Hi gang,

for those of you that are craving more authentic piano sounds:
http://www.irishacts.com/

Click on Yamaha Software and listen to the demos.
Soon to be available for download:
http://www.yamahapkowner.com/forum/index.php?topic=3437.0

Eric

Hi Eric
Had a listen to the Demos and was very disappointed, however I have not heard the Tyros 2 for a couple of months so I dug out some demos of it just to compare, and my opinion remained the same.
All the demos to my ears (Particularly the first 2) sound like Electric Pianos rather then Acoustic, with the stock Tyros 2 Acoustic Pianos being far superior.
As a second test I compared them with recordings of a Real Piano and again my opinion remained the same.
Conclusion; As Electric Pianos they are great, as Acoustic Pianos they are no where close.
Better luck next time

Bill

I just heard the samples,

I have to say, i definitely think they are an improvement over the Live! Grand Piano voice on the T2... they can still be better though, and they arent worth the money (50 Euro).

At least its a good sign that there are people working on improving the piano sound on the T2.

-Nick

I second Bill and Nick's opinions.

Hi Guys.

There’s not a sound designer in the world who can design a piano that could make everyone happy. If there was, he / she would be a millionaire.

I’ve said this a million times before and I’ll say it again. A piano sound is a very personal thing. There are so many variations, sizes and shapes of pianos. What you expect a piano to sound like will certainly not be what the next person listen will expect to hear.

“Concert Grand” does indeed deliver exactly what I want, in that it emulates its source as best as sample based library can.

If you don’t like it, no problem. I do and so will lot of other people. But to say it’s not worth the money is a little harsh when you are not taking into consideration that others will have a different opinion.

There is no universal right or wrong here. It’s a piano, a live instrument and a very personal choice at the end of the day.

At least you have a choice too. Would you prefer that there was nothing available for the Tyros ?.

Kind Regards.
James Tubbritt.

James:

I listened to the demo's and truly liked the Long Grand ( although my old ears thought if remenicent of the stock ty2 grand with some very good tweaking) After talking to another member I was advised that the demo is a poor subsitute for hearing it live thru the tyros2. I also realise that it can't be judged until each player uses his system and his expertise at making the sensitive keys do their thing. So looking forward to hopefully onday aquiring it. My needs is for just one very good grand such as the Long Grand. I don't have the time and patience to wait each time I turn the ty2 on, so won't be purchasing the package. Would love to buy just one. Hope this is not a insult, just a poor musician. LOL

But congratulations on your very fine work, and think the membership should give them a chance......pose

The Long Piano demo is the Purgatory Creek MIDI file, so if you want a direct comparison with other keyboards and soft-pianos, visit Purgatorycreek.com and check it out for yourselves. Proof of the pudding.......

BTW, James..... if I were you, I would re-record the Long Piano file with quite a bit less reverb. That's a pretty drastic amount of 'wet' for a player perspective..... plus pretty much all the Purgatory Creek files are somewhat drier, making yours sound a bit distant in comparison.

Also, James..... If you put something out there for people to listen to, you can't get indignant when they give you their opinion. There will be people that like it, and people that don't. If you don't like criticism, best not to go public!!

If the same criticism was of a competitor's product, I don't see you jumping in to say his opinion wasn't valid (for him!). If NickG wants to say he didn't think it worth the money, that's his right as a member of the forum. Threatening him with no choice as an alternative isn't very good public relations.

If someone came to see my show, and at the end, when asked if they enjoyed it they say 'Sorry, not really' you are not going to make any friends by going, 'Well, others like me, and at least it's better than not going out!'. You should just go 'Well, sorry - what can I do better next time?' and let it go at that. Arguing with your critics is a bit futile.......

James:

Thank you very much, there are many of us that appreciate what you do not just for the Yamahas, also for the Korg forum.... the arrangers keyboards and worksations.

Is source that MANY of us, either pro-musicians and/or amateurs visit and learn with your generosity sharing your knowledge.
I am voicing my opinion and perhaps speaking for many.
By the way, I really like your samples.
Peace.

