In my opinion...Nord's sound is pure and dry, great for every use. Ravel was just a bit too sweet with more reverb and the velocity sensitivity on the first play was high at some parts. Keyscape was something in between and more balanced. On VSTs usually the sustain pedal noise is noticeable and you can distinguish. Great work guys, I really enjoy your videos!
Agreed, for this to be fair, those pedal noises gotta go. Too easy to know which is the VST. Hopefully they tone down the exaggerated pedal noises and we can get a closer comparison.
@@hosseinpiano The same way you record anything else in a DAW. 1. Connect an audio-interface to your computer 2.Then connect your Nord to your interface with jack-cables 3. press record in your DAW
Now a blindfold Nord sample comparison! White grand, Italian grand, upright modern, Black upright, 3D Royal grand, velvet Grand. Which is the best sounding! And make it blind for us too with optional annotations or something?
This the guy who backed James Arthur in that beautiful wrecking ball cover... Looks like him anyway. He played a nord in that video too. I'd guess he likes nord best in this test as the keyboard is matched up properly velocity wise/mapped by nord. Rather than a vst just played through a controller that's not mapped professionally velocity wise. I still think the ravel is hands down the winner though.
Dan is the Man. Yes he uses Nords, but as he said in the Vid this was the first time with the Grand. He and Jack both toured with JA. Dan was on Drums!!!
"Hands down"? That's a lofty claim! ;-) But, yes, it is a highly-regarded VST. The Nord Grand, though, is an astounding instrument in it's own right. I bought mine after the third time trying it at my LMS; I just couldn't get over how "connected" I felt to the instrument. I have never felt that with a digital piano, before or since. I have not tried Ravel yet though.
Trust me when I say, watching this videos in this time of quarantine in my country are simply great! 😍 Shotout both of you guys! Can't wait to watch and listen for more 🙏🏽
Just one correction. 3 of the sounds were created by computer, not 2 (unless you think the Nord actually has some sort of nano-strings and hammer technology inside). The only valid difference between the 3 (other than the OS of the "computer" being used) is how the "controller" part is interacting with the "computer" part and since the Nord has to communicate with the external VSTs through MIDI instead of a direct system connection, it COULD supply a lot more control data internally which might make the internal sounds seem more responsive (also noted in the last commenters post). Otherwise this is basically the same as comparing Mac VST pianos with Windows VST pianos. As a pro keyboardist myself I do plan to pick up Keyscape pretty soon since it just has a HUGE variety of keyboards plus it integrates so well with Omnisphere. As for the UA Ravel, well after telling me they were fully supporting Windows systems now (before I purchased my UA Apollo Twin USB) they then make the FREE LUNA RECORDING SYSTEM... oh... and it's MAC ONLY. Yeah, thanks UA for again screwing over 80% of computer users. Oddly enough, the piano VST I usually find easiest to use/mix in live situations is Alicia's Keys. For some reason it just always seems to "fit". I think sometimes the more detailed piano libraries are great for solo work, but just "to much information" to work in a group context without mixing and EQ which is going to take out a lot of that extra detail anyway. And just wanna add I still enjoyed the video and don't mean for this to be a critique of your videos, just want to make sure all the info is there for viewers to see since there is are so many videos being posted these days that people are using to make purchasing decisions which include bad/incomplete/wrong information.
I believe Jack was referring to input lag. He was asking Dan if there was a noticeable difference in playing, between the two running through a computer and the one on being “on board” on the Nord. Dan couldn’t tell if the sound was coming from the computer or the Nord (sonically or input lag wise).
All of the sound engines here are being driven by Midi..including the Nord Grand.. there is no wizardry here regarding “internal connection “ other than (the apparently unnoticeable) reduced latency
The most intelligent comment on this subject ever. People can’t comprehend the this hardware is a computer. I switched to midi a long time ago except for analog synthesizers.
It's is also important note that the results might differ if you used a calibrated keyboard profile for the vsts! Sometimes the feel is extremely different and it could affect the preference! Great video!
jack & dan, me lovers, all the pianos sound great, but who cares about the samples when dan plays this good. please jack, pick his brains, let's have some inside info on his fabulous technique and feel.
Another great Anderton's video. Thanks for showing off Dan's skills. As Dan mentioned, they are all good- personal preference at that level. Looking forward to more videos with Jack and Dan.
The problem is that the Nord and its sound are optimized for each other. The others need to be tweaked to fit the Nord keyboard response. This has a huge influence on sound, feeling and dynamics.
Roy van den i agree with you. Maybe if a Kawai vpc 1 would be the master keyboard the conclusion will be different. Maybe not. This 3 sounds are top. White grand is also a good one
I just love the resonance and sustain on the Ravel. Its so warm.... People keep falling in love with the bright cutting piano lately. I know its a band mix thing for cutting through. But the true definition of piano, is SOFTLY. Pianissimo is very softly. Especially as a stand alone solo instrument. We tend to forget that or where the instrument comes from. Was never made to cut like most bright piano patches today. The Keyscape Cinematic patch is a good example of a solo piano filling up the soundscape with warmth and space. The simple RAVEL does that naturally with its res.... Then dial up the reverb. I mean... Nord is great and all, for gigging, recording etc. But price wise. ..? Anything can be EQ'd obviously. That being said.... It sucks RAVEL is exclusive to a certain card and DAW. I hope that business idea changes. I'd take a RAVEL & Keyscape and play them with a new Fantom ( w/V-engine). Lots of options.... No lotto winnings yet for that expense 😳
I’m with you on preferring the warm sweetness of the Ravel, but I can’t help but be pedantic - piano, as in the instrument, is short for pianoforte. “Where the instrument comes from” isn’t about softness, but about the ability to play with dynamics in general (as opposed to the harpsichord).
