VSL Fazioli F308 First Recording

David B

Thanks to the kind feedback I received on this forum I think I got the Fazioli dialed in. No EQ added, stereo image reduced to 80 on close mics, and Player Surround to Stereo preset with one additional surround mic added for increased soundstage/reverb.

https://youtu.be/Dq2G9XqZtjs

God Bless,
David

QuasiUnaFantasia

Very nice, both the melody, the playing, and the sound. The sound was very bass-rich, more so than I was expecting from a Fazioli.

David B

QuasiUnaFantasia Thanks.

QuasiUnaFantasia The sound was very bass-rich

The only thing I have different from the VSL preset (regarding the bass) is a slight increase in the key volume of the lower two octaves. That might be possibly over-pronouncing the bass. However, it's not an artificial effect like EQ. It's like adjusting the touch curve just on those lower notes. Do you think the bass is too pronounced? I could lower the key volume back down to default.

God Bless,
David

QuasiUnaFantasia

David B Do you think the bass is too pronounced?

No, I liked it. My main grief with Fazioli is a lack of body in the bass, but here it sounded really rather nicely balanced.

David B

QuasiUnaFantasia No, I liked it. My main grief with Fazioli is a lack of body in the bass, but here it sounded really rather nicely balanced.

Cool. The mix sounds Ok through my studio monitors, but too much bass with my 2:1 desktop speakers (with subwoofer). It sounds a little bass heavy through my headphones, but not unnatural.

God Bless,
David

jdg78

Nice playing, although I have to admit that the bass does sound somewhat over-saturated to me, at least through my headphones. Definitely fuller than the default, but it also seems a bit boomy and lacking in definition. Maybe it would sound better through monitors but I’m not home at the moment to try.

One of my main gripes with the VSL Fazioli was that it was excessively treble-heavy with an underpowered and anemic bass. I tried playing with the settings and boosting the EQ but was never happy with the results (among other things), so opted not to purchase after the demo was over.

But hopefully you’ll have better success than I did.

David B

jdg78 One of my main gripes with the VSL Fazioli was that it was excessively treble-heavy with an underpowered and anemic bass.

I'm using the full library with the Player surround preset. It's the one l like the best, but the combo of tube and ribbon seems to make it bass heavy. I turned up the volume on the bass notes from 0 to 3 because I thought it sounded better through my speakers, but listening to the recording I feel it is a bit too bassy.

I don't feel like it lacks bass in any of the presets. I just happen to like the Player Surround because it's the most warm and direct.

God Bless,
David

David B

Playing around with my preset (same recording as original post) I found a better mic option. Trying to take some of the muddiness from the bass I noticed that the Surround mic I added to the VSL preset actually added some of that mud. Therefore, I replaced it with the Main Decca Tree Array which is a closer perspective for a clearer sound while still capturing some of the room ambiance. I narrowed the stereo image of the Main Decca mic and added some reverb. To my ears the mix sounds a little more clean now. What do you all think? Thanks for the help.

https://youtu.be/pD3DAiQ1pYw

God Bless,
David

David B

Still striving for a more pure sound (like the demos on the VSL website) I'm playing around with EQ again, but this time to reduce the bass. This is one of the piano EQ presets in Logic that I think sounds pretty nice. It definitely cleans up the low end a bit while adding more sparkle in the mid and upper end. Let me know if you think it's an improvement with the EQ compared to no EQ. Thanks.

https://youtu.be/7N9cKjRK_V8

God Bless,
David

David B

Something else I think is a factor (discovered it today) is that the velocity curve sounds best (to my ears) when it is linear from 0-127. This is different from every other VSL library I've used. Maybe it's a combination of the piano and the sampling process. The piano is very even throughout all registers. Making a curve non-linear can potentially create an unevenness to the sound depending on what type of controller you're using. For example:

My N1X will max out at 110 velocity (in the normal touch setting). So I adjusted the velocity curve to match 127 to 110 and left it linear. It looks like this:

110=127
96=108
80=90
64=72
48=54
32=36
16=17

I think this linear "curve" allows the samples to sound more natural when playing. I think the piano is not too harsh when playing in the higher velocities (unlike some of the other Synchron Pianos). Check it out.

https://youtu.be/A8KKYo1-Ot4

God Bless,

David