Need to know if the Ivory Italian Grand expansion is any good, and more specifically, how does it compare to Native Instrument's Akoustik Piano?

Thanks for any comments.

Do you already own Ivory?

No, I do not own Ivory (you can use the Italian Grand without Ivory in the new version 1.7).

I like the Italian Grand. I use the Steinway samples a lot more though. It's nice to have the 12 levels of samples from the Italian Grand.

I generally like Ivory samples much better then NI Akoustik Piano.

btw: I'm looking forward to the new Upright samples from Ivory that are coming out very soon.

Wouldn't you rather go with the original Ivory version then, to get more samples. Unless pricing for Italian Grand standalone is much cheaper. How much is it?

I run Mac Leopard. The new Ivory is only standalone for that OS. I think you can still use original version if you use Mac Tiger. I don't know what the prices are for the new versions of Ivory. I got my upgrade to .07 from the site.

That does bring up a point though. With Ivory having each of their sample sets as Standalone they have figured out how to make you buy the complete Ivory engine each time you want some new offering that they have.

I.E. There is no plug-in upgrade path for the new Upright samples. I will have to buy a complete Ivory for Uprights; even if I already have Ivory.

I'm not thrilled about that but what are you gonna' do?

Well the Italian Grand IS an expansion (it's $139, compared to $300 of the original), and it says you need original Ivory in order to run the expansion.

Here's a video of Ivory I found on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT2Dmgiaa8g

On Tiger, it's a expansion, but the new version is a standalone, which is Leopard only, so you don't need the original Ivory.

Got you - so you'd be saving $170. I don't know. I've read Ivory is more 'playable' than Akoustik, but at the same time, you can implement true sympathetic resonance in Akoustik through some 3rd party software - something you can't do in Ivory.

I only own original Ivory, so can't comment on either of those options.

I have a nearby thread on everyone's favorite piano samples. I've wondered about the Ivory products. I use the Garritan jazz Steinway from the Jazz library. Does anyone have any comments on how they compare? Thanks.

I've never used the Garritan Steinway, so I can't compare it to my versions of Ivory.

I can't say enough good things about Ivory though, cep't that I have too now buy the next version to be released - Ivory Uprights! ....

It looks like Synthogy has posted the webpage for the new Ivory Uprights

They have not posted demo sounds yet, but the link is there for demos.

I've used several different virtual pianos going back several years (including several of the major ones for GigaStudio, plus Akousitk Piano and Ivory) and I have to say that the Italian Grand is my favorite of them all for solo piano work. It's not very bright, so it may not be appropriate for many types of ensemble playing, but for solo piano stuff the only word I can think to use to describe it is "gorgeous."

The Garritan Steinway looks promising, I'm ordering that one soon. I'm also delighted to find out that Ivory is putting out an upright piano collection. The upright piano included in Akoustik Piano is what prompted me to buy it in the first place--big mistake.