Sorry if I appeared a little negative but the VPC does look a very nice product. I am just so surprised about the lack of certain features which will only restrict sales. I am very happy with my MP10 which is my studio master keyboard.

I take your point about the appearance of the Casio PX-5s maybe they will release a black version when it is released in the Europe market.

James,
I tried the VPC yesterday at NAMM (both at Kawai and at Synthogy) and found it to be a great piano controller. At first I was a little surprised by the minimalistic approach with no controllers other than the keys and the foot pedals, but having reflected a bit I am not so concerned about the business rationale. The goal is clearly to be the preferred keybed for virtual pianos and in this it is leading. In my view the other candidates mentioned above do not even come close. I welcome to have a real good piano keybed and then I will use another keybed for other sounds like e.g. organ.
I have a Nord Stage 2 and from the dimensions it seems that the Nord may actually fit on top of the VPC1 which would be great. I wonder if a MIDi signal coming in to the VPC1 via the MIDI connection can go through the VPC1 and out via the USB MIDi?
I hope Kawai implement a velocity curve for the Nord Piano Library and furthermore that the Editor very soon will be available for Mac OS.

Greetings all!

I just ran across this new video on YouTube...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DU3yQHQ01Uk

K.

Kevin...
Much appreciate your posting the Kraft Music promo of the VCP. The rep did everything but play it!!!!!!! If there is anyone who has a link to the VPC where we can actually see and hear it being played, I would love to see it! Meanwhile, I'm still scouring the internet to find a link where we can see this board in action!
H.K.

Edit: In looking at the owner's manual I find that there are no connections to this board for external speakers; nor is there a connection for headphones. Just to clarify... if the board is to be heard externally or through a headset, these external and internal sounds would come through the computer's connections to audio out, and headset? Correct? Thanks!

I wonder whether I properly understand this VPC keyboard. Is it just a keyboard that feeds MIDI output? No tone generator, no amplifier, no speakers?

If that is so, then one would expect it to be less expensive then the more typical Kawai keyboard, one that includes the sound system. Is that the goal of this product?

If all of the tone generation is done on an attached PC, then what features would be needed in this keyboard. Not many, I venture.

There's nothing to hear! This is a controller, not a DP. There are no internal sounds, speakers or generators of any kind. You use a PC/MAC and play a virtual piano, such as Pianoteq, with your own choice of amp and speakers.

Right. It's an improved version of the MP10 keybed, in a product that is $650 less than an MP10. No sounds or speakers built in, it drives a VST piano in your computer.

voxpops...
Thanks for this explanation. Bear with me. Of course my present set up (MP6) includes line out, headset connection. With the VPC, I will still have the benefit of external and headset sound through whatever I connect to the computer not the VPC, correct?
Thanks!
H.K.

You would connect your headphones to either your PC (where your VST is) or the interface box you use.

I was getting ready to buy a MP10, but waiting for the NAMM show to see if anything new would come out. I have a couple of questions about the new VPC1 that Kawai James or others might be able to answer.

1) Piano Actions, What are the exact differences between the "RM3 Grand Touch" and the "RM3 Grand Touch 2" How does it affect the way it feels or repeats or anything else?

2) I am assuming that this would work well with Receptor 2 or any of MUSE Research products for the sound production?

3) Would an audio interface be needed or desired to connect the VPC1 to the computer or Receptor? And a recommendation if one is needed.

4) What type of recording software would you recommend to use with the instrument since there is not a recorder built in. I would like something simple, but with musical notation capability. I am wanting to make a Christmas CD to send to friends, but being classical trained, I respond better to Musical notation than to using my ear.

I live in Atlanta and have to go somewhere else to see the Kawai products such as the MP10. I have bought too many things that I really didn't need.

Thanks

Here is a link to a discussion of the Kawai VPC1 by Stephen Fortner of Keyboard magazine -- he does not demo the controller but does talk about his experiences in playing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoktYu4D9HU

1) I think it's just a 3rd sensor, pretty much like the difference between GH and GH3 from Yamaha (please correct me if I'm wrong). Lots of topics about those here, just use the search.

2) Never saw those before, but if it has MIDI in/out, yes, it should. However after a quick search I don't see MIDI on their specs, only mic and line inputs...

3) No, you just plug an standard USB cable directly on your PC, no interface needed. Not sure about the Receptor (see above).

4) For Mac, try Garageband, I like it a lot, and it has basic notation editing. For PC, both Audacity and Reaper are pretty simple just for recording, but I'm not sure about their notation capability.

An interesting option for the VPC would be a furniture stand with pedals and one of those soundboard speakers built in. Then all you'd need would be a laptop (& a DIY rubber pad of some sort under it).

So the various velocity curves are selected via the power switch and the piano keys? Hmm.

of course ... ITS A CONTROLLER !!!!

