Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Need Help on Hardware for the Kawai VPC1 / VPC-1

Hello Piano World,

My name is Ethan and I need help choosing the accessories for a Kawai VPC-1. Here are the specifics.

I'm in my mid 30's and have newly started logging time on my son's NU1. I'm almost finished with the Level 1 coursework.

I'm buying the Kawai Vpc1 controller for my studio (I'm a visual artist working in 3d, animation and compositing)so that I don't interfere with my family and can practice in my study. What I need is information on what additional hardware that I should buy with the Vpc1 - midi hardware, monitors etc. I don't want to buy junk and I don't want to pay out the nose. The system will be in a basement environment.

I have two Win 8 computers that could host the virtual instrument (I think?)

1. Laptop
Gen4 i7 3.3Ghz, 8Gb memory, 500Gb SSD (XPS 12) - I like to use this to read sheet music too so if it will work for both that'd be great.

2. Desktop
6core i7 3.7Ghz, 32 Gb memory, 1Tb SSD (Asus onboard HD audio)
- It will be nearby the piano so I could use this too

So I have several questions.

Will I need a pci audio card? If so what should I pick up to minimize latency.

Will I need a Digital Audio Interface? If So what should I be looking for? Can I run the whole thing via USB? Is there more latency on USB than MIDI?

I'm looking at Yamaha HS5 monitors. Are these acceptable for a small room or too much? Will they recreate enough low tones to accurately model a convincing piano sound? Do I need to buy the sub-woofer as well?

I'm specifically interested in the Galaxy II Vintage D or a German/Vienna grand software to start. I don't really want to buy an iLock and have that thing hanging out of my computers so that's why I was looking at Gallaxy overy Ivory. Is the free software host (what is that called?) sufficient or should I pick up some other kind of software to load the virtual instruments?

I appreciate your help

- you'll get more replies in the digital piano forum. In short, both your computers are well qualified. I believe there's no discernable difference in additional latency between MIDI and USB so you'd use the USB output of the VPC1 straight into the computer. You don't *need* an audio interface so I would start by just using the free ASIO4all driver which should give you extremely low latency with i7s...you can always pick up an interface if it's not up to scratch. Monitoring is entirely to taste and wallet - I'm happy with mine bass-light so I don't use a woofer.

Thanks for the reply DT. I'll post this on the forum you mentioned - also appreciate the input.