Soft Imperial by Vienna Symphonic Library
by Vienna Symphonic Library · $295
Overview
Indulge in the gentle sounds and colors of a magnificent Bösendorfer Imperial. Rather than being dull or muffled, the clear and transparent tones lend themselves well to a lot of styles.
Key Features
- Bösendorfer Imperial soft velocity samples
- Recorded in dry Silent Stage acoustic
- Mixer presets
- Multiple effect presets
- Light Guide supports key switches
- Pre-configured sound control knobs
Technical Specifications
- Library Size
- 2.4 GB GB
- Sample Count
- 504 samples
- Plugin Formats
- VST3, AU, AAX
- Standalone
- Yes
Ideal Use Cases
- Film composers seeking a nuanced and expressive piano for emotional scenes and character themes.
- Sound designers needing a versatile piano with a wide dynamic range for atmospheric and narrative projects.
- Producers crafting intricate acoustic arrangements where clarity and subtle harmonic detail are paramount.
- Jazz pianists looking for an instrument with a rich, yet transparent tone for sophisticated improvisations and compositions.
- Classical musicians and arrangers desiring a grand piano capable of both delicate passages and powerful statements without harshness.
Included Presets
- Dry Conductor
- Imperial Ethereal
- Granny’s Piano
- Imperial Warp
- Phased & Delay
Insights from Real-World Use
Strengths
- free
- beautiful instrument
- not too hard on CPU
- great job presenting that
- great sounding piano
- demo is stunning
- lovely freebie
Weaknesses
- far too soft
- useful only when the bpm is under 30
Tone: soft, beautiful, glorious, great sounding, stunning, ethereal
Review Snippets
- Praises Soft Imperial as a beautiful, free, intimate, quiet, and unfelted instrument.
- Positive evaluation of the tuning simulator feature.
- Describes Soft Imperial's beautiful sound, soft dynamics, clear tone, and not being felted.
- Highly praises Soft Imperial's beauty and value as a free instrument.
- Achieves a very intimate, quiet, non-felted soft piano sound, which is a great quality.
- Appreciates Soft Imperial's CPU friendliness, basic beauty, and excellent presentation.
- Notes Soft Imperial's tender dynamic and dry sound from silent stage recording.
- Soft Imperial has a nice, soft, muted felt sound with quirky tuning that adds to its character.
- Soft Imperial is beautiful with very soft dynamics.
- Positive impact of an effect on inspiration and improvisation.
- The Ethereal preset is just the sound I was trying to get by tweaking other piano libraries. And now I just got it thanks to you. And the sound is glorious.
- I have downloaded this and I must say great sounding piano the demo is stunning, between this and spitfires phillip glass piano it's all i will ever need thanks VSL Phil UK England
- Synchron Stage Reverb Lite is a lovely freebie from VSL and not the first; Soft Imperial, Angelic Choir, and Celestial Strings are among the standouts
- The Soft Imperial is FAR TOO Soft. It can be useful only when the bpm is under 30.
- Synchron Player performance is good with fast load times and no issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What host or player is required to use this VST?
- No host is required; it functions as a standalone application. It is also available in VST3, AU, and AAX plugin formats.
- Is the piano sound sampled or modeled?
- The sound engine is sampled, featuring Bösendorfer Imperial soft velocity samples.
- What is the library size and how many samples does it contain?
- The library size is 2.4 GB, containing 504 samples.
- What are the minimum system requirements for Mac and Windows?
- For Mac, macOS 11 Big Sur (latest updates) is required. For Windows, Windows 10 (64-bit, latest updates) is needed. Both platforms require 8 GB RAM and a 7200 rpm hard drive.
- What genres and use cases is this VST best suited for?
- It is well-suited for classical, jazz, pop, and film/scoring. Ideal use cases include recording, film scoring, practice, and songwriting.
- Does it support NKS?
- Yes, it is NKS Compatible.
- What specific features does the plugin offer?
- It includes Bösendorfer Imperial soft velocity samples, mixer presets (dry to large hall), multiple effect presets, Light Guide support for key switches, and pre-configured sound control knobs.