Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai VPC1, CA-49 or something else?

That does sound good aphexdisklavier Still love the clean look of the VPC1, too. Would you say its action is on the heavy side for synth/organ playing? These are not my main priority, but I'd like to play around with it every now and then - so far the MP7SE seems to me like a good option for both playing piano and doing some of the other stuff (because of its action and of course modulation wheel;).

IMHO the Presonus Eris E5 are the best monitor 5" speakers you can get for that price (211 euro for the couple!). I know some users here use them for their DP and they are satisfied. If you are willing to spend ~70 euro more, there are the Presonus Eris E5 "XT", which have a slightly wider frequency response and are 80W instead of 70W. I don't think they will make a significative difference, but if you can allow them, they are better.

The best thing with external speakers is that you can place them in the best sounding position for you room.

Kewner, I actually didn't know of the V3 before EVC2017 posted about it

At 4GB for ~1000 voices, I'm kind of perplex as to whether it can even match the quality of the on-board sounds on a MP7/MP7SE.

Before you decide for the MP7, make sure to effectively test keys across the whole keyboard and look for anything sticking out, action-wise and sound-wise. You can do that with sound on and off. Do that at different dynamic levels. That may sound boring and mechanical, but it may reveal things you'd not notice when solely playing some stuff.

Everybody has different expectations. For me the action was the most important thing. In this case the VPC1 is the very best option in the pricerange up to 5000€ I would say. Yes the action is on the heavier side. If I would like to play only synth sounds would like to choose a not hammered action (a simple plastic keyboard action). But I can play everything on the VPC1 too. When recording different synth sounds I use a simple M-audio Keystation 88. The VPC1 is my Piano Controller. The MP7SE has a very different action (folded, plastic). Try it out!

I'm curious, aphexdisklavier. The MP11SE definitely falls within the price range you mention. Actually, most or maybe all of the GrandFeel-based (whichever version) digitals also do. Did you have an opportunity to try them and if so, how did you find them vs the VPC1?

I must say I'm still on the fence about purchasing the MP11SE. I know how the GrandFeel feels (and quite comically, it doesn't feel like a grand action ;)) and it doesn't fully convince me.

Yes I tried them all (more than once). The MP11SE feels to spongy for my taste. The most problem is the release of the keys- it is really too slow. The VPC1 has not the fastest "up- key" movement too, but it is faster. Also the keys feel very tight in comparison to the MP11SE. For me the VPC1 goes more in the direction of a grand action.

I know in ths forum are lot of MP11 -lovers and all say the same things: VPC1´s action is too hard and MP11s GF action is better and NEWer. So I am glad that not everyone shares this opinion.

Well expressed alphex. I found these characteristics & differences to be very subtle and easy enough to adapt to. I also thought the MP11 was (ever so) slightly easier to play deep into the keys.

At home I would think both are great.

Thanks, aphexdisklavier. TBH I can't really say I share your opinion for the simple reason I've never got my hands on a VPC1 yet. I'd love too however. And though that's secondary to me, I can really appreciate the total absence of knobs and wheels on its top. It just looks pure and gorgeous

I can relate to that sponginess experience. That's something that put me off the first time I tried a GF (it was on a CA98 iirc, so GFII). Strangely, I didn't experience that feeling as much on either the MP11SE or the CA79. I could say the actions were more pleasant to play than my Casio's and some PHA-50 Rolands in the store, but definitely not in a league of their own.

Hmm, has anyone played on the MP7SE as well as the VPC1? Is the MP7SE much harder to play deep into the keys, due to the shorter key? Or is it much lighter overall?

Kewner, I can only recommend trying out the pianos by yourself. Often everything is immediately clear when you feel the keys under your fingers.

Yeah you're right, that's the most important thing right now. If I can get enough work done this weekend, I might be able to visit the store on monday

As a person who just got his Kawai VPC1, I have to say that though the white keys may be shorter for some, it's perfect for me. And I find it quite easy to play into the keys. The action feels like a 5-foot or 6-foot grand piano to me, and it's just about the right amount of weight and heaviness. A better upgrade than the StudioLogic SL-88Grand!

David, what do you mean with 'the white keys may be shorter for some'? The 'hammers' of the VPC1's keys are quite long compared to other DP's, right? That's what makes me wonder if the MP7SE is heavier to play than the VPC1 when playing deeper into the keys.

What I ment by the white keys may be shorter for some, is that I've heard it said by some people that the MP11 and the MP11SE have "longer key sticks" than those on the VPC1...
But I've never played it, so I'm not sure.
But for my standpoint as a classical piano player, the VPC1 is the best substitute if I can't access a grand piano. With the help of VST's, I can tick my pick whether or not I want to put myself in a hall, or in a room, and whether that piano is a Yamaha, Steinway (New York or Hamburg), or another piano.
I personally think that, since the VPC1 uses a newer action than the MP7SE, and it having triple sensors, trills and other things are easier to play on it.
Hope this helps!

Re:VSTs - at the risk of sounding like a broken record or one-issue candidate, I will summarize my experience here:

-New (2015) Dell XPS laptop with all bells and whistles: bad latency, unusable
-Very old (2010) HP EliteBook (upgraded with SSD and 8G RAM): perfect, no troubles, low latency, no tweaking required
-USB MIDI to the HP, then sound-out from the HP to the line-in on the CA79; sound comes out the CA79.

I too was troubled by the "power on" sequence for the VST. Now, I leave the laptop powered on continuously and the CA79 powered on continuously (on a UPS of course).

I've been doing this for 2+ months now without any issues. I now have the "sit down and play" experience with no hassles.

The VPC1 made sense to me because it had a heavier action than most digital pianos I tried but I would never mistake it for a fine grand's acoustical action. There is a "thumpy" feel to the action when the simulated hammer action strikes the sensor that you won't find on an acoustic grand. The action is a little stiffer than on a real acoustic action as well but the weighting is fine. The thumpiness also adds an unrealistic amount of keyboard action noise to the VPC1. I tried the MP11SE and it had a toy like action that reminded me more or a synthesizer than a acoustic action. It is far too light and spongy whereas the VPC1 is a little stiff and thumpy. I'd still choose the VPC1 over the MP11SE because to me it was closer to an acoustic action.

That said if you are in the market for a digital piano the VPC1 is a very good choice if you ever consider trying out VSTs. Most here at PW probably do so save all that money on those unnecessary onboard sounds and bell's and whistles that just distract from practicing the piano. While it is true there is the additional (small) inconvenience of needing a laptop or desktop computer, if you plan to go the VST route (that always sound better than onboard sounds) you will need to use one anyway even with a standalone digital piano. Save your money for a real piano someday.

One convenience advantage of the VPC1 is that since it is just a midi controller it can be placed anywhere in a room because it only requires 1 USB cable to power it up (along with providing MIDI connectivity) and those cables can be extended to as many feet as you need. No power cord required so you don't have to have it next to an outlet. Mine sits in the middle of my office and out of the way. Given it's clean simple appearance it is a nice instrument to put on display without it looking out of place. I keep my extra long USB cord coiled up when not using the piano and just plug it in when I want to play.

Thanks David Lai, kimby, and Jethro, all very useful stuff to take into consideration when going out to try out a bunch of pianos!

The opinions about the the VPC1 and its actions' likeliness to the action of an acoustic seem to differ a lot. About the VST stuff: I tested Pianoteq with my current laptop (Thinkpad T480) using a small, cheap midi controller, and there was no noticeable latency, so I guess that should work fine. Kimby, it sounds very strange that the XPS had so much latency! I wonder what's causing that, especially because I might build a pc in the future.