The yamaha sounded like a young energetic kid, the steinway was a well balanced middle aged man, and the Bösendorfer was a warm old man.

I agree that the Yamaha sounds very bright, the bosendorfer very warm and the Steinway is just perfectly balanced. But if you ever played with microphones you would know that moving them just a few inches can drastically change the sound of the recording. Take note that the pianos recorded in this video are not recorded in the same place, th bosendorfer seems to be located in a corner, the steiway in the middle of the room, this is also an important factor... So the video is interesting but not very scientific.

I like the warm mellow sound of the Bosendofer for ballads and many classical pieces and Yamaha's brightness for jazz, and Steinway to cover it all, I'm sure anyone would be totally happy owning and playing anything on these beautifully crafted pianos.

I’ve come to love the sound of Bosendorfers, especially for Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart!

For easier comparison: 0:32 Yamaha (classical) 1:23 Bösendorfer (classical) 2:14 Steinway (classical) 3:19 Yamaha (jazz) 4:03 Bösendorfer (jazz) 4:47 Steinway (jazz) Hope that helped.

I can only hear the sound of my wallet crying.

There’s just such depth and warmth in the bösendorfer pianos that I can’t get enough of

I love the Bosendorfer. The sort of soft muted sound it makes is just incredibly lovely and would sound amazing with a lot of my favorite songs to play. Such as kiss the rain by Yiruma. But Yamaha is also really nice.

I’m perfectly capable of making any of these pianos sound terrible!

Welp, I guess I'll have to sell my house and live under my $220k piano.

My college had all 3 on our recital stage. I loved the touch of the Yamaha, the sound of the Steinway, and the quirkiness of the Bosendorfer.

Bosendorfer was warm all over and pleasant to ears; Yamaha and Steinway were bright in general and especially bright in the higher ranges. I prefer Bosendorfer. It must be those 500 hours spent building it by hand. Thanks for the side by side. Please do a comparison of a different price range, maybe including Petrof?

The Steinway sounds like what a piano should sound like. The Bosendorfer sounds like what I want MY piano to sound like.

Yamaha is perfect for open grounds Steinway is perfect for concert halls Bosendorfer is perfect in a living room with a high ceiling

I would like to tell you a huge thank you for posting this video. I spent a huge chunk of my 2020 repeatedly listening to various piano brands to learn how to compare them, and your video was one of the most helpful (if not the most helpful) in teaching me how to metaphorically describe them. Thank you!

The Bosendorfer for me. I think an important factor to consider is application. Where will it be played? Who’s singing on top of it?

Bösendorfer was like a beautifully matured bottle of wine.

Bösendorfer is dark and alluring, Yamaha is sparkling and attractive.. Steinway you take home to your mum.

It's 2 am in Belgium and I just found out that Yamaha is my favorite. Thank you so much

I have a Yammie C6, I love it. Especially for the kind of music I play. I have played those other instruments as well. One piano you have to try is Fazioli. That one is a game-changer.

I closed my eyes because I didn’t think any of them would sound that different, but man! It’s night and day with all three, they have their own unique sound. Simply amazing.

Watching this with my 5 dollars headphones

I have performed on both Bosendorfer and Steinway concert grands severaltimes. I found the bosendorfers to have a larger more Majestic sound given that it is 10 feet and has several extra bass keys. However, I found the Steinways to have a sweeter sound which I prefer best . I spoke with a steinway representative years ago who told me the strings are set up slightly looser In order to create that sonorous and sweet sound.

I've once practised firstly with a Yamaha grand piano and then on a simply gorgeous Bosendorfer 280VC in my music school. I also have a Yamaha at my place so I can say that I'm more familiar with its tonal personality. As soon as I started playing the Bosendorfer right after playing the Yamaha my first thought was: "Did someone put a mute onto this piano?". I guess this shows nothing more than how massively significant the difference between the two brands was. When I played a number of Gershwin on the Yamaha, it was bright and colourful. It felt like fireworks were coming out of the piano! My thought is that the Yamaha is perfect for sprightly, relaxed occasions (e.g. The Entertainer - Scott Joplin). I find the Yamaha to be a bit of a wild horse when it comes to romantic pieces such as Chopin due to its hyperactive personality. Whereas when I played the same number of Gershwin on the Bosendorfer, it sounded more laid back, as if it's a bit too modest to show off its tonality. However, no one should take it lightly when first coming upon it, as its bass notes are a beast to behold. In my opinion, the Bosendorfer's humble personality is the perfect suit for romantic pieces. I've recently went to a showroom to try out a Steinway and Sons Model D, and I instantly fell in love with it. And it was then that I understood why so many world-class concert halls around the globe bestow this piano to grace their stages. The piano was stunningly versatile, and I felt like I was playing out of a live professional recording! I also felt like the piano had no problems understanding and interpreting the touch of my fingers when I play a piece, resulting in perfectness of how I imagined the piece the sound for such a long time in my mind. In conclusion, I would choose a Steinway and Sons, but if only I ever had the opportunity to own one of each brand and select which would be best for specific events... that is my ultimate dream if I make it to be a concert pianist!

