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How about officially? That's what I meant. I'm kind of surprised Kawai doesn't publish these specs, corporate seems to think it's important enough to crow about in your literature, but without actual dimensions it's kind of meaningless:

"The new Grand Feel (GF) is Kawai latest digital piano action. Building upon the design principles established in the RM3, the GF action increases the length of the wooden keys beyond that of the RM3 and moves the balance point back to create the longest key-front pivot length in the industry – as long as a Kawai grand piano’s pivot length."

The problem here is which grand? The short action of a baby grand wouldn't technically be lying. Is it significantly longer than an RM3, or just a millimeter or two? I don't know what to think based on this vague info.

I'm not entirely sure, I'm afraid. I know that Kawai American and Kawai Europe will definitely be selling the VPC1. My recommendation would be to contact Kawai Australia to register your interest.

Kind regards,
James
x

Just to clarify, the power button LED colour/state changes based on the selected preset memory, not the touch curve. It's just that 'out of the box' the five preset memories contain different preset memories.

Personally, I think this functionality is quite good - it allows different setups to be created for different scenarios. I cannot think of a better way to indicate the selected memory short of including an LED/LCD display.

Kind regards,
James
x

Officially, Kawai has opted not to get involved in a numbers game regarding the exact pivot length. It's as long as a Kawai grand piano key pivot length - this should be sufficient information for most consumers.

Kind regards,
James
x

In another thread in this forum someone (sorry I do not find the reference right now) estimated the pivot length of the RM3 Grand to be between 7.25-7.5 inches. If you take the pictures of the RM3 and the GF actions on Kawai's homepage and scale them so the front of the white keys and the front of black keys are aligned on the two pictures, then the pivot length of the GF can be estimated to be about 9.0 inches if the above estimate for RM3 is correct.

Hi Kawai James,
Thanks for your replies to my questions yesterday. I had the pleasure of trying the VPC again today at NAMM (as well as witnessing Jordan Rudess playing it as shown on the video above which of course also was a great pleasure). Apart from the excellent action I really do find it good for mind and soul only to have a nice piano'ish cabinet and not a controller full of lights, knobs, sliders, modwheels and sounds you never want to use when playing piano - or maybe never want to use at all. This is the action for piano players and can stay as such over generations of sound modules and sound libraries. I will handle non-piano sounds and effects e.g. from my Nord Stage 2.

I have decided to buy a VPC1 right away (when available) and hope you will keep the pressure on getting a Mac version of the editor.

Hello Peter, thank you for your post.

Glad to hear you enjoyed playing the VPC1.

Your sentiment about a controller without lights, knobs, sliders, etc. was shared by some of the virtual piano software developers we worked with. I hope to include some interviews on the VPC website in the near future.

Kind regards,
James
x

ps. Noted about the Mac editor.

Interesting, but now in my music studio I'll have to have at least a cheap 25 keys controller on top of the VPC1 with blinking red lights and flashy colours&designs just because I'll miss the minimal mod wheel, pitch wheel, and a pressure controller.

A hidden trap would have been so easy to hide these on the top left side, or they could have been deported onto the left flank without damaging the looks of it, it would have been, really, the bare minimum.

Other than that, if it's only and strictly to play the piano, if you have to add the laptop or the computer, the software/dongles, the audio interface, the amp/monitors system, the stand, compared to a decent Kawai upright (even a silent ATX Kawai upright would compete), which is an acoustic real instrument (and/or acoustic silent with MIDI out), or simply compared to a decent Kawai dp (with the GF keyboard f.e.), you're just piling up plastics electronics devices at an impossible price, imho.

Huh? Name one board that isn't sold here ?

Hello chaps,

I've just uploaded the VPC Editor software to the Kawai Japan 'Worldwide' site:

http://www.kawai.co.jp/worldwide/support/downloads.html

Windows users are welcome to give it a try without the VPC1 connected in 'demo' mode (i.e. no settings are saved) and check out the various features.

The main VPC website is being finalised, and should be online either tomorrow or Wednesday. My apologies once again for the delays...

Cheers,
James
x

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.