Best Piano VST And Kontakt Plugins
How to choose the best piano VST plugin which is most suitable for your composing? In this article, I am guiding you to choose it by analyzing the characteristics of them. Here is the best piano VST plugin list which I ranked according to their main characters. I will try my best to update this article every month when the arrival of competitive new products.
- 1. Native Instruments - The Grandeur
- 2. Native Instruments - Noire
- 3. Native Instruments - The Gentleman
- 4. Steinberg - The Grand 3
- 5. Native Instruments - Alicia's Keys
- 6. Spectrasonics - Keyscape
- 7. Orange tree - Evolution Rosewood Grand
- 8. Best Services - Galaxy II Pianos
- 9. HalionONE - Yamaha S90ES Piano
- 10. XLN audio - Studio Grand
Please refer to the following table which contains important things that we should consider a piano VST plugin. I explained each character one by one after the table. I am a sound engineer and please note that all of these rankings, scoring, and reviewing are done according to my own 10 year working experiences in the music composing field.
| Rank | Name | Sustain quality (%) | Sound quality (%) | Sound depth (%) | Sound Naturality (%) | Blend/Mix Quality (%) | File Size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Native Instruments - The Grandeur | 98 | 100 | 97 | 100 | 96 | 5.26 GB compressed | $99 |
| 2 | Native Instruments - Noire | 93 | 98 | 88 | 99 | 92 | 16 GB | $149 |
| 3 | Native Instruments - THe Gentleman | 97 | 95 | 86 | 99 | 96 | 3.65GB compressed | $99 |
| 4 | Steinberg - The Grand 3 | 95 | 98 | 90 | 100 | 94 | 24.6 GB | €149 |
| 5 | Native Instruments - Alicia's Keys | 91 | 90 | 81 | 93 | 91 | 6.9 GB | $99 |
| 6 | Spectrasonics - Keyscape | 86 | 86 | 86 | 93 | 88 | 80 GB (all collection) | $399 |
| 7 | Orange tree - Evolution Rosewood Grand | 88 | 84 | 80 | 90 | 89 | 11.8 GB | $179 |
| 8 | Best Services - Galaxy II Pianos | 84 | 86 | 82 | 92 | 82 | 30 GB | $259 |
| 9 | HalionONE - Yamaha S90ES Piano | 97 | 95 | 82 | 83 | 99 | Inside the HalionONE | - |
| 10 | XLN audio - Studio Grand | 91 | 90 | 84 | 86 | 80 | $90 |
What is Sustain quality of piano?
This is the most important characteristic of a piano which handle the quality and the richness of piano sound. Sustain is a special reverb effect of a piano. In a real piano, sustain is controlled by sustain pedal. In most piano VST plugins and DAWs, there is an option to control the sustain level. If your music or song has a lot of piano solo parts or bits, you need to consider a lot about sustain quality.
What is Sound quality of piano?
In this character, I measure how much clear that the listener can hear the sound. Sound quality means, clear level of the sound. Here, especially we need to consider high octave notes and low octave notes. In a good piano VST plugin, both high and low octave should be able to listen clearly and separately even there is a long sustain.
What is Sound depth of piano?
The sound depth of a piano especially depends on the quality of the low octave notes. There should be no clash or disturb sounds in low octave notes. It should be able to listen clearly and separately. Furthermore, if the piano is playing apart of other instruments (like a song), low octave notes should not clash with the sound of the bass guitar and kick drum. All of these 3 instruments (piano low octave notes, bass guitar, kick drum) produce bass, but piano low octave notes have a unique different feeling that the listener can feel a lot.
What is Sound naturality of piano?
In this character, I measure how much piano VST plugin can come close to the real sound of a real piano. This can measure by comparing the VST piano sound with a real grand piano. Fortunately, most of the major piano VST plugins have this character in almost nearly 100%.
What is Blend / Mix quality of piano?
By looking at this measurement, you can choose the best piano plugin which can blend with other instruments. It means that how much the piano sound can hear separately and clearly when it playing with other instruments especially in songs. This is a very important character because mix quality is a major factor that affects the quality of a music track.