There’s a sophistication and refinement with the Bösendorfer that’s irresistible.

Yamaha - lively, joyful, bright, loud n clear Bosendorfer - elegant, deep, dim, muffled, blurry Steinway - in between .. I personally liked the Bosendorfer because i am a melancholic person.

Yamaha pulls at your heart strings a tad bit more. Bosendorfer had a more boxy sound and would be good for Thelonius Monk style material. Steinway had a very metallic sound. All three were nice but I think the string resonance on the Yamaha is a bit mor in tune with the vibrations of the multiverse. 🥳

The Bosendorfer sounds so delicate, I don't know how they manage to build such an amazing instrument ❤

The pianos are not recorded in the same place, the Bosendorfer was in a corner, the Steiway in the middle of the room, this is also an important factor.

Honestly speaking, i liked the Bosendorfer better for its "immersive and richer" sound compared to the other two.

Thank you for the great video. I’m always partial to Bösendorfer because that is what I am fortunate enough to own! Thank you for proving my point!

Jakob, you are absolutely incredible! Thank you so much, but all three were amazing because you were playing them!

The Bosendorfer beats the Steinway with the law of diminishing returns and actually sounded the best to my ear. The Steinway sounded more balanced but not a hundred thousand dollars more worth of balance.

I like the fact that altough Bösendorfer has been a wholy-owned subsidiary of Yamaha for the last 13 years, Yamaha themselves have given Bösendorfer almost free reign when it comes to production and design and greatly value the Austrians' input and requests. Sure, there is some general guidance and marketing by the parent company, but Bösendorder themselves remain relatively independent when it comes to manufacturing and maintaining their own products. The headquarters remain in Vienna and every Bösendorfer piano is handcrafted to meticulous detail and quality control there. Plus, it must be great for Bösendorfer to have access to Yamaha's supply chains. Essentially, Bösendorfer is to Yamaha what Lamborghini is to VW and that is a good thing.

The microphone position was different, as was the location of the piano in the room, which has a lot of impact on the sound. Yamaha and Steinway sounded rather bright. Bosendorfer was richer and warmer - my favorite

Hard to focus on the sound when the nocturne is played so terribly

The warm and full sound of the Bösendorfer is my love.

I have grown up on a Steinway grand since I was 13 months old. They are my favorite because I am deaf and it lets me feel the vibrations and the beat.

They all sounded great. Its a matter of personal taste. Personally I liked the bosendorfer best. A very mature warm sound. Also, great skill!

They all sound great.

The Bösendorfer is honestly the best. Having played all three types in person it also has a deepness that doesn't come through the records that the other pianos don't have. This was an imperial grand though.

The Yahama is sharp and bright, The Bosendorfer is round and deep. The Steinway is vanilla and neutral.

Yamaha is bright, bösendorfer is soft & mellow, and steinway is in a mid (the balance one). It depends on the songs that we want to play, these 3 pianos are so unique!

The Bösendorfer sounded sweet & subtle. It turned the notes into art 🏆

The Yamaha was definitely the brightest sounding and the Bosendorfer had the most mellow sound to it. The Steinway to me captured both pieces exceptionally well as it took the best of the other two and met right in the middle. Very impressive!

What I hear at first as a classical pianist is: Yamaha has a clear and bright voice that is very desirable when playing etudes. Bösendorfer has a warm tone combined with a bass that sounds unique and would be appropriate for cantabile playing in the middle register. Steinway explicitly pulls out more resonance and enharmonic qualities. Excavating the voices that usually only the trained pianist hears to the audience. In an ideal world I would have a Yamaha for practice, a Bösedofer for playing Liszt, Bartok, Rachmaninoff and Beethoven. As to utilize the percussive base and passionate tone. Then have a Steinway for performance of Bach, Mozart, Chopin and Debussy... In order to use the magic in the harmonic resonance to highlight the genius chord progressions and singing melodies. This is just my humble opinion.