Diki,

James is not complaining about your critique of the sound quality, he's complaining about your desire to destroy his ability to make a living at this. Paying $65 for a large set of Piano samples is a HUGE bargain.

Why don't you just lighten up and let the guy make a living and try to keep your opinions to yourself? You seem to have an opinion on just about everything, and most of it is negative. Maybe if you give this hard working creative people some encouragement, it would result in more profound products and solutions. Cutting the guys legs out from under him serves no purpose but your own.

James is a great guy and has been an unbeleivable friend to the keyboard community for years. He is an expert on Korg keyboards and has branched out to Yamaha keyboards. His contributions, expert advice, and programming efforts are unmatched.

Please, give it a rest, will ya?

Firstly, kbrkr, James wasn't responding to my criticism, he was responding to NickG's (fact check time?). Secondly, are you telling me that YOU never criticized ANYTHING? So, supposedly, no negative criticism of ANYTHING ever need be posted, for fear of the manufacturer losing money?

I hope that you feel that way after the next lemon you buy, that no-one warned you about for fear of upsetting the manufacturers bottom line.....

How about I resent your negative opinion of me.....? Should you not post it? BTW, I don't care...! You are as welcome to post your review of me as NickG is entitled to post his opinion of James' sample set. Neither of you should feel that you should be censored (however, your opinion of my 'negativism' comes closer to the definition of a personal attack than NickG's opinion of the value of a sample set, not that I care....)

Hi Guys.

Please, I don’t wish to see this thread turning into an argument. I’m a big boy and I’ve been designing sounds for years. I’m heavily based in the KORG world and I do expect to experience a little flack now that this is the first Yamaha library I’m releasing.

One of the reasons why we as musicians buy different brands of keyboards is that we prefer a specific type of sound.

The exact same thing can be said for this Concert Grand Library. With such a huge range of real pianos available, and with each one sounding completely different. Surely you can see that it’s pretty obvious that not everyone will find what they are looking for in this pack, where others will be delighted. There’s no such thing as the universal piano that everyone will like. Simple as that. !!!!.

It’s about choice, and that’s what I’m offering here.!!!!!

We all have our own tastes, wishes and expectations. It’s that which makes music so great, and so enjoyable. Wouldn’t be much fun if we all liked the same things now, would it ?.

Kind Regards.
James.

PS: This is also only the start of things to come. There’s no Choir sounds or solo voices on the Tyros 2 like there are in my Vocal Assault library :-) As well as many others I have not even released yet.

[This message has been edited by Irishacts (edited 11-21-2006).]

No problem, James..... I get a little hot under the collar at self-appointed forum censors! No doubt, as more and more players listen to your demos, there will be more positive reviews. I actually thought that it's a pretty good set for the RAM size, but was a little off-put by the drenched in reverb sound. That's all.....

I'm curious whether you have had any luck getting in touch with Yamaha as a sound designer for their products. No doubt you yourself are as frustrated as I with the closed multisample format that Yamaha have chosen, and I'm curious whether you have had any luck (or even tried!) communicating that at least an AKAI import, if not soundfont, would vastly improve the choices of sample sets for their 'top-of-the-line' arranger.

You are no doubt aware how much easier it is to import to Korg arrangers, and wonder if you have any weight to call on Yamaha to implement AKAI support. Roland, Korg, Kurzweil, Wersi, Lionstracs and many others all can import AKAI keymaps to varying degrees, why not Yamaha?

Guys,

I wasnt 'bashing' the samples at all and I dont want people to think i only post negative comments of such...

I am giving an honest unbiased opinion on these piano samples after hearing them. I did say the samples are definitely better than the standard Live! Grand Piano voice and honestly in my opinion I dont think they are worth the money... but hey they are here for EVERYONE to listen to and purchase, no one has a gun to anyones head here.

Im not gonna start another mine is better than yours bashing, but I often see ALOT more harsher comments thrown across this forum bashing certain keyboard brands / features etc etc etc etc.

lets have a rule in this forum saying NO MORE NEGATIVITY TOWARDS ANYTHING!

sure lets do it, but what a boring place this will be...

Cheers, Nick

i dont see how critiquing a product is negativity. How else is a manufacturer going to get feedback to improve their product ?