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Hi Element,

I'm happy to say we've updated the Ravenscroft VI to now give control of this fade-out parameter which wasn't available previously. You're not the only one that's made mention of this, so we've now added it as a small update to the existing version. Anyone can now go back into their account and download the four RAR files again to get this new version. Element mentions turning the release samples all the way off. It would be expected to hear a short fade out at that point because the fade out is designed for each sample and release sample to emulate the way a similar articulation sounds on the actual 275 grand. This particular piano has tight accurate dampers by design which allows for clean fast playing without the release being too slow. However, given the nature of virtual pianos and the level of control they offer unavailable with the real instrument, it's an easy task to give control of the fade out parameter for those that want this control.

Please contact us if there are any questions. The new version has a small arrow symbol next to the Release Volume knob that reveals the Release Xfade value. Thank you all for your feedback along the way!

Kind regards,

Lance @ VI Labs

I ordered the True Keys American piano when it first came out and I was disappointed by the dynamics generated, so much that I rarely use it in favor of the Ivory II. I read that someone had manually added some velocity curve in order to reduce the volume depending on the key velocity since the default didn't provide enough of it. I wonder if they updated the True Keys software any since release in order to address this, and if this new one has the same issue.

This is the sort of thing that's only discovered when actually trying out the digital piano. Unfortunately it's so difficult to evaluate these without purchasing it first.

Hello, Lance - either I've gone to the wrong download page or my ears are failing me again. I can't see any difference in the controls or hear any difference in sound with the new download. I see the byte count for the 4 x rar files and the single extracted file is the same as for the old download....is something amiss or is it me?

cheers!

Hello, I am am working on a project with a very specific piano sound (airy, reverberant)

I have the VI Labs American Grand and I can't seem to make it sound like the following demo (Galaxy Vintage D Steinway Grand for Kontakt, built-in church reverb)

https://soundcloud.com/synchronizerman/august-ver-4-2-excerpt

I realize that the Vintage D is a good sampled piano in its own right, but I was hoping that the American Grand would produce a similar result.

My first thought is that I should stick with what works, but my second thought is that the Ravenscroft may (with its additional features, more realistic resonances and specifications that are superior to those of even the American Grand) be more suitable.

Does anyone know whether the Ravenscroft can have a darker quality (low end)? I need a very deep bass with a non-metallic higher range. (Perhaps I am too used to my Galaxy Vintage D preset?) I would ask someone to render a midi as part of a test, but I am not sure whether this request is realistic. Thank you in advance. I am looking forward to responses.

~synchronizer

Hi Lance
I have a question for you.
As you might know UVI introduced a new systems that allow users to have 3 activations per licences for all their products (ex iLok and 2 pcs, all with the same ilok account). I asked them if this could apply to VI Labs and they said you need to ask them if they want to.
So it's technically feasible, and therefore my question is would ViLabs be willing to consider something similar? This would allow people to use the piano on 2 PCs without having to block a USB port or having to deactivate and activate. For instance sometimes I plug my 2 pianos to each PC to have both TK and RC at the same time or twice RC. Of course you can do all this with iLok etc. but it would be so much more convenient to have an additional port free (audio interface, midi, pianos on UBS drives etc.)
What's more it seems to be linked to same ilok account so no additional risks apparently for VI Labs. And even only 2 activations would be better than the current situation.
More information here
http://blog.uvi.net/sounds-instruments/additional-licenses/

Lance @VILabs wrote
I'm happy to say we've updated the Ravenscroft VI to now give control of this fade-out parameter which wasn't available previously. You're not the only one that's made mention of this, so we've now added it as a small update to the existing version. Anyone can now go back into their account and download the four RAR files again to get this new version. Element mentions turning the release samples all the way off. It would be expected to hear a short fade out at that point because the fade out is designed for each sample and release sample to emulate the way a similar articulation sounds on the actual 275 grand. This particular piano has tight accurate dampers by design which allows for clean fast playing without the release being too slow. However, given the nature of virtual pianos and the level of control they offer unavailable with the real instrument, it's an easy task to give control of the fade out parameter for those that want this control.

