Hello all,
Let me tell you my experience about the Digital Sound Factory Steinway Model L Motif XS Grand Piano.

When I loaded it, at the first note I have honestly been disappointed. Before I go further I want to say that It is my opinion only I’m talking about.

The sound miss power and richness. It is flat, on some chord I had the impression I was playing an harpsichord. The levels are not set properly neither, they are not balanced in between the different voices and anyway to low.

The last 3 bass notes really sound bad , Flat, when you play on a grand you can feel that a long string is vibrating and those vibrations are deep and surrounding . Where is my sound ?

There is 3 layers for each note when you play soft, middle or hard pressure on the key, 3 different samples are played… Well first of all you can’t miss it, there is a huge difference between the layers and there is not enough progression between the layers. I think that it misses some kind of fade in and out. Basically when you play you don’t feel that the keyboard responds to you but that you have to adapt your play for this particular voice. Or start a long editing process to creat your brand new voice.

On the middle layer (element 3), middle E note: there is a background click or clap that has been recorded ... so each time you play the middle E note with a medium pressure you hear the clap… What the f… And you don’t need a cat ear to hear it.

The bank itself is rather poor except the first 5 pianos the rest is useless… Even more funny : bank 7 is piano and strings, and bank8 piano and choirs ... well it’s the same voice ... they forgot to replace the strings by the choirs. Not very professional .

Sustain: I’m not a great pianist but I play on a real grand yamaha every week and I know like most pianist that the right use of a sustain pedal is important not to mix all the tonalities together and make a big mess out of a nice song. Well with this voice bank from DSF I can play a 4 minute song without realising the sustain pedal and I hardly hear the difference… Where is My sustain pedal ?

And last comment : with a voice bank from DCP production, even the cheapest one you get a pdf document with everything you need to know about the product you just purchase. With this one ... guess… nothing.

Honestly I’m pissed off.
I would not recommend it to anyone before DSF rework it completely.

Thanks Motifator mart, there is a satisfaction guaranteed on the voice so I can get it replaced by another one. As I can change only once, please help… which one should I get? I don’t want something to close to the piano you already get in the motif xs8.

Ksound piano1, Piano 2 or Virtual Pianos collection from DCP Production ????

I was thinking of purchasing World XSpedition from DSF ... and after this sad experience I’m not too sure anymore. Someone ever tried It ??? I was quiet happy of their demo personally.

See Ya

I have been restraining myself from purchasing DSF sample sets until I get adequate feedback
on their quality.........your comments are not encouraging:  my experience is quality is usually present or absent in every sound set a company does: they “get it” or they don’t. Perhaps this one doesn’t get it.

personally I’m very happy with the steinway from K-sounds (piano1). I have a grand piano at home, and when I was playing the steinway on the XS, for the very first time in 15 years my wife thought I was playing on my real grand. It’s a difficult question and very personal, but surely it’s well balanced and no wrong samples. I did hear already the demo of the steinway L and was not convinced at all. I’m already 20 years searching for a good grand piano sound and for the first time I really like it. It can be warm, aggressive, rich. I tried already akoustik piano from NI (OK but not that musical and warm), galaxy steinway ( to clean,to cool and to well tuned in my opinion. Thin sound) Bosendorfer from EAST WEST. Ok but tuning a little to out of. Sounds to classical.

haha, a ladybug on the forum

I’ll have to agree with Fabrice Delcarte!! I purchased the Steinway Model L this past Friday and I was utterly dissappointed! First of all, the volume output is all the way up and the level set at 127, and it is still very low!! It just doesn’t sound very good at all. Sorry to say that to whoever created it, but I didn’t like it at all!

K-Sounds Piano 1 (Steinway) is very good! It actual sounds like the real thing. I also have Virtual Pianos Collection and it is alright. You have to get used to the room sound in the samples. But it’s good for what it is. But, I would highly recommend K-Sounds Piano 1. You won’t regret it!

Are you hearing the Yamaha in stereo or mono?  I complained about the piano sounds on the Sninety.com forum and Bad_Mister told me to try stereo.  I haven’t had a chance to try it yet as I’m out-of-town all week but it’s possible that stereo could change your opinion.

Hi guys,
First of all thank you for your reply. It’s good to see that I’m not the only one. I am 100% sure the output is stereo. So it won’t do the trick.

Everybody is telling me goods about the ksound piano 1. I already wrote to Keyfax that I wanted piano2 from ksound ... I hope it is just as good as the first one. After listening to both demo, the piano 2 voice sounds to me more riche and realistic then piano one. Maybe a little bit brighter as well.
I havent heard anything from Keyfax yet. But I am sure I will.

karlman 23: if you are not happy with Digital Sound Factory Steinway Model L you should write to Keyfax at this address: and they replace the product by another one of your choice within 15 days. View the customer service page.

See ya

Fabrice, I would really go with Piano 1. Just my opinion. I don’t want you to regret another purchase. But, it’s your ears and you may like it! Piano 2 is brighter, and sounds great in a mix, but I personally don’t like it for solo playing. But again, it’s your choice.

I have emailed keyfax about an exchange, but have not got a response yet.

And yes, I play in stereo and Model L sound still is not good. All the other pianos I’ve played have been decent, but this one, not so much.

Hi All,

The quality of our products is the most important part of our business. I have spoken with Fabrice and he has agreed to help us find the right eq and mix to make this Steinway perform to Motif customers expectations. We will be providing an update for all exisiting customer shortly. Thanks everyone for your patience.

Best Regards,

Tim
http://www.DigitalSoundFactory.com

THAT is encouraging, to see a developer see their offerings as a work in progress and respond to the feedback of knowledgable customers......I will start saving my money.

Hi All,
see the new topic about the new version of the DSF steinway Model L.

Tim kept his promise there is now a new version that sounds great.

http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/viewthread/443792/