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Hey everyone
I'm looking for a good digital piano. I've had a hands on experience with the Kawai CA15. The instrument is pretty good. I love the action and sound. However, I've heard that Kawai's VPC1 has exactly the same action as CA15 but it is mainly for studio purposes. Personally, I'd also like to have a piano with good studio utility. So, I'd like to know, in what ways do the midi functionalities of Kawai's CA15 and VPC1 differ? I don't care about modifying the touch curves. I just need to know if both work equally well with computer softwares.

Pianist93, the CA15 and VPC1 do indeed utilise the same 'RM3 Grand II' wooden-key action. However, unlike the CA15, the VPC1 does not feature a tone generator, as it is intended to be used to control virtual instruments running on a computer. Because of this intended purpose, the VPC1 offers greater control over touch curves, velocity offsets, and additional MIDI routing settings.

Essentially, if you require a standalone instrument, I would recommend the CA15. However, if you require a controller for use with virtual piano software, I would recommend the VPC1.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
James
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Thank you for your reply. I understand that the VPC1 is better at handling the midi functionalities that you mentioned. But my interest doesn't lie in tweaking the velocity curves and modifying piano sounds. What I'm mainly interested in is playing along with virtual instruments (for recording) and using the piano for notation softwares. So, please tell me: is CA15 good enough for that? More precisely: is the CA15 good enough to record performances using midi and virtual instruments?

You can do that with any keyboard with a midi socket on it - or midi-over-USB.

Pianist93, as toddy notes, any instrument with MIDI capability (either standard MIDI IN/OUT jacks, or a USB-MIDI connector) will be suitable for your intended purpose.

Kind regards,
James
x

I do realize that any DP with midi feature can do this. But the thing is that my current DP Casio CDP 200R is really bad at this. What I play is not recorded on the PC properly and lacks rhythm. And it is not because of my PC specs. It is definitely a problem with my DP. So, what I want to make sure is that the CA15 doesn't have any such problem. Thanks

That is very odd indeed. Whenever I've experienced problems of this sort, it has turned out to have to do with the connections: midi-USB or the USB node itself, or the computer program (DAW etc) it's recording onto.

Before using computers, this sort of timing problem (apart from the limits of the MIDI specification itself) were unheard of, as I remember.

Could it be because my DP had only the USB port? I've never had any experience with the MIDI In/Out ports. Is it possible that it has got something to do with that?

It could be theoretically, yes. But I'd be surprised if this were a design problem with the DP, from a reputable brand like Casio. Could be a driver problem, though, if you're going direct from the Casio to the computer with USB (and not midi, as such)

....if you are using a USB hub, by the way, or your USB connection is being shared in some other way, that can certainly cause timing problems or even system crashes.

I connected my DP directly with the computer. Maybe it was the usb that caused the lag. With the midi in out ports, we use the midi interface right? If yes, does their performance vary with brand? I've no experience with the midi in out ports. Anyways, thanks toddy and kawai james, that was helpful.

brand of usb cable or brand of dp? i've always used a yamaha usb converter cable (ux16) which works fine - also the one on my sound card (delta 2496) works fine, as does the usb out on my dp (roland hp302).

but i did have problems in the past with congested usb lines (going through a hub)

.........not sure if the cheap generic usb-midi cables work well, never tried one. probably they're ok most of the time.

Are you having problem with using the keyboard with notation software, or live playing with virtual instruments?

I don't believe there should be any noticeable difference in lag/latency between standard MIDI In/Out connectors and USB-MIDI.

Kind regards,
James
x

Hi Pianist93,
Did you use the ca 15 with midi?
As I am in the same situation, I'm curiuos to know about your (or anyones) experience.