brightness and thinner bass helps it cut live and sit better in the mix. I haven't used the Kronos in the studio yet.

andrewt · Post by **andrewt** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:39 am

Moonglow wrote:My rig formerly consisted of a Nord Stage 88 (on which I was happily using the "Bright Grand" sample) and a Jupiter 80, but I recently replaced the NS with a Kronos 88. During my first gig with the new rig, our sound guy came up to me and said, "What the ____ happened to your piano? It sounds horrible!" This observation was confirmed by our long-time lighting tech. I had the Kronos sounding good (but not great) on stage through my single (i.e., mono) monitor, so I encouraged him to experiment with the EQ...which he said he did to no avail. He maintained the piano sounded "clunky" and "not smooth."

Hugely disappointed, I was ready to go back to my former rig. As a last ditch effort, after listening to the demos, I purchased the Epic Grand pianos, which completely revived my rig. These pianos really SING, for lack of a better word. The Epic Grand pianos feature a Yamaha sample with a dedicated mono patch, which works well in my classic rock band. Customer support was outstanding, through both pre- and post-purchase phases.

Just curious, which Kronos piano were you using that sounded bad?

Moonglow · Post by **Moonglow** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:12 am

I started with a German patch developed to work well in mono. It sounded really good in my music room, and as I mentioned good on stage, but not good FOH. I then switched to one of the brighter stock Japanese patches, which I did not enjoy playing, so I did not stick with this one too long. I then switched to the OASYS mono piano, which reportedly was the best of the lot.

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:15 am

I made my own combi by combining a German dark and a Japanese. One is a normal combi and then I duplicated it and detuned one a bit so it was a bit more old time dance hall. What I found was combining a dark and bright made for a nice balance for me.