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Synthogy Ivory Grand Piano Software (Macintosh and Windows)

Ivory is the groundbreaking Grand Piano Virtual Instrument featuring 40 Gigabytes of stunning, new samples of Steinway D, Bosendorfer 290 and Yamaha C7 Grand Pianos.

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"The most amazing sampled piano I have ever heard" submitted May 2, 2006

By a customer from yahoo.com
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Musical Background: 32 years studio playing and tracking experience
Music Style: Progressive Rock / Ambient Synth / Classical
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Sound: I'd have rated it 10 but I like to save at least 1 if something better comes along. Clearly, this is the best sounding sampled piano I have ever heard. Frankly, it doesn't surprise me that all of the negative comments are coming from non-Intel Mac users. Macs have always had problems in the CPU department with VSTis. I have been running this on a lowly P4 3.0 GHz 2 GB RAM machine, and at 36 voices I haven't had it crack once. Perhaps the newer Intel macs will run this kind of software witrh more ease. Feature: I think it really has more than it needs. I rarely find myself playing with any of the adjustments that are possible. Ease of Use: When I compared getting this thing to run with the East/West Bosendorfer 290, it couldn't be more easy. As I said above, if you pick factory defaults you won't be disappointed with the sound Quality: This is software, and I have yet to detect a bug. Value: Anytime you can buy 3 $10K+ pianos for $320, I'd say it was quite a gooid deal. Manufacturer Support: Can't say, haven't used it The Wow Factor: If you have a Jones for grand pianos, this is a gotta have Overall: This is clearly the best available sampled piano VSTi out there.
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"Easily the best sounding digital piano but also the most processor intensive." submitted May 26, 2006

By a customer from abzr.com
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Musical Background: Active Musician, composer and recording engineer
Music Style: Classical, Pop rock
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Sound: I have never heard a better sounding software piano anywhere. It's so good I can't listen or play any other software piano unless it's whithin an ensemble where the details are fuzzy anyway. It's clearly better than NI Akustik etc. The longer samples make a huge difference. Feature: The fact that there are many features are irrelevant for me even though it has quite a slew of them. I am just happyu that they've optimised it for a solo pianist. Ease of Use: Most good software synths are easy to use today and this is no exception. Quality: For this to work optimally you have to have a dedicated sample drive separate from the recording drive. It has to be at least 7200RPM with 8mb cache. In addition 2gb ram is also needed. Once you have that, you will see that it is a truly amazing instrument. I think it was necessary to create a piano that can be used for studio or preformances that has no compromises. This is it. But in order not to compromise you can't compromise on the hardware end either. Value: The value of the piece of software by itself is well worth the price. However, you must be willing to purchase a dedicated drive for this and possibly up your whole system. For people who bought a new system any earlier than last year this is quite an expensive upgrade. It's not just a $350 piano. You have to consider the price it's going to cost to make it work. If you need a piano, though, this is the only one to go with currently that does not compromise sound quality! Manufacturer Support: I've heard they're very good. I've done a lot of research on other sites and the comments coming back are that they're very friendly and generous with their support. The Wow Factor: It's got a great looking interface, but so does NI and a lot of other software synths. The beauty of this piece of software is its sound. Overall: For anyone who wants to be taken and mesmerised by the beauty of a high quality piano, this is the machine. I am going to buuild a system around it. I doubt something will come a long in the near future to replace it as the hardware technology to support it is lagging behind at this point.
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"The Sound is amazing!!" submitted April 4, 2007

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Sound: One word....INCREDIBLE! I have tried other sampled pianos including NI Akoustic Piano, but the sound of Synthogy is so much richer and lush. While to date, no sampled software piano is going to rival the real thing, Synthogy is the best so far. $350 for this or $$$$$ and an addition to your house for the real thing. The $350 does pretty darn good. Feature: Has all sorts of adjustments you can make. Most I have never messed with as the default choices sound amazing to start. I would have given it 10 here, but it is a VST only and has no stand alone app. (which is nice occasionally) Ease of Use: The interface is easy to navigate and will get you up and running right away. Synthogy is a beast of a program though and some computer expertise is helpful to get it working to full potential. I have mine running on an old Athlon 3200+ with 2 gig of ram. Even with large buffer and 160 voices, cpu hardly ever exceeds 60-65%. Be prepared to upgrade your hard drive setup though. A DEDICATED drive is almost a must and 7200 rmp isn't always enough. I recommend a 10,000 rmp raptor. (I am using a 74 gig 15,000 RPM SCSI drive connected to an Ultra 160 card and I have 0 problems) Quality: This is a very polished piece of software. It has never crashed on me and has the feel of "nicely done". Value: It's not cheap, but you can't compare cheap to quality. Since this piece is at the top for software pianos, it would be a good value at $500. The Wow Factor: I have it. Overall: As with all software, as soon as something better comes along, I will be moving along. Until then, this product is top notch and a must have.
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"Simply the best" submitted May 31, 2005

