XLN Audio Addictive Keys Studio (Digital Download)

XLN Audio's Addictive Drums VST instrument has been around for a few years now, and has gained many loyal fans. Now the Swedish company have embarked on a mission to expand upon their Addictive branding. Addictive Keys (aka AK) turns its attention from sticks and skins to ivories and strings — and indeed hammers and tines — with a product that aims to give keyboard players extensive creative control over its sounds.

AK has no built-in library of style-based phrases, licks, loops or other automated musical assistance — it's all down to you and your fingers. Like Addictive Drums, AK's sample library is not cast in stone; AK itself is merely the host player for whatever instruments XLN produce for it. For this initial release, three instruments are available: Studio Grand and Modern Upright acoustic pianos, and a Mark One Fender Rhodes electric piano, which are purchasable separately or as a bundle with a price break. A free demo of the Studio Grand can be downloaded from XLN's web site. Note that the AK player itself is freely downloadable, it's the instruments that you have to pay for. The demo is restricted to a 49-note range and three mic perspectives, otherwise it's fully functional and gives a full taste of the sound-creation abilities of the AK player. So is Addictive Keys just another piano sample library, adding to the terabytes of existing sampled pianos languishing on the world's hard drives, or does it have something unique to offer?