Desirability:
There are other sample libraries for the same price that I would rather have.

Sound:
To tell the truth, I wasn't impressed with the sound of this piano. I think the samples alone sound great. When played together, however, it just sounds like a bunch of samples played at the same time, not a piano. Hard to explain really, but they just don't blend together. I also don't like the release samples. I think they cut off too quickly. Even the lower notes seem to just stop when you let off the key. When playing repeated notes, if you play more than 2 with the sustain pedal down, it will cut off of the previous note before triggering the new sample. You can't do any sort of repeated note crescendo without bad artifacts, especially on the lower notes. One last complaint is that there is no sympathetic resonance. This may not be that big of a deal for most situations, but when I am sitting down and playing, I find myself pressing the sustain pedal really hard, hoping it might have some effect on the sound, and it never does. Other virtual pianos have done this function, so it's not impossible to do. That said, I do find that it is easy to get it to sit well in a mix. For recording, it's alright, for joy playing, I don't like it.

Overall:
I've tried to like the sound of Akoustik piano, but every time I sit down and try it, I find myself switching to other virtual pianos after a few minutes. The only piano I think feels real is the upright. I think the samples are good, but the scripting needs some work. Maybe they will fix it on a new version. Until then, I would pass on this piano.

• Submitted: 3/28/2008

Feature:
I give the features a 7. I really like how you just click the piano you want (or use one of the presets that came with the program, or one you've made yourself) and have it load up in under 20 seconds. The loading for the intruments seems incredibly fast compared so something like the Art Vista piano, where you have to sit and wait to be able to play for about 6 hours. I really love that the convolution samples on the right-hand side of the interface load absolutely instantly, without the slightest delay or hiccup. There are no wet/dry sliders to mess with, nothing technical. Just select the room, and how far you want to be from the instrument and you're set. The built-in sound recorder doesn't seem to quite work, as it echoes and garbles the sound. I find it alot easier and stable to just use a recorder in a VST host, anyways.

Quality:
I have to give this a 5, actually; Besides the Steingraeber upright sample being so damn awesome, the other pianos flat-out suck for most playing styles, and if you want just a good, expressive Steinway sample get the Art Vista Virtual Grand Piano. My biggest dip in quality is me being unable to update the produce to 1.1, which i'll elaborate on in the "Support" section.

Value:
I give the value a 7, and that's again for the upright piano sample. I'm sure this piano would be even more valuable if I could update to 1.1, and get rid of the polyphonic errors and the occasional non-working sustain (imagine trying to record a song, or playing live and all of a sudden during the chorus it stops sustaining and you have to raise and lower the sustain a couple of times to get it to work again!!!)

Desirability:
Uhm. . .I don't want it because I already have it. lol Get either this piano and install only the upright, or go on www.sampletekk.com and get the Black Grand sample and use the sympathetic/harmonic resonance scripts from http://music.mezo.com/

Sound:
The entire reason you should buy this is because of the Steingraeber upright sample. The upright sample (if that's the sound you're looking for) is extremely realistic, and it sounds just like a nice upright you'd want to have in your home. Part of what makes it sound so realistic is the bass notes sound "muffled;" you can actually hear the body of the instrument, rather than a microphone being shoved right against the strings. If you have a good controller and speaker system, i'd go as far as to say that you can just leave this sample loaded up all the time and use it to sight-read music from various styles, or just to jam/work out musical ideas simply because it's so pleasing and authentic to hear a "REAL" piano whilst playing. The Steinway favors pp-mp playing. If you play very soft and expressively it'll sound 100% realistic (assuming you make sure that the key return sample isn't set too high), but if you try to play mf-FFF, the midrange sounds OKAY and you almost can't even hear the bass notes anymore. To give you an idea, it'll sound beautiful playing Aeris' Theme from Final Fantasy 7, but if you try to play any Chopin besides the ballades, it'll just flat-out suck. The Bosendorfer is far too weak to even sound remotely like a Bosendorfer, and i'd recommend that you go with Synthogy Ivory, or Eastwest Bosendorfer 290 if you want a good Bos sample; This piano isn't even worth considering in this library. The Bechstein has a slightly more even tone and playability than the Steinway in the mf-F velocities, but it completely falls apart during soft, expressive playing which is the place the Steinway actually shines. If you're the kind of player that plays things in-the-mix, go with the Bechstein with the Studio "Near" impulse and have at it. What you have to understand, is besides the programming of the pianos each and every piano is going to have strengths, and weaknesses. I've played actual Steinways that favor one playing style over another, and i've played 7,000 dollar upright pianos in small shops that sound ten times better than a grand piano (with classical musicians agreeing with me).

