I think you've had a tough week with this one mate ...

BTW, a post from a NAMM visitor on another site commented on the nice FLAT top of the VPC. That should also tell you something about how "curved" it is. ;-)

Kawai also makes the 9' EX, a couple of 5' grands, and some stuff in between. OK, I'll err on the safe side and assume it's based on a 5' action, thanks!

No problem!

I'm assuming that an editor and drivers for OS-X will be released, hopefully in the near future. I would not consider purchasing a VPC1 otherwise.

That's great to hear. That was my only concern.

I'm definitely getting one of these. There are so many different types of controllers available, but so few that offer a great action, solid build quality, pleasing aesthetics and real estate for other devices. The price is a little high IMO, but only by a few hundred dollars.

The A88 I just bought will get a quick turnaround.

One quick question Kawai James. Once I create curves on a PC and import them to the VPC, will they be effective when I hook the VPC up to my Jupiter and Mac?

Your nekid pictures with a measure band + the readily available pictures of the GF and RM3 make this easy to measure.
Just relate the key lengths to the pivot point distance of the two quite accuarately. (I judged it at the modells at the store side by side - I didn't bother to do the measurements actually, but one could make this easily too given the fact key layout is quite standardised for more than a century (length/position of black/white keys).

I was astonished to see the GF very significantly longer than the RM3 - perhaps some 2-3 cm longer.

As I said previously, I am not sure beyond some point bigger key length is improving playability significantly (or at all.) On bigger grands it is dictated simply by the longer strings which have to be hitted far from their end - you need a longer hammer mechanics.

Another question whether there is a mechanical or geometrical difference (improvement?) between the RM3 or RM3 II or this all is up to the added third sensor.

I am very interested in an answer to whether RM3II is that much better than RH2. (I need above all smooth touch for my older and sensitive fingers - and a quiet one too).

James...
Is the Kawai F-30 foot pedal unique to the new VPC? Will it work with other Kawai stage pianos (MP-10; MP-6), and can it be purchased separately? I've checked Kawai on line; and several of the instrument/musician outlets, but haven't had any luck finding the F-30, only the F-20.
Regards,
H.K.

I would like to know this too. I think we are all operating under the assumption that RM3II is just RM3 with a third sensor and that RH2 is the same as RH with a third sensor. I'd love confirmation on that, though.

Good points. Another option would be a console piano like CA-65/CA-95/CS-10. Below is my RD-700NX that I use for silent practice only. The sliders etc are covered up when the piano is not in use.

Well, I think one might consider it the other way round.
Lots of musicians already have a midi keyboard in their studio, powered monitors, controllers and what not. In my case, I already own a 61 notes light action master keyboard with a modwheel which I'm happy with - as far as organs and synths are concerned. But I missed a good weighted action midi keyboard for piano. Other people might own a krome, a kurzweil or anything filled with great sounds - but deprived of a good wooden action. So they already have the lights and flashy colours anyway.
If I were one of these people, I'd be happy not to have to pay for the whole thing (action+ sounds) again. There the VPC1 is the perfect deal : for those who need the action, only the action. The velocity curves are of less importance to me.

It looks to me like it's basically an F-20 pedal and an F-10H pedal mounted into the same housing, as their are two plugs coming out of it. I'd assume it connects and works the same way as plugging and F-20 into the Foot switch jack and an F-10 into the Damper jack.

Of course, some confirmation would be nice though.

I must say that I am a bit surprised that there wasn't a bundled VST with the VPC1... Maybe they should have included CDROM that was preloaded with one of the 4 shown or even something else. By doing that it would at open the door to people who are just starting out (1st time buyers). After spending nearly 2k they don't want to hear the sales person say now you need to spend another $300 on virtual pianos in order to play it..... That might drive people away from the product. Just a thought. Personally I'll still buy one, but I already a have a couple VST's and two synths.

Hello chaps,

Below are some responses to your queries/comments.



I am hopeful, as this has been quite a strong request so far. However, I am not the person responsible for making this decision.



Yes, the VPC editor stores settings directly to the VPC1's internal memories. So once your custom touch curves etc. are programmed in, you will not need to connect the PC unless you decide to change something again.



Geometrically 'RM3 Grand' and 'RM3 Grand II' are the same, however the construction is a little different, in addition to the third sensor.



Officially, I cannot really answer such a subjective question. However, if you were to ask me as an individual, which keyboard action would I rather own - obviously, 'RM3 Grand II' every time.



Currently, yes. However, we may decide to introduce this unit as a standalone accessory for existing MP users (see below) in the future if there is strong demand.



Due to the technical design of the F-30, I believe it will only function correctly (i.e. as a triple pedal unit) with the MP8, MP8II, and MP10 (i.e. not the MP5 or MP6). And even then, a software update would be required each of those models.



...yes, plus the improved key frame construction.



Yes, this is more or less correct.

I hope this helps to answer your queries chaps!

Cheers,
James
x

I believe it would be a little difficult to do so without aggravating the other VI developers we partnered with.



With the exception of Pianoteq, I do not believe any modern virtual piano packages are shipped on CD-ROM.



