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I was worried about the pedals, too. Someone else mentioned "an awful pedal unit", I have no clue what they're talking about. I have the F-30 pedal unit it came with by default and it's great. The pedals are springy, and somewhat lighter than a real piano pedals, and only the sustain is continuous, but I think it's very good, no trouble going back and forth between acoustic and VPC.

Fortunately I don't look at it from that perspective. Problem solved.
Personally, I could see owning both (515 and VPC-1). I've got room for one more.

Again, thank you all for your inputs on the VPC1 and suitable alternatives, it's great to be reassured by so many positive experiences.

I'll share my setup once I have the keyboard delivered. The plan is to sit it on an IKEA Bekant desk base of 140x60 and use the extra real estate in the back for cable management and aesthetic value.

If I might chime in... I recently finished my VPC project and VPC has the action that is closest to what I'm used to from acoustic pianos, from what I've tried, including Yamaha P-515.

I recently played on a practice Steinway grand and I realized I still prefer my VPC-1, because the grand wasn't regulated recently, and I could hear weird buzzing from the inside. In other words, as far as I can tell, an acoustic piano can beat my VPC-1 setup only if it's a well regulated grand piano. So nowadays I have very little motivation to crawl out of my house since the only piano that kinda satisfies this condition is one of the practice grands at the music school and is usually booked (and is played pretty heavily throughout the day, so it's not uncommon that something's wrong with it - a few weeks ago, the soft pedal wasn't working, just a few days ago one B flat was out of tune etc. - these things happen when an instrument is played for several hours daily).

VPC-1 feels the best and closest (in terms of action) than any sub-$2000 keybed I've tried. Be wary though, it's pretty heavy (feels less heavy after playing on it for a few days) - gives you a great workout. Also, count some software (Ravenscroft, Pianoteq, Garritan, VSL, ...) and headphones/speakers into your budget. If the VPC costs ~ 1200 eur, I say, go for it!

EDIT: I was worried about the pedals, too. Someone else mentioned "an awful pedal unit", I have no clue what they're talking about. I have the F-30 pedal unit it came with by default and it's great. The pedals are springy, and somewhat lighter than a real piano pedals, and only the sustain is continuous, but I think it's very good, no trouble going back and forth between acoustic and VPC.

Ugly finish.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Mac.

Exactly. And I stated just what my eye beheld.
It's too bad that the local dealer could not demo the VPC. It just sat on its stand, not connected to any controller, muted and unplayable.

That was at a piano store specializing in Kawai acoustic pianos, but also carrying a surprisingly wide range of Kawai digitals.
It seems to me that the VPC ought to be sold at a music store like Sam Ash where it is their habit to have things "plugged in" for demo, rather than at a piano dealer where a power cord is the limit of plugging in.

Every time I’ve seen a VPC1 it was not connected either And the keyboard is nothing to rave about, it feels exactly like my CA63 which was underwhelming but it seems there are some under the hood changes that should make it more playable such as triple sensors.

I think you are going to really like it. Have you chosen a software package yet?

I have a few libraries already from my previous MIDI keyboard (a Studiologic SL990 Pro that despite its wonky MIDI implementation, felt pretty good and was reliable as a tank) such as The Giant and Grandeur, as well as some others that I don't recall since it was some years back, and have added two since in preparation: Keyscape and Noire (this last one is my favorite).

What about you?

VPC opinions:
1. Great idea.
2. Ugly finish. Nice enclosure, but ugly finish.