Native Instruments’ Noire is a piano instrument plug-in with a Yamaha CFX grand piano (16 GB), and it comes in two versions: Pure, with a clear sound, and Felt, with a soft sound. Its feature is the Particles engine, which automatically makes shimmering grains of sound from the notes you play. It runs on the free KONTAKT PLAYER (7.6 or later).
A piano instrument plug-in lets you play the sound of a piano on a computer.
In this article we compare Noire with 10 piano instrument plug-ins and rate how well it serves its purpose on three criteria. The basis is official manufacturer information.
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Score 4.0 / 5 (average of the 10 products compared: 3.4)
- Specs last checked
- 2026/09/25
- Realism and depth
- 16 GB + fine adjustment
- Help with composing
- Particles
- Variety of pianos
- Pure / Felt
- Price (store, date)
- $139 [PB, checked Oct 26]
Summary
Among the 10 piano instrument plug-ins, Noire is rank A. The ranks run S, A, B and C, and A is second from the top. Averaging the scores for each criterion (out of 5, with the one criterion that matters most for the purpose counted double) gives 4.0.
Strengths
- Realism and depth (5 points): it aims for a realistic sound through large recordings and fine adjustment.
Who it suits: people who want a piano with atmosphere for quiet piano pieces and music for video.
Main features of Noire
Nils Frahm’s concert grand
Noire is a piano instrument plug-in for KONTAKT in which the concert grand piano of the musician Nils Frahm was recorded over 16 GB in a famous hall. You can adjust fine details such as string resonance, pedals and release sounds.
Pure and Felt
There are two versions: Pure, with a clear sound, and Felt, with a soft sound made by putting felt between the hammers and the strings. Felt is a sound that suits quiet pieces, almost whispered. There are also settings for sound design.
Particles makes grains of sound from what you play
Particles is an engine that automatically makes shimmering grains of sound from the notes you play. By layering moving ambience on the piano sound, you can build the mood of an ambient piece.
Video: “NOIRE walkthrough | Native Instruments” (official Native Instruments YouTube channel; narration in English) Watch on YouTube
Where it is useful
- Using the soft Felt piano for a quiet ballad
- Layering shimmering ambience on a piano with Particles
- Using a calm piano as background music for video or streaming
Rating by criterion
Realism and depth: 5 / 5
We look at how extensively it was recorded and whether you can fine-tune things such as resonance and pedal sounds.
It records a Yamaha CFX in 16 GB, and it has fine adjustment of release, resonance and more.
Help with composing: 3 / 5
We look at whether there are features that help you make accompaniments and chord progressions.
It has the Particles engine, which automatically makes shimmering grains of sound from the notes you play.
Variety of pianos: 3 / 5
We look at the number of pianos you can switch between.
It has two tones: the clear Pure and the soft Felt.
How we score (Piano instrument plug-ins)
| Criterion | Basis | 5 pt | 4 pt | 3 pt | 2 pt | 1 pt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Realism and depth | Scale of the recordings, and fine adjustment of resonance, noise and so on | Recordings of 10 GB or more, plus fine adjustment of resonance, pedal, hammers and so on | Modeling that lets you adjust resonance and ambience, or recordings of 10 GB or more | A few GB of recordings, plus microphone and ambience adjustment | A small library | — |
| Help with composing | Features that help you make accompaniments and chords | Accompaniment suggestions, chord suggestions and a MIDI phrase library, all together | Two of those | One, such as creating new sounds from what you play | — | No feature that helps with composing |
| Variety of pianos | Number of pianos you can switch between | 10 or more | 5 or more | 2 to 3 (including different tones of the same piano) | One | — |
Each criterion is scored from 1 to 5 on how well the product serves one goal: making piano accompaniments for cover-song arrangements and your own songs. Scores follow the conditions in the table above, and the rank is based on an average in which "Realism and depth" counts double. The basis is official manufacturer information. Sound quality and CPU load are not measured, so they are not scored; reviews from trade magazines are introduced in the articles for reference. Price is not part of the score. Features that cannot be confirmed from the manufacturer's or a retailer's description are scored as if absent.
Trade-magazine review (for reference, not part of the score)
We summarized the main points from a review in an overseas music-production magazine.
Sound On Sound (August 2019)
- Praised the tuning as almost perfect, with tone and dynamics evenly matched across the whole range
- Introduced the Pure sound as a little dry, with a restrained and intimate character
- Introduced the fine adjustment of release, resonance and more as rich
Source: Sound On Sound review
Noire system requirements and getting started
| Operating system | Windows / Mac |
|---|---|
| Plug-in formats | An instrument used inside the free KONTAKT PLAYER (or KONTAKT) |
| Other | Requires KONTAKT PLAYER or KONTAKT version 7.6 or later. 16 GB |
Checked on the manufacturer’s official pages on September 27, 2026.
Compared with other piano instrument plug-ins
Click a heading to sort. On a phone, the table scrolls sideways.
| Product | RankAvg. score | Realism and depth | Help with composing | Variety of pianos | Price (store, date) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ToontrackEZkeys 2 | B 3.3 | About 4 GB | Accompaniment + chord suggestions | 1 grand | $179 [Official, checked Oct 26] |
| Native InstrumentsNoire | A 4.0 | 16 GB + fine adjustment | Particles | Pure / Felt | $139 [PB, checked Oct 26] |
| Native InstrumentsThe Grandeur | B 3.3 | 13.7 GB + fine adjustment | None | 1 grand | $99 [Official, checked Oct 26] |
| ArturiaPiano V | A 3.5 | Modeling | None | 12 types | ≈$223.06 [Official, checked Oct 26] |
| SpectrasonicsKeyscape | A 4.0 | 80 GB + noise behavior | None | 36 instruments | $399 [Official, checked Oct 26] |
| XLN AudioAddictive Keys | B 3.0 | Mic combinations | MIDI phrase library | 4 instruments | $99 [Official, checked Oct 26] |
| ModarttPianoteq 9 | A 3.5 | Modeling | None | 20+ packs | $269 [Official, checked Oct 26] |
| SynthogyIvory 3 American Concert D | B 2.8 | RGB engine + 4 microphones | None | 1 grand | $199 (sale; regular $249) [Official, checked Oct 26] |
| Native InstrumentsUna Corda | A 3.5 | 10 GB + noise adjustment | None | Pure / Felt / Cotton | $149 [Official, checked Oct 26] |
| Native InstrumentsAlicia's Keys | B 2.8 | 17 GB + resonance and release | None | 1 grand | $99 [Official, checked Oct 26] |
Features checked on each manufacturer's official website on September 25, 2026. Check the store page behind the buy button for the price.
Read next
- Piano V: features and rating (rank A)
- Keyscape: features and rating (rank A)
- EZkeys 2: features and rating (rank B)
- The Grandeur: features and rating (rank B)
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