I don't play piano(guitarist & percussionist), but the difference is clear on all of them!! All in all...the Steinway is a perfect balance of the other two, brightness & warmth! Great video💪😎👍

i liked the Bosendorfer, it's just cos it was a warmer tone (less highs) though i'm aware, it might even be played at a different volume that sound would change... it could even be affected by just blocking something off, it's like having a slight low pass filter

Not really a valid test. The Bösendorfer was in the corner of the room which drastically changed the acoustics and reverb hitting the microphone.

All of them sound great compared to my piano

I know I am 5 years late, but this was interesting to me. Now I want to know more about the key action and which is better to play with the fingers! As a audio engineer, the Bosendorfer's note frequency response are the same across all notes. You can always add treble, but you cannot add a good low end. Wow on the Bosendorfer. Bosendorfer is the sound that I like...wow. Bosendorfer is doing all the things that pro/grammy audio engineers love while in default mode. Maybe you had the microphones setup differently, but I can still here the frequency response correctly. The key to a good recording and live sound for video and audio is the have low end wavelengths. I believe most concert halls choose Steinway and Yamaha because it gives pianists two sizes. A pianist will have a choice to which size that fits bests. I can play a 12th-note-chord in one hand so I don't mind the yamaha's wide key map. But most pianists smaller than me will go for the tinier keyboard (or more standardized steinway (if I dare say)). Now I have to go find a Bosendorfer (and see how it fits). P.S. The Steinway is a combo of "yamaha + bosendorfer" frequency response. As an audio engineer, the more information you have on the bass or lower frequency, then the better the range of adjustment that can be done in post by a equalizer and polarity switch and delays. Most musicians have a good ear due to playing and hearing all the time, so you go with the more mature low end => Bosendorfer. If my audience were musicians,=> Bosendorfer. If my audience is mostly men => Bosendorfer. If the audience is mostly children => Bosendorfer. If my audience is a bunch of untrained non-musicians ears => Steinway (because they don't have the ear to notice the low frequency difference (and they end up liking bright (and they are basically low end tone deaf))). If my audience is most women => Steinway (and its due again to the weak ears that most women have (but not all (but most end up liking bright))). The same thing is with Light, so we record blues and greens with the most data (via a f/1.2 - f/1.8 lens). And with audio try to get microphones that have a flat 20Hz to 1K frequency response; the 1K to 20KHz.can be a little lower (but make sure its not higher in volume). Most human eyes and hears (and smells) are tuned to record the low-end; upper harmonics are like icing on a cake. Really good video; I needed it, because I was trying to test another engineer.

I would like to hear a Mason & Hamlin model AA in this comparison. I believe it is as sweet as Bosendorfer with the colors of the Steinway

I've been a concert pianist for over 50 years. Each Piano has it's own distinct merits. I've played on really good Steinways and bad ones. I've played where a Yamaha had blown away a Bosendorfer, visa-versa etc.... Si, it rally comes down to the actual instrument. However, when playing for a concert even though I prefer the sound of a Bosendorfer over the other two, I would always choose a 'good' Steinway because of reliability. The sound of a Steinway is a kind of mix between a Bosendorfer and a Yamaha but, once again, it's down to the instrument.

Yamaha - Perfect for parties Bosendorfer - Perfect for lounge music Steinway - Perfect for concert halls

I’m not a professional musician so I didn’t think I’d be able to tell. But you can. Quite clearly. Maybe it’s because I’m so conditioned by branding or use to the sound from serious recordings but the preference was a surprisingly easy choice for me.

I’ve performed on both S and B concert grand. It’s a shame he didn’t mention the action of all 3. The Steinway’s action is incomparable! The sound on it: crystal clear, where you can show off articutation without being tinny on the higher register, nor being muffled in the lower register. A no brainer for “classical” music. If a more muted sound is your thing, no poblem, just buy a cheaper piano. A win-win situation.

*__________Yamaha_______Bosendorfer_______Steinway* Song 1 ....... 0:35 ....................... 1:27 ................... 2:18 Sond 2 ....... 3:20 ...................... 4:03.................... 4:46 All of them are nice. All of them have a different style and character. Different songs will fit better on the different piano. In the perfect world an Ai piano with real hammer keys would be able to simulate all of them on the digital piano.

I'm a musician so this guy is touching my heart right now. He obviously spent a huge portion of his life in front of the keys. Thanks brother! Keep playing. Our hearts need that in this pandemic right now.