Ease of Use:
Fairly easy to use, as i've said before. If you want "just play" and have an extremely simple interface, go and get a host called "Plogue Bidule" and if you use it once you'll want to use it whenever you don't feel like messing with Cubase, or especially Fruity Loops.

Support:
I was unable to update the program, so I sent an e-mail to Native Instruments and they actually never even got back to me. Service Center doesn't even find Akoustik Piano on my system, and tells me to register Art Vista (which isn't even installed on my system anymore). When I try to register that it says that an error occured and that's it. I'm extremely disappointed in Native Instruments for neglecting a customer, and if they would ever even bother to get back to me I would gladly change this number to at least a 2, or possibly 3.

• Submitted: 4/13/2007

Feature:
Can't get simpler than this. Reverb presets (rooms) are in pictograms to the right with additional parameters and tweaks in the dropdown panel beneath the main interface. Audio/midi setup was easy, too. Since my soundcard doesn't have ASIO built in I used Asio4All. I get really good latency.

Quality:
It seems this category was intended for hardware, not software. Nevertheless, since this is software and therefore cannot be blemished or lose mechanical parts, I give it a 10 for sheer stability.

Value:
Nothing, of course, can replace the sound of an actual Bosendorfer or Steinway sitting in your face. That's just not possible. But with a good amplifier & monitors for, say $300, and the $300 spent for this product, that still costs way less than the thousands that would be spent for an actual concert piano. Plus this software takes up less space if, like me, you live in a small apartment.

Desirability:
The Akoustik piano is gorgeous to both the eyes and ears. Sex Appeal? I don't know how that applies to software (unless it's "virtua porn"), but from what I've read, the NI Akoustik Piano is the best sounding one out there...

Sound:
I've noticed people complaining about the "muddy" midranges, "shoddy" bass, and so on. To fully appreciate a software of this complexity you need good equipment. My main computer is an HP laptop with an AMD 64 Athlon & 1Gb mem. The soundcard I use (for now) is the AC'97 built-in one. When amplified and played through good monitors the Akoustik sounds excellent. When I took it to band practice and played it through the P.A. it sounded horrible. That made me think: did this instrument get some bad reviews because its players put it through bad equipment? Probably. In my home system, when I play it live against other music also playing from my computer, you can't tell the difference, and this is whether I'm playing stuff by Queen, The Beatles, Chopin, or Chick Corea.

Ease of Use:
You know what I wish? I wish it didn't take so long for samples to load. I guess it's my fault. I loaded the 24bit version which resulted in my using 12Gb of HD space. Of course, loading the pianos is a piece of cake, I just wish it'd happen faster.

Support:
I should really put no comment here since I have't dealt with NI directly.

Overall:
...but I just wish it wasn't so damn huge! 12Gb is a lot of space. I guess i shouldn't complain. The mileage I ope to attain from it should be worth it. i do wish it was much smaller, though. I've listen to DevVst's two demo pianos - Absolute Steinway & Absolute Bosendorfer. Both of them sound excellent and only clock in at around 350 Mb. They also only cost $49 each. Those two pianos might also be worth taking a chance on.

• User: a customer from hotmail.com
• Submitted: 1/17/2007
• Style of Music: Rock, Reggae, Calypso, Country
• Location: Seattle, WA

Sound:
I just read some of the other reviews and my jaw dropped to the floor. I had to respond after just writing my review. Apparently...the people that wrote such bad reviews have been playing a Fender Rhodes for 20 or 30 years with a Marshall stack nailed to their ear 6 nights a week. Ignore the complaints. Akoustik Piano is far better than I could describe. Uneven? Bad midrange? Mushy? Stick to your digital piano?? Is that person referring to a Wally World Casio? Please. Did someone from another company write these? What an unjust review from these people. Unbelievable. Someone mentioned another product that's a lot better. Nadda I'm a classicly trained pianist and conductor. My ear hears it. You will LOVE Akoustik Piano.

• Submitted: 5/10/2006

Feature:
There are some very nice room acoustic options. There aren't many bells and whistles...but why would I need bells and whistles when I have 3 major-league grand pianos inside of my computer?

