FREE Piano VST - Addictive Keys Studio Grand

Addictive Keys is a virtual piano instrument by XLN Audio. It features a high quality sound engine that both sounds amazing AND loads really fast. When I found out it was FREE, I just had to share it here!

Ok. ok. Yes, this is just the DEMO version and you still have to pay for the full version. But why am I so happy with just the DEMO? Here's why.

The demo version has NO TIME LIMIT!

Unlike most software demos that time out and then ask you to pay up, you can use Addictive Keys as long as you want! 100% FREE! This is perfect especially for those who don't need all the extra settings and piano sounds offered by the full version.

Great Piano Sounds.

The Iconic Studio Grand

Though the demo version only includes one piano (the "Studio Grand"), you can actually tweak the piano sound to your taste. There are a few great presets included too, if you don't feel like tinkering with the settings. From natural and warm acoustic sounds to funky chaotic techno sounds, you can accomplish a lot already. And again, it's FREE.

Reasonable 49-key limit

Playable Range of the Demo Version

This might be the deal-breaker for many of the piano players out there. The demo only includes 4 octaves and that can feel really restrictive to those who are used to the full 88-key setup (offered by the full version). It starts with the low C on the first octave of my M-Audio Keystation 61 and ends at the high C of the 4th octave after that. So I can't play any higher than that. Which is actually fine for me! I mostly use piano on the low-mid range on my mix so it's OK. Now it were missing some bass keys instead, I'd have a problem.

Microphone Perspectives

Shape your sound with mic settings and more!

Apart from being able to add effects and adjust the tone of the piano, you can even choose microphones and how they are placed to "record" your piano sound. That's powerful. That kind of power usually comes from paid software. And here I am again saying it's FREE! But of course you don't get as much options as the full version. The demo version only offers 3 mic perspectives while the full version offers 6 choices. But if you're just starting out with Addictive Keys, chances are you won't even want to touch these settings yet. Besides, it already sounds great right out of the box.

Conclusion

The Addictive Keys demo is so feature packed that I can safely say that I'm going to be using this for long time before I start getting the itch to upgrade. It sounds very close to the actual thing and offers enough sonic options to keep it interesting and versatile. That is, if you stay within the 49-key limit.

You can download it for FREE here: https://www.xlnaudio.com/demos

You need to install a third party downloader and use that to register your demo for Addictive Keys, which is a bit of a hassle. But for this little gem, I would say it's worth the effort.