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Greetings! My VPC1 arrived, and now that the initial excitement has cooled down (slightly!) I'm ready to give my first impressions. While I'll try to be objective, bear in mind these are just my personal opinions after roughly 2 hours of playing. I've upgraded to the VPC1 from an old Yamaha P95 (GHS keybed).

First things first: The package is heavy! If you need to carry this up stairs, you definitely need 2 people. I could take it out of the box and install on my stand (more on that later) on my own without any trouble though.
I've read a few horror stories of VPC1s not being correctly packaged, but Kawai's original packaging is excellent: Thick cardboard, Plenty of hard foam to protect it from every single direction, and some plastic bags to cover the keyboard itself.

Now, for the keyboard itself, and, of course, the action. As I said, I was playing with a Yamaha GHS keyboard over Pianoteq for quite some time. The first thing I want to address is the heaviness of the action: I haven't noticed it being heavy at all. I've read quite a few complaints here in Pianoworld about the VPC1 action being heavy, I disagree. Using Pianoteq events, and since my muscle memory and overall technique is still used to the P95, I can already tell you the action is not heavy at all: I'm getting the same velocities (50-60) for standard piano playing, getting higher velocities is not an issue at all (it was with the P95). Getting lower velocities, however, is much harder for me: I need to get used to the let-off simulation.

Playing white keys inbetween black keys is much more pleasant (and easier) than with the P95. As far as I know, this is due to key length, and this thing should be even better with Grand Feel actions. Nevertheless, playing keys close to the "fallboard" is effortless for anything below ~100 MIDI velocities, I only start to notice that I really have to put my weight into it with higher velocities (same thing happened with the P95)

As I said before, playing low velocities (anything below 30) is particularly hard. I know this is how it is on a real acoustic piano (I've only played 4 of those, and I've had that same issue), but, at least right now, that let-off is not an improvement.

Now, for something more subjective: the key finishes. I like the finish on the white keys, it has more friction than the GHS keys, it looks good, no complaints there. The black keys however, I feel they're way too textured. It feels like a bad, rough texture. It's a huge contrast to the white keys, and none of the acoustics I've played have had this key finish. However, this is purely subjective, and it doesn't really affect playing at all.

Before moving on to a half-assed review of the stand I bought, I want to address a fairly important point. While the key action is great, it won't make you play better. The reason I'm mentioning this is because, quite a few times, I've thought that "I can't play this because this keybed (GHS) is too simple" or "This will be much easier with a better action". While this might be true for some very specific parts (mostly, very fast repetitions), it's not going to be the case for the vast majority of pieces. What you get with this keybed is, for the most part, better dynamics. Even if I'm not yet used to it, I find it much, much easier to balance dynamics on each key and through a piece than with the P95. In other, more technical words, getting distinct MIDI velocities is easier and more reliable.

Time for some comments on the keyboard stand: You might remember I recently asked for advice about which stand I should buy. In the end, I decided I'd get the Woodbrass KST50, a Z type stand. It was pretty cheap (38€). Out of the box, it looks good: satin black paintjob, no obvious paint issues, sturdy steel. However, the low price point starts to show up when assembling it: the threading for the screws isn't perfect, nor is the alignment. I (partially) solved this with WD40, but it still wasn't as smooth as it should be. The stand has thin but dense foam pads both for floor contact as well as keyboard contact. These aren't perfectly aligned, but they work just fine. They add a lot of friction so the keyboard won't slide. However...here's where the low price really shows up: The stand is not perfectly straight. In other words: it won't sit flush. I could fix this by very carefully bending one of the legs, but I didn't like this one bit. The stand is very deep : when the VPC1 is placed on it, there's still a lot of distance to cover...which I conveniently use as a headphone holder.

But here comes the important part: wobbling. The stand does wobble. I've played with it: overtightening the two screws does help lateral wobble (which doesn't appear that much while playing anyway) but vertical and depth wobble still happen. Nothing too crazy, but enough to be noticed.
In terms of height, even at its lowest position, the stand is a bit too high. It is the perfect height for me, since I'm tall and the VPC1 is fairly thick, but I reckon shorter people will prefer a lower position (for the VPC1, at least).

Overall, I'd say that, for the price, the stand is excellent, however if you can afford a better stand, go for it.

I'll finish by sharing a very subjective opinion: The feeling of sitting in front of the VPC1 and playing is fantastic, much, much better than with the P95. Even if I don't have a proper furniture stand, the looks and feel of the keyboard are excellent, and they really do invite you to keep playing. While the P95 was a nice keyboard (with a nice furniture stand), the overall experience was very different, much more synthetic for lack of a better word. I feel much more connected and eager to play with my VPC1, even if I have to get used to the action!

