Hey Gear Mortals! In this review, we are going to go over Vienna Symphonic Library’s (VSL) Synchron Piano series virtual instrument. This is our first time covering software from VSL, so for those of you who may not be familiar with them, I will give you a quick rundown of what they’re all about.
Vienna Symphonic Library has been one of the earliest and most prominent virtual instrument creators when it comes to orchestration software. Over the years they come to be known as some of the best and most realistic sounding orchestration software available. You almost certainly have heard their orchestration software somewhere before, as it is used all the time in big-budget Movies, TV Shows, and Video Games. Ever since I was first made aware of them years ago, I have always been intrigued. At the time I wasn’t really doing any kind of orchestration work – but these days I am doing it professionally, so now I feel like I am informed and experienced enough to give you my thoughts on their software.
As you have probably deduced by the title of this review, this focus on VSL’s Synchrone Piano series – five pianos to be exact.
- Steinway & Sons D-274
- Bösendorfer Concert Grand 290 Imperial
- Yamaha CFX
- Blüthner 1895
- Bösendorfer Upright
The reason these are called the Synchron Pianos is that they were all recorded and engineered Synchron Stage Vienna. A Large, world-class studio where much of VSL’s libraries are recorded, as well as countless film scores by the likes of Hans Zimmer and more. Suffice it to say, this is a studio with a proven track record for achieving an amazing sound.
I think these five were a great choice on VSL’s part as they all sound very different from each other, but are truly great in their own right. Depending on what kind of sound you are going for, I think you would be hard-pressed to not find it in one of these pianos.
The Steinway D-274 is my favorite of the bunch. It’s as close to what I think is the “perfect” piano sound that I have heard so far. For the longest time, I used the Model D piano on my Korg Kronos. While it wasn’t as deeply sampled as other piano libraries out there, it sounded the best to my ear while still sounding “realistic enough.” This, on the other hand, sounds even better than the Model D on the Kronos and is extensively sampled, allowing for extremely realistic expression and sound. I have used it on classical pieces, ballads, and even in full-on rock and metal productions.
My next favorite would be the Yamaha CFX. I have happened to play a real CFX a few times in the past so I am actually somewhat familiar with the tone of the piano, and VSL definitely nailed it with this one. Yamaha Grand Pianos are very popular in studios around the world, used extensively on pop productions, so no piano library series would truly be complete without one. That being said, I have actually had a dislike for Yamaha Grands for a very long time. The first time I ever liked the sound of a Yamaha Grand was when I played a CFX at a concert hall. It’s a different beast than the popular C7 and I think that’s a great thing. It keeps that signature Yamaha tone but without the (what I think is weird sounding) resonance.
The rest of the pianos all sound great, but for me personally, get used in more specific scenarios. For example, I think the Bösendorfer Imperial is the best out of the bunch for a variety of classical material. If you are going for a classical piano vibe, that might be the one for the job.
The Blüthner’s defining characteristic I found to be its abundance of overtone and resonance in the tone. Personally, I only ever use this kind of “sound” from a piano when I need a piano part in an ambient part of a song or production. I think for that situation, there is no better piano of the bunch for that.
Last but not least, the Bösendorfer Upright is there for when you want the sound of an upright piano. In my work, generally, there isn’t much upright piano stuff happening but there is no doubt that this a world-class upright piano. I have never played this one in person before but it’s surprisingly different from a lot of the uprights I have played in the past in a good way.
Now, all these pianos run on VSL’s Synchron Pianos plugin and there is some really convenient and smart stuff they did with this software that I’m surprised no one else has done yet. It’s extremely useful to use and intuitive, with three main tabs, “Play”, “Mix”, and “Edit”. My favorite thing is that once you have loaded whichever piano you want to use, in the “Mix” tab, VSL gives you a few different mix presets to choose from to quickly find the sound you are looking for. The choices are as follows:
- Concert
- Intimate
- Player
- Pop
- Ambiance
- Mighty
Each mix preset will load different microphones and change the mix of all the mics loaded, depending on which preset you choose. All of the presets sound exactly as you would expect them to, based on the name. It’s hands down the quickest and easiest way I have come across with any piano virtual instrument to date. Personally, I tend to mostly stick with Concert or Intimate but I have found uses for all of the presets in my time with the software.
When you’re on the “Play” tab, they give you all the main options you’re most likely to want to tweak, things like reverb, dynamics, volume, etc. As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to the software running piano libraries, it doesn’t get better than this right now.
My Final Thoughts:
There are a lot of great piano virtual instruments out there these days. I have probably used most of them at this point. I can honestly say without hesitation this is the best one to date. And that mostly comes from a combination of how incredible sounding the pianos are, with how intuitive, slick, and easy the Synchron Piano software that runs them is.
The price is actually also pretty much in line with what you expect from a top-tier product. The price on each piano varies but, roughly, they go from around $200 to $400 a pop. If you could only afford one, and wanted something that would work great for most situations, I say go for the Steinway D-274, you won’t regret it, and it will last you forever. VSL has been really good with keeping their software update and I haven’t seen any reason to suspect they wouldn’t keep doing so.