I understand the point you are making, however I would like to think that VPC1 customers will appreciate that the controller does not include virtual piano software.



Sounds like a great combo.

Cheers,
James
x

James, thanks for all the great answers - especially in regards to the questions about actions. Obviously people interested in this board are particularly picky and discerning about action, and so you get lots of nagging questions about it

Speaking of which....

Could you elaborate on why the choice was made to opt for RM3II over GF in the VPC? I'm not trying to complain or sound negative at all, I'm just genuinely curious about what factors determine the choices Kawai makes on which actions to choose for their particular keyboards.

For example, if size and weight was a concern that guided that decision, I think a most people interested in the VPC wouldn't care about an extra couple inches or pounds added to the VPC considering how they're going to be using it.

If it was cost, I'd be curious to know what the cost difference between the VPC with RM3II or GF would approximately be. I wouldn't mind if Kawai just ripped off the top of one of their CA or CS series with GF (perhaps whittled down the case size to be tighter though) and stick a midi jack on it.

Thanks

@chicolom

Good question. Considering size and weight , you're indeed right that most people buying this board won't be carrying around the VPC anyway. On the other hand GF would have definitely prevented the option to take the board to a gig or elsewhere due to increased size and weight. And there ARE pro's who do lug their MP10's onto stage, so with the choice for RM3 II , Kawai may have given people at least the option to take the VPC with you - where GF would have prevented this altogether. In that respect I understand the decision. Completely apart from the price difference it would have introduced.

Also the RM3 II was due to arrive anyway, because at some point there must be a successor to the MP10 in the make and that couldn't possibly be with GF either, if it was supposed to be 'portable' in any way.

In terms of price the VPC with GF may have cost only little less than a CA65 and equal to an MP10, so that would make it difficult to sell against these models too.

Conclusion: RM3 II seems to make sense either way you look at it.

Agreed/understood, however it is conceivable that the instrument will actually interpolate between points, in which case essentially no steps will be lost. I checked with Pianoteq support, and it actually does interpolate in this way.
No idea about all the others yet.

There is always the issue of whether or not the controller is capturing the dynamic range of the player appropriately though, especially for standard MIDI resolution. For example, if the player can never reach velocities above, say, 100, then 27 steps will be lost, of course, no matter how the instrument processes the velocity.

Greg.

Good question. This is also answered in the Q&A section of the VPC website, which we hope to have online tomorrow.

Here's a peek:



Regarding cost etc., please understand that this is confidential information that cannot be disclosed on a public forum.

Kind regards,
James
x

Correct.

I see. Makes more sense now. Thanks for the responses

Ugh, I want one...

BTW, what's the cheapest Kawai DP with GF action? I know the CA65 and CA95 have it, but I'm not sure what else has it. Is there a list/chart/publication somewhere of which keyboards have which actions?

I also saw from NAMM that the CS7 and CS10 have it it, but I'm not where those fall in price compared to the CA series. I assumed the CS series is less premium than the CA series, AKA cheaper...

Yes, currently only the CA95, CA65, and newly introduced CS10 and CS7 instruments feature the 'Grand Feel' action.

Kind regards,
James
x

Another approach could have been to bundle demo versions of all four pianos, and perhaps build into the price of the unit the ability to fully activate any one (assuming an arrangement could have been made that it would add less to the cost of the unit than what it would cost to buy any of them separately), with ideally a way to unlock additional ones as desired at a special price. Maybe the demo versions would only play through a special VST player that would introduce "flaws" into the sound of any non-purchased piano (like, an x second drop out every x seconds, or something like that). The point is, I'm sure there are ways to keep all the developers on an even playing field so as not to aggravate them. Next time...

I think Hauptwerk (organ software) does well with the demo versions. There is a free option with limited polyphony (256) and a few other limitations, but with that version you can try out the two higher versions, although when using them you get a periodic 'bong' and a paid licence operates via a dongle.

That's a pitty.
It means that we will never see a VPC II with GF keyboard.

How do these 2 actions compare? Are they dramatically different?

Right. It also probably means Kawai will not be producing a GF replacement for the MP10. Basically they are going to have a console and a slab action in parallel (like Yamaha with NW and NW-stage).

We've had people say GF is better than RM3 and we've also had the opposite, so I think it's a bit early to say which is better. Most forum members have not yet tried GF.

Saw Muse last night. Glad to see Matt Bellamy is still using a Kawai onstage. James, any idea if that is still the MP8 or does he have a VPC in there already.

Hmmm - even if it does interpolate the points that lie between the anchor points that are set by the user, it is not allowing the anchors to be set precisely - I can only change them in normal low-res steps. (unless there is some other way to feed it a high-res velocity curve - not sure). I might test all this out. Then again I might not.

Greg.

Very good point. Though the 128 steps are quantized in the controller, so data coming from it means "here is a velocity value that is within +/- 1/256th of the velocity I actually measured more precisely but can't tell you because of the limitations of the MIDI data format (7 bits)." That Pianoteq is capable of interpolating and using interpolating data means they aren't making the velocity uncertainty much worse, but they can't make it better due to the inherent quantization noise.