Elektrik Piano features four classic electric piano: Fender Rhodes MK I, MK II, Hohner Clavinet E7 and the Wurlitzer A 200. The interface is spartan and so is the manual. Even though it’s printed, it’s considerably smaller than the other manuals in this bundle. Not that you really should need it anyway, Elektrik Piano is easy to understand and quick to get to work with.

One thing that isn’t so quick is the loading of new instruments. For some reason Native Instruments decided to sample the sound of these electric pianos with various effects instead of providing the effects separately. One downside to this is that it isn’t very flexible since you can’t go in and change the effects.

Another is that it’s a little annoying to have it reload even when the instrument itself isn’t changed, and it’s just a new variation of it. Fortunately I know the difference between a Rhodes and a Clavinet so I don’t have to ramble through the presets, and once loaded the sound is good. I have liked Elektrik Piano from the first time I used it and still find it useful.

Akoustik Piano

This is of course also a plug-in based on a pretty big sample library. Akoustik Piano emulates four pianos: Bösendorfer, Bechstein, Concert Grand D and Steingraeber.

In contrast to Elektrik Piano, Akoustik Piano has separate effects. It includes a IR reverb (but can actually be set to be algorithmic to save horsepower) with four rooms: cathedral, concert hall, jazz club and recording studio. It also includes a 3-band EQ as well as a couple of other options for the piano, including how you want to set the lid of the piano.

The playability is good but not something you write your mother about. The sound is pretty good even considering todays standards but it is possible to find other VI:s that are up to par with- or even better than Akoustik Piano. My personal favorite among the pianos is the Steingraeber, to me it sounds very good in a blues and other styles like that.

B4 II

Now here’s a dandy. As opposed to the other two instruments in this review, the B4 doesn’t consist of gigabytes worth of samples. And like Akoustik Piano the effects in B4 are effects. This means that B4 doesn’t take all the space on your hard drive like Elektrik Piano and Akoustik Piano, it also means that the presets are quick to load. Lovely.

What’s better than presets that are quick to load? Many presets that are quick to load of course. B4 has a lot of them. They are good, and I normally don’t touch a lot more than the preset button. If you feel like living on the edge and take a stroll down experimental lane then you’ll find that B4 has the possibility to accompany you.

The sound? Well, the B4 is still to this day my preferred choice for organ. You can make it mumble, you can make it roar and you can make it scream like a demon from hell. It is of course very flexible and have the drawbars, vibrato controls, Leslie and tube amp simulation (complete with virtual microphones), reverb and percussion controls… Well, you get the picture.

On top of this it comes with a very good manual…

Conclusion

The Classic Keys pack is a nice bundle of plug-ins. They are all useful. However, I think you can find better grand emulations than those in Akoustik Piano. Furthermore I find it annoying that Elektrik Pianos effects are sampled instead of supplying them separately along with the pianos multi-sampled clean. This makes it much less flexible and the presets takes longer to load. The B4 on the other hand haven’t aged a day and comes with its own set of effects. It’s still one of the best organ emulators on the market, just like when it was first released.