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

Here are two new Ravenscroft YouTube videos…

The first is on "Pedal Resonance…"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ2i7WKBRC8

The second is on the Ravenscroft "voice…"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpwNdtspoWk

Now I'm a happy camper!

I loaded up the 64-bit version of Cantabile Lite, switched back to ASIO4ALL, and I can play this piano with no discernible latency, and it sounds great and responds beautifully. This allows me to go back to using just the Surface Pro with USB and audio cables, and nothing else. So now I will be able to use it live!

I don't understand why when using UVI as a standalone device I have so much in the way of ASIO problems, as well as residual latency, but when I open the VST version of UVI in Cantabile Lite, it all works so much better, and can use ASIO4ALL with no warbling etc. There's definitely a bit of a mismatch between UVI and ASIO (at least on Windows). On a side note, I really like Cantabile. It's a very well organized interface, and does not suffer from DAW overkill, where you are essentially plugging the VST into a recording track.

At last!

hey voxpops,

I just got my first SW piano(Ivory American Concert D). I've not even really checked it out yet. but it uses Cantabile.
now I got Ravenscroft.
reading your post, makes me think maybe it would be a good idea for me to just use Cantabile for both. and leave UVI alone.

It's worth trying it both ways, but I'm getting MUCH better results using UVI within Cantabile, along with ASIO4ALL.

There was something about the response that just wasn't quite right for me in the standalone version, but now it flies - and sings!

The Vintage D is recorded at a much lower volume level in that comparison. They have to be at nearly equal volume levels to make a direct A/B comparison. Of course you can try to change the volume levels of the pianos as you listen and not get confused by that, but that isn't as easy as it may seem.

I'm still waiting for someone that uses the Vintage D or Ivory II American D as their primary piano to make some comments about the Ravenscroft Piano. (i.e. if they don't appreciate the quality of those two pianos I don't care what they think of the Ravenscroft - everyone is entitled to their own opinion but comments from people that don't like those pianos won't be of any value to me because we have different subjective tastes in piano sound.)

awesome. thanks man.
I will use my rme Babyface interface, and it has its own ASIO drivers. so I wonder if that would make a difference.
no idea if there's a difference in sound between UVI and Cantabile.
reminds me of the question regarding DAWs. I think I read that they all sound the same. so, if you don't need a lot of functionality, (like me), there is no need to spend a lot on a DAW, when for example, a Reaper license is extremely cheap.
(as fun as it will be someday, when I finally do get Pro Tools.)

Macy, Vintage D and Ivory ACD are my 2 favorite pianos. I cannot write much as I am going to bed. But I still prefer Ivory ACD over Ravenscroft. I like the bass and the highs of Ravenscoft, less the mids. I like everything in ACD. Ravenscroft, like Vintage D, does not have the power of Ivory ACD, yet I have not compared RC and VD directly so far, but I would say it's a close race. I don't agree with those who think Vintage D is unnatural, unless they mean through speakers (at least though the speakers of my Roland Vintage D is clearly inferior to Ivory and even to True Keys or to my ipad piano). I will try to compare Vintage D and RC over the next few days.

Dell 8300 i7 3.40GHz PC.
8 GB Ram.
Windows 7 - Service Pack 1

And my Audio interface unit (see below) with it's proprietary Driver (ASIO). I do not use ASIO4ALL.


Other than that, I have no clue.

It's the mids that are bothering me most about the Ravenscroft too. They sound harsh, almost synthesized to me on the demos. The lower bass sounds too round and polite to me also. Again this just the demos played through the same speakers that play all my other pianos (that sound fine). I'm really debating whether to spend $150 today on Ravenscroft.

I think that's a fair summation. The mids are a little harsh, and I know why you would think they sound synthesized, although that doesn't come across quite as strongly as in the demos. Also, the bass is surprisingly tame for such a big source piano. But, as stated on one of the videos, it's possible to make treble melody lines ring out over the lower end, and there are plenty of adjustments available. What doesn't come across in the demos is how well it plays for a sampled piano.

I have never played Ivory ACD, although going off the demos, it is a much bigger sounding instrument - quite majestic in a way. Ravenscroft has a very different character.

