Mir vs Chroma Upright Piano

The fundamental difference between Mir by Elementary Sounds and Chroma Upright Piano by Sonuscore lies in their sonic philosophies and intended applications. Mir is specifically engineered for heavily processed, atmospheric, and lo-fi textures, emphasizing sound design and ambient expression, while Chroma focuses on providing a highly detailed and versatile acoustic upright piano experience with extensive articulated playability.

Mir utilizes a narrower range of 4 velocity layers but boasts unique microphone setups, including recordings made on reel-to-reel tape machines and a Soviet spy recorder, further shaping its distinctively characterful and often distorted sound using tube compressors, Eurorack filters, and guitar pedals. In contrast, Chroma prioritizes pristine acoustic capture of a Wilhelm Diemer upright, offering a remarkable 27 velocity layers for nuanced dynamics and including five unique articulations: felt, muted, plucked, flageolet, and bowed, making it suitable for a broader range of musical styles.

Choose Mir if your primary goal is to create experimental, lo-fi, or highly atmospheric piano textures for film scoring, sound design, or ambient music, valuing unique processing over pristine realism. Opt for Chroma Upright Piano if you require a highly expressive, acoustically detailed upright piano capable of nuanced performance across various articulations, ideal for recording, film scoring, or pop music where dynamic range and diverse playing styles are paramount.

Products Compared

Insights from Real-World Use

Mir

  • I love Elementary Sounds Reka, and am buying their MIR today. Tayna has remained on my wishlist but yet to make it to the top. I'm also on the beta of Drema
  • Greatest piano and most beautiful one I've encountered. its FULL of emotion. im so in love with this majestic product, thank you
  • The variety of textures makes the Mir piano very surprising.
  • The speaker loves Mir's base piano and the fun of playing with its LFO and movement features.
  • Speaker loves Mir piano, thinks it's awesome, super cheap, and under $100.

Chroma Upright Piano

  • Chroma Upright Piano has a very full character.
  • The story from Sonuscore is that a team was sampling a high quality grand piano, but were drawn to an “unassuming upright” in the same studio. So having completed the initial job, decided they should
  • Key takeaways: - Fantastic out-of-the-box sound and the velocity curve works well for me by default (can be customized) - 4 mic positions turned into useful piano presets like Bright Upright, Cinema
  • If you like its sound, you should buy Chroma Upright Piano; it sounds, feels, and looks great.
  • I was able to match Ryuichi Sakamoto piano recordings 100% identical to Noire with all of the smallest details. I don't know how anything could get more realistic and is my main practice and player pi

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