The thing is all of them are sample based. Even the nord is not “hardware generated” but has a cpu inside that plays back sampled sounds. So it is basically comparing not sw vs hw but rather three top notch sampled pianos out there. There are synthetic vsts too (ie PianoTeq) but they are not as realistic imho as sampled.
Beautiful! I'd love to hear a comparison with a classical pianist at some point. I think the different uses would likely end up with a different sound.
Great video!! Would love to hear some comparisons of other sounds too, like Rhodes or Wurlitzer, maybe with some other keyboards like the SV-2 in the mix as well as the VSTs. Keep up the great work guys ❤️
@@AndertonsKeyboardDept, I hope that, specifically, you'll compare the Dyno Rhodes sounds, Nord vs. Keyscape. I have an NS2, and play a Piano 4 at my 3-night-a-week gig. I had planned on traveling to play a Nord Grand; COVID has taken care of that. :-( Please stay well, Jack, Dan and everyone! Wonderful playing! I'm beginning to enjoy Anderton's vids more than any other.
Whilst software pianos are great, they aren’t really going to match the velocity against the weight of the keys like the Nord. I play software pianos a lot and 9 times out of 10 have to turn down the pedal noise(too loud and too mushy almost like an over emphasised gimmick) and more importantly having to tweak the velocity levels and curve to match the weight of the keys. Software companies need to style their user programs to suit a) a weighted keyboard b) semi weighted. And c) cut out the over use of reverb. Nord has far more attack, and it’s reflected in his playing. He ended up playing to suit the patch , not playing the same passage for each instrument.
@@NegativeReferral yes keyscape and other good vsts allow you to change the vel curve at the tone generator end but you need to spend the equivalent price of a nord for an i9 mac with 8cores and 32GB ram and 4TB storage and then cope with computers in general and all the apple security updates. I find a well balanced piano to play like the vi labs ravenscroft 275 is actually very similar to the nord in terms of balanced sound. Less is more and it is not as resource intensive on cpu and ram.
@@wilkopiano Or you can buy an 800$ Mac Mini or build yourself a hackintosh since that's all you need unless you're running incredibly heavy and complex projects as a producer. I have a Nord for live playing, but also a ton of VSTs on my 500€ hackintosh: never had any issues with any songs I worked on, since I'm a semi-professional player at most.
@@andy5178 yes, i have known people to do that. But i9 9th gen intel cpu mac is needed realistically for keyscape, ravel and komplete 13. Mac minis have slow storage and x1 chips not yet fully tested with all vsts. I have an i7 10800k 8 core PC with 3000mhz ddr4 32GB ram with m2 nvme ssd storage and it copes ok with keyscape and komplete. But mac mini x1? Personally if i was to recommend a mac it would be to wait for the x1m chip and all vst tone generator producers to test everything with apple. PC for now and heightened DAW costs, eg cubase or avid or reaper if you really are on a budget. For laptop the i7 10875H 10th chipset 8 core is best like lenovo legion 7i or msi creator laptop 15 , or asus rog strix g15, or razer blade 15 10875h with nvme. Use camelot as alternative to mainstage(apple) in a live setting. Carrying pc towers on gigs is a no no
It's interesting, clearly what we hear into the Desk is different to what they were hearing in the room. I preferred either of the soft instruments to the Nord.
The Ravel comes as slightly exagerated to me. I've had the honor to play a few grand pianos till now and nun of them had such a deep, everlasting reverb. The pedal noise also seemed a little bit overdone...Nord's royal grand is more traditional so to speak to a digital piano, with less ambients and less pedal noise; although Nord's samples surpasses every digital piano by a good margin. Keyscape was a little bit more balanced, something in between Nord and Ravel and maybe I would have chosen it as the winner. We should not forget however, that Nord is maybe the only digital piano who's sounds are head to head with those of the best VSTs. It's beautiful to have a piano that you turn on and enjoy without needing extra cables and so on. It's as always, a joy, A JOY! To hear you play and speak! ❤️😊
more comparision among digital pianos or vsts or actually anything piano related would be great. there arent really much comparison videos like this in youtube. busting some myths might be also great
I had 2, 3, 1. I had Keyscape at number one at first and after he brought out the nuances of the high register I chose the Nord. I’d still buy the Keyscape cause I get more. Wasn’t too interested in the Ravel. I’d rather play The Grandeur by NI.
Pianoteq studio is all I need) I don't think any other plugin has even got near to it's customization potential. Especially the custom tuning and custom temperament options
I was surprised by how amazing and realistic the Ravel plugin sounded! I especially like how the software already has a preset for reversed piano sounds.
Another amazing video Jack, lovely hearing Dan's playing again. The Ravel sounded glorious to my ears, much better than the Nord)my 3rd place), did the live monitors not sound so good?
The Best way to compare all this beautifull piano's. Nord Grand is the perfect keyboard to appreciate as it should be Keyscape and Ravel. Very nice playing; Thanks for the video. Cheers from France
I remember once I was trying to get best sound out of a piano VST using better speakers etc., but it was not sound right. One friend told me then, "a real piano sound don't need expensive speakers, otherwise people would not listen to it through their transistor radios!". The point is, most of these gigabyte piano samples simply don't sound right. Nord has achieved the closest sound to a real piano, I don't know how, but they did it. People can talk about the sample size, etc. but Nord sound natural.
