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Best upright piano 6000- 8500 USD..?

I bet you can sfz that lovely piece of craftsmenship too.
For an Upright it has less decay than most newer models.
Good for you...
 
After decades of top technician tuning + regulating expense for Mason & Hamlin - then - Grotrian Steinweg grands ....... luv all these suggestions, but future is only: top VSTi, top Kybd, darn'd good audio amp /spkr system. Can do helluva setup for $7K- $8K ! :cool:

Sorry .... couldn't hold back. :blush: No more worries now 'bout those storms rollin' thru and tuning own the drain. ;)
 
Thank you Chimuelo.
Yes, the piano can also play loud.

It is true, you can get a good vst + hardware that sounds great too. But the playing experience, playing on a physical instrument is quite different, for me more pleasing.
 
OleJoergensen said:
Finally the musicschool I teach at, recieved the new pianos :)
I made a short video, showing Wilhelm Steinberg upright piano, German model s125.
It has similar mechanical and keyboard as used in Steinway and Fazioli.
It is a quite exspensive piano. In Denmark it cost app. 12500 Euro.
I dont have the best hardware to do recording but I think it can be used.

It is new to me to record "live" audio and film, so any inspiration will be appreciated :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this. Probably a combination of the acoustically reflective room and a new piano but some acoustic treatment and hammer voicing would really help take the edge off the harsh tone and warm it up. Lovely playing - very lyrical phrasing.
 
OleJoergensen said:
A demo of the Chinese/ German model- Wilhelm Steinberg P128.
It has a wonderful bass and soft tone.
Here recorded audio and picture with Osmo action cam...
Click to expand...

Really like the full warm tone here. Impressive bass. I'd be interested to hear the piano again once it's played in and 'opened up' a bit.
 
CGR said:
Thanks for posting this. Probably a combination of the acoustically reflective room and a new piano but some acoustic treatment and hammer voicing would really help take the edge off the harsh tone and warm it up. Lovely playing - very lyrical phrasing.
Click to expand...
You are right about the room has a hard acoustic. And I probably exagerated the use of E.Q. and a bad choise for reverb. But the room will be acoustic treated within 3-4 weeks, then I will try a new recording.
I have a set of cheap stereo mics 5-600 USD I will try. But Im not sure where or how to place them...?
Ive seen several youtube videos but no one record from the pianos soundboard (behind the piano).
 
CGR said:
Really like the full warm tone here. Impressive bass. I'd be interested to hear the piano again once it's played in and 'opened up' a bit.
Click to expand...
Yes, I used the una corda pedal. One day I will try some other recording.
It is quite a learning curve :).
 
I'm a Steinway guy, but if it's uprights we're talking, Bosendorfer hands down, if you can find a good one of those within the price range. I'm in the UK, and seem to remember seeing some new ones at the dealer for just above this, so an almost new could be on the cards?
 
Has anyone played the new Kawai K series? K-600 and 800? They are hybrids with speakers that play on the acoustic soundboard. You can play the acoustic piano, and have the digtial samples playing along with it, or a rhodes sample etc and its sounds amazing. All the elctronics is hidden too. Then you can disable the hammers and practice with headphones.
 
Yes, but not yet side-by-side with Yamaha. I have tried both independently and have been too busy to go to the one store that carries both. So my memories are non-contiguous, but after more rumination once home, I suspected after my Yamaha trials a few months back that I would prefer the Kawai action and sound.

They're both in heavy direct competition, which is great, as both keep improving. I'd take a Boesendorfer Upright if I could, but otherwise, considering the state of affairs for some of the other manufacturers mentioned here (I'm not even sure they are all still making new uprights?), I'd say Yamaha and Kawai are the two games in town, but also you can get good deals on nice older refurbished ones.

I personally have decided to go digital though, in order to get true escapement in the VERY latest models, as traditional uprights don't really have the ability to support that in the way that a grand piano can. Also, acoustic upright pianos are WAY more maintenance overall than grand pianos, so the cost savings may disappear over time. Of course, not everyone has room for a grand.
 
The German model S128 Wilhelm Steinberg with felt pedal on.
Recorded with Iphone and external mic Shure MV 88 and in a bigger room then Oscar Peterson Love Ballade.

 
OleJoergensen said:
The German model S128 Wilhelm Steinberg with felt pedal on.
Recorded with Iphone and external mic Shure MV 88 and in a bigger room then Oscar Peterson Love Ballade.

Click to expand...

Nice playing - that's a very warm tone - the tenor area sounds particularly good. Lovely piano. It would be interesting to remove the front panel and put up some close mics in an XY setup in addition to the room mics, and experiment with a mix of both.
 
CGR said:
Nice playing - that's a very warm tone - the tenor area sounds particularly good. Lovely piano. It would be interesting to remove the front panel and put up some close mics in an XY setup in addition to the room mics, and experiment with a mix of both.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
How close will you place the mics to the strings?
 
OleJoergensen said:
Thank you.
How close will you place the mics to the strings?
Click to expand...
I've found a pair of small diaphragm condenser mics in an XY setup around 10-12" from the strings in a central position works well. Something like the Rode NT5 (or Neumann KM184s if you have 4 times the budget!) work well at capturing the transients and clarity of the note attacks. The room mics can be mixed in to give it some more dimension/depth if required.
 

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Rode make a dedicated XY stereo mic called the NT4. I've owned one for a few years and have used it on acoustic piano and guitar, and have worked in a few studios which have them in their mic cupboard as a high quality, low noise and reliable 'workhorse' mic for various applications (the performance to price ratio is excellent, and it's built like a tank).

RODE-NT4.jpg
 
CGR said:
I've found an pair of small diaphragm condenser mics in an XY setup around 10-12" from the strings in a central position works well. Something like the Rode NT5 (or Neumann KM184s if you have 4 times the budget!) work well at capturing the transients and clarity of the note attacks. The room mics can be mixed in to give it some more dimension/depth if required.
Click to expand...
Thank you for help and inspiration, I will try it out.
 
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OleJoergensen said:
There is also Feurich 122, it sounds also good, better then Yamaha U3 ....I think, but it is also more expensive.
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Yeah, I got one of those Feurich. Was put off with all the plastic in the U3. Got mine for roughly 6k including the MIDI thing. Came from a showroom hence the price.

Have it at home, can’t really say how it records but it’s a great sounding upright. I don’t have the expertise to say that it’s better not worse than a U3. Similar sounding (ie big focused bass, controlled mids and sparking/biting highs) when I compared the Feurich suited my style more than the Yamaha. I’m saying that I’ve played U3’s that felt and sounded amazing. But those where older ones. You should be able to find a used for less than 6k.

Best,
/Anders
 
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