Huh, I missed most of this thread because I've been traveling for the last week. I almost feel like we should start a new VPC thread because it's very interesting but the first bunch of pages here are people (myself included) speculating about what it could have in a dream world, so what it delivers didn't really get fully appreciated. It looks pretty freakin' great to me:

1. Three-sensor Kawai wood action (not GF but still better than the MP10 has)

2. No unnecessary electronics and no nasty mod wheels

3. Three pedals

4. Pre-optimized curves for the most likely software we will use, as well as the option of setting our own curve in the hardware (which is better than doing it in the software after it's already been quantized into MIDI, presumably). One also presumes that there will later be updates to this so we can have pre-optimized curves for future software.

The last two are great surprises. The first one is just a tiny bummer, but it's better than we would have expected before GF came out. And maybe with GF it would be silly long.

About the price, I think the difference between it and the MP10 is pretty good. 650 bones. That seems right. However, the price for the MP10 is about $500 too high for what it is--I'd say the mp10 should cost about $2k and the VPC should cost $1500 or so. So I guess I'm a little disappointed in them both. We'll see what it retails for later, though. Maybe we'll get luck and it will be unpopular and sell at a discount. I'll probably buy one if I can find it for a reasonable price.

Interesting logic. You want it to fail so you can afford one?

Here's hoping the keys warp and the paint flakes off in shipment, that it's plagued with horrible firmware, cursed with crashing / nonexistent drivers, and just totally suck in general so that people return them in droves after getting their third DOA in a row - then we'll all be able to afford the controller of our dreams at half-off!

A beacon of positivity, as usual.

How about the price of the RD-700NX?

Peter B, HisKidd, pianobear100, I will try to respond to your queries later this afternoon, after lunch.

Cheers,
James
x

As he said ...bout $500 less then a RD700NX seems right ...for the MP10 that is .....

Hi Peter B,



That's good to hear, thank you. I'm hopeful that others expressing concern about the lack of pitchbend/modulation wheels will also change their opinion once they experience how great the action feels for themselves.



I'm not entirely sure - it may depend on the which type of NS2 you're using (weighted-hammer or semi-weighted keyboard). My Electro 3 SW73 has a depth of 30 cm, and sits perfectly on top, but any more and it might be too large without hanging over the VPC1 keyboard.



Yes, this is possible, using the VPC1 as a psuedo MIDI interface. Note however that setting this configuration will probably require the VPC Editor, which currently runs on Windows only.



Yes, me too.

Cheers,
James
x

As others have noted, the VPC1 itself does not produce any sounds - it is purely a controller for software/hardware sound sources. Therefore, headphones and amplifier/speakers will be connected to the sound source.

Kind regards,
James
x

Ok, I think the price will bitch us just for the begining. Each launch costs a little expensive at first, but then stabilizes at a more honest price. And like my mom said, "If this board be as solid as it seems, the price will be worth it, 'cause it will be a marriage."
So I start saving money already... maybe in a year or so we can have one...

Hello pianobear100,



Yes, I believe it should just be a case of connecting the MIDI OUT from the VPC1 to the MIDI IN of the Receptor.



I'm not overly familiar with the Receptor, but I believe if you're using one for the sound generator (e.g. running Ivory), it will not be necessary to use a computer. If you intend to use a computer, however, an audio interface may be recommended for higher quality audio and lower latency. Depending on the interface, you will either connect the VPC1 to the computer using traditional MIDI or USB, or to to the audio interface using traditional MIDI.



There are a number of MIDI recording packages available, ranging from fully-fledged DAWs such as Logic/Mainstage to more straight-forward notation-oriented packages such as Sibelius or Finale.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
James
x

Yes, it's a nice idea. Although, perhaps a little beyond the scope of the VPC1...at least for the time being.



The VPC1's five internal memories store velocity curves, key velocity offset, and other MIDI settings (routing, pedal CCs, etc.). These memories can be selected by using a power button+black key combination, or through the editor software. The previously selected memory will remain when the board is turned off/on.

Cheers,
James
x

Your mother is very wise.

James
x

Hello dear people @ pianoworld, and hello Kawai rep. reading this if ever,

I've been reading this forum for a long time without giving any opinion, keeping it as a wild forest untouched.

Yet as the VPC1 is coming along, the first 'first class piano controller', I feel the urge to ask about several issues as well, as I'm playing currently a Kawai acoustic piano that also has a midi interface, which I really enjoy each and every day since I first tried it.

The concern is about the way manufacturers decisively or repeatedly fail to take the demands of the musicians right on time, and keep on walking of some sort of tick tock marketing strategies that would only have tocks.

