Bechstein D-280 Platinum: Virtual Grand Piano by EastWest Sounds

EastWest Sounds describes the Bechstein 280 as having clear detail and note separation compared with other instruments in its Pianos line. The developer says each note is slightly thinner than the other pianos, which keeps individual notes audible in dense voicings.

The recordings were made in a dedicated piano environment using vintage Neumann microphones, Meitner AD converters and a vintage 8078 Neve console. Mic position mixing and a lid position simulation give you further control over the tonal balance.

Each piano includes sustain, sustain with pedal, repetitions, repetitions with pedal, soft pedal, soft pedal with sustain pedal, staccato and release trails. Sustain notes have 10 to 18 velocity layers, repetitions have 8 to 12, and soft pedal has 5 to 8, with 16 velocity layers for staccato.

The repetition samples come from 180 BPM performances, so the software can detect true repetitions instead of playing a simple alternate take. An articulation matrix handles loading, and stereo swap is available inside the software.