I have LoungeLizard but I am not completely satisfied with that. Last rehearsal I preferred two Rhodes from Sampletank 4, which is general purpose, good but not perfect usually
I do not stick with any one e-piano plug. I use several, and it completely depends on what particular sound I am looking for. I do the same for many other plugs, such as organs, pianos, and horns. They all seem to have their own character. Having owned a Wurlie for several years, I am somewhat picky on what I want to hear and feel from that instrument.
@Corky …
Tell us more! Which are your hints?
Most of us never had a chance to beat on a real Rhodes or Wurlitzer.
I had only two chances in 40 years
1 Like
Acoustic Samples Wurlitzer is my favorite at the moment. And I use Scarbee EP88… Killer Rhodes…
Yup, Velvet is currently my bread-and-butter electric piano VSTi. Decent resource footprint, short loading times, good sound, fits nicely in a mix. Probably not the most hyper-realistic simulation, but it does the job very nicely for live use.
Plus, it’s pretty tuneable - not quite as mad-scientist-crazy as Lounge Lizard, but still very flexible.
So, even though I have a number of nice emus and sample sets (Lounge Lizard, all Scarbees, plus the very nice Session Keys collection), Velvet will be my default selection for live playing for the foreseeable future.
Cheers,
Torsten
5$ for xpand2 is a no brainer. It’s at the base of my presets. Low CPU and fast loading. All round bread and butter with wonderful pads, great lead synths, good brass and strings.
The pianos aren’t great but useful for in a mix.
And the interface and synth function is very limited.
But still a stable workhorse.
Please bring out v3!
1 Like
I see velvet is 71% price drop!
I use Velvet a lot now, especially for Rhodes sounds. I still like Lounge Lizard too, in particular the Wurli sounds.
Furio,
I use Velvet for several things. The A100 is good for wurlie. Lounge Lizard is used very little anymore, but good for a few things. Scarbee is my old standby, really great when tweaked. Pianoteq can also get some great sounds after diving under the hood and tightening the belts. Session Keys has been my new favorite this year. The feel of it sold me.
I love Accoustic Samples plugs, but haven’t pulled the trigger on the Wurlie or Tines yet due to my Gear Acquisition Syndrome recently. They both sound great online, so I figure I will pick them up soon.
I never was a Rhodes fan up until 10 yrs ago, so I’ve been catching up on those. The Wurlie bug caught my ear early in life when I heard Ray Charles for the 1st time. Love the grit, and the bark. I’ve tried other clones, some of them are pretty good, but prefer those I listed, just for various reasons.
Corky
1 Like
I love the sound of the Wurlie on their website, but I can get pretty close with Velvet and a bit of FabFilter EQ (theirs is a lot more mids-heavy).
You know, that’s close to what I was thinking when I was considering it. I feel like I have everything I need in my arsenal already. Good move on the EQ. The big difference with AS plugs is there is a feeling of actually being in a room with the real instrument. B5 and their pianos have that magic feel about them that others don’t.
I would be curious to see your settings for Fab Filter with Velvet.
- Paul
Not one single setting - I have specific settings for every preset. When I want my Wurly to show a bit more muscle, I give it a bit of a boost around 300 Hz, then another around 3k to compensate and not let things get too muddy.
1 Like
A while back Velvet was on sale for $19:
Thanks. This setting helped a lot.
- Paul
Nobody mentions Keyscape here? I am still amazed with the sheer quality of the sounds there: various Rhodes, Wurlies, Pianets, an Yamaha acoustic grand, and several other famous keys (MKS20 etc). I have Velvet, Lounge Lizard as well for EP’s, and they’re doing fine for sure for some patches, and obviously they have a smaller footprint. But as for live usage, I am sticking mostly to Keyscape at the moment…, as long as my laptop can handle it…
From the video by Greg Phillinganes keyscape seems a masterpiece.
But I never saw it in offer until now.
And this means 350 euro or 380 dollars.
We are suggesting each other offered items…
I’m thinking of shifting to a small format desktop and an external monitor for my next live rig for that very reason.
yes, Keyscape has its price, and is never on offer unfortunately. But for me it is worth it.
I will likely not replace my workstations anymore, since software synths with Cantabile are a feasible and better quality alternative. I have a Korg Kronos since 9 years and extremely pleased with that, also for gigging. But Cantabile plus good soft-synths are my way forward now.
As for the OP: Xpand! is a wonderful allround VST. For 5 USD/EUR anyone should grab it!
I fully agree.
I have Kronos and Montage. If I exclude piano on Montage, I always prefer synths and samplers and whatever on VST.
With Cantabile this choice is also managed with flexibility.
I am still using my Montage because it has a wonderful keyboard, a perfect audio board for C3 and some buttons for Midi CC.
Xpand! is really useful.
I will keep buying low cost things.
I did it with Synthmaster and I love it