Arturia Piano V piano plug-in: features and spec-based rating

Arturia’s Piano V is a piano instrument plug-in that makes sound by physical modeling (Phi) instead of recordings, and you can switch between 12 piano models. You can also adjust the microphone position, the ambience of the room, how far the lid is open and the resonance.

A piano instrument plug-in lets you play the sound of a piano on a computer.

In this article we compare Piano V 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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Image: from Arturia’s official press materials

Summary

Among the 10 piano instrument plug-ins, Piano V 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 3.5.

Strengths

• Realism and depth (4 points): it aims for a realistic sound through large recordings and fine adjustment.
• Variety of pianos (5 points): you can switch between many kinds of pianos.

Things to keep in mind

• Help with composing (1 points): it has no feature that helps with composing.

Who it suits: people who do not worry about storage space and want to switch between many kinds of pianos.

Main features of Piano V

12 piano models

Piano V is a piano instrument plug-in that, instead of playing recordings, calculates how a piano rings with Arturia’s modeling technology (Phi). There are 12 models, including concert grands and uprights, and it also includes pianos that do not exist, such as one in which the hammers are replaced by something that plucks the strings. The models include American Grand, German Grand, Pop Grand, Jazz Upright, Piano-bar Upright, Glass Grand, Metal Grand and Japanese Grand.

Down to the lid, soundboard and resonance

You can change how far the lid is open, the resonance of the soundboard and strings, the movement of the hammers, the age of the strings, how widely the tuning is stretched and more. You can also choose the microphone position from several. The amount of pedal, key and hammer noise can be adjusted too.

Macros that change the sound quickly

Big macro knobs let you change the sound all at once. You can also change the velocity curve (how the keys respond to strength) to match your own MIDI keyboard.

Video: “Arturia Piano V Tutorial” (official Arturia YouTube channel; narration in English) Watch on YouTube

Where it is useful

• Switching between various piano sounds to find the one that fits a song
• Closing the lid to make a muffled, soft piano sound
• Using a piano model that does not exist to make a distinctive sound

Rating by criterion

Realism and depth: 4 / 5

We look at how extensively it was recorded and whether you can fine-tune things such as resonance and pedal sounds.

It makes sound by modeling instead of recordings, and you can adjust the microphone position, the ambience of the room, how far the lid is open and the resonance.

Help with composing: 1 / 5

We look at whether there are features that help you make accompaniments and chord progressions.

No feature that helps with composing is listed.

If “help with composing” matters most to you, EZkeys 2 (5 points) is a better fit.

Variety of pianos: 5 / 5

We look at the number of pianos you can switch between.

You can switch between 12 piano models.

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.

Piano V screens and images

Image: from Arturia’s official press materials

Image: from Arturia’s official press materials

Piano V system requirements and getting started

Operating system	Windows 10 or later (64-bit) / Mac
Plug-in formats	VST, AU, AAX
Standalone	Yes

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.

Read next

• Noire: 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)