First impressions with VPC1

Gamma1734 · 2022-06-07T11:07:46+00:00

Hello everyone, finally my Kawai VPC1 arrived and I want to share my first impressions here. The idea is, to also tell you about my thoughts after using it a couple of weeks. It was quite hard to even find this instrument at all. I could find it for around 1400$ but I imported it from Germany to Austria. I even went to Vienna in the hopes of being able to try VPC1 but nope, I literally couldn't find a single place that has one. Even in the whole of Austria there were almost none, let alone used ones. So I bought it blind online … The packaging is ok, the overall quality is minimalistic and feels good. The pedals depress only a little but for the moment I don't care too much. The way it plays reminds me of the ES8 I used for quite a while, but I think VPC1 is a bit more sophisticated (and really heavier). Octave playing, or louder chord playing feels surprisingly "fluffy", but in a good way. The fluffiness from a nice concert grand, but more undefined. I played the E200ATX3 hybrid for 1.5years and want to compare now some things I noticed. First, the overall possible dynamics feel very good, in fact even better than with the hybrid, which is remarkable. (Depending on the V Curve) it's a bit hard to play consistently p or even pp, but it really feels like it's my "fault" and not the instrument. It feels like you have a great time bringing out melodies with your pinky for example. A problem I had with many instruments is that sometimes it feels like you can't play a chord perfectly simultaneously. It's like some midi values within the chord are a bit to the left, a bit to the right, but with this one I could play perfect cohesive chords, which was nice. Also staccato playing is MUCH better than with the hybrid. Ah, it feels so good to be able to play cheeky staccatos in a Mozart Sonata. The overall feel is really different to the hybrid, I don't want to say worse. I have to get used to the Grand style of keyboard. I've played on uprights my whole life, so it's a preference I guess. Yeah, so far really happy for that amount of money (really have to keep that in mind too the whole time.) Update possibly soon🙂

David B

porco_rosso Glad that you like your VPC1.

I received mine yesterday and it has major quality issues again - more than the other I had:

right pedal squeaks and doesn't work at all
the keybed is misaligned again and touches the case on the left side
there are a handful (!) of "hot" keys: the MIDI response is uneven, it's easy noticeable
it doesn't work with USB-Power only (the other had), why?

What the hell is Kawai doing? I immediately packed it back in the box.

Dang! That doesn't sound good. I'll have to admit that I had quality control issues with my MP11SE back in the day and it required replacement. Sorry for the hassle.

God Bless,
David

Jose EB5AGV

porco_rosso Glad that you like your VPC1.

I received mine yesterday and it has major quality issues again - more than the other I had:

right pedal squeaks and doesn't work at all
the keybed is misaligned again and touches the case on the left side
there are a handful (!) of "hot" keys: the MIDI response is uneven, it's easy noticeable
it doesn't work with USB-Power only (the other had), why?

What the hell is Kawai doing? I immediately packed it back in the box.

Wow, that is incredible!. My now 6 years old VPC1 works lots better than that!. I bought it used 2 years ago and the only thing I noticed is that the spacing between keys is not perfectly similar, but it is just a cosmetic thing and could be fixed (I plan to do it if I ever open it). Even the infamous right pedal behaves nicely, with not squeaks.

It is really pitiful to have two bad experiences with same model in your case 😕

Jose

Gamma1734

Hi, here's a small update on my experience with VPC1. I have the feeling it is particularly worth adjusting the velocity curves for this piano controller. No, it's not a 50k or even 100k grand and I think it is not immediately a sign of "weak technique" to alter the curve depending on the style of composition and VST instrument used. For example, the 280VC feels better to play with a rather exponential curve (luckily in FL Studio I can adjust that directly, but we have a new mapping control there too as you probably know). The reason for that is that every piano is mapped differently, and the 280VC for example has strong focus on the piano-mezzoforte range. If we have a piece that barely uses mf though and is quite loud, a more linear curve will do. I find that the slightest adjustments to the curve have significant impact on the playability and so I tried to gather experience over time to be able to set the curve pretty quickly, but I always play some notes while I do that to figure out if they suit my taste for the composition. In the Garritan I use for example a slightly exponential curve, but that instrument feels to me to have more expression variability in the louder register. The downside of an exponential curve is of course trills and repeated notes, so sometimes I simply edit these couple of notes to not lose a beautiful piano sound which might be present throughout a composition. I still think it's one of the best choices for a piano controller and I'd love to try something like the NX10 in comparison. As always, the difficulty of such a plan is that I always need at least a month and many different styles of pieces to be able to form an opinion. With the VPC1 I never had the feeling that I can't play a piece at all because of how it behaves, which is a good sign. I can put the latency to as low as 1ms on my PC, and that's probably due the internal programming which is just suited for VST's. Let me know if you have other questions or experiences.

