🎹Best Piano VST Plugins Compared Part 1: Addictive Keys, Alicia's Keys, CinePiano🎹

Addictive Keys 2:27
Alicia's Keys 11:34
CinePiano 16:05

#VST #Plugin #Piano

Hello and welcome to another piano review at the Merriam Pianos YouTube channel. In today’s video, we’ve lined up all 10 of the piano VST’s that we’ve been using and reviewing over the last 2 months for a monster 3 part comparison video.

Please like the video below, and if it’s your first time to the channel, subscribe and hit that notification bell!

Overview:

We’re in a truly golden age of instrumental technology - both digital and acoustic, and our selection of VST’s is absolute proof of that. We looked at everything from $79 to $799 in our quest to sample the whole landscape of VST’s, and this is our last walk-through before we move back to acoustic and digital piano reviews.

Addictive Keys

This is an easy-to-use, lightweight plugin that offers up several different piano models, both acoustic and electric, for people to use. We believe these are a Rhodes Mk1, Steinway D, Bechstein Concert 8, although they never attribute any brand or model. They allow you to mix 3 separate sample banks of the instrument with a wide array of editable effects and presets. The UI is friendly, modern, and easy to navigate, and the quality of the sound betrays its relatively low cost.

Alicias Keys

One of the older plugins in the mix, it's still considered relevant and a popular part of Native Instruments Komplete library. They’ve taken Alicia Keys’ own personal Yamaha C3 Neo and sampled it in 12 layers, capturing the piano in incredible detail. For projects where the sound of a smaller grand with lots of character is just what the doctor ordered, Alicia’s Keys is exactly what you’re going to want.

CinePiano

A big, beautiful, classic 9’, in a big beautiful soundstage in Hollywood. Cinepiano is a gorgeous capture of the American concert hall recording sound, with more than enough options to manipulate it to achieve the perfect nuance. Relatively inexpensive, and ideal for classic jazz and cinematic use, and classical repertoire.

Stay tuned for Part II!

Connect with Merriam Music:

[thomasschatton]

This video - like the previous one, too, really helps to make the right personal decision on which Piano VST(s) to buy. Thanks so much for that! I also really enjoy when you play that jazzish stuff, but also when you play more cinematicish or classicish tunes and am really looking 4ward to part II!

[pittan]

Excellent stuff, thanks so much for making these videos!

[realkoko-loco]

What camera do you use for these vlogs? The close ups look fantastic !

[ephv]

What about Eighty Eight Ensemble by SONiVOX ? Comes free with Focusrite audio interface. I assume Addictive Keys uses better samples than Garageband Steinway Grand Piano. Ensemble is a far larger download so they've gone the extra mile.

[BottleneckMoses]

Hi – thanks for the great content. If you have it, could you please review Piano in Blue by CineSamples? Would love to get your opinion on it.

[BlackFish]

I want to see you review a Roland Ax-Edge just for fun.

[chopin]

Addictive Keys upright piano is a Yamaha U3 not a Bechstein.

[JoeLinux]

I'm getting tired of listening to all of these. It's like going into a showroom of 100 top quality acoustic grands and trying to choose the best when each and every one is quite good. That said, clarity of tone has always been important to me. With a computer piano, the user interface is critical. I find Pianoteq at times to be confusing. I thought they would have changed the user interface over the years, but so far it remains the same.