I confirm, the mids haven't much "soul", they don't "sing" like in ACD for instance. But I do like the lower bass, instead. Different from any other piano I have, but I really enjoy it. But this is more a matter of taste. But it's probably the main reason why I do not regret buying. However we are still speaking of a piano that can compete with the very best. No Native Instrument piano for instance come even close to it. And I prefer it to True Keys American.
Having said this, for me it clearly doesn't beat hands down any other piano, like some say.

Thanks for the comments. I hear just a hint of harshness (sort of synthesized with a lack of lower body) in my True Keys American too (I hear none of that in my other pianos), but not nearly so much as the Ravenscroft demo. Perhaps this has something to do with the mics or just the taste of the audio person that ViLabs uses.

How is the sustain starting an octave above middle C? That is another area I find weak in True Keys American compared to the Ivory ACD or Vintage D, but I can't get a feel for that in the Ravenscroft demos.

Edit: And I agree that the True Keys American is very playable, that's its strength, so I would expect that from Ravenscroft.

I play Ivory pretty much exclusively, either the German D (mostly) or the American D (less often). BUT I am going to take it very slowly in offering a comparison, in deference to my junior status playing the piano (only two years) and because I need to give the Ravenscroft some time.

I played Ivory II American D for six months constantly before I ultimately concluded that I liked the German D better. (Not in all aspects, but in playing classical music.) And I kind of suspect it's going to take some time for me to digest Ravenscroft carefully as well. Time will tell. In the meantime, I have enjoyed others' comments and really appreciate what people are saying and enjoying about this new product.

The initial sustain/decay is fairly rapid (around 2 secs at G5), but there then follows a respectable length of much slower but low-level decay.

Who are addressing this to?

UVI's eqs are fairly flexible. I'm adding bass at around 80hz which is helping to fill in what sounds almost like a bass cut on the unmodified samples.

@Macy, I've used vintage 'D' almost exclusively for quite a while and been very happy with it (I don't have the Ivory American) . The Ravenscourt is quite different and really good also but hard for me, so far, to put my finger on quite what the differences are. The bass end is definitely light although in harmonics it sounds quite complex - bass boost warms it up a bit and gives it some support.
I haven't been able to successfully modify anything in the mid range which sounds a bit boxy round middle C - whatever I try, it always sounds better when bypassed! If someone else finds something that works for them perhaps they'll post it up.

The sustains seem broadly on a par with vintage D.

What immediately set me at ease was the velocity curve response - strangely enough it's the curve that I've modified to use with vintage D and it works even better with the Ravenscroft - more naturally - than with the D.

I just tried to count up the number of posters in this thread that actually BOUGHT at the pre-order discount price.
A couple of people appear to have had a great amount of interest, but haven't posted their results (yet).

I make it seven (7) and while this isn't the ONLY forum for the discussion of synthetic pianos it doesn't look likely to me that there are more than a couple of dozen copies out there.
I hope I'm wrong.

I have no time to get into detail (which I will do after work), but just wanted to add my two cents. I have spent several hours using Ravenscroft. After lots of frustration and trial and error, I settled on the close mic position with only a little alteration for Tone. While I am sure I will experiment more, over time, I am more than happy with the experience.

I love the sound. Both rich and and focused. It is so even. I have Vintage D, which I like a lot. But, there are a few notes that I can't stand. It is not even through out. I have a boomy C which drives me batty. Ravenscroft is even, no weird notes, and that in itself is worth a lot.

No perceivable latency on a cheap Windows 8 laptop with 4gb of RAM until I kick up Polyphony to full/max. No problem, I am using the default. Got to go for now. More later.

There are a lot of non-posting lurkers on all fora.

I really wanted to get it at that price but I just don't like making hasty purchases. It never works out in the long run if I buy something just because of a deadline. Hopefully later in the year I will be able to justify getting it but there's no rush. I'm kinda new to this stuff so it makes more sense to digest a little longer or try out something for free first.

It would be hard to conclude how many copies were sold based on detailed feedback. Quite honestly there's been a ton of user feedback on here in such a short period of time and the thread is quite active. If I were to speculate, that looks like a good thing to me. I really appreciate the amount of information that has been shared and it was very helpful to me.