Ivory II Piano Update coming in May 2010

[Elektroakoustika]

Just thought I'd let the masses know that Synthogy is going to be updating Ivory in May of this year.

Synthogy proudly introduces Ivory II, its next generation of Ivory piano products. Powered by a new custom engine,
the entire line of Ivory virtual pianos will feature groundbreaking new technology, a new graphic interface, and
further expanded piano sample sets to provide performers and producers with more expressive detail than ever.
The Ivory II instruments will be available as upgrades to all of Synthogy's existing line of products, including
Ivory–Grand Pianos, Ivory–Italian Grand, and Ivory–Upright Pianos. The new versions of all of these products will be available in May of 2010.

A host of new piano-centric features have been added to the Ivory II engine. Principle among them is Sympathetic
String Resonance, a long sought after but elusive characteristic of real pianos that Synthogy approaches in a completely
new and unique way, realizing the true complexities and subtleties of sympathetic string excitation. This brand new technology does not rely upon triggering additional samples, ordinary sine waves, or recordings in any way. Rather, notes struck that are harmonically related excite the actual complex overtones of the notes that are being held, in the same manner that undamped strings ring in a real acoustic piano. The result is an unprecedented new level of realism.

Ivory II also delivers some of Synthogy’s most frequent customer requests, with features such as Half Pedaling, Lid Position, Pedal Noise, and Tuning Tables to provide even greater detail and control. Additionally, features like Timbre Shifting, Parametric EQ, and new Synth Layer controls offer powerful new sound sculpting capabilities for custom piano programming and sound design.

At the heart of Ivory II are Ivory's legendary pianos. Each Ivory piano, in every Ivory product, has been further refined
and developed, including expanded velocity levels (up to 18 per piano), additional soft pedal samples, and more release samples. Synthogy's decades of expertise in piano development, along with proprietary "timbre interpolation" technology combine to deliver greater fidelity, unrivaled playability, and a musical experience that is unsurpassed.

Stated simply, Ivory II represents the most significant design enhancement to Ivory's custom piano technology since its introduction. Years in the making, every effort has been taken to assure that Ivory II is a true and worthy successor to the legacy established by our original Ivory products. Judging by the reactions we received at NAMM... we've succeeded!

"Ivory II... sounds godlike." - Steve Fortner, Keyboard Magazine

"...authentic-sounding sympathetic resonance has been the holy grail of digital-piano designers, and the folks at Synthogy have finally hit the mark..." - Geary Yelton, Emusician

And here's some info on updates and pricing:

The Ivory II Product Line

The new Ivory II engine will ship in all Ivory products. The new Ivory II product line will consist of:

Ivory II–Grand Pianos $349
Ivory II–Italian Grand $179
Ivory II–Upright Pianos $299

Target ship date for all Ivory II products is May 2010.

All products require iLok.

Ivory II Upgrade paths will be made available to all current users.

Ivory II–Grand Pianos Upgrade $89

Ivory II–Italian Grand Upgrade $45

Ivory II–Upright Pianos Upgrade $79

All upgrades include a new set of DVDs with the newly expanded sample libraries, the Ivory II engine software, and an Ivory II manual.

Grace Period for recent Ivory purchasers

Anyone purchasing any Synthogy products on or after Nov. 01, 2009 will be eligible to receive a FREE upgrade to the Ivory II versions of those products.

Anyone who has purchased the Ivory 1.7 Upgrade for $149 at any time, will be eligible to receive a FREE Ivory Grand Pianos II upgrade.

Looks quite worth the $89 upgrade for me. I love Ivory already and can't wait for the update.

[Frodo]

Thanks for the heads up! I'm definitely in, especially with their insanely reasonable upgrade price.

[Shooshie]

Ditto that.

Shoosh

[Frodo]

Ditto that.

Shoosh

Dude-- you're the best... and you KNOW why I rejoice!!

[waterstrum]

Sounds amazing!

I've got all three, so not so cheap to upgrade all of them.

I use Ivory on a lot of stuff though and I suspect the upgrade will be well worth it.

[HCMarkus]

I have had more challenges in using Ivory successfully (without drop outs or anomalies) than most of my other VIs. I wonder if the new engine will improve things, or add more troubles.

Disclaimer: I suspect the reason I have issues with Ivory is because I use it ALL THE TIME.

Ditto on the nice price... I have only the original Grand, so $89 sounds like a deal!

[Frodo]

I have had more challenges in using Ivory successfully (without drop outs or anomalies) than most of my other VIs. I wonder if the new engine will improve things, or add more troubles.

