Thanks for your swift feedback and recording, CyberGene; I'll have a look into this in more detail tomorrow, the day after a local Jazz festival. I'm available for a meet and greet in Heerde to be exact.

http://www.jazzfestivalheerde.nl/programma/

Welcome and thanks, KeemaNan. Yet another proud owner!

TADutchman, as we have discussed in private messaging, without any doubt the STEINWAY GRAND DEVOTION R2.1 is my personal favorite and the best among the layered sounds I use. It has resonances which are really beautiful. I have used it with heavy touch although it is originally made for light touch, so if you can fine tune it specifically for heavy touch, that would be really great! As you see, I prefer romantic classical music which sounds great with full, warm, woody and even dull sound and not bright and percussive sound and the Steinway patch is close to that. Thank you very much!

All that jazz and then a final soul/funk performance of 10 Beaufort after midnight that blew me away (the band leader of this Tower of Power cover-band is a friend of mine). I hope my eardrums are still intact.

In the meantime, I've updated the heavy touch Blended Concert Grandeur patch in the orignal post...

Sure, here it is, let me know your thoughts:


STEINWAY GRAND DEVOTION R2.1 - HEAVY TOUCH EDITION

Dual Voice: Mellow Grand, volume 9 + Pick Nylon Gt, volume 1

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +2, mid +1, high 0

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 10
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 8
2 - 5 Touch: heavy
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 3 Layer octave: -1
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 10

Reverb: Hall 2

Effect: Delay 2, time 1, depth 5

To complete the trilogy, here's the one with normal touch:


STEINWAY GRAND DEVOTION R2.1 - NORMAL TOUCH EDITION

Dual Voice: Mellow Grand, volume 9 + Pick Nylon Gt, volume 1

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +5, mid -1, high 0

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 10
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 8
2 - 5 Touch: normal
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 3 Layer octave: -1
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 10

Reverb: Hall 2

Effect: Delay 2, time 1, depth 5

TADutchman, thank you for your efforts! I have tested both new patches and now I understand why you have chosen to use light setting in the original one. The heavy touch seems to be too heavy for the already dark and mellow patch you have created and now it seems I prefer the STEINWAY GRAND DEVOTION R2.1 - NORMAL TOUCH EDITION.

By the way, I've spent today some more time to play with the settings of the CA63. Well, some people may not believe it, but in fact I've only played my piano with the default sound in 99% of the time ever since I bought it. Because the piano sound is great out of the box. The only change I've made was to use it with the heavy touch setting but it seems to be only me doing it, maybe a consequence of the fact I've been playing relatively heavy touched Scholze upright for more than 15 years at home.

So, I decided to analyze why it's only me using the heavy setting. And I've discovered a "tweak" which now makes it possible to play with the normal touch setting without the velocity and brightness jumps I had before. I need to play my new patch more in order to state it's my new favorite, but here it is:

ANTI-JUMPY MELLOW GRAND (I know, I know, it can't compete with TADutchman's sexy names...)

Single voice: Concert Grand
1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone Control:off

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: Mellow1 (That's the important)
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 5
2 - 3 String resonance: 5
2 - 4 Key-off effect: 5
2 - 5 Touch: Normal
2 - 6 Temperament: Equal (p.only)
2 - 8 Stretch tune: Wide (that's nice if playing solo piano, otherwise should be switched off in order to avoid detuning between you and other instruments which are using non-stretched tunings)

Reverb: Hall2
Effect: off

Well, as you see, the only difference with the default (out of the box) sound is the usage of mellow1 voicing (and optionally the stretched-wide tunning and hall2 reverb). But it makes huge difference to me.

Correct, what you do with mellow1 in single voice mode now is the same as what I did in dual voice mode with the STEINWAY GRAND DEVOTION R2.1 - NORMAL TOUCH EDITION

Whatever works best for you.

Suggestion towards Kawai: with an overall brilliance parameter (like on the MP10), it would be possible to fully control overall brightness, for instance when using heavy touch, independently of the Voicing parameter.

Let's update the specific CA93 optimised version too:


STEINWAY GRAND DEVOTION R2.1 - NORMAL TOUCH EDITION - CA93 variation

Dual Voice: Mellow Grand, volume 9 + Finger Nylon Gt, volume 1

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid +3, high +5

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow 1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 10
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 8
2 - 5 Touch: normal
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 3 Layer octave: -1
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 10

Reverb: Hall 2 / Off

Effect: Delay 2, time 1, depth 5 / Off

When I saw the last presets, all with light touch, I was reluctant because I had already noticed that leads to bright tones, amplifies the high freqs and the bell effect.