I highly suggest you to try out Garritan CFX and Vienna Symphonic Library Concert D (and CFX too).. I think they are among the best piano plugins ever made, in terms of realism!
Well, even if it would be inferior. It is still interesting for knowing the gap between the contenders. Also putting some really low quality piano sounds in the test would make the test more valid. Anyway great work and a pleasure to listen to the playing 😄
I think both.. Nord connection via USB to the MacBook and the nord two 1/4" output to the Apollo two 1/4" input.. jack can switch between the nord and VST through Apollo..
@@josiahdelarosa1165 I dont have the piano 4 but I tried it before buying the grand and personally I prefer the grand. The keys have some reallllly nice action but it is more expensive. So I would if you could afford the upgrade! :D I've been playing more than ever since I got it!
That was so incredibly helpful. Thanks a bunch for putting that together. Can I ask you what speakers you are running the keyboards through within the studio room?
I am trying the Ravel demo now that UAD has made it available to all users in all DAW's. The one thing missing from this review is dynamics in the playing. When you play classical and firmly play octaves, the dynamism and sympathetic resonance of the Ravel is revealing and lovely to hear, feel and experience. We don't get to see any of that here. All the pianos sound good, but the Nord sounded a bit too digital whereas the Ravel feels like a true piano in a room. Maybe that's my personal preference.
Great piano sounds. I use Nord Stage 2 Kontakt library, somehow there is a delay in sending the MIDI message from my controller anytime I press my sustain pedal. Still trying to figure out why ...
I’d like to see, well hear Yamaha and whichever is their best electric/stage/work station at the moment. But against their Yamaha concert grand. Best of course as well as their Bösendorfer which is a little more mellow. And up against a couple of vst.
What will make a difference is what mic pre's you run the hardware through into your interface. Granted a Neve pre will add something that the VST will not have.
All sound good, but the only on that sounds like a real piano is keyscape. Personally the fake harsh mid frequencies of the other two drive me crazy. But I'm used to playing and hearing a real piano.
Somehow I recognised Keyscape immediately when I heard the first note. I'm not much of a advanced VST users but I've stuck around with Keyscape long enough that I guess I hear his own character 😂!
all sounds are wonderful. what you don't get from any video is the tactile feel of a board and specifically, the keybed. the Nord Grand feels stunning to the touch and is incredibly responsive. the Kawai keybed is out of this world
I liked the Ravel well defined and full but thought a bit too much pedal noise etc. The keyscaple to me had more overtones on the sustained notes. Norg was excellent. I would tweak all of them a bit but from this test I'd say tossup between Ravel and Keyscape then the Nord. At this point I still want Keyscape their is so much AP and EP in the package. Maybe for an comparison would be Dan pick and tweak to his liking a favorite sound on each then compare sound and talk about customization ability and ease on the three.
I would say, try products like Modartt's Pianoteq 6 studio, which IS worth the money, you get so much out of the package and it's fully adaptable, I'd also highly recommend VI Labs Audio Ravenscroft 275 and their true pianos, etc, they are heaven. Sadly, I will never touch a nord product again. I've been burned before by defects, etc, never again. To be honest, having a mac with the right plugins and resources, it's better.. There's different pianos out there as soft synths, such as Native Instruments, Spectrasonics Keyscape, etc, it all depends on what you want and the material you're writing for / producing. It's funny how certain manufacturers go about instrument design. I have to admit, I'm finding myself rather interested in the Roland RD88 as it's using the new Zen Core system, now that is an exciting piece of technology. That said, you can't beat a real acoustic grand for the purephysical feel and sound.
@@tuneunleashed Not being funny, I'm a classical pianist and church organist, so have worked with various grand and upright pianos. Pianoteq is decent software, yes, the developer is an extremely difficult person to deal with, if impossible, yes, the software is overpriced, but if you examine the architecture of a modelled piano through Pianoteq vs working with a sampled piano instrument, the sampled instrument, you can't fully voice. That is the point of pianoteq. I've more than enough experience in this field. With regards blind testing, again something I have experience with as someone fully blind and using a mac running VoiceOver as the screen reader. I can tell an instrument by it's feel and sound. OK, I'm picky, can't help that, but as I say, Pianoteq 6 studio, yes, a bit overpriced and the developer is being very unreasonable in terms of lack of discount for a larger setup like that, but it is a decent instrument. Think of the fact that you can run it on a lower spec system due to lack of sampling space needed.
I liked the Nord least of all, but I wasn't playing it. I agree with the viewer who said something about matching the keyboard with the sound, so the Nord may have the advantage for this reason. Even a slight mismatch between key action and dynamic response can change things, particularly for the player, and perhaps there are other factors too, so I understand the "blind" tester picking the Nord. I play a Yamaha with CF patches built in. It has very reasonable onboard speakers, but even so, you could try it and think that it's nothing special. After tweaking the sympathetic reasonance and the sustain and adding some good nearfields, I get a sound that makes me want to play piano all the time. Do I pine for a more "realistic" piano. Not for one second! So it's not just the VSTs which are tweakable - the inbuilt software on the better dps is improving a lot. And the keys on some dps (such as mine) vibrate as you play (thanks to the onboard speakers) so you can listen with your hands too. Yamaha pianos seem to be particularly popular and successful as models for assorted VSTs, but Nord and Kurzweil offer lots of great downloads for their own hardware, so you can import instruments a bit like in a DAW. If one day there can be a generic protocol/engine on future dps (this for accessing 3rd party software without a computer) that will be fantastic. Patches could be be plugged straight into the dps via dedicated flash drives, irrespective of manufacturer. Just listening, my favourite so far is the VSL Yamaha CFX. Stu at Merriam Pianos reviwed it recently. It's one of the greediest storage-wise and most expensive too. At the other end, I really like the Waves Grand Rhapsody, featuring a Fazioli. It's much less greedy, and it costs under €30. The Noire surprised me in this video. I liked it more than I expected. It's a mellow version of the Yamaha CFX. Beautiful! I enjoyed the Luna Ravel too.