The Bosendorfer is next to two walls in the room corner which may be affecting the sound causing some coloration so it's hard to know what the overall resonant tone is; on the Jazz piece this actually enhances the music. The Yamaha was bright which sounds good on things like Chopin, but it was too much for the Jazz piece. The Steinway is a balanced all rounder, anything sounds good on it. I think that the Steinway is a touch more refined and balanced than the Yamaha. So for classical, I'd go for the Steinway although I liked the Chopin on the brighter Yamaha. The Bosendorfer sounded good with the Chopin too but may have been affected by the room acoustics. The Bosendorfer wins for the Jazz piece. You didn't mention Bechstein; Jazz also sounds just right on them with their particular voicing for playing Jazz chords and percussive patterns. The Yamaha was way to bright throughout for jazz, it was overwhelming.

The steinway has such great clarity and dynamic range. The Yamaha is brighter and the bosendorfer has a richer warmer tone but the steinway covers the whole range

I prefer the Bosendorfer. Deeper, darker, mellower tone. Bass sound that goes miles deep, but also has a quick decay (perfect for both classical and jazz), with a mellow sweetness in the treble that is not hard or glassy like the Steinway (or to lesser extent, the Yamaha). All depends on what you want. The Steinway sound is brighter, more clangorous, with more overtones (at least, to my ears). The Bosendorfer is much "cleaner" - perfect for jazz pianists or classical musicians who specialize in the pre-Romantic repertoire. The Bosendorfer is the most distinct sounding of the 3, as the Steinway and Yamaha have a similar tonal profile. It (the Bosendorfer) is the warmest, cleanest, and deepest toned. I would describe it as having a "linear" sound. Clean from bass to treble but also distinct from register to register. Thus, the bass notes/chords are nicely set-off against the mids and treb. The Steinway & Yamaha don't have as much distinction in tone color between the registers, so the sound is more homogenous from low to high notes. If the Steinway has a tone that is a mile wide, the Bosendorfer's is a mile deep. Hard to express tone color in words. But I think the differences between the 3 are audible and obvious. If it sounds like I vastly prefer the Bosendorfer, well, that's right, I do. But that is no knock on Yamaha or Steinway, and both sound lovely here. I just prefer that cleaner, deeper sound. Backhaus, Gulda, Badura-Skoda, Annie Fischer, Walter Klien all preferred Bosendorfers. It is generally more popular in Central Europe, and also among jazz pianists (Gulda being a famous cross-over). Would have been cool to hear a C. Bechstein in this comparison...very distinct sound on that piano, almost bell-like. Baldwin would have been another interesting profile. Many today tout the Fazoli, which to my ears sounds like a cross between a Bosendorfer and a Steinway (clean like a Bosendorfer, but bright like a Steinway).

Yamaha: Very bright, crisp Steinway: Deep, and rich sounding Bosendorfer: Very rich and mellow Depends on what sound you're after. I'd probably go with the Yamaha because I like the bright and crisp sound.

Three excellent piano's. The Yamaha Grands I've played tend to sound remarkably similar. Steinway is renowned the world over, for its signature sound,... but Bosendorfer is my favorite. Such a warm and solid sound.

You shredded that jazz piece up man!! good work

Steinway in my opinion is like a mix of Yamaha and bosendorfer s

I've always liked the more mellow tone of the Bosendorfer and I stand my ground after hearing your tests.

Based on these 3 recordings, my preference would be Steinway, Bosendorfer then Yamaha. The Bosendorfer is more muted and doesn't sing as loud. Its mellow. The Yamaha sounds too bright and crystal high. The Steinway sounds just right. Of course with the video, the viewer cannot perceive the quality of the key's action and response.

I will not claim to have the trained ear necessary to appreciate the subtle tonal differences among those makers, but as an undergrad I used to go to the dining hall of our residential college after midnight and play /practice on the Bosendorfer some generous Donor had given to the school. What I can say, is that for even a crummy pianist like me, *_the Bosendorfer keyboard and voice were the MOST RESPONSIVE and forgiving of ANY piano I have ever touched. It was an actual dream to play, and rewarded the practice I'd put into difficult passages, and gave electrifyin' response to the fingers' touch._* I played fiddle for many decades, never owned a pedigreed violin except a 1961 Roth before they went to factory-manufacturing, and a fake label Santagiuliana -- a mongrel that had the most gorgeous voice of any fiddle I ever heard. And it made me sound like an actual violinist, wonderful response thru it's entire range. So the instrument can make a tremendous difference. Yes, For a real recording and concertizing virtuoso, the sound the Audience hears is crucial. But the joy of the artist playing, and feeling the instrument respond to the subleties of that artist's moment-by-moment sense of how to inflect a passage - I believe THAT feedback between the artist and the instrument will determine more than any other factor, how much excitement and pleasure the AUDIENCE will get from listening. An opinion from some guy.

