Fazioli (Italian Grand) vs Ravenscroft (VI Labs Audio)

[PianoManChuck]

Up until now, I've always favored the Nord Fazioli (Italian Grand) as my favorite piano of all time... both in the digital realm and in the real world.
But at NAMM 2014, after playing each of the acoustic pianos for both the Fazioli and the Ravenscroft (the real thing for each), I sort of shifted over to the Ravenscroft.
Luckily... both of these fine pianos are available in the digital realm. Nord has the Italian Grand (Fazioli), and Ravenscroft has been released as a virtual piano through VI Labs Audio.
So I put together a video that demonstrates/compares each of these fine, world-class pianos! I really can't decide which I like better... but I do think I prefer the Ravenscroft at the bottom/bass end of the spectrum. What do you all think? Here's the video:



Enjoy!

[TomS]

I still like the Faz.

[soratach]

Faz!!

[Mr_-G-]

In the video, the Ravenscroft seems to has a bit more of more bass, but surely you can adjust the Nord via the equaliser too?

[Frantz]

Thx for the game Chuck
I like the video !

[Rejiggered]

I thought I'd pipe in with my take, for what it's worth. I have the Faz loaded on my Electro 4 HP, and purchased the VI Labs Ravencroft a few weeks ago and have compared the two quite a bit.

I love my Electro, and I love the Faz. But the Ravencroft is 40 Gigs and features no loops, 20+ velocity levels per key (don't know for sure, they don't explicitly say), separate staccato samples, release samples, una corda, half damper, repetiton strikes, sympathetic resonance, 4 separate mixable mic positions, infinitely tweakable velocity map, etc, etc. It's amazing how great the Nord Faz is at only 182 megs, but there's just no way it can compete with 40 gigs of piano. There's really no contest in my opinion, as far as sure realism and playability go. It's hugely more expressive than the Nord.

Now, am I going to haul a laptop to gigs, probably not. So the Faz remains my tool of choice for gigs, and one which I'm happy with. But for sheer enjoyment of playing, the Ravencroft all the way. It really is an amazing technical accomplishment. I forget I'm playing a piece of software/hardware, which I've never been able to say about any previous non-real piano I've ever played.

Anyway, my 2 cents.

[Michael Wright]

I forget I'm playing a piece of software/hardware, which I've never been able to say about any previous non-real piano I've ever played.

That is my experience also.

[PianoManChuck]

In the video, the Ravenscroft seems to has a bit more of more bass, but surely you can adjust the Nord via the equaliser too?

Sure you can... but the idea behind this comparison is to have each piano at their defaults (no EQ adjustments to either piano).

[PianoManChuck]

I thought I'd pipe in with my take, for what it's worth. I have the Faz loaded on my Electro 4 HP, and purchased the VI Labs Ravencroft a few weeks ago and have compared the two quite a bit.

I love my Electro, and I love the Faz. But the Ravencroft is 40 Gigs and features no loops, 20+ velocity levels per key (don't know for sure, they don't explicitly say), separate staccato samples, release samples, una corda, half damper, repetiton strikes, sympathetic resonance, 4 separate mixable mic positions, infinitely tweakable velocity map, etc, etc. It's amazing how great the Nord Faz is at only 182 megs, but there's just no way it can compete with 40 gigs of piano. There's really no contest in my opinion, as far as sure realism and playability go. It's hugely more expressive than the Nord.

Now, am I going to haul a laptop to gigs, probably not. So the Faz remains my tool of choice for gigs, and one which I'm happy with. But for sheer enjoyment of playing, the Ravencroft all the way. It really is an amazing technical accomplishment. I forget I'm playing a piece of software/hardware, which I've never been able to say about any previous non-real piano I've ever played.

Anyway, my 2 cents.

Agree! Excellent summary...

[PianoManChuck]

I forget I'm playing a piece of software/hardware, which I've never been able to say about any previous non-real piano I've ever played.

That is my experience also.

Yes... and if you play it on a Kawai VPC1 it really makes it feel like you're not playing a piece of software/hardware. They knew this at NAMM 2014 and had it hooked up to a VPC1.