Amazingly interesting vid! theres so little vids about this comparison, congrats! Now it would be nice if you extended this hardware vs software pianos into more popular priced vsts and dig. pianos, I mean those vst and that Nord must be worth more than my house, my car and my internal organs together.
All are good, but was most impressed by the keyscape. All personal preference really, I actually use different piano sounds for different pieces of music on my pc vst's and Roland RD700NX.
Hey, next time would love to hear some rhytmic stuff. at the moment all examples were with pedal and soft touch mostly. maybe go for jazz lick/blues/funky example also, to hear the real difference :)
Well the VSTs are software pianos and the native Nord is playing software pianos... so as long as the sample or modelling is of high enough quality there's going to be very little difference surely. Weather the software sound is housed in a physical box with a keyboard attached or not makes little difference. I think the take-away from all of this is that whatever solution you choose you're going to be happy with the result.
They all sounded very beautiful
hello again
man sometimes I think you just comment for the sake of commenting.
Lmao fr you are everywhere
@@zachkeyson9851 well you're everywhere too
Yes
Jack: "I want you to see how good he is without the blindfold on"
Dan: Plays 1st song with his eyes closed
Lol
In my opinion...Nord's sound is pure and dry, great for every use. Ravel was just a bit too sweet with more reverb and the velocity sensitivity on the first play was high at some parts. Keyscape was something in between and more balanced. On VSTs usually the sustain pedal noise is noticeable and you can distinguish. Great work guys, I really enjoy your videos!
Thanks for commenting, we have plenty more blindfold challenges coming up so stay tuned!
Agreed, for this to be fair, those pedal noises gotta go. Too easy to know which is the VST. Hopefully they tone down the exaggerated pedal noises and we can get a closer comparison.
How do you load/record with nord sound in Luna OR other DAW. Sorry if it’s too basic question 🤦🏾
@@hosseinpiano The same way you record anything else in a DAW. 1. Connect an audio-interface to your computer 2.Then connect your Nord to your interface with jack-cables 3. press record in your DAW
Love these comparison videos. They really shine a light on how great Spectrasonics Keyscape truly is. Can’t wait for their next library update
Now a blindfold Nord sample comparison! White grand, Italian grand, upright modern, Black upright, 3D Royal grand, velvet Grand. Which is the best sounding! And make it blind for us too with optional annotations or something?
This pianist is pure gold, I could listen to him for hours.
This the guy who backed James Arthur in that beautiful wrecking ball cover... Looks like him anyway. He played a nord in that video too. I'd guess he likes nord best in this test as the keyboard is matched up properly velocity wise/mapped by nord. Rather than a vst just played through a controller that's not mapped professionally velocity wise. I still think the ravel is hands down the winner though.
Dan is the Man. Yes he uses Nords, but as he said in the Vid this was the first time with the Grand. He and Jack both toured with JA. Dan was on Drums!!!
"Hands down"? That's a lofty claim! ;-)
But, yes, it is a highly-regarded VST. The Nord Grand, though, is an astounding instrument in it's own right. I bought mine after the third time trying it at my LMS; I just couldn't get over how "connected" I felt to the instrument. I have never felt that with a digital piano, before or since. I have not tried Ravel yet though.
Trust me when I say, watching this videos in this time of quarantine in my country are simply great! 😍 Shotout both of you guys! Can't wait to watch and listen for more 🙏🏽
Just one correction. 3 of the sounds were created by computer, not 2 (unless you think the Nord actually has some sort of nano-strings and hammer technology inside). The only valid difference between the 3 (other than the OS of the "computer" being used) is how the "controller" part is interacting with the "computer" part and since the Nord has to communicate with the external VSTs through MIDI instead of a direct system connection, it COULD supply a lot more control data internally which might make the internal sounds seem more responsive (also noted in the last commenters post). Otherwise this is basically the same as comparing Mac VST pianos with Windows VST pianos.
As a pro keyboardist myself I do plan to pick up Keyscape pretty soon since it just has a HUGE variety of keyboards plus it integrates so well with Omnisphere. As for the UA Ravel, well after telling me they were fully supporting Windows systems now (before I purchased my UA Apollo Twin USB) they then make the FREE LUNA RECORDING SYSTEM... oh... and it's MAC ONLY. Yeah, thanks UA for again screwing over 80% of computer users.
Oddly enough, the piano VST I usually find easiest to use/mix in live situations is Alicia's Keys. For some reason it just always seems to "fit". I think sometimes the more detailed piano libraries are great for solo work, but just "to much information" to work in a group context without mixing and EQ which is going to take out a lot of that extra detail anyway.
And just wanna add I still enjoyed the video and don't mean for this to be a critique of your videos, just want to make sure all the info is there for viewers to see since there is are so many videos being posted these days that people are using to make purchasing decisions which include bad/incomplete/wrong information.