HZPiano

Hello,

Gamma1734 , Thank you for your update, that really comes appreciated.

And great to hear that you're so happy with it.

Cheers and the happiest playing,

dore_m

There's a VPC1 on Reverb.com for $1200 shipped. It's used - is that a pretty good price?

HZPiano

dore_m

Over here in Europe, that'd be almost the new-unit price, delivered. I'm not familiar of the price for a new VPC1 in the States.

An appropriate price for a used one depends a lot on condition (cosmetic as well as technical), age, and actual shipping costs.

Personally, I'd only consider buying a used one if I have some idea of its history, who owned it, how it's been cared for, and of course only after a personal inspection and test.

One last point is the warranty. In Europe at least, it is non-transferable in a private sale. So even if a used unit is just a month old, the warranty magically disappears the moment ownership is transferred.

Cheers and happy pondering,

dore_m

Wow! Vpc1's are selling for $2400 new here. MSRP is $2899. I can see thomann uk sells for $1400.$

Next time I'm in Europe I'll buy one and bring it back.

CyberGene

dore_m Thomann ship to the USA and I hear it’s cheaper even with import duty. However I wouldn’t risk with a Kawai which has a bad quality record and a faulty import might not be covered by the local service.

dore_m

Thomann won't ship that particular model here to the USA. I was just looking to see how much it would cost. I'll stick to my Yamaha PF85 from the 80's with vintage KX88 controller action.

But it does make me consider arbitrage opportunities. If I'm in Europe, buy 2 VPC1's for $2800, take back to USA. Keep the best one, sell the other for $2000. Luckily, I have airline status and probably can get that into my allotment (for the moment anyway - earned pre-covid)

MacMacMac

dore_m If I'm in Europe, buy 2 VPC1's for $2800, take back to USA.

OK ... so long as you don't fly on United ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

dore_m

Yeah I hate united, but when you fly internationally from the USA, it's still the best to accrue mileage. Especially from the west coast.
Ironically I'm learning rhapsody in blue, which is the united theme song!

[deleted]

I just ordered a VPC1 and it should arrive soon. Im very very excited. For those of you using the Modern D with the VPC1 do you adjust the velocity curve inside the Kawai itself or do you just leave it on the default flat setting and only use the Modern D curve for this controller.. Thank you….Oh yes also do you change the half pedal trigger values or leave it at default Im curious

HZPiano

[deleted]

Congratulations and enjoy!

I'm noticing my interest in the VPC1 resurfacing as well lately.

I'm not the ideal person to answer your question, but personally I always leave the curve/touch setting completely default in my keyboard (which so far has been an FP-10 by the way), and then set up the ideal curve in the virtual piano software.

VI Labs has provided for this in an excellent way with two curves, one controlling the MIDI input mapping; the other one controlling the gain (volume) response.

Cheers and happy tinkering,

David Lai

[deleted] I created a VPC1 curve per the latest Modern D (1.1) update, and it's in the selection of various curves. This curve works with both the default VPC1 curve as well as the "Ivory" curve (power button + C sharp and D sharp to switch between the hardware curves). If you want a more Hamburg Steinway like feel, leave the hardware curve at default, otherwise, choose the Ivory curve and apply the VPC1 custom in the software. Enjoy!

HZPiano

David Lai

Wow, that's wonderful!

Cheers and thanks,

[deleted]

David Lai Thank you David.

Jose EB5AGV

David Lai which of the standard settings do you call "default" on the VPC1? (I mean the name it has)

Thanks!

[deleted]

Jose EB5AGV Default is the flat one. Its called Normal.

David Lai

[deleted] you beat me to the key, thank you for clarifying! 🙂

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