Kawai VPC1 88-key Virtual Piano Controller Reviews

I've had this controller for 5 years now and it's a beast! It feels and plays like a real grand piano. Just as good as the day I bought it. You only need USB hookup to power it up too. I don't think you'll find anything better than this. It maybe a downside for some, not me, but it's only a controller. No internal sounds. I use it in my studio for recording so that's not a problem for me. Like is said.... if you close your eyes you would think you're playing a grand piano. It's not cheap but you get what you pay for.

I got my VPC1 about a year and a half ago. Before that I had a Kawai ES8, but wasn't happy with the plastic-like feel of the keys and the general play overall. I wanted something that felt more like a real piano. I got the VPC1 and sold my ES8. The VPC felt amazing immediately. Since I primarily intended to use it as a home keyboard I really wasn't interested in all the features of the MP7 or MP11. I love how simple this keyboard is once it is set up.

The set up process took a little while but was mostly just in the form of deciding how I wanted to power the thing. I ended up connecting it to an old mini pc that has Pianoteq on it and it just sits there strapped to the leg of the stand and I never do anything with it. There is a speaker plugged in. So any time I am going to play I just sit down, and play and it is going just like a real piano.

The wooden keys really do feel very good, and the sensitivity of the action is really impressive compared to the other keyboards I tried when shopping around such as a roland and yamaha / their higher end digital keyboards with 'wooden' keys.

I'm writing this review just to let people know. My VPC1 still plays just like when I got it (and I play it a lot), but if someday something happens to it, I hope that Kawai will still be making this so I can buy another.

I read/watched a ton of reviews before buying a Kawai VPC-1. All the good things folks said about it are true. And any negative points (such as the power cable falling out, pedals sliding around, etc.) seem to have been fixed now. So, really unusually, I actually found no downsides at all about the instrument. Not even the curved top.

I find it an amazing simulation of the experience of playing a grand piano. Oddly, it even seemed to make my virtual pianos (which I've been playing for a while) sound quite different. Or perhaps that's just because it inspired me to turn them up a bit louder. In any case, having one of these things seems to make a difference to one's mood and whole experience of playing, even if some of it is psychological.

But I will mention the delivery experience in case anyone can learn from and/or avoid the experience I had. I've ordered TONS of stuff from Sweetwater, and it usually arrives without ceremony. But this item needed to come via a specialist freight firm.

When it arrived, the manufacturer's box was strapped on to a large wooden pallet, whose wood was split in places, and the nail heads were popping out, and had chewed up the bottom of the box pretty good. Thankfully they didn't quite make it through the box. The box itself is good: very thick card, and just nicely packed inside. It was that pallet (which also smelled of manure, and has now smelled up my garage, where I kept it temporarily) that bothered me. The delivery guy was very, very nice. And he had no choice but to leave the pallet (with the box strapped to it) right there in my driveway, and let me take care of it.

Once I'd cut the box off of the pallet and then later taken the keyboard out of the box, the keyboard didn't seem particularly heavy. No heavier than my Korg M3. So I'm not sure why this needed special handling.

If that'd have been a pallet of house bricks, then fine. But it seemed like a bizarre experience for a consumer product. So today I spent an hour pulling over 90 nails out of the pallet to dismantle it, and burning it in the garden. Good luck to most folks unaccustomed to doing something like that (which I imagine some pianists are) in avoiding stepping on a nail, or bashing a finger/thumb.

Really could have done without the pallet, the smell, and the extra time-consuming and dangerous work to dispose of it.

This is an awesome keyboard. It is lovely to play, and unlike my Native Instrument S88, which has tapered black keys, this has straight sided black keys. This enables my large fingers to play the white keys in between the blacks without playing all three keys at once. It looks and feels like its acoustic brothers. I'm so glad I sprang for this keyboard and highly recommend it.

This is a wonderful midi keyboard with a great feel and playability.
It is very solid in construction and oozes quality.
Just the keys, please. There are no extraneous buttons or controllers to distract and it has a blank top to place other instruments and equipment. My previous instrument was a Yamaha S90-ES, so I am used to that feel. This is pretty close. They white keys aren't quite as polished (from use?), but I expect them to be soon. As I read in another review, the black keys have a coarse feel on the top instead of a polished feel I am used to. That is a distraction that I will overcome. It feels and plays with genuine appeal that makes me want to play more classical styled pieces in my live streams. Now I get to find more authentic piano samples for it.

