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Ok... Both cables are similar in wiring (unbalanced stereo to split mono). The only difference is the type of connectors: rca vs 6.5 jacks. What happened is that probably the monitors have inputs for unbalanced rca and balanced jacks. You connected the unbalanced jacks to balanced inputs. Is that the case?

No. I put the correct cables into "RCA unbalanced" and I got stereo. When I used the incorrect cables, they went into "TRS" and I got mono.

PS My two monitors are both identical. It is not a pair in which one is connected to the other one.

Exactly what I said: TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) input is for balanced cables. Both your cables are unbalanced. Gladly, one of them had the matching rca connectors. This also means that the connections are made in one of the monitors, and then there is a cable going to the second one, correct? What is important is that the issue is solved.

Animisha, out of curiosity (and also to have some technical insight), which monitors? Make/model?

No. With the correct cable, the black plug goes into my laptop. The cable splits, the red plug goes into the monitor to the right, and the white one into the monitor to the left. So there is no cable from one monitor to the other one.

The monitors I bought were Presonus Eris E5 XT. I am so happy with them. This morning I practised chords, hands together, and I could hear how the six notes were more distinct (compared to my old monitors) instead of blending together. The sound is both warm and clear.

Changing the topic here, new member of the 'club'. I just received my new VPC1. I couldn't be more thrilled! I have Pianoteq on a Mac mini, a Scarlett 4i4 and a set of Nord piano monitors. It was plug and play, except my pedal unit's polarity was weirdly reversed. The dealer suggested reversing the two cables. Bingo!

I've never played a great piano, and I'm a beginner, but I'd have to get mighty greedy to want more than this.

Welcome and congratulations!

Please, keep us posted on your experience with the VPC1

BTW, the reversal was on the connector cabling?. Did you need to change the cables there or was another problem?

Jose

Thanks, Jose! All I did was plug the two cables into each other's designated holes. I once bought a weed-eater that sucked the string in when it was supposed to feed it out. The store owner couldn't believe it till I showed him. It's an assembly error. I'm happy not to have to do any wrangling with the company or mailing stuff back. I LOVE the key action!

You can change pedal Midi CC messages in the VPC Editor. I set the left pedal to CC67, the center pedal toCC66 and the right to CC64.

Even though I've Googled this, I don't understand the purpose of these three values. I'm used to a single sustain pedal so I'm (at this early stage) only using the right-hand pedal.

The other two pedals are usually una-corda (left) and sostenuto (center). CC codes is what the VPC1 will send as MIDI messages when pressed. Changing them is useful if you intend to do other things with them than the standard ones. Of course the receiving software should be configured to do what you intend.

Hope this helps!

Jose

Welcome to this happy club Lynn! If you don't see us posting a lot of messages, it is because we all are so happy playing on our VPC1.

Agreed, Animisha.

Jose, I think I get that assigning the three values to the pedals in VPC1 Edit makes it easy to, in Pianoteq, connect to that 'back end, right? If I want to assign something to a pedal in the future, I know where to find this info.

You can assign every MIDI Massage to whatever software right. But what I thought you're problem with the pedals is just a configuration. For example MIDI message CC 64 (Channel1) is sustain. Take a look at the VPC editor if that's set on the right pedal.

Well, the default values do what they are intended to do on Pianoteq. You need to change them only if you want to do other things with the pedals (i.e. activation of a feature, like a filter or effect, on a software synth, for example). I would say 99% of the users keep them with default values

Jose

Now that it's working fine, I'll look at the editor if I want to do more. The thing is, the amazing action has sharpened my practice so much it's more than enough to fill this old mind. I appreciate this info and I have this bookmarked.

hi,

this is more of a curiosity than a problem.
has anyone of you had a need to do maintenance on the VPC1 key bed/action?
i was assuming, since it had wooden parts, it might be affected by weather as well thru the years...


on a side note...
can an m-audio hammer 88 pro compare to the VPC1 key action or not?

thanks!!

My VPC1, a 2016 unit, owned by me since 7/2020, has not yet needed any mechanical maintenance so far.

I have not played an M-AUDIO Hammer 88 Pro, but I would guess, due to the price, weight and size, that it would be a lower quality keybed. There is nothing in the market comparable to the VPC1. It is probably a too-specific kind of controller (Virtual Piano Controller says it all) and there is no big market for it. But it is a very good controller, IMO

Jose

They've changed the price from $1800 ish to $2300 now?

Yep. took me right outta the market. Even with a 15-20% discount, the price starts to make me think I might as well save those $$ and put them toward buying a used Yamaha NU1 . . . or maybe save a while longer and go new.