Congrats!! I'm sure over time you will get used to the black keys. I had a similar feeling about them, but over time they do get smoothed out a bit more and/or you get used to it (to me it seems like my black keys aren't as rough as they were out of the box on my MP11).

Funny that you mention the action doesn't make you play better. I just want to add that as you get more accustomed to this action, it will perhaps make some things easier to do, or help you to access expression that was otherwise unattainable or very difficult to achieve on the GHS action.

For stands, you do often get what you pay for. The Z-stand I purchased came in a bundle with my MP11. It's an On Stage KS7350, which is designed for heavier instruments:
https://on-stage.com/products/view/28856/116994

I've been very happy with it, especially since I could get a 2nd tier for it for my MOX6. No wobbling, and it breaks down fairly easily for storage/travel. At any rate, perhaps saving up for a better stand in the future would be a good idea.

At any rate, glad you are enjoying your VPC1 and that it is inspiring for you to play it.

Congrats on your VPC1! I made almost the exact same transition as you last year - but it was from a DGX640 in my case (same GHS action).

I found that the VPC1's action was quite heavier than the DGX640 and took some getting used to. It's even a bit heavier than my acoustic upright's action, but I like it (the VPC1 feel) a lot better.

The stand I use is one of K&M's - not an X or a Z though (I can't recall the model number). Although the VPC1 isn't attached to it (It just rests on it), it is VERY solid and I'm quite pleased with it.

So, now that you have the VPC1, if you're anything like me you'll be forever tempted to try different VSTs - so keep your wallet ready!

Mr Zaxels, congrats on your new VPC1, thank you for the nice summary.

Perhaps in the future you can replace your current stand with a higher quality K&M table stand, such as the 18950 or 18954.

Kind regards,
James
x

Mr Zaxels,

You made much mention of dynamics, that you cannot play quietly and that the let off simulation is not an improvement.

All that but you did not inform us about the sound generator, e.g. Pianoteq, or if you have calibrated the keyboard and adjusted the dynamics, e.g. with Pianoteq.

IMO the "letoff" on the vpc-1 is a gimmick (a "clicker" as another in this forum put it) and in any case letoff is an inherent function of an acoustic piano. When an acoustic piano is properly regulated you may not feel the letoff at the keys.

Ian

Congrats on the VPC1! There are times when I wish I went that route instead of a DP with a built-in tone generator, since it means I'd be forced to work with the vastly superior option of a VST. But the built-in sounds are convenient enough where I can be lazy about setting that up.



Oh, I love reading these accounts. Pretty much because, over the last few months I've become completely confused and flummoxed over my own perceptions of action realism. When I got my Yamaha CP50 (with GH action) I thought it was really heavy. When I compared it to a grand, I thought GH was instead really light. When I then got an MP11, I thought its action was super-light compared to GH. Then when I compared the MP11 to a grand, I thought it was on the heavy side. And after playing a few more uprights, I don't know anything anymore except for the fact that I'm getting better at transitioning between different action weights....maybe.

So I'm very not-surprised to hear wildly differing accounts that go against the "common wisdom." Kinda feels to me like it depends on the day of the week...

Greetings, going to post a quick update. Whether it is because I'm getting used to it, or because it's been "broken in", the letoff simulation is much smoother now. I can still feel it, but it's not that much of a hindrance as it was before, it now feels like another layer of feedback.

A better stand is definitely the next thing I'm going to be buying; I already set my eye on those K&M stands, but they were just a bit too expensive for me.

@Beemer The "I cannot play quietly" wasn't so much about sound as simply reading the MIDI velocities: Getting MIDI velocities below ~30 is (well, was! already getting better) hard. I did test Pianoteq under different calibration methods: No calibration in pianoteq while using VPC1's Pianoteq curve, Pianoteq curve and calibrating in Pianoteq, and default VPC1 curve while calibrating in Pianoteq. I got very similar results (in terms of sound and playing, not the actual piano curves) for all the curves.

@Gombessa One good thing about going with a DP is that you can still use it as a MIDI keyboard for VST, as I was with my P95 before!
I agree that action can feel different, one problem I've found even with synth like touch sensitive actions is that they can be very nonlinear...The P95 required a lot of strength to get very high velocities (100+), even after spending hours trying to calibrate it, it was a tradeoff of consistency for certain velocities and strength needed. I haven't found that problem with the VPC1 at all, even when it was brand new and I wasn't used to it I can aim for specific dynamics and get them consistently, this was significantly harder on the P95: I have more control over the low velocities and getting high velocities doesn't require me to hammer the keyboard (which I pretty much had to do with the P95...granted, that one was very worn out and that might affect it).

Definitely enjoying my purchase more and more as I keep playing!