Quality:
A genius or two made this product.

Value:
It's one of the best investments that I've made for my studio. It's easily worth the money.

Desirability:
It's not sexy. It's not cool. The sounds are absolutely gorgeous, and the touch sensitivity of it is hard to believe. You get the brightness of a hard strike of the key all the way to the darkness of a soft touch....blurry Debussy and Chopin styles, etc. etc. That's far better than sexy.

Sound:
Off the chart. Astounding piano sounds that are better than any acoustic soft synth or VSTs that I've played...and I've played them all. And as far as comparing these sounds to a keyboard, forget it. No keyboard has come close to doing what Native Instruments did with this. Akoustik Piano is the major leagues. I've had a couple of piano majors from a nearby university come in to play it, and they are shocked by how good the pianos sound. The Steinway Grand is gorgeous.

Ease of Use:
This is the most user-friendly VST that I own. Load it up and have your sequencing software find it, and you're off!

Support:
I haven't needed any help...and I'm no tech expert.

Overall:
I'll be satisfied until someone proves to me that there is a better product. I wish them luck. Akoustik Piano is as perfect as perfect gets in the world of computer-based recording or performing. I'd put this into a Muse Receptor or a Native Instruments Kore system for the road if I was traveling. The audience, no matter how educated, would be wondering where the grand piano is on the stage.

• User: a customer from yahoo.com
• Submitted: 5/10/2006
• Style of Music: Anything....from the classics to modern pop styles.
• Location: Hemet, CA

Feature:
Nice pedalsounds.. if you could actually pick them up while playing. Stay AWAY from the effects.

Quality:
Sound-quality of samples great. But useless.

Desirability:
I had hopes..

Sound:
Don't press more than one key at once, and it sounds beautiful and somewhat realistic. However.. the blending S U C K S ! It just sounds totally dead. Midrange-mash.

Ease of Use:
It's not the user-interface that gets you down..

Support:
No issues.

Overall:
Can someone please make a great piano-product?

• Submitted: 3/17/2006
• Style of Music: Pop
• Location: Stockholm, Sweden / L.A, CA, U.S.A

Feature:
Good, but what's the point?

Quality:
Created by Native Instruments of Germany, but I think it was "Made with perversity by the natives of central F--kupistan."

Value:
Unplayable unless you have much hearing loss in the mid-range.

Desirability:
Try Synthogy Ivory . I bought Akoustik p. because the demos sounded better. It didn't occur to me that they could screw it up so badly.

Sound:
This piano has probably the best sound on the market. DO NOT BUY IT, DO>>>NOT>>>BUY>>>IT --if you have the slightest interest in sensitive expression. It is hopelessly uneven; some notes jump out at you, others are much too dull. The entire midrange is overpowering, the bass much too weak, etc., etc.

Support:
At their forum ther are numerous complaints about this. If they fix the complaints I have sent them, I will post a new review here.

Overall:
IT has potential- if they fix it.

• Submitted: 11/20/2005
• Location: NY

Feature:
Again, great samples. Steinway, Boesendorfer, etc. Key mechanics noise and pedal noise sampled too. Plenty of options.

Quality:
First set of DVD's were corrupt. They sent me new ones. The installer still has flaws, but works nonetheless. See "sound" above for details on why this software sucks.

Value:
Fine for the hobbyist. Professionals should avoid it like the plague. Maybe in a year they'll get it right, but for now, just stick with your digital piano.

Desirability:
Oh, the "sex appeal" is strong. Lots of hype around this product. Don't be fooled.

Sound:
Great samples, terrible playability. Maximum 50 notes polyphony is embarrassing. Pedal dynamics are unrealistic. Dynamic response flawed -- for example, you can't depress a key without generating a tone, no matter how slowly/gently you depress it (and varying the velocity curve and dynamics don't help). Notes don't fade out when exceeding polyphony, but cut out, and with an audible click to add insult to injury. Bottom line, they have a lot of work to do on this software before you can play Lizst with it.

Support:
They have no idea what's going on. They had to put me on hold for 15 minutes while they figured out what the polyphony is. (I had a hard time believing it was a mere 50, so I checked with them.)

Overall:
I'm already in the process of returning it.

• Submitted: 10/25/2005
• Style of Music: classical
• Location: NY