Reproducing a piano in software has been the "alchemist's" search for the electronic instrument programmer. Because of the infinite subtleties of the sound of an acoustic piano, traditional RAM based PCM sampling has not been up to the task, due to memory limitations. Todays computers have access to more and cheaper memory and "direct from disc" streaming has finally delivered the tools necessary to comlete the task.

The Grand 2 is a plug-in or standalone application that provides two painstakingly built virtual grand pianos courtesy of two of the world's finest and rarest concert pianos. The application is not powered by looped samples but delivers natural full-length sustain and decay. For even greater authenticity, every key was sampled at many different velocities, faithfully capturing the full extent of every note's decay. The bass is powerful, the mid-range crystal clear and the treble brilliant.

Disk streaming is the preferable choice of playback if the host system is up to the task. For situations where that is not possible Steinberg's RAMSave delivers a process that makes very efficient use of the host computer's RAM. RAMSave automatically scans the MIDI notes allocated to The Grand, dumping all unassigned samples from RAM.That way, more RAM is available for other tasks and projects are loaded and saved much faster.

Aside from being able to be played from any MIDI keyboard (a weighted action one preferably) the virtual instrument has an Edit Page where things like sensitivity and velocity curves can be adjusted, and the sound and ambience can also be specified. The application runs smoothly with just about every standard host. Alongside VST, it supports AU, DXi and Rewire formats along with standalone operation.

Two top-flight concert grand pianos in one virtual instrument

Utterly authentic piano sound that comes courtesy of two of the world's finest and rarest concert grands

Full-length sustain samples, no loops, with every key sampled individually at varying velocities

Amazingly authentic sustain pedal resonance, damper and hammer emulations Velocity adapts individually to suit your touch, style of play and keyboard's response

True sustain resonance and string release

Powerful options for tweaking tone and variable room simulations

The integrated Ambience Hall offers four-channel support and allows one to place the grand piano at any position in the virtual room

Functions can be deactivated if required to make The Grand sound like a digital piano