But on the other hand, TADutchman has well compensated this effect correcting Voicing (2-1) and Tone control (1-3)

So, once I've tried all the lasts presets, I have to say very surprisingly I prefer the original Light touch versions than Normal and Heavy versions that are too muffled for my taste.

Now talking about the presets:

The Steinway patches are truly great sounds but unlike to many people here, these are not in my favourites.

After my little "test drive" this afternoon, I would like to give you my personal list (that is not in preference order), here we go:

SHIGERU KAWAI R2.0
BRUTAL BASS BOSENDORFER R2.1
BLENDED CONCERT GRANDEUR R2.0 with 2-1 Voicing: mellow 1/2 for lid effects
KAWAI EX ADDICTION R1.1
JAZZ & BLUES IMPROVISATION GRAND R1.0
ANTIQUE 1848 PLEYEL GRAND R1.1
PUB PIANO SING-A-LONG 1.0
DIRTY UPRIGHT ROCK R1.0
BRILLIANT CLASSICAL PIANO R2.2
GOOD OLD VINTAGE GRAND R1.0
FUNKY GROWL SOLOING
INVOLVING E-PIANO
DREAMY TREMOLO HYBRID
KAWAI EP-308 ELECTRIC GRAND

maybe in future I find time to write a little review for each of them, only to share my impressions with you...

Pinipon, you missed the Steinway...

...as mentioned above; no, he didn't.

There are already so many dual voice presets with unique timbres and resonances available now (and more upcoming) that there's plenty of choice for everybody to have their own list of personal favourites.

Thanks TAD for pointing me on that - I have to admit I didn't read the whole post... But sometimes when I have plenty of time I need to test drive all the patches!

I have to say that now after some more playing I prefer the sound of the Concert Grand blend over the Steinway. The Steinway is very good but sometimes it sounds too heavy, whereas the blend is similar to the standard single layer Concert Grand but adds some additional richness which I really love for specific romantic classical pieces.

Do I hear a potential second Kawai CA93/CA63 custom presets reviewer here? Ref.http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1509389.html#Post1509389

By the way, if you want the Steinway preset to sound lighter, just pick the previous R2.0 release (the one that FishTako played in the music store).

Oh yeah, this dynamic patch packs a real analog punch for the low-frequency range of your boombox!


PERCUSSIVE CRYSTAL ELECTRIC PIANO R1.0

Dual Voice: Crystal E.P., volume 5 + Vibraphone, volume 5

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: loudness

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow 1
2 - 5 Touch: light+

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 9

Reverb: Room 1

Effect: Chorus, depth 5, speed 5

How to do a direct USB recording with enough tube warmth to make it through a cold winter?


MASTERING MELLOW GRAND R1.0

Dual Voice: Mellow Grand, volume 6 + Mellow Grand 2, volume 4

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid +3, high +2

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow 1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 8
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 7
2 - 5 Touch: normal
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 9

Reverb: Hall 2

Effect: Delay 2, time 2, depth 4

CyberGene says he can't compete with the sexy names I'm using for my dual voice presets. How come?


SEXY ANTI-JUMPY ROMANTIC MELLOW GRAND R1.0

Dual Voice: Concert Grand, volume 6 + Mellow Grand 2, volume 4

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: bass boost

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow 1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 9
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 3
2 - 5 Touch: normal
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 9

Reverb: Hall 2

Effect: Delay 2, time 1, depth 3

When playing live, there is really no reverb necessary here, thanks to the advanced UPHI sound-engine, the 6-speaker system and the spruce acoustic soundboard of my CA93!

Of course, when playing with headphones or after a recording session, you'd better incorporate the right amount of dedicated reverb in the mix.


CLOSE-MIKED STUDIO GRAND R1.0

Dual Voice: Studio Grand, volume 6 + Jazz Grand 2, volume 4

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid +2, high +5

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: normal / mellow 1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 8
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 6
2 - 5 Touch: heavy
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 8

Reverb: Off

Effect: Delay 2, time 2, depth 1

Just tell me, did I hit the sweet spot here?