I believe Jack was referring to input lag. He was asking Dan if there was a noticeable difference in playing, between the two running through a computer and the one on being “on board” on the Nord. Dan couldn’t tell if the sound was coming from the computer or the Nord (sonically or input lag wise).
Ravenscroft is great live as well
All of the sound engines here are being driven by Midi..including the Nord Grand.. there is no wizardry here regarding “internal connection “ other than (the apparently unnoticeable) reduced latency
The most intelligent comment on this subject ever. People can’t comprehend the this hardware is a computer. I switched to midi a long time ago except for analog synthesizers.
Ravel 1:05
Nord 2:13
Key 3:21
Nord 6:35
Ravel 7:14
Key 7:45
Nord 9:22
Ravel 9:40
Key 10:02
It's is also important note that the results might differ if you used a calibrated keyboard profile for the vsts! Sometimes the feel is extremely different and it could affect the preference! Great video!
This. The right velocity curve makes so much difference.
Amazing playing! These new videos Jack and Dan are making are really good, keep it up!
jack & dan, me lovers, all the pianos sound great, but who cares about the samples when dan plays this good. please jack, pick his brains, let's have some inside info on his fabulous technique and feel.
AGREED!!!!!
Another great Anderton's video. Thanks for showing off Dan's skills. As Dan mentioned, they are all good- personal preference at that level. Looking forward to more videos with Jack and Dan.
The problem is that the Nord and its sound are optimized for each other. The others need to be tweaked to fit the Nord keyboard response. This has a huge influence on sound, feeling and dynamics.
Roy van den i agree with you. Maybe if a Kawai vpc 1 would be the master keyboard the conclusion will be different. Maybe not. This 3 sounds are top. White grand is also a good one
@@marcezallio Interesting. I'm looking to replace my VPC1...and so far, I think the Nord Grand may be my choice.
@@devidasa9637 excellent choice
@@marcezallio Thanks for the feedback.
Another great shootout!!!! Wonderful:)
Just when I think he's not a jazz player at all he plays a 13 with a b9.
Dan amazes us all!
He sound more gospel to me
@@Pianobits1 I wonder if he does play gospel regularly.
Well, gospel fuses all forms ( Classical, RnB, Jazz, Blues)
? I mean all his voicings are some form of Jazz chords.
Dan’s playing is fantastic! 🔥
anytime D Bingerz plays a saucy jazz chord they draw another tiny little star on his arm
I just love the resonance and sustain on the Ravel. Its so warm.... People keep falling in love with the bright cutting piano lately. I know its a band mix thing for cutting through. But the true definition of piano, is SOFTLY.
Pianissimo is very softly. Especially as a stand alone solo instrument. We tend to forget that or where the instrument comes from. Was never made to cut like most bright piano patches today. The Keyscape Cinematic patch is a good example of a solo piano filling up the soundscape with warmth and space. The simple RAVEL does that naturally with its res.... Then dial up the reverb. I mean... Nord is great and all, for gigging, recording etc. But price wise. ..? Anything can be EQ'd obviously. That being said.... It sucks RAVEL is exclusive to a certain card and DAW. I hope that business idea changes. I'd take a RAVEL & Keyscape and play them with a new Fantom ( w/V-engine). Lots of options.... No lotto winnings yet for that expense 😳
I’m with you on preferring the warm sweetness of the Ravel, but I can’t help but be pedantic - piano, as in the instrument, is short for pianoforte. “Where the instrument comes from” isn’t about softness, but about the ability to play with dynamics in general (as opposed to the harpsichord).
Ravel is $49.99 on Plugin Boutique at the moment 🎉
@doug604 Yes..... I was referring to the words from its actual Italian language.(using an ethentic Italian accent) 😜
He is such an excellent and expensive player. Now I want both the Nord and Keyscape!
The thing is all of them are sample based. Even the nord is not “hardware generated” but has a cpu inside that plays back sampled sounds. So it is basically comparing not sw vs hw but rather three top notch sampled pianos out there. There are synthetic vsts too (ie PianoTeq) but they are not as realistic imho as sampled.
OndiiiCZ : yup, in my mind an electric piano is a Rhodes or a Wurlitzer, not a Nord.
Beautiful! I'd love to hear a comparison with a classical pianist at some point. I think the different uses would likely end up with a different sound.
you two need to do some playing together, would love to hear the differences in style!
We can get on board with that... 😉
Great video!! Would love to hear some comparisons of other sounds too, like Rhodes or Wurlitzer, maybe with some other keyboards like the SV-2 in the mix as well as the VSTs. Keep up the great work guys ❤️
Glad you enjoyed the video! We have plenty more blindfold challenges coming up, especially with Rhodes & Wurlitzer sounds. Appreciate the comments.
@@AndertonsKeyboardDept, I hope that, specifically, you'll compare the Dyno Rhodes sounds, Nord vs. Keyscape. I have an NS2, and play a Piano 4 at my 3-night-a-week gig. I had planned on traveling to play a Nord Grand; COVID has taken care of that. :-( Please stay well, Jack, Dan and everyone! Wonderful playing! I'm beginning to enjoy Anderton's vids more than any other.
Here is a great showcase of Keyscape forall the grand pianos, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, Clavinet simply amazing!
ua-cam.com/video/O04ic5LgEJs/v-deo.html
Whilst software pianos are great, they aren’t really going to match the velocity against the weight of the keys like the Nord. I play software pianos a lot and 9 times out of 10 have to turn down the pedal noise(too loud and too mushy almost like an over emphasised gimmick) and more importantly having to tweak the velocity levels and curve to match the weight of the keys. Software companies need to style their user programs to suit a) a weighted keyboard b) semi weighted. And c) cut out the over use of reverb. Nord has far more attack, and it’s reflected in his playing. He ended up playing to suit the patch , not playing the same passage for each instrument.
