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To answer your question, my VPC1 does the same thing on many but not all keys and I bought it new a year ago. I find it amusing and certainly not worth worrying about.

There may be a logical explanation for the keys not falling back after being lifted. There is friction between each key bushing and the key pin it is mounted around. For reference, look at the first picture in U3piano's post above (or the first picture in Gombessa's post immediately following u3piano's post). The little red bits sticking up from the top of the wooden key are the tops of a flat piece of felt which lines the vertical hole (a rectangular hole) that the balance rail pin passes through. In those pics, you can just see the very top of the balance rail pin sticking out just slightly higher than the top edge of the red felt bushing. The felt is there to protect the wood of the key and the steel of the pin from wearing each other out over time from the constant rocking motion that accompanies each key press. Felt is very durable in this regard.

The portion of the balance rail pin that you don't see, because it is always inside the bushed hole, is constantly cleaned by the slight abrasive action of the felt rubbing back and forth as the key gets played. In the absence of some foreign substance entering the hole, this hidden part of the balance rail pin stays fairly clean and smooth, and, therefore, rather friction free.

In contrast, that short section of the balance rail pin that is always sticking out of the top of the hole, is more exposed to the elements, and never gets the benefit of having the felt bushing rub on it. As a result, it can accumulate small amounts of foreign substances present in the air, or even from slight spills that don't make it down into the hole. In short, it naturally tarnishes more than the part of the pin that is constantly protected inside the hole and between the felt bushing pieces.

So, when you lift the key, the felt bushings now come into contact with the more tarnished top of the balance rail pin, and less in contact with the smoother, cleaner surface of the lower, hidden part of the pin. When you release the lifted key, the additional friction from the tarnished part of the pin coming into play can cause the key to remain elevated. And, so lifted, the key is also more prone to rotate around its long axis, leaving it to fall with the vertical pin no longer parallel to the hole it must fall through. So, additional friction is introduced by the misalignment of the pin and the felt bushed hole it must pass through. The key is not heavy, and these types of very slight additional friction can keep the key elevated.

This is not a problem to worry about. In the absence of an invasion of some tarnishing substance, the felt bushings will tend to keep the pins clean so that there will be no increase in friction during the key's normal course of travel through its normal operating range.

To answer your question, my VPC1 does the same thing on many but not all keys and I bought it new a year ago. I find it amusing and certainly not worth worrying about.

Exactly as mine, but my unit is a 2016 one. So we are safe knowing it does not get worse with time and it does not affect playing.

BTW in my case I checked it because some Roberts Piano videos commented that, on acoustics, it was a sign of need if lubrication. But it seems the VPC1 is a different beast on this aspect.

I have got quite a number of VSTs lately, all of them used with my VPC1. And, lately, I am finding that VI-Labs Ravenscroft 275 is becoming my favourite, even compared to more expensive VSTs, as the VSL Synchron Bossies.

I know my preferences may shift in the future and not all days is the same, nor all music excels with just one VST, but I am curious about other users of that VST along the VPC1. I find they are a pretty good match. BTW, I tend to use the Pianoteq curve for it, but sometimes I switch to other ones.

Had one. Wasnt that impressed with it. Action is unrealistically heavy.

It's quite personal I guess.

After a couple of months I'm so used to it it actually feels quite light under my fingers, and the last thing I would want is it to be any lighter.

Also while it now feels pretty light to me, I know it really isn't, and I like that fact because I think this makes playing any other (acoustic) piano easier, as it's always easier to switch to a lighter action than the other way around. So other than a great controller, I see the vpc-1 as a very good practice machine.

Hi friends!

So here's a video of me playing something on the VPC1 with Ivory II's American Concert D as the software. Details are in the video description. Hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExhcvhhGJjs

Hi all! I've had my vpc1 for a while. I use a clunky old laptop with Pianoteq and it worked well. I wanted switch to my Surface Go 2 with the following specs:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) m3-8100Y CPU @ 1.10GHz 1.61 GHz
Installed RAM 8.00 GB (7.87 GB usable)

I downloaded the Pianoteq trial and ASIO4All and could not get things to work. ASIO4All started sending windows notifications so fast that they can't even be read (about 2-3 per second) and the Surface got hot to the touch almost immediately.

Will my hardware not support this configuration? Did I miss a step somewhere? I'm willing to invest a little in getting things set up (including other software if that would work better), but I'm not sure what the next step would be.



Thanks for your help!

Hi friends!

So here's a video of me playing something on the VPC1 with Ivory II's American Concert D as the software. Details are in the video description. Hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExhcvhhGJjs

Hi David, I am so glad you are enjoying the VPC1 and playing it so nicely

Great work, you deserve plenty of subscribers. I am the one who made for the first 11

Hi friends!

So here's a video of me playing something on the VPC1 with Ivory II's American Concert D as the software. Details are in the video description. Hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExhcvhhGJjs

Hi friends!

So here's a video of me playing something on the VPC1 with Ivory II's American Concert D as the software. Details are in the video description. Hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExhcvhhGJjs

OMG, if that doesn't sell a prospective customer on the VPC1, nothing will. Fantastic! And so beautiful.