The Digital Component with the most realistic sound!

astrotoy

VIP/Donor
May 24, 2010
1,547
1,017
1,715
SF Bay Area
Here is a different format. Maybe the closest to the real performance of any format. I heard it last Monday. No speakers, amp, preamp, external DAC, reel to reel, turntable.


Many of you are familiar or have heard of the Yamaha Disklavier which came out as the first popular computer based player piano, using midi technology (128 levels of volume of each key, computer pedalling, etc.). Steinway Spirio takes it to hirez with 1024 levels of volume, proportional pedalling, etc. Steinway artists including the really big names (like Yuja Wang, Billy Joel) are recording about 3-4 hours of new music every month which is streamed to your Spirio piano through the cloud in hirez, all controlled by an included ipad. There is even video included for some performances so you see the performer on a screen while he or she plays in your living room on your piano. There is recording version that is being introduced within a month. The Spirio can be purchased in a Steinway Model M (5'7" grand - no recording option) or a Steinway Model B (6' 11" grand with record option available). The recordings are done on a concert grand Steinway Model D (9' grand) which can also be purchased. If you buy the recording version, you can record yourself and edit your performance on the ipad, correcting wrong notes, changing volume note by note, changing tempo, etc.

Steinway has purchased Zenph, a company which has created digital files of classic performances (painstakingly recreating pedalling, etc) so many of their recordings are available on the Spirio catalogue. I heard a short Bach piece played by Glenn Gould!

If you buy the recording version, then you can download the playing files (as well as store your own recordings) on the included hard drive. So there is no cloud delay in the commands (like changing volume).

Also the plan is to install the Steinway Model D recording Spirios in many major concert halls around the world, so Spirio owners will be able to listen to live concerts by their favorite Steinway artists (pretty much all major professional pianists - who are restricted from playing other pianos professionally if a Steinway is available - no endorsement fee but Steinway keeps instruments all over the world for use by the pianists at no charge) or within a couple of weeks of the concert.

According to the store manager, nearly half of all Steinway grand sales are now of the Spirio models. Steinway got a big boost to their financial health when financier John Paulson bought Steinway for about $500M in 2013.

How much? For a Steinway B (the largest piano that I would recommend for a large home or smaller concert hall) the base price of the piano is about $100K. With the Spiro playback system (Spiros are only factory installed, not retrofitted) the cost is about $20K more. The recording feature adds another $30K. The Model M is less and the Model D is more.

Steinways are made in Astoria New York and Hamburg Germany. For people in the US they would normally get a US Steinway, the rest of the world get a Hamburg Steinway. Same company, but slightly different construction - in the past five years the construction methods have been standardized so there are fewer differences than before. According to the store manager, you can order a Hamburg Steinway in the US (costs a bit more).

The famed Austrian piano company Boesendorfer (now owned by Yamaha but operated independently) first came out with a high resolution player piano 30+ years ago and Steinway hired the engineer, Wayne Stanke, who designed that mechanism to design the Spirio. However, Boesendorfers are much more expensive and they only sold 37 of them (according to wiki). Yamaha has also refined its Disklavier system to provide high resolution versions for playback and recording. I haven't had a chance to hear the latest Yamaha version. Yamaha definitely doesn't have star power that Steinway has, although they do have Elton John who has recorded on their system.

Just for reference, we have two grands. A Boesendorfer 225 (7'4") slightly larger than a Steinway B, and a Yamaha S400E Disklavier. If we get a Steinway Spirio R Model B, it would replace the Yamaha.

Larry
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
2,162
51
1,770
Here is a different format. Maybe the closest to the real performance of any format. I heard it last Monday. No speakers, amp, preamp, external DAC, reel to reel, turntable.


Many of you are familiar or have heard of the Yamaha Disklavier which came out as the first popular computer based player piano, using midi technology (128 levels of volume of each key, computer pedalling, etc.). Steinway Spirio takes it to hirez with 1024 levels of volume, proportional pedalling, etc. Steinway artists including the really big names (like Yuja Wang, Billy Joel) are recording about 3-4 hours of new music every month which is streamed to your Spirio piano through the cloud in hirez, all controlled by an included ipad. There is even video included for some performances so you see the performer on a screen while he or she plays in your living room on your piano. There is recording version that is being introduced within a month. The Spirio can be purchased in a Steinway Model M (5'7" grand - no recording option) or a Steinway Model B (6' 11" grand with record option available). The recordings are done on a concert grand Steinway Model D (9' grand) which can also be purchased. If you buy the recording version, you can record yourself and edit your performance on the ipad, correcting wrong notes, changing volume note by note, changing tempo, etc.

Steinway has purchased Zenph, a company which has created digital files of classic performances (painstakingly recreating pedalling, etc) so many of their recordings are available on the Spirio catalogue. I heard a short Bach piece played by Glenn Gould!

If you buy the recording version, then you can download the playing files (as well as store your own recordings) on the included hard drive. So there is no cloud delay in the commands (like changing volume).

Also the plan is to install the Steinway Model D recording Spirios in many major concert halls around the world, so Spirio owners will be able to listen to live concerts by their favorite Steinway artists (pretty much all major professional pianists - who are restricted from playing other pianos professionally if a Steinway is available - no endorsement fee but Steinway keeps instruments all over the world for use by the pianists at no charge) or within a couple of weeks of the concert.

According to the store manager, nearly half of all Steinway grand sales are now of the Spirio models. Steinway got a big boost to their financial health when financier John Paulson bought Steinway for about $500M in 2013.

How much? For a Steinway B (the largest piano that I would recommend for a large home or smaller concert hall) the base price of the piano is about $100K. With the Spiro playback system (Spiros are only factory installed, not retrofitted) the cost is about $20K more. The recording feature adds another $30K. The Model M is less and the Model D is more.

Steinways are made in Astoria New York and Hamburg Germany. For people in the US they would normally get a US Steinway, the rest of the world get a Hamburg Steinway. Same company, but slightly different construction - in the past five years the construction methods have been standardized so there are fewer differences than before. According to the store manager, you can order a Hamburg Steinway in the US (costs a bit more).

The famed Austrian piano company Boesendorfer (now owned by Yamaha but operated independently) first came out with a high resolution player piano 30+ years ago and Steinway hired the engineer, Wayne Stanke, who designed that mechanism to design the Spirio. However, Boesendorfers are much more expensive and they only sold 37 of them (according to wiki). Yamaha has also refined its Disklavier system to provide high resolution versions for playback and recording. I haven't had a chance to hear the latest Yamaha version. Yamaha definitely doesn't have star power that Steinway has, although they do have Elton John who has recorded on their system.

Just for reference, we have two grands. A Boesendorfer 225 (7'4") slightly larger than a Steinway B, and a Yamaha S400E Disklavier. If we get a Steinway Spirio R Model B, it would replace the Yamaha.

Larry

Interesting...amateur recordists can record a piano playing itself mimicking a live performance.
Where's Beethoven? :cool:
 

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