Let's take the best piano VST plugins one by one in to action ...
1. Native Instruments - The Grandeur
This is rank number one which has a rich and hyper-detailed sound of the world’s most treasured concert grand piano. This is the best grand piano VST plugin which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. According to the feeling of the sound, my opinion is that this plugin is most suitable for classic and pop music. Talking about the customization and controls, The Grandeur has control levels of pedals, damper, string, and hammer sounds. This VST plugin has a remarkable sound quality and sustains quality even the file size of the whole plugin is 5.26 GB. (You can check the score values in the above table.) Developers of this VST plugin has mentioned the secret of this premium sound quality at their official web site. It mentioned that they have included over 2500 individual samples and 18 velocity zones. Here I add an official soundtrack of The Grandeur from Soundcloud by AudioSimple channel. Take your time to listen to it. You will feel, how excellent is this VST plugin by yourself.
2. Native Instruments - Noire
This is rank number two which offers pure and preparation versions of the 9 concert grand piano. This is the second-best grand piano VST plugin and the latest production by Native Instruments which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. According to the feeling of the sound, my opinion is that this plugin is most suitable for classic and ballad music. Talking about the customization and controls, Noire has options to choose from a range of sound design options like some sub-bass, EQ, compression, reverb, and delay. The file size is 16 GB and you must have Kontakt version 6.0.4 or higher to run this plugin. The interesting thing is that this plugin includes 2 main sounds which named as Noire Pure and Noire Felt (2 NKIs). You can choose any of them according to your taste. Here I add an official introduction video of Noire from YouTube by Native Instruments channel. Take your time to watch it.
3. Native Instruments - The Gentleman
This is rank number three which delivers a balanced tone, a wide dynamic range, and a beautiful, lush sound. This is the third-best piano VST plugin and the greatest vintage upright piano which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. According to the feeling of the sound, my opinion is that this plugin is most suitable for jazz, country, and reggae music. Talking about the customization and controls, The Gentleman has control levels of pedals, damper, string, hammer sounds, and dynamic range. The file size is only 3.65 GB which is lightweight according to other professional plugins. The official web site of Native Instruments is mentioned that they have included over 2300 individual samples and 16 velocity zones to improve the quality of the sound. Here I add a soundtrack of The Gentleman from Soundcloud by danDELG channel. Take your time to listen to it and enjoy it.
4. Steinberg - The Grand 3
This is rank number four which features the authentic piano sound of three concert grand models (the Yamaha C7, the Bosendorfer 290 Imperial and the Steinway D) plus the classic Yamaha CP80 Electric Grand and the upright pianos. This is the fourth-best piano VST plugin and the most compatible VST piano instrument for Cubase 5.1 or higher versions which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. This plugin includes 5 different types of piano sounds. Due to that, my opinion is, this plugin can use for any type of music. Looking at the customization and controls, The Grand 3 has control of pedals, reverberation with more than 60 reverb presets, and equalization. The file size is 24.6 GB because it has 5 different types of piano sounds. The most interesting fact is that the official web site of Steinberg is mentioned that the Grand 3 has an intelligent sample architecture holding more sample layers than can be distinguished even by the most exacting professional. Here I add an official soundtrack of The Grand 3 from Soundcloud by Steinberg channel. Take your time to listen to it and measure the quality of this plugin.
5. Native Instruments - Alicia's Keys
This is rank number five which is designed with incredible precision and incorporating subtle details such as mechanical release noises. This is the fifth-best piano VST plugin and a remarkable soft piano which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. According to the feeling of the sound, my opinion is that this plugin is most suitable for soft music such as classic and ballad. The file size is 6.9 GB. The official web site of Native Instruments is mentioned that almost 3,000 individual samples in 12 velocity layers equivalent to 17 GB of uncompressed WAV audio are included to produce this plugin. This plugin is designed according to the famous artist named Alicia Keys’ very own Yamaha™ C3 Neo grand piano. Here I add 2 soundtracks of Alicia’s Keys from Soundcloud by Native Instruments channel and kgrSStore channel. Take your time to listen and feel the beauty of this plugin.