0:32 yamaha 1:23 borsendorfer 2:15 steinway & sons

“I would like to buy the Bösendorfer please.„

Forget about the pianos, your "Saints Go Marchin' In" was freekin' amazing on all three!! I found the Yamaha a bit too bright in general, enjoyed the depth of the Bosendorfer like others here, but would probably choose the Steinway for it's balance of both those elements. I was especially surprised at how good the Steinway sounded in the jazz piece, given it's status in the classical world. Kudos again!

My favorite was bösendorfer,its voice was the sweetest!!!!!🥰🥰🥰🥰

That Bosendorfer has the fullest sound of the three. It has a nice pair of balls to it, I love it.

I would say Yamaha is for energetic pieces like Mozart's. Steinway & Sons is for class like Chopin's. And Bösendorfer is for deep music like Beethoven's. Agree?

The Yamaha had the most sterile sound of them all, while German pianos have that soft reverberation to them. Especially the Bösendorfer is great for jazz due to that, because the reverberation makes it sound "cozy" and "heartwarming". Steinway amazingly enough has both the clean sound *and* gentle reverberation. To me, Steinway and Yamaha are a good fit for classical pieces, Yamaha for sonatas, Steinway for ballads preferably.

I’ve played all 3. Liked Bosendorfer the best. Note that mic position and performance will greatly affect what we hear on KZfaq. So it’s hard to really tell unless you’re right there in person.

I vote for the Bosendorfer. Gives me a homey, nostalgic vibe that I love.

Yamaha too bright, Bosendorfer too warm/dark...Steinway the best, right in the middle soundwise

Love the dark tone of that Bossendorf!

The snob in me chooses the Bosendorfer, but the musical tone appreciation in me chooses the Steinway.

My impressions is : Bosendorf is more deep and serius sound. I preferer....

i´d take any of these if i´d have the money

Might also help for us the positioning in the room. The Bosendorfer was near a wall and it muffled the tone a bit.

I wanted the Bosendorfer to win both but I preferred the Steinway for the Chopin and the Yamaha for the Jazz - the Yamaha had that slight burn from some whisky or moonshine compared with the Steinway

I’ve always been impressed by the quality of most Bosendorfers that I’ve played (there was one upright that didn’t blow me away).. Its low and high range have a pure, ringing tone. It’s a beautiful sound.

If I ran a recording studio, I'd put a Yamaha in there. If I had a concert hall I'd put a Steinway on the stage. I'd take the Bosendorfer home to play for myself.

I own a 1961 Yamaha Grand C7 rebuilt. I love the heavy base sound but I love the bell tone of the upper register in the Steinway. Since I can't afford a Steinway, I love my Yamaha Grand C7.

Timestamp for each piano 00:31 :YAMAHA 01:22: BÖSENDORFE 02:14: STEINWAY

Bosendorfer sounded the best to me 🤷‍♀️

Bosendorfer has a unique character, I loved it. It comes down to personal choice because all the three are premium brands and sound fantastic.

The Steinway sounds like a more refined version of the Yamaha, with the brightness under control. The Bosendorfer sounds mellow. I thought I'd like the Bosendorfer more in the end, but my vote goes to the Steinway, at least for these two pieces you've played. Would love to hear more comparisons for a better overview of what they are all capable of.

The stand out for me was the Bösendorfer because it had a wider dynamic range from subtly and soft to loud and wide when necessary. The Yamaha really is great for rock and boogie woogie, and the Steinway meets them both in the middle.

The Yamaha’s high notes were the most vibrant and I thought too “pingie” for classical music. The Bōsendorfer was a welcome relief to my ears with soothing deep and middle sound. The Steinway had the most mellow tone. Before making a decision, I’ll have to listen again to piano #1 and piano #2.

Test 1 Classical Yamaha 0:35 Bosendorfer 1:27 Steinway 2:18 Test 2 Jazz Yamaha 3:20 Bosendorfer 4:03 Steinway 4:46

Bosendorfer. Nuff said

I love all of them !!!!

Selling my car to drive my piano

Position and direction of your mics looks different throughout the recording and that also plays a HUGE role in sound quality, but I preferred the Bosendorfer overall. Each had a noticeable difference. Steinway resonates so much more than that of the others and maintains more overtones. STILL going with the Bosendorfer.

Bosendorfer is my choice. I was blown away the first time I ever heard a Bosendorfer. It's just rich with deep bass & crystal treble. Yamaha is too bright for me. Steinway well I would not refuse one of it was a gift & it s a well rounded piano sound.

Just sold my kidney and I finally got a grand piano. Tnx black market for sponsoring me