XLN Audio Addictive Keys

Verdict
For Fantastic recreation of a
legendary piano
Three great microphone setups
Extraordinary detail
Against Load times can be noticeable
Fabulous recreation of a legendary piano
at an equally legendary studio
9 / 1 0
virtual pianos roundup / reviews <
October 2022 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 75
Garritan
Abbey Road Studios
CFX Concert Grand
$199
CFX Concert Grand captures the
legendary piano in the eponymous and
enormous Studio One at Abbey Road.
You get three setups via mic arrays:
Classic, retaining the natural sound of
the instrument; Contemporary,
brightening it up somewhat; and Player,
making it sound like you’re actually
sitting at the instrument.
Adjustments available include Lid
Position, Sympathetic and Sustain
Resonance, Pedal Noise, mic levels,
stereo width and more, with onboard
efects comprising of EQ, reverb and
saturation, as employed to great efect
by the small but rather lovely collection
of presets.
With the full install weighing in at a
drive-busting 132GB, it’ll come as no
surprise to learn that CFX can take time
to load its samples, but it sounds
absolutely beautiful. It has exquisite
tonal detail, powerful lows, glassy highs
and a level of expressiveness that has to
be felt to be believed.
garritan.com
TYPE: Sampled version of the Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano in Abbey Road Studio One | PRICE: $199 | KEY FEATURES: Piano captured with Classic setup (close, mid
and main mics for “the natural tonal character, clarity and nuance”); Contemporary setup (close and ambient for “bright and hard with lots of attack”); and Player (close and
player mic setups for the “experience of playing the CFX, from the piano bench”); over 30 presets covering all three setups | SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: AAX, RTAS, VST, and
AU compatible, runs on ARIA Player (supplied); macOS 10.12 through 11.x, Intel based hardware; Windows 8.1 or later (64-bit), Intel or AMD processor hardware; 4GB RAM,
133GB hard drive space
CMU312.rev_pianos_roundup.indd 75CMU312.rev_pianos_roundup.indd 75 21/07/2022 17:5621/07/2022 17:56