Kawai is at last addressing the concern about a decent piano controller, and that's great, but it's doing so a bit confusingly indeed :

- the action is certainly good, but it seems, not as good as it would have been if it were simply the best current available one. I'm ready to bet many people will have to decide if they catch the VPC1 train right now, or just delay their purchase to see if the coming VPC2 or MP12 will instead or not really be the complete deal at once. As it is, the VPC1 looks like the keyboard of the day before into the box of day to come, and the compromise is a bit of a turn off indeed.

- The missing mod wheels : it's a real question, why not include the mod wheels into a discrete trap onto the VPC1.2, so that you wouldn't have to face the technical detail if you don't need to, but wouldn't have either to buy or use another keyboard to simply access this necessary feature? It's a bit of a mean deal in a way, not to include these wheels, and, as well, while we're at it, after touch or a third wheel or button or beam or else you could assign to this function, still hidden into the cabinet. Construction wise, it would only be negligible extra cost, and it would contribute really to design a legendary controller.

- Custom stand and generic sound cabinet, as 2 separate but combinable options, like the Fender Rhodes were at times, in order to sit it on properly and retro-feed in the VSTI sounding. (but the CA65/95 compete on this, though in the old fashion way)

I'm certain the VPC1 might be a valuable good for 2 decades, but I won't be purchasing one now because of these (as for now) two major points 1 and 2, and it's a real pity to feel so, because if Kawai had say delayed by a half year the launch of the perfect piano controller to include the very demands of musicians, and, say had simply announced at winter NAMM 2013 such a launch within 6 months to go, the expectations would have retained many people from buying a current average other controller, and the VPC1 would really have started as a legend already, be it the price an extra 300-500$ to fill in the extra features. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm not into marketing after all, but maybe I read the comments and I feel the thing as well as many people do?

One way to turn this around would be to issue an optional separate 2 mod wheels+after touch solution adapted to the VPC1 cabinet, but it would still be an addendum. It would really help though.

To testify about my concerns, for now, even though it's the older technology of mechanical midi captors implemented into my Kawai upright, I will keep on with it : it's an acoustic instrument, it has a real natural feel (the slightly higher let off point is ok once you get used to it) in MIDI as well, and despite the older single captor only technology, by design it triggers the data at the bottom of the key action, and it's perfectly suited for fast repetitions because it responds to weigh pressure and not speed (as opposed to the optical sensing), which is after all the way it works acoustically. As for the velocity curves, I design my own, really easy to do in any sequencer on the market.

So What would the VPC1 be to me in this situation? I'm afraid to answer, not a replacement for the action of my midified upright piano or an alternate/stage solution, nor a fully satisfying piano controller for the studio, but an ersatz still, ok a one ersatz significantly better than the ones of the other manufacturers, but not the promised land's gear yet.

Is there a way Kawai could quickly address this questions, f.e. limiting the production of the VPC1 in quantity, modifying its pricing plan to sell them quick, and move on later this year to a VPC1.2 or VPC1 mkII or VPC2 with the full minimum package for the studio, the home studio, and the scene : the best to date wooden action with the bare minimum controls on board, elegantly hidden behind a simple trap into the cabinet, so that in 30 years from now, people do still remember this product as the thing to go with of all time? Think of the Gem Promega 3, or the first Yamaha hybrid pianos back then, they still hold their user's breath, why not the Kawai VPCX in this series?

And all this doesn't really reduce my enthusiasm for Kawai products, simply it reduces my interest for the purchase of the current VPC1. For the price difference, the MP10 or coming MP12 (or whatever the name) or the Ca65 might just be as good to a new comer. Some brands prefer to scale their products without compromising, highest price the highest value, but somehow Kawai DP dpt ask you to choose between best action/best sound/best value, and you can't seem to be able to get the best of it all, whatever the price, making it all tocks in a strategy that is hard to read and somehow unsatisfying in a way. I can understand the fact is due to the calendar of the market and shows and launch schedules, but it tends to last for years now, and while it keeps the interest alive, it keeps disappointing the people who really need these instruments and actually, happen to really buy them occasionally, or not at the end of the day.

Thank you for your attention

iasw

iasw, thank you for your thoughtful post.

There are portions that I agree with, and others that I do not, however even then, I can appreciate your opinion.

Kind regards,
James
x

Well, it's a piano controller. For that you don't need mod wheels. I can certainly understand that reasoning. If you buy an AvantGrand or a V-Piano, or pretty much any DP for that matter, you end up with no mod wheel. This is not a master keyboard. If you want a master keyboard then you'd also most likely want split functionality and whatnot. Where would you draw the line? Kawai decided to make it a pure piano controller and I can understand that.

Not using the latest action on the other hand is indeed a bit odd. I don't really know the differences in Kawai actions as I've never played them, but on paper it's a somewhat strange decision and almost feels as if it was done so to not compete with their own highend DP's.