By a customer from hotmail.com
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Musical Background: Active Musician
Music Style: Rock
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Sound: Plain and simple, there is not a better sounding digital piano out there Feature: There isn't many features besides the basic piano's, but everything is extremely tweakable. Value: Amazing program, there is nothing else like it for the Mac Manufacturer Support: Haven't needed any help so far... The Wow Factor: I already have it.... Overall: Phenomenal. I would absolutely recommend it.
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"Hype, hype, and more hype." submitted November 3, 2005

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Sound: Of course the samples sound amazing. But the playability is aweful, much like Akoustik Piano by Native Instruments. Long story short, I don't think MIDI is appropriate for emulating a piano with any realism. The pedal dynamics are off, and the some key dynmics are way off -- like the fact that there's no threshold velocity for producing a sound. That is, no matter how lightly you press a key, it will generate a tone. Listen, I don't care that Jordan Rudess is paid to shower this product with praise. Bottom line, if you're into rapid single note runs a-la dream theater, or you use the pedal sparingly, then this product should suffice (as long as you have the latest PowerMac with upgraded RAM). But don't even think about playing Liszt or Debussy or anything lush for that matter. Feature: A myriad of features, no doubt. Quality: See "sound" for the problems with this software. Value: It depends on what you'll be using it for. Rachmaninov? A rip-off. Marry Had a Little Lamb or Dream Theater? Perfect. Manufacturer Support: Spoke to them once on the phone. Seemed cool. Definitely more with it than the folks at NI. The Wow Factor: No way. See "sound" for why. Overall: Again it depends on what you'll be using it for.
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"Great sounding pianos - high processing hit" submitted December 26, 2005

By a customer from ustrailmaps.com
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Musical Background: Recording Engineer
Music Style: Rock, Alternative, Jazz
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Sound: The depth of these samples is truly amazing. The key to my playing sounding authentic is all in the EQ and compression. I find the sample levels adequate but not perfect. To capture the nuiances of a real soundboard is extroidinarily difficult. In quiet passages the light hammer sound is lacking. Listening to soft passages and ballads truly shows the instruments strengths and limitations. I also use NI's Akoustic Piano. I like them both but prefer Synthogys Concert D Grand for ballads. Feature: Solid samples with good velocity and feel. Value: NI and Synthogy have a battle going for front runner in the acoustic piano space. The edge goes to Synthogy for me because of installation and ease of use. Some have said the processing power is too high and I would agree it is very high. I use a G5 dual 2.7 with 8 gigs of ram. I also turn up the voices to 36 and it plays flawlessly well. I don't expect this level of product to do well on my PowerBook G4 1.67 but it does work. Ram is the key factor for this instrument. Why would I expect this level of instrument to work on older gear? This is the reality of progress - more processing power is needed to use this level of sophistication in product design. Manufacturer Support: not needed yet The Wow Factor: I haven't found a better sample library piano yet. Of course, I'm always looking and listening.
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"Don't buy, it won't work" submitted December 19, 2005

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Sound: The sound is okay, but to make all the features work it takes way to much CPU. Mine is unplayable with sustain piano and I Have a G4 with additional RAM and Memory. So I would suspect about 99% of people wouldn't have enough CPU to make it work. Also when you play a chord the velocity weird cause one note will be realy loud and one will be realy soft making it sound wacky Feature: the features would be cool but they are too CPU intensive to work
2 of 7 people (28.57%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Great sounding pianos - high processing hit" submitted December 26, 2005

By a customer from ustrailmaps.com
Overall
Sound
Features
Quality
Value
The Wow Factor
Musical Background: Recording Engineer
Music Style: Rock, Alternative, Jazz
Back to Product Information
SPOTLIGHT REVIEW
VERIFIED BUYER
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound: The depth of these samples is truly amazing. The key to my playing sounding authentic is all in the EQ and compression. I find the sample levels adequate but not perfect. To capture the nuiances of a real soundboard is extroidinarily difficult. In quiet passages the light hammer sound is lacking. Listening to soft passages and ballads truly shows the instruments strengths and limitations. I also use NI's Akoustic Piano. I like them both but prefer Synthogys Concert D Grand for ballads. Feature: Solid samples with good velocity and feel. Value: NI and Synthogy have a battle going for front runner in the acoustic piano space. The edge goes to Synthogy for me because of installation and ease of use. Some have said the processing power is too high and I would agree it is very high. I use a G5 dual 2.7 with 8 gigs of ram. I also turn up the voices to 36 and it plays flawlessly well. I don't expect this level of product to do well on my PowerBook G4 1.67 but it does work. Ram is the key factor for this instrument. Why would I expect this level of instrument to work on older gear? This is the reality of progress - more processing power is needed to use this level of sophistication in product design. Manufacturer Support: not needed yet The Wow Factor: I haven't found a better sample library piano yet. Of course, I'm always looking and listening.
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