Maybe it's me, or maybe it's the electronic amplification, or maybe it's just psychological, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING, out there (including giga samples) sounds like a real piano to me. Not the tone, not the responsiveness, not the changing dynamics through the ranges, not the "feel", regardless of the keybed.

For convenience, I always record using an "electronic" piano of some type. My favorite used to be the stereo piano from my old Quadrasynth (traded in to DanO). I now use a custom sample on the triton but sometimes one from the Motif ES. I don't really have a quality softsample but with my new "supercomputer" , I may invest in something (Ivory, maybe???). I sold my Baldwin Grand when we moved to Hawaii and since we've moved back to the mainland, I haven't felt the need to shell out 20k for a quality grand.

The whole eternal quest for the "perfect" piano always intrigues me as it's usually by people who are not primarily pianist'. Similar situation with the "perfect" B3 by non-organist. Why is this? In the case of the piano, few, if any, record solo piano and most of the subtleties (good vs great) are lost in the mix in group arrangements.

When sketching out something using an arranger, I always just use the "stock" piano sound and it sounds fine to me. Maybe it's just old, tired, ears.

Diki?

chas