Keyscape does have a mode that lets you curve the velocity to match the controller, and it includes many presets for known models.
@@NegativeReferral yes keyscape and other good vsts allow you to change the vel curve at the tone generator end but you need to spend the equivalent price of a nord for an i9 mac with 8cores and 32GB ram and 4TB storage and then cope with computers in general and all the apple security updates. I find a well balanced piano to play like the vi labs ravenscroft 275 is actually very similar to the nord in terms of balanced sound. Less is more and it is not as resource intensive on cpu and ram.
@@wilkopiano Or you can buy an 800$ Mac Mini or build yourself a hackintosh since that's all you need unless you're running incredibly heavy and complex projects as a producer. I have a Nord for live playing, but also a ton of VSTs on my 500€ hackintosh: never had any issues with any songs I worked on, since I'm a semi-professional player at most.
@@andy5178 yes, i have known people to do that. But i9 9th gen intel cpu mac is needed realistically for keyscape, ravel and komplete 13. Mac minis have slow storage and x1 chips not yet fully tested with all vsts. I have an i7 10800k 8 core PC with 3000mhz ddr4 32GB ram with m2 nvme ssd storage and it copes ok with keyscape and komplete. But mac mini x1? Personally if i was to recommend a mac it would be to wait for the x1m chip and all vst tone generator producers to test everything with apple. PC for now and heightened DAW costs, eg cubase or avid or reaper if you really are on a budget. For laptop the i7 10875H 10th chipset 8 core is best like lenovo legion 7i or msi creator laptop 15 , or asus rog strix g15, or razer blade 15 10875h with nvme. Use camelot as alternative to mainstage(apple) in a live setting. Carrying pc towers on gigs is a no no
It's interesting, clearly what we hear into the Desk is different to what they were hearing in the room. I preferred either of the soft instruments to the Nord.
The Ravel comes as slightly exagerated to me. I've had the honor to play a few grand pianos till now and nun of them had such a deep, everlasting reverb. The pedal noise also seemed a little bit overdone...Nord's royal grand is more traditional so to speak to a digital piano, with less ambients and less pedal noise; although Nord's samples surpasses every digital piano by a good margin. Keyscape was a little bit more balanced, something in between Nord and Ravel and maybe I would have chosen it as the winner.
We should not forget however, that Nord is maybe the only digital piano who's sounds are head to head with those of the best VSTs. It's beautiful to have a piano that you turn on and enjoy without needing extra cables and so on.
It's as always, a joy, A JOY! To hear you play and speak! ❤️😊
I wonder what was round-trip latency in this particular test for VSTs?
more comparision among digital pianos or vsts or actually anything piano related would be great. there arent really much comparison videos like this in youtube. busting some myths might be also great
I had 2, 3, 1. I had Keyscape at number one at first and after he brought out the nuances of the high register I chose the Nord. I’d still buy the Keyscape cause I get more. Wasn’t too interested in the Ravel. I’d rather play The Grandeur by NI.
The moment I see Ding Bangers on screen I immediately give it a thumbs up. Great vid guys 👍
Just want to hear him play for hours. Gosh what gorgeous playing.
Love ALL the sounds. Keyscape and Nord sounded so warm
Would be interested to see a comparison of physically modeled pianos (i.e., PianoTeq by Modart)
There are a great variety of Pianoteq voices. I play Pianoteq, but I really enjoyed the sound of the Ravel.
Pianoteq studio is all I need) I don't think any other plugin has even got near to it's customization potential. Especially the custom tuning and custom temperament options
These comparison videos are awesome.
too me, Ravel sounds the best :)
Interesting... Thanks for tuning in & putting your vote out!
Same herre
I was surprised by how amazing and realistic the Ravel plugin sounded! I especially like how the software already has a preset for reversed piano sounds.
The problem is we all have different ears and taste.. All of them sounded great, and each one could fit on every different situations..
I feel changing the built in velocity curves in Keyscape to match the contoller that you use makes a big difference.
It would be interesting to have him rate his favorite Nord sample against his favorite Keyscape sample. The result might be closer.
Where can we find Dan's videos ! Also, great video as always. Love it. Keep them coming.
Such lush voicings this bloke plays. Very understated BUT just oozes class. Reminds me of Lyle Mays. Stunning stuff.
Another amazing video Jack, lovely hearing Dan's playing again. The Ravel sounded glorious to my ears, much better than the Nord)my 3rd place), did the live monitors not sound so good?
I see a video with Dan, I click. That simple.
I love Dan’s playing faces 😂
Can't play piano like that without the faces...
not me at all!!!
The Best way to compare all this beautifull piano's. Nord Grand is the perfect keyboard to appreciate as it should be Keyscape and Ravel. Very nice playing; Thanks for the video. Cheers from France
I remember once I was trying to get best sound out of a piano VST using better speakers etc., but it was not sound right. One friend told me then, "a real piano sound don't need expensive speakers, otherwise people would not listen to it through their transistor radios!". The point is, most of these gigabyte piano samples simply don't sound right. Nord has achieved the closest sound to a real piano, I don't know how, but they did it. People can talk about the sample size, etc. but Nord sound natural.
Very nice testing! (and playing!!) Any idea about the pianoteq 6?
