I've had my PM3 for about 4 weeks now with sadly not much hands on playing time. However, I am finding a few odd characteristics of the instrument as well as some things not working as I would be expecting.

So I was wondering if any other users could compare notes with me please?

Here are my comments based on the Fazioli preset:

1. Sustain.

This seems rather short to me for. The maximum sustain on middle C is about 11 seconds and the initial attack decays quickly. Is this right? Bottom C goes for about 21 seconds. I've never played a real Fazioli but I thought they were reknown for sustain?

2. Gradual damper action.

I'm using the Pro Pedal Set which has the continuous sustain pedal. I do not get any gradual damper effect - it only works as an on/off switch. Is this right?

3. The action weighting.

The bass end of the keyboard seems excessively sensitive. I am finding that often I have to play mp in the left and f in the right to get an even sound. It almost feels as if the entire keyboard is weighted for a left hand player (I am right handed). I know the PM3 has "virtual weighting" programmed into the bass notes to compensate for the lack of gradual weighting in the keyboard itself but it does seem as if the compensation is weighted to increase the sensitivity in the bass. Anyone else feel this way? Oh and the St Grand 1 preset seems unduly strong in the bass and weak in the treble.

I've only realy got to notice this playability problem after doing some recordings. Initially, the quality of the sound and the sheer fun of the instrument blows you away. Only extended use highlights this sort of problem.

If anyone has any views on this, I'd be really interested to hear them.

Apart from the above, the PM3 still knocks me over each time I play it with the sense of playing a real piano.

Regards,

Mark

Mark,

The Decay times are exactly as they are on the real instrument, there are no loops in the sample, so the decay you are hearing is the real decay of the piano.

With the release of the new Promega OS the Pro Pedals now work and was a known issue. Download the new OS and that will be corrected.

As for balance, I don't find this at all, I find the instrument balanced well. Just for fun, if you haven't played on a 9' grand, head to your local piano store and sit an play one. When I sold acoustic pianos, the reaction of someone playing a concert instrument is priceless when they play the bass notes. I suspect that you are having the same sort of thing happening when you play the Promega. Some manufactures actually compress and normalize the samples for that very reason. I found the bass notes refreshingly realistic.



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Paul Davis
Generalmusic
Generalmusic.US

Paul,

Thank you for the feedback.

Where do I download the latest OS from? There is no Promega3 update listed on the page linked on the GEM site. I would like to get hold of this update ASAP.

As regards bass balance, I suspected it was down to the size of the piano modelled. It is over 20 years since I played a grand piano and that was probably a medium Steinway.

I did an experiment a couple of days back where I used the PM3 in local off mode and ran the MIDI back to the instrument via Cubase SX. This enabled me to apply transformations to the MIDI data so I could scale down the velocity values of the bass notes.

Whilst this enabled me to keep the bass notes more under control, it was immediately apparent that the tonal balance of the piano was wrong and that the bass then sounded weak in presence. Clearly this is a matter of my technique which I need to work on.

Concerning sustain, I still find it surprising. I get better sustain out of a Knight upright. Is this a common characteristic of uprights vs grands?

Anyway, I need the OS update please! Do you have a link for it?

Many thanks,

Mark

Mark,

It appears that the OS hasn't been released yet. I will get a copy of the OS and send you a link asap.

Regards,


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Paul Davis
Generalmusic
Generalmusic.US