Disclaimer: I suspect the reason I have issues with Ivory is because I use it ALL THE TIME.

Ditto on the nice price... I have only the original Grand, so $89 sounds like a deal!

Sir Bravus!!

I'm stunned to hear this only because Ivory has been the most trouble-free third-party product save Altiverb and UAD.... and we're talking about DP 7.1, fwiw.

I'm almost convinced right out of the box that your quietly-kept woes are----

(Okay-- c'mon, hobbit. What's the right word? HC is a great friend and colleague. Whatever you do, don't say the right thing the wrong way.)

HC-- I'm here for you. Only if you desire, please share your woes about Ivory. We in the Shire are very concerned.

[HCMarkus]

Mostly stuck note issues and occasionally Ivory becomes seemingly oblivious to changes made in the MIDI track. I suspect pre-rendering issues, and have been avoiding pain by simply rendering as audio as soon as I get the notes the way I want 'em on beefier projects. I do find the Ivory engine seems to hit my aging CPU harder than some other VIs.

Ivory was causing me lots of grief before I moved form DP5.13 to 6.02, but I haven't been having many troubles with any VI's since I moved to DP6.02, and 7.02 is working very well for me, too (I'm still PPC, so am holding off on 7.1 until the coast is clear). So, all in all, my complaints are really fairly nominal. Nothing to get too worried about mi amigo hobbit. Thanks for your concern, though.

PS: I'm buying the RECORDING light, just to sit on the desk to look cool. j,k,

[Frodo]

Mostly stuck note issues and occasionally Ivory becomes seemingly oblivious to changes made in the MIDI track. I suspect pre-rendering issues, and have been avoiding pain by simply rendering as audio as soon as I get the notes the way I want 'em on beefier projects. I do find the Ivory engine seems to hit my aging CPU harder than some other VIs.

Ivory was causing me lots of grief before I moved form DP5.13 to 6.02, but I haven't been having many troubles with any VI's since I moved to DP6.02, and 7.02 is working very well for me, too (I'm still PPC, so am holding off on 7.1 until the coast is clear). So, all in all, my complaints are really fairly nominal. Nothing to get too worried about mi amigo hobbit. Thanks for your concern, though.

PS: I'm buying the RECORDING light, just to sit on the desk to look cool. j,k,

I had some stuck note issues in DP6.x and 10.5.8, but it wasn't with Ivory-- not that I tested Ivory in that combo, but was using other VIs at the time. Ivory is flawless in 10.4.11 (even on my G5), and for the little testing I did with it in DP7.x and 10.6.2 on my MacPro the results are no less stellar. It is a big library, one that will keep any HD quite busy. But I know that your HD setup is carefully set up and organized (with your gaggle of Markus-raptors), so that's why I was wondering about the stuck notes.

I will take a peek at some of my settings such as the voice count and streaming engine level just to compare notes with you, if that would help.

[HCMarkus]

I will take a peek at some of my settings such as the voice count and streaming engine level just to compare notes with you, if that would help.

I'll look as well... but I haven't had issues with voice delivery (Ivory's library sits on an eSATA Raptor). As you probably recall, I'm 10.4.11 on my Quad G5 as well.

I will say the most troublesome plug has been PODFarm... settings lost if USB isn't connected to my POD XT on opening a project. Boo!

[zed]

Thanks to Shooshie, in another thread, I was alerted to the existence of Ivory Upright Pianos. I guess I've been living in a bit of a vacuum, because I really had no idea that these pianos were even available.... and they've been out for about 2 years now.

Having listened to the audio demos, I am ready to jump in, since I use upright pianos in many of my projects.

But May has come and gone, and we're already into August. I guess Ivory II must be right around the corner. Does anyone have any new information about the possible release date?

I am thinking of buying the product this week from a local dealer. What do you think will happen with the upgrade? Will Synthogy send update discs to eligible registered users automatically? Does anyone know how this might work?

[HCMarkus]

I saw an ad for Ivory II in a mag that arrived in my mail within the last few days, but the Synthogy website is mute on a release date. Since I don;t have Italian Grand yet, I may pick it up when the II versions are out for shigs and gittles.

[burp182]

As of yesterday, "end of summer".
Interpret that as you will.

It's always summer somewhere, I guess.

[zed]

I got a rapid response to a query I sent to Synthogy, which said "...the Ivory Grands II will be the first product released followed by the Italian II and Uprights II at a later date".

So now I am definitely jumping on the Uprights, since it could be some time before the Uprights II is available.
I wanna start using them now! So I think I'll go grab them later today.

[Dwetmaster]

It's finally here...