“Quantum Leap Pianos is the best piano software available today. The recording quality and playablity is fantastic and these are the only digital piano sounds they faithfully reproduce the resonances of a well tuned piano. Quantum Leap Pianos captures all the soft nuance and the thunder of the real thing. The Bosendorfer is a good example of this. I think East West made the right move when they saved Western Recorders from the wrecking ball.”

— David Newman

“Having new sounds at my fingertips is always an inspiration and these new PLAY plug-ins have plenty of great sounds to choose from.”

— James Newton Howard

“Whether I`m working on an action film like Transformers or a comedy like Desperate Housewives, I use piano in just about every score I write. Quantum Leap Pianos is the most detailed and best sounding collection of virtual pianos I have ever used. The "feel" of each piano is shockingly close to the real thing. And the PLAY interface gives me a ton of control and flexibility, but it`s also really easy to use which allows me to experiment and get the sound I want quickly.”

— Steve Jablonsky

“The entire line of Quantum Leap instruments are an essential part of my composing rig. The sounds are impeccable and naturalistically captured while the ease of use and the power of the new PLAY engine makes the instruments top of their field.”

— Brian Tyler

In summation, these are without question the most gorgeous sounding sampled pianos I`ve ever heard. The greatest accomplishment, in my view, is the way the room sound was captured. Even when using only the Player position I found it almost unneccessary to invoke the built-in convolution reverb, which is amazing in and of itself.

If you`re looking for the most authentic sounding sampled grand pianos available at this time, and have a system that can handle it, Quantum Leap Pianos is a must-consider. Just make sure you have the latest vesion - and a computer that is ready for it!

Piano sound being such a personal thing, it‘s hard to predict which way players might jump if asked to choose between QL Pianos’ instruments. Whatever your preference, it’s clear that all four are very good sampled pianos, and since they’re sold as a bundle, buyers will be spoiled for choice!

Editing the 68,000 samples in this library took four people eight months, and I bet pianist John Sawoski‘s fingers are still aching!

The ultimate test of whether all the effort was worth it comes when a musician sits down to play the instruments, and this musician spent many happy hours playing the ‘fab four’ (to coin a phrase) pianos included in this world-beating collection.

This collection of four superb instruments raises the bar for sampled grand piano playability without hiking the price too high.

The new meaning of heavyweight. Players agreed that EastWest/Quantum Leap has by far the most detailed and biggest-sounding pianos of the bunch. "The dead center of the Bosendorfer`s dynamic range sings out for a long time," noted Fortner, "exactly like the real thing, and the nine extra notes below bottom A [a famous feature of the real thing] are just thunderous." Richard Leiter said, "This sounds like a good recording of a good piano. It makes me want to play late 19th Century classical - if I could!" Aikin added, "This`d be loverly for Chopin, but not the patch you`d load for Bach ... or Little Richard." Trying the Steinway, Aikin said, "I`d sit down and play this for pleasure over the Bosendorfer. It`s very lively, with just the right combination of depth and brilliance." He was even happier with the Bechstein: "This makes me want to play Mozart. There`s a nice singing quality and melodic projection over chords. I have a sense of comfort here, even more than with the Steinway." The Bechstein was also Fortner`s favorite for his R&B-derived playing style: "Lean into it, and it doesn`t go quite as far as the Yamaha, but the bell-like harmonics you want for pop come forward. Lean back, and it`s brooding and mellow. Gorgeous." EastWest/Quantum Leap Pianos stands out because it`s the biggest most ambitious sampled piano project ever, with the sound quality to prove it. You`ll need a bad-ass computer to play the full-size presets with abandon, but if you have one - wow!

• The most detailed piano recordings - EVER!
• Load any piano or mic position individually (each piano is approx. 15Gbs)
• 10-18 velocities per note of sustain and sustain with pedal
• 8-12 velocities per note of repetitions and repetitions with pedal
• 5-8 velocities of soft pedal and soft pedal with sustain pedal
• 16 velocity staccato on every piano
• Repetition samples taken from 180 BPM performances for a TRUE repetition sound and not simply an alternate take.
• Software detects true repetitions
• Resonance - pedal resonance recorded for every note at multiple velocities, as well as with the soft pedal down
• Proprietary resonance captured on the Bösendorfer
• Release samples with software envelope follower
• Articulations on each piano include
  • a. sustain
  • b. sustain with pedal
  • c. repetitions
  • d. repetitions with pedal
  • e. soft pedal
  • f. soft pedal with sustain pedal
  • g. staccato
  • h. release trails
• Recorded in a proper piano environment with vintage Neumann microphones, Meitner AD converters and a vintage 8078 Neve console
• Stereo swap possible in software
• Lid position simulation
• Articulation matrix for quick and straightforward loading
• Most powerful streaming engine available with highest polyphony counts
• PLAY interface includes impulses from the same hall the producers used to record Symphonic Orchestra and Symphonic Choirs so the pianos can blend with those collections.