CLOSE-MIKED CONCERT GRAND R1.0

Dual Voice: Mellow Grand, volume 6 + Concert Grand, volume 4 (e.g. balance= 4 - 6)

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid 0, high +5

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: normal
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 5
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 3
2 - 5 Touch: heavy
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 5

Reverb: Off

Effect: Off

In the category general Hints & Tips: about setting Dual Layer Volume Balance.

I noticed that in practice the volume balance setting may be counter-intuitive to some people (including myself), potentially leading to 'wrong' sounding dual voice presets, even while the description in the CA93/CA63 Owner's Manual is correct. Therefore two explicit examples are listed here.

Given that you are in dual voice mode and see in your display:
CONCERT GRAND
ROCK PIANO

Example 1
volume balance 6 - 4 : the layered voice is louder = ROCK PIANO

Example 2
volume balance 4 - 6 : the single voice is louder = CONCERT GRAND

Conclusion: please note that the first digit is the volume of the dual voice mode layered sound and the second digit is the volume of the original single voice mode sound!

Thank you for clarifying this, I also detected this while entering your patches. It was very obvious in the Steinway patch because the guitar first had volume 9 and the Concert Grand volume 1 which is a little bit strange for a piano patch... I find this rather non-intuitive.

Let's party today and play some really fast notes!


UPRIGHT STACCATO FUN R1.0

Dual Voice: Concert Grand 2, volume 4 + Modern Piano, volume 6

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +5, mid -1, high -2

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow 1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 9
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 8
2 - 5 Touch: light
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 9

Reverb: Stage

Effect: Delay 2, time 1, depth 1

Hey TADutchman,

I'm getting my CA 93 delivered next week and I want to thank you in andvance for your great work here. I can't wait to try all these settings and im pretty sure I'll love it. I already love it because my choice for the CA 93 was supported by the possibility of the great sound variation you offer here.

I will let you hear how i like it.
Best regards.

Congratulations on your CA93 purchase, der.abkoemmling!
Great to hear this feedback and you're also invited to share new experiences.

TAD,
Once again, you gifted us with 3 gorgeous settings.
As I commented with you in PM, your 2 UPRIGHT settings are incredible: these pianos are a very characteristic sonority, and you are able to reproduce it very well. Very good work that is only possible if you have a very good pair of ears

These 3 settings are going into my favourites:
PERCUSSIVE CRYSTAL ELECTRIC PIANO R1.0
SEXY ANTI-JUMPY MELLOW GRAND R1.0
UPRIGHT STACCATO FUN R1.0

the CLOSE-MIKED patches are also very good, I can't choose between them... maybe the best option is to take both

Thanks for your kind words, Pinipon!

Now, let's play the piano with that swinging 'Sister Act' gospel choir this Sunday.
Some other jazz/blues application is fine too.


DEEP SINGING PIANO CABINET R1.0

Dual Voice: Jazz Grand, volume 8 + Jazz Grand 2, volume 2

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid +3, high +6

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow 1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 9
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 5
2 - 5 Touch: normal
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 7

Reverb: Stage

Effect: Delay 2, time 1, depth 2

Below the CA93 butterfly preset is published, as promised here:
http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1562177.html#Post1562177
Thanks for inspiring me: this E.P. sounds extremely fat and dynamic!

By the way, there's absolutely no audible velocity layer switching as was observed on Roland console type DP's like the HP307 SN. Nevertheless, I'm still looking for a CA63 suitable Modern E.P. 3 substitute (other E.P. voice alternatives don't seem to be that organic in this case)...


HERBIE HANCOCK's SUITCASE RHODES R1.0 (CA93 only)

Dual Voice: Modern E.P. 3, volume 6 + Wood Bass, volume 4

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid +5, high +3

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: dynamic
2 - 5 Touch: light

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 9

Reverb: Stage

Effect: Tremolo, speed 4, depth 9

@KAWAI James: after saving the HERBIE HANCOCK's SUITCASE RHODES R1.0 preset to user memory and rebooting, I found a small issue: the effect section was reset to (default?) Chorus instead of retaining the Tremolo setting. In case of saving to registration memory this odd behaviour does not occur. Perhaps you could testdrive this preset on a CA93 in order to investigate?

Wha? AFAIK there's no SN anything in the SX. And AFAIK SN pretty much means no velocity layer switching.

And my condolences on that KAWAI software bug.

Thank you TADutchman, I'm a little busy updating a brochure this week, but will ask one of the CA team to double-check this point and keep you informed.

Cheers,
James
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