Rubens This is a tough one!
The long and short of it is that if you get into VSTs, you'll either make your peace with one of them, or you'll eternally spend the rest of your years searching for The One.
Sadly, VIs rarely come with trials, so that equates a lot of wasted time and money... which segues nicely to Pianoteq. Download the trial and give it a spin.
Maybe you did already though and you want some specific quality of the SD-10? Apologies if this reply is a bit redundant in that case. 😃
You can play around with the Pianoteq trial and see just about everything it has to offer. At the very least, it will give you a taste of what to expect of VIs... any time spent with Pianoteq won't be wasted because you'll have to figure things like audio interface, latency, etc.
You can even use the trial to submit a performance to the 2024 video contest and you may even get enough from the winnings to get it for free.
Pianoteq doesn't directly use samples, but a different kind of technology that's more like synthesis. You'll find that people who are vested in samples won't give much credence to Pianoteq unless they are tricked into doing so... there have been very elaborate experiments on this with very interesting results.
On the other hand, you'll also find people who are used to acoustic pianos or in the acoustic piano industry who just love Pianoteq. I think the reason for this is the playability and response of Pianoteq compared to other VIs.
I can't predict on which side of the spectrum you will land. I came to Pianoteq thinking I hated it because of all the bad things I had read about it on PW. Then I listened to a blind experiment, and when I learned it was Pianoteq, I decided to give it an honest try. It took me a bit to dial in the settings and figure out what it had to offer. Now I'm all in and Pianoteq is all I need.
There's also ease of use, installation, and the fact that Pianoteq doesn't require invasive software on your computer like iLok. There's really great functionality like always on MIDI recording and much much more. You can run it on multiple platforms if you wish. Once you start using this functionality, you'll likely feel limited by other VI software.
Out of all the other VIs I've heard (but not used), Garritan CFX sounds the best to me, probably better than Pianoteq, because it oozes of authentic Abbey Studio One reverb. I'm not sure if it's still fully supported. I also liked the VSL Imperials. I like Modern U as well, but it is an upright piano sound.
Here are some other free pianos you can try if you understand sampling software. Dore also has commercial versions of these pianos and might be able to help you dial in exactly the experience you're looking for.
From my perspective, the most important factor in this exploration is to have fun and remember that it's all about the music!