VI Labs Black Friday Sale

[Larry Shelby]

35% off and another 10% for 2 or more items

https://www.vilabsaudio.com/

[Craig Fowler]

*Really* wish they'd announced this earlier even if they weren't going to start the sale then...I've given all my piano money to VSL, and I *really* wanted Ravenscroft.

 

...Though the VSLs sound stellar, and the 4-for-3 voucher plus educational discount brings 'em to 50% off.

[Fleer]

Ravenscroft still is one the very best sampled grands. 

[Craig Fowler]

1 hour ago, Fleer said:

Ravenscroft still is one the very best sampled grands. 

Go on then, Fleer, convince me I need it in addition to VSL Steinway/CFX and Garritan ?

I wish I didn't like their modern upright so much.

[PhonoBrainer]

2 minutes ago, Craig Fowler said:

Go on then, Fleer, convince me I need it in addition to VSL Steinway/CFX and Garritan ?

I wish I didn't like their modern upright so much.

On the vsl synchron steinway, it seems like it doesn't do dry very well? Lots of room baked into the samples?

[Fleer]

54 minutes ago, Craig Fowler said:

Go on then, Fleer, convince me I need it in addition to VSL Steinway/CFX and Garritan ?

I wish I didn't like their modern upright so much.

Thanks for reminding me

Now I have to get that one too.
Anyway, the Ravenscroft is really “grand” and plays very nicely. I’m not a fan of Yamaha’s CFX (Garritan) or of a Hamburg Steinway (VSL), though, as I’m sticking with the full sound of an American Steinway, like the Embertone Walker (and the new Pianoteq NY, of course).

[Craig Fowler]

2 hours ago, emeraldsoul said:

On the vsl synchron steinway, it seems like it doesn't do dry very well? Lots of room baked into the samples?

The demos certainly make it seem that way!

I've only had it for 2-3 days, but my take is that there's *some* truth in the 'lots of room baked into the samples' idea, but there's maybe more to it than that. If you just use the close condenser mic and dial back the release samples, it's dry as a freakin' bone...no room to be heard! But, that's the only close mic included in the standard version, so as soon as you start bringing in the others, the ambience ratchets up pretty fast.

With that said, so far I really like the blend of just the condenser mic and the mid mic mixed in at a lower level. I have the room mix and the Decca tree L/R and centre completely off, but am using a splash of the algo reverb that's built in to the Synchron player. That gets me a sound I really like that reminds me a bit of the sorts of settings I use in Garritan CFX: It's got plenty of direct sound, but a nice ambience to it as well. I'm not keen on shelling out another coupla hundred bucks for the upgrade to the full version, but I suspect that the additional close tube/ribbon mics would give lots more to play with for folks who *don't* want the full on 'concert hall' sound.

As much as I like the D274, so far, I prefer the VSL CFX, which surprises me. I was worried it might be redundant given I have the Garritan version, but it's a different kind of lovely. With much, much shorter loading times!

[synthmeister]

The VSL CFX is quite liked at PianoWorld; several people commend its playability.

To accelerate the loading time of Garritan CFX, you can add the Garritan folder to Microsoft Defender's antivirus exclusions. On a fast nvme drive, loading times dropped from about 120 seconds to 30 seconds but the difference varies by equipment, luck, etc. Anyways, you will want to manually scan that folder periodically for safety.