Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Ravenscroft by VI Labs… First Look and Sound

Hi Chuck,

Thanks for sharing. I regularly watch your very good videos on Youtube. And it was nice comparing your Forgotten with the Kronos version (I love the Kronos German Steinway) and with the Kross/Privia version (I recently bought the Kross, also after watching some of your videos, among others, great value for money).
Just a question: which settings did you use for this videos (for instance, which mic positions) ?

+1

Glad to hear my videos helped with your purchase decision of the Kross! Definitely a huge bang for the price, and a lot of fun too

As for the Ravenscroft, I used the main (first) file - not any of the individual 4 mic'd files. I wanted this video to show just the stock (default) piano/samples. With only a slight adjustment to the reverb and stereo width, I felt this should give a decent representation of what you can expect with using it with very little in the way of customizing it to your own tastes.

If I remember correctly the Ravenscroft defaults to the Close Mic perspective only when you load the "main" file. So it that what you used with no additional EQ?

Thanks Dire for your input!
I kind of get around the overly tight release by cranking the
actual release samples up a bit high (+3db). And I find myself playing with a bit more pedal than I might otherwise, to avoid these sharp note cutoffs.
I think I'm going to email VI Labs and get their take on this.

BTW, good to see Chuck here!

Yes, that's correct!

Until now, my favorite piano was the Nord Stage 2's Fazioli (Italian Grand). But now that I have the Ravenscroft 275 (VI Labs Audio), its blurring the lines of which one sounds better. I think I like the Ravenscroft in the lower register better, its a tie in the upper register. You decide:

http://youtu.be/9VV3EsqA7hU

At NAMM 2014, the real (acoustic) versions of each ($$$ 6-digits) seemed to be split amongst pianists. I always did favor the Fazioli, but this year at NAMM that changed to the Ravenscroft.

The above video was pretty much default settings for each piano... with slight reverb added to each. No EQ and no other tweaks. Close mic position for the Ravenscroft, but Nord never did release what type of mic positions were used for the Fazioli.

IF the Fazioli is a "built in voice" of the Nord then I suspect that it is probably easier/nicer to play. {Ease of stand-alone DP, lack of latency issues, etc.}

Plus, if it is already THERE in the price of the keyboard then One would have to value the Ravenscroft at an ADDITIONAL coupl'a hundred bux.

Not sure that I can hear a ~$200 difference there, but the limitations of You tube could be a a factor.

Don't forget... the Nord is a very pricey instrument! One could pick up an excellent 88-key controller and the Ravenscroft virtual instrument for a fraction of what the Nord costs. Also, I have zero latency issues using the Nord as a controller to the Ravenscroft virtual instrument. That being the case, if you want professional piano sound, you really can't go wrong with either choice.

+1

My rig: Casio PX-5S, Microsoft Surface Pro, Ravenscroft.
Total cost (non-discounted): $2,200
Actual cost: $1,600

My additional piano VSTs: Pianoteq Stage with add-ons; Mr. Ray 73 Mk II
Add-on cost: $350-$400

Nord Piano 2 cost (non-discounted): $2,999

If you want the equivalent flexibility of the Nord with its wide variety of downloadable pianos, you could well end up paying as much by the time you've purchased four or five VST pianos. The convenience/sound quality offered by the Nord is still very competitive, IMO. A better action would make it a killer instrument.

Everyone's situation is different.
Personally I've about had it with sharing computers between general use and music.
For ME to switch to sample players at this point I would want to dedicate a computer to it - always on, always plugged together, always loaded and ready to play, etc.

I don't know where the numbers go, but to buy ANY other keyboard would mean getting rid of what I have - or some major re-modelling (the ever unlikely creation of a "music room").
I guess a dedicated computer would be the simplest/easiest path, though I am emotionally resistant to putting my old rack gear up on Craig's list, so unless/until I have a MAJOR breakthrough in my playing ability - - it isn't justified anyway.

GAS attacks subside over time, until the next one

I've had a chance to compare, side-by-side, the Ravenscroft virtual piano with the excellent Korg Kronos "German Grand" (a Steinway D). An interesting comparison! Check it out for yourself:

http://youtu.be/lCR8yUMoS4I

Feedback from you all will be interesting!!!

I just listened to the Korg clip and immediately liked the Korg Kronos sound...

But starting the second (or was it the third) round, the bass started kicking in and I felt that the Ravenscroft seemed to have a fuller, richer sound to it. It really won hands down in the bass section.

Up in the treble, it was a toss-up.

I'll listen again later and see what my second listen perceptions are.

***

After listening to this clip, I went up above and listened to the Nord/Ravenscroft comparison and I found that I preferred the Ravenscroft there as well. I might have trouble picking between the two in the treble section, but in the mid-range the Ravenscroft shined! And in the bass it was full bodied and warm.

I have been playing the Ravenscroft a lot these past few weeks and have gotten used to the sound. It took a while but I am really taken by it now.

-not easy, the Kronos sounds pretty good. The RC is more interesting in the lower and low-middle range of the keyboard - it's richer harmonically. So two handed playing on RC which includes that register helps to carry the upper-middle RC register which, in isolation, still fails to fully satisfy me. Then there were one or two upper-middle snatches when I would have switched preference - giving RC total victory. But I was impressed by the Kronos. I wonder how I'd feel after playing each of them for an hour or so.....

This comparison is more interesting, as both the German Grand and the Ravescroft are good in the bass (I have always like RC bass, contrary to other people on this forum). Yet in the mids RC is weaker. In general it's hard to compare them. What is a pity is that the music played didn't have much fff, a point where the German Grand shines. I think RC is pretty good too in ff and fff. I would have been interesting to compared them. If I think of the other videos by PianoManChuck maybe Only Time would have been more interesting for this comparison.

I notice that the Kawai-EX Pro is among your arsenal. How would you rate it against the Ravenscroft (and most other popular libraries)?

Very good in the fff (it's strongest point, I'd say it has something majestic), but less velocity layers, so less control of the dynamic range, pp and ppp are not as "easy". Also, the highs scream a bit to much for me (but tolerance to treble is subjective, and it also depends on the headphones / speakers you use). If you play a piece with a lot of ff and fff this piano is great, if you play a romantic song with a lot of pp and ppp and/or transitions from ppp to fff, it underperforms better pianos such as the Ravenscroft, Ivory or Vintage D.

Ineresting comparisons, nicely demonstrated, PianoManChuck. The one which immediately strikes you as most piano-like is the Kronos, followed by the Fazioli on the Nord. The Ravenscroft sounds enclosed and synthetic compared to both of those, on plug-in computer monitors (ie the typical listening equipment for most people).

Very surprising! Of course, I was expecting (and hoping for) the Ravenscroft to be the best.

Unfortunately, plug-in computer monitors will not reproduce the richness of the bass end, which is where the Ravenscroft excels.

That is certainly true, but I'm not sure this is the problem because the left hand passages were far more evident - more balanced even - on the Ravesnscroft than they were on the Korg or the Nord. In fact, the bass end was all but lost on the Nord, though these small speakers. However, the sound of the Nord and the Korg Kronos seemed more natural and open than the Ravenscroft.

In fact, listening through good headphones, the differences are similar - the Ravenscroft has a more forceful lower end but the overall sound seems somehow to be shrowded in a layer of very thin cellophane, compared to the Nord and the Korg samples.