6. Spectrasonics - Keyscape
This is rank number six which is designed as a keyboard collection contains a huge library with over 500 best class sounds and 36 instrument models. According to the standard measurements of characters, this plugin holds the sixth position in the list of best piano VST plugins at the moment when I am writing this article. This plugin includes many different types of piano sounds. Due to that, my opinion is, this plugin can use for any type of music according to the taste of the composer. The file size is nearly 80 GB. The important thing is that we need to check the system requirements to run this plugin. According to the official website, they are recommending an i7 processor with 8 GB minimum RAM. Spectrasonics official web site is mentioned that these plugins are included deeply multi-sampled sounds with up to 32-way velocity switching. Here I add an official soundtrack of Keyscape grand piano from Soundcloud by Spectrasonics channel. Take your time to listen and feel the depth of the sound.
7. Orange tree - Evolution Rosewood Grand
This is rank number seven which provides a unique sound with excelling at everything from hard-hitting rock to soft ballads. According to the standard measurements of characters, this plugin holds the seventh position in the list of best piano VST plugins at the moment when I am writing this article. According to the feeling of the sound, my opinion is that rosewood grand is most suitable for classical, jazz, and rock music. The downloadable file size is 5.4 GB, but for installation, this plugin needs 11.8 GB disk space. Talking about the customization and controls, the rosewood grand has controllers to release volume, hammer release volume, pedal noises, and the damper pedal ambiance level. Orange tree official web site is mentioned that this plugin has 12 dynamic layers and 2x round-robin. Here I add an official soundtrack of rosewood grand piano from Soundcloud by orange tree samples channel. Take your time to listen and feel the unique color of the sound.
8. Best Services - Galaxy II Pianos
This is rank number eight which contains three grand pianos the Vienna Grand, the 1929 German Baby Grand, and the Galaxy Steinway. According to the measurements, this plugin holds the eight position in the list of best piano VST plugins at the moment when I am writing this article. According to the feeling of the sound, my opinion is that these plugins are most suitable for classic and pop music. The complete file size is 30 GB. All these 3 samples have a multi-velocity pedal, damper, hammer, and string noises. Here I add a soundtrack of Galaxy Vienna grand piano from Soundcloud by piano de channel. Take your time to listen to the beauty of the sound.
9. HalionONE - Yamaha S90ES Piano
This is rank number nine which is an inbuild grand piano that comes with HalionONE collection. HalionONE is an inbuild VST collection that comes with Cubase DAW. According to the measurements, this plugin holds position number nine in the list of best piano VST plugins at the moment when I am writing this article. According to the feeling of the sound, my opinion is that this VST instrument is most suitable for classic and pop music. Talking about the customization and controls, this instrument has options to control cutoff, resonance, DCF amount, DCA Attack, DCA Dccay, DCA Sustain, DCA Release, and DCA Amount. Many composers don’t know about this amazing plugin because it is inbuild and comes with a collection of instruments. But it is worth to check it because of its amazing sustain quality and blend quality. If you are using Cubase 5 as DAW, I highly recommend this plugin to use as piano VST. Here I add a soundtrack of HalionONE Yamaha piano from Soundcloud by kgrSStore channel. All the piano parts and piano bits in this song are played using this plugin. Take your time to listen to it.
10. XLN audio - Studio Grand
This is rank number ten which features a classic Steinway Model D concert grand piano. According to the measurements, this plugin holds position number ten in the list of best piano VST plugins at the moment when I am writing this article. According to the feeling of the sound, my opinion is that this plugin is most suitable for ballad and pop music. Talking about the customization and controls, Studio Grand has options to control EQ, line, pedal, and mic position. This VST plugin has excellent sustain quality even the file size of the whole plugin is around 1 GB. Developers of this VST plugin has mentioned that the recordings were done using rare vintage tube and ribbon microphones capturing the instrument at several different perspectives. The most interesting is that you only need a minimum of 2 GB RAM to run this plugin. Here I add a soundtrack of Studio Grand from Soundcloud by AudioSimple channel. Take your time to listen to it and feel the beauty of sustain quality.