Thank you so much! Just saved me such a headache purchasing a digital and worrying about sample quality!
Does anyone know where to get that macbook skin? Along with the rainbow for the logo?
Ordered of Amazon a while back thanks for watching and noticing!
That cinematic one at the end woke me up bro dam!!
I highly suggest you to try out Garritan CFX and Vienna Symphonic Library Concert D (and CFX too).. I think they are among the best piano plugins ever made, in terms of realism!
Thanks Jack and Dan... as always excellent video👍
What the exact Macbook Pro specifications please??
Really curious about how pianoteq would hold up
#4. It's great but out of it's class here.
Exactly, not a match to those
Well, even if it would be inferior. It is still interesting for knowing the gap between the contenders. Also putting some really low quality piano sounds in the test would make the test more valid.
Anyway great work and a pleasure to listen to the playing 😄
Lars Hedegaard-Petersen Pianoteq would even match to be honest with you it will lose
have you connected the nord piano to the apollo interface or directly via USB to your Macbook? Thx ;)
I think both.. Nord connection via USB to the MacBook and the nord two 1/4" output to the Apollo two 1/4" input.. jack can switch between the nord and VST through Apollo..
@@MrigendraBhusal Thank you :)
I'd love to own a nord grand, it's just amazing on it's own, plus I love the pedal noise that I'm hearing
Just got one and mannnnnnnnnnnnn. Worth every penny
Malcolm Millar do you know if it’s better then the piano 4 or worth the upgrade ? Don’t have either but deciding between the two😁
@@josiahdelarosa1165 I dont have the piano 4 but I tried it before buying the grand and personally I prefer the grand. The keys have some reallllly nice action but it is more expensive. So I would if you could afford the upgrade! :D I've been playing more than ever since I got it!
Keyscape VST is the best out there at the moment :-) I have SL 88 grand
It’s The best combination out there ☝️🙏
Given the lack of constraints in the VST, the piano comparison was a sweeping endorsement for the Nord Grand. Very impressed
Jack, do the same experiment but instead use the Nord to trigger yamaha, casio and roland sounds..killing it with the content btw
That was so incredibly helpful. Thanks a bunch for putting that together. Can I ask you what speakers you are running the keyboards through within the studio room?
Can someone tell me the song at 1:20, that progression sounds so familiar
I am trying the Ravel demo now that UAD has made it available to all users in all DAW's. The one thing missing from this review is dynamics in the playing. When you play classical and firmly play octaves, the dynamism and sympathetic resonance of the Ravel is revealing and lovely to hear, feel and experience. We don't get to see any of that here. All the pianos sound good, but the Nord sounded a bit too digital whereas the Ravel feels like a true piano in a room. Maybe that's my personal preference.
I’m seeing Ravel price is half price, I’m wondering if that’s temporary.
I’ve heard the dynamics in keyscape are a little flat.
Great piano sounds. I use Nord Stage 2 Kontakt library, somehow there is a delay in sending the MIDI message from my controller anytime I press my sustain pedal. Still trying to figure out why ...
I’d like to see, well hear Yamaha and whichever is their best electric/stage/work station at the moment. But against their Yamaha concert grand. Best of course as well as their Bösendorfer which is a little more mellow. And up against a couple of vst.
I feel like the Nord had no reverb. It was more dry so it sounded cleaner. But I put Keyscape ahead of the Ravel. Ravel's sound was borderline muddy.
Has Dan released own Tracks or with a band? Would like to listen
Gorgeous sounds, oh and what a player 💪
Outrageous playing, just outrageous!
was expecting rhodes sounds on this one. did you ever compare rhodes sounds? or are you going to?
What will make a difference is what mic pre's you run the hardware through into your interface. Granted a Neve pre will add something that the VST will not have.
What if you put a 1073 emulation in the fx chain on the vst?
That would help, it's not the same but it's better than a Mackie or Presonus mic pre.
All sound good, but the only on that sounds like a real piano is keyscape. Personally the fake harsh mid frequencies of the other two drive me crazy. But I'm used to playing and hearing a real piano.
Somehow I recognised Keyscape immediately when I heard the first note. I'm not much of a advanced VST users but I've stuck around with Keyscape long enough that I guess I hear his own character 😂!
Still hoping for a Keyscape LA (Dyno) vs. Nord P4 or Grand Dyno comparison video...
Very interesting video, but it would be a good comparison to play exactly the same example using the different sounds...
how is the Nord recorded to get the sound like this?
all sounds are wonderful. what you don't get from any video is the tactile feel of a board and specifically, the keybed. the Nord Grand feels stunning to the touch and is incredibly responsive. the Kawai keybed is out of this world
Love Dan's techniques, learning a lot from both of you, thanks again! Any idea how to recreate the Cinematic sample on the Nord Grand? Really love it.
excellent, congratulations.
Could you give me the Nord piano configuration?
Thank you
How many volume levels are sampled for each instrument?
Really beautiful playing. The action is the same... That is suuuper controller.
I liked the Ravel well defined and full but thought a bit too much pedal noise etc. The keyscaple to me had more overtones on the sustained notes. Norg was excellent. I would tweak all of them a bit but from this test I'd say tossup between Ravel and Keyscape then the Nord. At this point I still want Keyscape their is so much AP and EP in the package.
Maybe for an comparison would be Dan pick and tweak to his liking a favorite sound on each then compare sound and talk about customization ability and ease on the three.
Man this guy is a classy player.
That ravel sounds amazing
I have the Nord Piano 3, what would I need to run the keyscape sounds from the Nord? I have a fairly new MacBook Pro.