Please contact us if there are any questions. The new version has a small arrow symbol next to the Release Volume knob that reveals the Release Xfade value. Thank you all for your feedback along the way!

Kind regards,

Lance @ VI Labs
[/i]

Whoa,.. thanks Lance!
Now that is an excellent example of listening to your customers and
coming up with good solutions. Other companies please take note!

Yes, I can now say the releases now play and feel great.
Very Happy now, A+ VILabs!


@DireTonic> I downloaded all 4 rar parts and overwrote my
original ufs. file with the new file. ('Still says v1.0 however)
The release samples knob now does double duty and when you click
on the yellow arrows it changes to "Release X-fade" I set mine to
692ms fwiw. Please let us know how you came out

There are no educational discounts for the Ravenscroft instrument are there?

Yes, I can see that now. The single rotary controller switches between those two parameters. I felt sure that my original download did the same thing but I can't be certain and I've deleted the earlier files now. I don't think I was confused about the unchanged file size of the 'new' download which makes me wonder if perhaps my original download was already tweaked (I think I was well behind in the queue to download).

whatever....lol!

Having plaid RC for awhile now, I agree with the posts about the middle C keys (I'm a beginner so excuse my terminology) having somewhat a metallic sound, compared to the bass and treble notes which sound fantastic. I think someone mentioned changing the EQ or something to change this in UVI workstation? I have no idea how to change anything in UVI, the EQ section is confusing to me.

Thanks for any suggestions
Chris

- partly in an effort to clarify my own understanding of this clunky creature (but let's not forget, absolutely gratis!!) I'll tell you what I *think* I know about it!

(Note one of Macy's earlier posts that there is some unhappy interaction between UVI's 8 band eq and the tone control at the bottom left of TK's panel so best to leave that latter item alone - just stick to UVI's 8 band which is flexible and specific)

Hit the fx button. The first item on my rack is the 8-band eq. Click the bypass so it’s showing black. In bright blue it's in bypass mode - it does nothing.

It's not an easy user interface. Because the controls are in a long horizontal line you have to use the nudge L-R controls to get to a specific band. Even a horizontal scroller would have helped.

UVI uses 'true' and 'false' to represent 'on' and 'off' respectively. So for any band showing 'false' nothing is happening. The first thing one might do is to run along the line and set ALL of them to false so there's no conflict and the signal is in effect bypassing the entire eq stage.

What I would do then is perhaps go to the 'peak 3' switch and set it to 'true' and have a fiddle with its respective controls. Distinct from the extreme high and low adjustments, the more central controls have 3 parameters per band (you probably already know this but for the sake of completeness....!). You're only going to adjust one attribute here so it should be easy to monitor what effect you're having.

The controls to the immediate right of the peak3 true/false switch are:-
Frequency - that which you are about to boost or cut. Just to experiment, try setting it between 500 and 700, that way you'll be in no doubt as to its effect.

gain - the extent of the boost or cut

Q - the width of the band around the centre of the frequency you've selected in that first control. Low Q values (anticlockwise) reflect the broader bandwidth so at minimum Q, the band is so broad that the gain control appears to lift or cut the level of the entire sound. At max Q (fully clockwise) you get the narrowest bandwidth. Sometimes the effect of this might not be immediately apparent, even at high gain/cut. To show the effect of this kind of eq, set gain to max and sweep the frequency control to see what's happening. (make sure you have your overall gain set low so that there's no risk to speakers if the narrow frequency range you're boosting is already strongly present in the original signal).

I don't know if that helps.

I found that the bass end responded reasonably well to a bit of boosting around 100hz, Q in the middle (I think) then raise the gain a bit. But someone said they had to turn their sub unit down to listen so I suppose my monitors are bass-light. I've since ditched the bass boost.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's much you can do in the way of remedying the metallic register of RC with eq, rather, any adjustment needs to be done by the developers on a note by note basis to selectively modify the harmonic content (high Q!) - almost certainly too tall an order for a library with such a vast complement of samples per note.

