Yep - as KFB and company did some tests --- on one selected keyboard, finding it had relatively significant 'velocity' offsets over various different sections of the keyboard -- in bands (groups) of notes.

Regardless of whether in note groups/bands, or significant offsets among neighbouring notes, it may be something for some people to think about, especially the ones that want their accurate/reliable controllable velocity.

That gets into areas of calibration - and also areas of no-means for calibration (for each and every key), regardless of cost/time/etc. This also brings up the ceiling value of seven bit ..... the '127' (with 'zero' as the first level), as in keeping clear of that 'saturation' level if there is significant uncertainty in the actual velocity from a keyboard.

But - on the other hand, if somebody wants to customise to whatever they want - for each note - then that's ok --- that's if they have a way to customise - which generally requires somebody to get or build their own D.I.Y. keyboard, so that they can have full access and control for customisation.

But also considering just how 'good' the D.I.Y. keyboard design and performance is ..... because a lot of people try to roll-their-own, and claim good reliable performance, but often has various issues that they probably prefer to not mention. Although it's good to have people having a go, and that will be good if one's design really is a good one.

I'm interested to later (in the future) delve into the induction (magnetic induction) types of D.I.Y. I initially was thinking of optical approach. But changing my mind now. Turning attention toward the induction side.

I remembered a bit from my other thread about the above velocity 127 and thought I would paste it in here. This was a response from the producer of the library, named Ichiro, at Premier Sound Factory. Any latency in the Velocity Plus feature is discussed a bit, his contention is that the crossfade to the higher velocity layers is complete before the envelope reaches its peak. Please refer back to the VI-Control thread for more responses from this user.

Steve

Hello,

My name is Ichiro and I recorded and produced KAWAI Legend. I appreciate your interest. I have over 20 years of career as a sound engineer, but classic is not my field. Therefore, I am interested in your opinions. I would like to actively update what I can respond to from what you feel necessary and want to correct.

We were fortunate to have a large recording camp for 10 days with KAWAI's tuner and the craftsmen who make SK-EX. When recording, we tested several studios in the Kanto region of Japan and selected the studio with the best sound as much as possible. Our team does not like super dry, nor do we have a taste for hard or soft sounds. We only hope to record SK-EX as it is as much as possible. We do not have a specific genre or purpose. And the result is the sound of KAWAI Legend. As a result, I think various people will have various impressions, and it may indeed be a bit different from the sound of a general piano library. Anyway, we enjoy it as the sound of a piano played in international competitions heard up close.

When recording KAWAI Legend, We used multiple pairs of microphones, but only adopted the one pair we felt was best. Choosing a microphone is fun, but since we use 96kHz 24bit RAW data as it is, It already has 30GB of data and gave up adding microphones. I am negative about mixing the sound of multiple microphones for a single piano, from the concern of blurring the phase, in usual recording and sound libraries.

Do you need EQ on the library screen? While excellent EQs are overflowing in the market, I personally am not very interested in using the built-in EQ in Kontakt, but I think it is not difficult to equip if there are many needs. Normally, I rarely insert a compressor into a concert piano, but do you also need a compressor?

With Velocity Plus, there is no latency. The crossfade completes before reaching the top of the attack, so at least I can't find discomfort in my ears. If a problem occurs in a specific situation, please send me the data and I will verify it.

The notation of the velocity layer has been corrected to avoid misunderstandings.

I will answer re-peat.

I’m not a man who belongs to the school that says that the sound of the notes of a good piano should die near instantly the moment the key is released. Personally, I'm rather the opposite, but as a craftsman, I abandoned my personal liking and faithfully followed the sound of the actual SK-EX. However, I am interested in parameters that can adjust the length of release. It takes some time, but I am considering working on it at the beginning of the year. Thank you for the nice proposal.

KAWAI Legend is a 96kHz library, but it is realistically possible to additionally equip all sample files in 48kHz or 44.1kHz. But I doubt that enthusiasts will use the 44.1kHz session for their work, so I think 48kHz is better if I add it. I usually use Weiss SARACON for sample rate converter, but I will consider if there are other wishes.

Also, I liked re-peat's classical demo. If you don't mind, can I introduce the mp3 on our website?

Thanks again.

Ichiro
PREMIER SOUND FACTORY

    Pantonality I see what he's saying, but, still, listening to demos, the decay is unnaturally short and dry. Even when playing absolutely stacatto, notes shouldn't die away like they do on this VST. It's almost like there's just an ON-OFF option for the notes, and that the release samples and overtones are much too quiet or not sufficiently connected. Even playing in a very dry, acoustically treated room, the piano wouldn't sound like this. The notes wouldn't just die away like that, because ultimately the strings are being muted by the damper, which creates a noticeable decay. The strings don't just stop instantly followed by overtone sounds.

    Also, the dynamic range of this instrument seems a bit compressed, when compared to other VSTs.

    I wonder if this has been fixed, since this post seems to suggest the developer is willing to listen.

      6 days later

      Pantonality I am negative about mixing the sound of multiple microphones for a single piano, from the concern of blurring the phase, in usual recording and sound libraries.

      It's good to hear this. It baffles me how some libraries are put together.

        Pantonality Anyway, we enjoy it as the sound of a piano played in international competitions heard up close.

        As Ichiro put it. So do I. I did listen to some demo where the link was posted earlier on. We'll put up the embedded youtube here though.

          5 months later

          Fetivi, between this Kawai and the previous Bosendorfer, these are the reason I took the plunge and bought Pianoteq. I like them both quite a lot. The Bosendorfer is very warm and the Kawai is very clear all the way to the top, which is something most real acoustic pianos fail at quite miserably. There are actually musical tones in that top octave, not just a "clink, clink, clink" kind of sound that sort of resembles a short note but barely recognizable. I tend to play higher up into that register when the sounds are that clear.

          For the soft dreamy stuff, I tend to like the Bosendorfer better. For more present and lively stuff, the Kawai. I'm back and forth. But I'm not sorry I bought Pianoteq.