Kawai VPC1 Owner's Club

HZPiano

Jose EB5AGV Modern U set in Default and VPC1 in Heavy

Great, thanks! I'm curious what made you choose Heavy instead of linear (or whatever the most standard curve on the VPC1 is called).

I was/am eyeing a used VPC1 in good nick not too far from my home but probably won't get my budget to match it 😭.

Luckily my FP-10 still controls my Modern U nicely too, at the linear/default touch setting. Since this week and from my recent U3H experience, I've got the MIDI and gain curves in Modern U back to default as well, and my amplifiers a few percent louder. The whole playing experience is livelier this way 😋.

Cheers and 🎶,

H💤

Jose EB5AGV

HZPiano back from a busy weekend… well, for me the VPC1 Hard setting is the closest to an acoustic piano feeling. But take this with a grain of salt, as my experience with acoustics is limited.

About the U3H, on arrival to my home two years ago, I was overwhelmed, as up to that moment, I was practicing at home with a DGX660 at usually low volume levels. So I found very difficult to get proper dynamics from the U3H. It was always too loud and I thought I had goofed buying it and/or the room it is located was too small. Or, plainly, I was a crappy player. It took some time to get used to it, control dynamics and, finally, fell in love with the acoustic experience. And now, I can get proper dynamics from mostly any keyboard; I play on a band using a Yamaha Montage 6, at home both the VPC1 and U3H and also the Genos, sometimes use a Casio CTX5000 to play along with friends and occasionally lots of other keyboards I have in my collection. I own this in big part to the U3H 🤩

So, yes, as you have found out, you need more volume on a digital mockup to get closer to the real thing 😉

Jose

HZPiano

Jose EB5AGV So, yes, as you have found out, you need more volume on a digital mockup to get closer to the real thing 😉

Yup! 😋

HZPiano

Jose EB5AGV I owe this in big part to the U3H 🤩

Yes, "Acoustics Rule!" 🙂

🎶

Jose EB5AGV

HZPiano Oops!. I meant OWE, even if I OWN a U3H 😅

HZPiano

Jose EB5AGV Oops!. I meant OWE

Thought I'd help you a bit there 😇

scherbakov.al

Once I looked inside (accidentally stumbled upon this photo on Instagram from the past and decided to add it here)

Jose EB5AGV

scherbakov.al thanks for sharing!

dore_m

Just bought a used one. Gonna play with it and see if I want to resell or keep.

Jose EB5AGV

dore_m please, keep us updated. I am very interested on your opinion

dore_m

So far I've only played about an hour using my own sampled instruments. The VPC1 can play at a much lower velocity than my old KX88 style DP and the keyweight is heavier than that particular action. I did feel a better connection and expressiveness to my playing, especially at low velocity. I'll try Pianoteq tonight, since the velocity control is optimal with a modeled instrument, and when I get a chance, I'll install the app and optimize the velocity curve.

The thing that I'm trying to compare is the feeling of my acoustic that I get from the hammer throw (not sure what this is exactly called). Maybe this is BS, but when I play my acoustic, I can feel when I accelerate the key-down and feel kind of a hammer acceleration up to the string while I do this. Not sure I can feel that with the VPC1 yet. Maybe I'm just imagining something. I'll play around more tonight maybe.

n-player

dore_m Using the VPC1, please compare your acoustic piano to your acoustic piano's VI.

How many people could pull off such a stunt?

RIP

dore_m Maybe this is BS, but when I play my acoustic, I can feel when I accelerate the key-down and feel kind of a hammer acceleration up to the string while I do this. Not sure I can feel that with the VPC1 yet. Maybe I'm just imagining something. I'll play around more tonight maybe.

FWIW, maybe it's BS too, but I get the same impression

CyberGene

RIP Yep, it's the main difference between a digital piano action and an acoustic piano. Not sure if it's "better" or "worse", maybe just different but I really prefer the feeling of a hammer underneath my fingers. All digital piano actions feel like a single moving body, some weight that has an approximate inertia of a piano key but the actual feeling is rather tight. And even though they advertise the GF-actions as having a hammer that is not attached to the key, there's still no feeling of separate hammer.

Funnily enough, some years ago when the first Kawai DP with GF-C was released (I don't remember the exact number, could've been CA48 or something?) I tested it and I quite liked that the key movement felt "jumpy", I mean I felt something was moving beneath my fingers, unlike its more expensive GF brother.

dore_m

I was thinking about this this morning, and I realized that a DP is really a virtual reality controller. In my experimentations with VR piano soundfields, I've realized that its very difficult to re-create reality accurately enough to fool your brain. The piano playing experience is tactile, audial AND visual. By this I mean that on my grand I can SEE the hammer being thrown into the string. That visual feedback re-confirms the physics that my fingers feel and my ears hear.

So far, I can't say whether or not the VPC1 meets the tactile feel requirement because I couple this with the normal visual feedback that I expect. I can now see why the Cybrid controller is so desirable. You can SEE the hammers throw.
Now I'm wondering if I can make a computer screen animation to fool my brain. or maybe a VR headset recreation. Sounds like another challenge for me that, when achieved, only I'll appreciate....

Finally, one thing I noticed is that on my acoustic, if I do a repetition by pushing down the key part way, I can get the damper to excite the string (and not the hammer). This is a subtle situation that no one uses, but someone with experience with a piano probably subconsciously expects. VST's as far as I know, don't behave this analog-y way.

Pete14

dore_m I was thinking about this this morning, and I realized that a DP is really a virtual reality controller.

I noticed your use of the infamous “this-this,” and I must say, I’m not so sure this was the most elegant choice, but still, it’s your choice, and I respect this!

Now, about your observation: yes the DP is a virtual reality controller, and I don’t see anything wrong with that; and I assure you, what we consider “virtual” today, will be a “reality” tomorrow.

I urge y’all to buy some “virtual” property @Meta now that prices are low.

You might not believe me now, but the metaverse will be very-real-very-soon; and, thereafter, we will be living our lives parting from that reality; which ironically enough happens to be virtual.

(I bought me a corner-lot, and construction of my virtual duplex will virtually begin soon).

Ralphiano

Aw, c'mon Pete! What kind of person moves into virtual reality, where the possibilities are limited only by the outer boundaries or one's imagination, and then, opts to build not a mansion, but instead a duuuuuuuuuuuplex on a corner lot of some cookie-cutter subdivision? That's the most milquetoast thing I've ever heard from you. Are you ailing?

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait............. I know what you are up to.

Ralphiano

Yuja's moving in!😜

HZPiano

RIP dore_m Maybe this is BS, but when I play my acoustic, I can feel when I accelerate the key-down and feel kind of a hammer acceleration up to the string while I do this. Not sure I can feel that with the VPC1 yet. Maybe I'm just imagining something. I'll play around more tonight maybe.

FWIW, maybe it's BS too, but I get the same impression

Yes, same with me!

Cheers and happy hammer movements,

HZPiano

dore_m ,

Lovely observations!!

Cheers,

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