I'd be happy to stand corrected on this if someone has found a useful setting.

Wow, Thank You so much Dire Tonic for taking the time to respond and type that all out! I truly appreciate the detailed instructions, but the last statements saying I can't adjust the eq to deal with the metallic register is a real bummer. I understand it may be an impossible task by VI, but maybe they might think about it? Again, Thanks Dire Tonic. I'll play around with it just to see if I like it better.
Chris

- you're welcome - hope it's of some use!

chicolom posted a while back that he favoured the 'close' setting and, regarding that metallic sounding range, I think he's right - it's noticeably less harsh. So, if you're setting up a mix, perhaps biasing it in favour of 'close' will help.

If you add a second 8-band (or 3 band) EQ to the fx group then you can leave the original 8-band EQ alone. Make all your EQ adjustments to the 2nd EQ group and that way the Tone control on the main menu page won't affect anything but its intended function in the first 8-band EQ (which only uses 1 of the 8 bands).

Ah! That's interesting. Which band in the first EQ does the RC tone control effect?

If I recall correctly it is Band 4. But the Tone Control also turns off and on the 1st 8-band EQ filter entirely when the Tone Control is used depending on the position of the Tone Control. So that really messes up everything if you try to use the other bands of the 1st 8-band EQ. Hence, my suggestion to add another 8-band (or 3-band) EQ for your own EQ adjustments so it won't be affected at all by the Tone Control.

ok, I get it now. So basically, don't even think of tampering with UVI's default EQ just in case you want to use RC's own tone control - always set up an additional new one instead.

- thanks for that - you might have saved me from tearing out what little remains of my hair...

I don't use the EQ in UVI, as it is perhaps the most cumbersome/ill-designed layout of
a VST effect I've ever come across!

I use UVI in Cantabile performer as a VST host, and chain an EQ after it -much easier to
see what you are doing.
example: http://www.kvraudio.com/product/reaeq_by_cockos

I do use the internal UVI reverbs (Spacious Church w/ time at 30%) as they are excellent!

On edit: I find the Ravenscroft doesn't need much EQing, it is
very neutral/balanced sonically, and fairly bright. I have just a little EQ dip from 200-500 Hz.

I am considering Ravenscroft, but the fact that the middle keys (evidently) have a metallic sound makes me concerned. Currently I am using the Galaxy Vintage D library for Kontakt, and I am wondering whether it can stand on its own in a composition that I'm writing (or can Ravenscroft be used to recreate and improve the sound?)

https://soundcloud.com/synchronizerman/august-ver-4-2-excerpt

I made use of the Church convolution reverb preset build into Kontakt. It create a very atmospheric, creepy texture. Maybe the Ravenscroft is not too well suited for darker pieces.

I am looking forward to responses. Thank you.

- really hard to say if the RC would be an improvement over Vintage D, or if it would be darker...I'd have said a lot depends on what you play and how you play it. The vintage D is still a very useable, flexible piano, to my mind....

Unless you're very flush, think twice before shelling out!

Yes I am on a budget, so I am reluctant to purchase the Ravenscroft. A couple of months ago, I purchased the VI Labs American Grand because I was writing a piece of music for a project (a student film at my university). I was able to justify the purchase because of the discount I received, but I found that the instrument also had a little bit of metallic mid-tone and it seemed as though ppp and fff were difficult to create. (It worked for the particular composition though, as it was lighter and jazzier). I fear that the Ravenscroft, although better in the sense that it has more samples, velocity layers, and features (resonance, pedals, etc.), may be the same. For this reason, I don't see myself purchasing the Ravenscroft unless I know for certain that it sounds better than my Vintage D sample library in the context of my projects. (People would have to render midi for me and so on, which I understand is a rather unreasonable request, considering that not only the piano would have to be replaced, but also the reverb effect would have to be approximated.) It is a shame that there is no free trial. I would be able to tell very quickly whether the product is for me or not.