You guys are the best.
I would say, try products like Modartt's Pianoteq 6 studio, which IS worth the money, you get so much out of the package and it's fully adaptable, I'd also highly recommend VI Labs Audio Ravenscroft 275 and their true pianos, etc, they are heaven. Sadly, I will never touch a nord product again. I've been burned before by defects, etc, never again. To be honest, having a mac with the right plugins and resources, it's better.. There's different pianos out there as soft synths, such as Native Instruments, Spectrasonics Keyscape, etc, it all depends on what you want and the material you're writing for / producing. It's funny how certain manufacturers go about instrument design. I have to admit, I'm finding myself rather interested in the Roland RD88 as it's using the new Zen Core system, now that is an exciting piece of technology. That said, you can't beat a real acoustic grand for the purephysical feel and sound.
That is completely garbage man!! There is a reason why nobody wants to play Pianoteq
@@tuneunleashed Not being funny, I'm a classical pianist and church organist, so have worked with various grand and upright pianos. Pianoteq is decent software, yes, the developer is an extremely difficult person to deal with, if impossible, yes, the software is overpriced, but if you examine the architecture of a modelled piano through Pianoteq vs working with a sampled piano instrument, the sampled instrument, you can't fully voice. That is the point of pianoteq. I've more than enough experience in this field. With regards blind testing, again something I have experience with as someone fully blind and using a mac running VoiceOver as the screen reader. I can tell an instrument by it's feel and sound. OK, I'm picky, can't help that, but as I say, Pianoteq 6 studio, yes, a bit overpriced and the developer is being very unreasonable in terms of lack of discount for a larger setup like that, but it is a decent instrument. Think of the fact that you can run it on a lower spec system due to lack of sampling space needed.
Keyscape wins for me
For me to
Me too. Just bummer a great grand keybed costs a bunch too, so it’s not that much cheaper than going with the Nord right away.
@@magicmulder check out the Kawai vpc1
@@nicolasmasset Thanks mate, that's a nice one, won't fit under my studio desk unfortunately. But I'll consider it.
Whenever this guy plays, I just feel annointed. Idek how 🤣
yeah! it's like he's ready to shoot his load or something for just a simple short passage.
Software weights big time less!
Nowadays, audience is more oriented to catchy melodies and soulful rhythms, than extremely quality of pianos.
Hello, guys! I got a question. Will any midi keyboard work to run Keyscape? I have a Casio Privia PX-350M. Will it work? Thanks!
As long as you can plug your keyboard into an audio interface, it will work.
Lol...people seem somewhat butthurt that the Nord Grand beat their VSTs...
Yeah, it's that good.
:-D
Agree.
I liked the Nord least of all, but I wasn't playing it. I agree with the viewer who said something about matching the keyboard with the sound, so the Nord may have the advantage for this reason. Even a slight mismatch between key action and dynamic response can change things, particularly for the player, and perhaps there are other factors too, so I understand the "blind" tester picking the Nord.
I play a Yamaha with CF patches built in. It has very reasonable onboard speakers, but even so, you could try it and think that it's nothing special. After tweaking the sympathetic reasonance and the sustain and adding some good nearfields, I get a sound that makes me want to play piano all the time. Do I pine for a more "realistic" piano. Not for one second! So it's not just the VSTs which are tweakable - the inbuilt software on the better dps is improving a lot. And the keys on some dps (such as mine) vibrate as you play (thanks to the onboard speakers) so you can listen with your hands too.
Yamaha pianos seem to be particularly popular and successful as models for assorted VSTs, but Nord and Kurzweil offer lots of great downloads for their own hardware, so you can import instruments a bit like in a DAW. If one day there can be a generic protocol/engine on future dps (this for accessing 3rd party software without a computer) that will be fantastic. Patches could be be plugged straight into the dps via dedicated flash drives, irrespective of manufacturer.
Just listening, my favourite so far is the VSL Yamaha CFX. Stu at Merriam Pianos reviwed it recently. It's one of the greediest storage-wise and most expensive too. At the other end, I really like the Waves Grand Rhapsody, featuring a Fazioli. It's much less greedy, and it costs under €30. The Noire surprised me in this video. I liked it more than I expected. It's a mellow version of the Yamaha CFX. Beautiful! I enjoyed the Luna Ravel too.
I wish there was garritan at the competition too ! great vid anyways
Amazingly interesting vid! theres so little vids about this comparison, congrats! Now it would be nice if you extended this hardware vs software pianos into more popular priced vsts and dig. pianos, I mean those vst and that Nord must be worth more than my house, my car and my internal organs together.
All are good, but was most impressed by the keyscape. All personal preference really, I actually use different piano sounds for different pieces of music on my pc vst's and Roland RD700NX.
Hey, next time would love to hear some rhytmic stuff. at the moment all examples were with pedal and soft touch mostly. maybe go for jazz lick/blues/funky example also, to hear the real difference :)
Well the VSTs are software pianos and the native Nord is playing software pianos... so as long as the sample or modelling is of high enough quality there's going to be very little difference surely. Weather the software sound is housed in a physical box with a keyboard attached or not makes little difference. I think the take-away from all of this is that whatever solution you choose you're going to be happy with the result.
You should try Ravenscroft in one of these comparisons. To me it's at least on par with the Nord sound that Dan seems to enjoy
Ravenscroft it kinda sucks now to be honest it gets annoying
@@tuneunleashed in what sense?
#2 best in full mix to my ear
What type of speakers do you use?