Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH announced the much-anticipated update to its The Grand virtual concert grand piano product. The Grand 2 features an entirely new added grand piano, surround capabilities as well as a range of features designed to maximise computer resource efficiency.
“This update firmly establishes The Grand as one of the leading virtual piano instruments worldwide,” comments Helge Vogt, Steinberg’s Product Manager for Virtual Instruments. “Not only have we paid meticulous attention to achieving an extraordinarily high quality in the audio material used, but we’ve also aimed at further enhancing both playability and realism to an even higher level than the first version of The Grand,” continues Vogt. “And that was tough.”
Building on the acclaimed The Grand VSTi, the new version offers numerous new features and capabilities. The Grand 2 features an entire, new grand piano model, painstakingly sampled from a real concert grand made by one of the world’s leading manufacturers. Users can easily switch between the two models with only a single mouse click. Added key click and pedal sounds as well as hammer samples further increase the level of realism offered. The unique new four-channel surround implementation allows The Grand 2 to be placed anywhere inside a virtual room, with the position adjustable from directly within the VSTi’s user interface.
Further new features enhance the resource efficiency of The Grand 2. Incorporated into The Grand 2 is the RAMSave™ technology first seen in Steinberg’s HALion 3 virtual sampler VSTi, which allows for highly efficient use of the host computer’s RAM by allowing the “freezing” of the instrument and automatically unloading unneeded samples from memory. While the general disk streaming performance has also been enhanced in the new version, the new “Eco” mode can further reduce demands on the computer’s resources, freeing up power for other processing tasks.
The Grand 2 supports all major plug-in formats such as VST, DXi, and AU. ReWire support offers easy integration into Pro Tools®, while the standalone version allows The Grand 2 to be used without a host application.
Price and availability
The Grand 2 will be available for $299.99 US MSRP from May 2005. Existing customers can update to the new The Grand 2 version for only $99.
For more information: www.steinberg.net
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