I own two, one at studio and one at home. For piano performance I need an action that is as close to a grand as I can get. If you don't care about extra features, internal sounds and all that other stuff this is the one. I've tried everything there is available as of the date of this review. The VPC-1 wins over and over again. Don't be turned off that this is an 'older' product and uses Kawai's previous generation RM3 Grand II keybed. In my opinion it's better than the newer Grand Feel III keybed (MP11SE/CA-series), the newer keybed is more squishy.

Pro:
- Most realistic Keybed. The keystick is shorter than the newer Kawai action but it's only slightly noticeable when playing at the top of the key. The lack if squishiness of the newer action far outweighs it. The VPC-1's GFII is still very slightly squishy when compared to the Roland PHA-II/PHA-50 keybeds but overall it wins.
- Easy velocity curve setup. Has a bunch of curves you can select by pressing the power button and pressing a key in the top octave. You can also completely customize the curve for every key!
- It looks great. The top is curved, if want to put something on top you need some custom pieces of foam or rubber or put some towels on top (sometimes I actually put a couple towels and my Roland RD-700GX on top and it works fine).
- The price is great. It's perfect for those of use that don't care from internal sounds and features.

Cons:
- The power supply is lame. It's a cheap tiny PSU with a cheap barrel connector. There's no strain relief, it'll fall out if you try to move the VPC-1 around a little bit.
- The pedals are not great when compared to the newer GFP-3 pedal unit (MP11SE). It uses a couple phone connectors and is clumsy. The pedals themselves also feel a little better on the newer unit.
- The keystick is shorter than the newer kawai GF-III and Roland's PHA. It's only slightly noticeable when playing towards the top of the key and the benefits far outweigh this. When I first started using the VPC-1 I bought both the MP11SE and played both for about 3 weeks. I had a huge preference for the VPC-1.
- it's a little hard to play single note trills compared to the typical grand piano. However this is the case with ALL these high-end keybeds, the Roland PHA's are terrribly sluggish and it's not even possible to play certain single-note trills at speed.

As a classicaly trained pianist, all I care about is touch. The letoff simulation is wonderful and I can play repeated notes easily (such as that section in Liszt's mephisto waltz).
Midi routing is cleverly implemented and 5 memory location is enough to cover about every case.
However, there's no way to let Program Change 1-5 received at the input to be routed to any MIDI out. This is probably because Prog Change can't be turned off on the VPC. I would prefer to have the choice: I don't find many situations where external program change recognition is useful on such a controller.
Also on the downside, the curved surface. It gives a nice look but it is pratically inconvenient: such a big surface to use but slippery and curved... I fixed it by installing long rubber strip atop.
Another thing I don't like, the inner side of the keys are rought, wich means that fingers are suffering after a long practise of virtuoso pieces.

All this said, that still my first choice over any controller available at the moment.
I can practise on the VPC-1 and switch to a Grand Steinway, Kawai or Yamaha and I don't need to adapt.

After reading a lot of reviews of midi controllers, I chose the Kawai because I was looking to come as close to the action and feel of an acoustic piano as possible. I've had the instrument for about a week and am very pleased with the ease with which I was able to set it up, the look and feel of the unit and the wonderful feel of the keyboard action. It has real wooden keys with an ivory-substitute coating. Feels like a real piano.

Advances in computers, samplers, sampled libraries, and acoustic modeling, have raised the bar in a lot of respects, as to what is possible with virtual instruments these days. But all of this means nothing if, first, you don't spend the time on learning your tools, and second, if you don't have the right instrument, to express your musicality, with the same level of finnesse, detail, and accuracy, that the software at the other end, is able to produce… Talking specifically about piano performance and sounds, I had been lusting about this particular instrument, the Kawai VPC1 Virtual Piano Controller, for the last four years, until finally I was able to invest in it. And my expectations about the feel and features of this instrument have been met, totally, it feels magnificent, and a lot closer to the real thing, an acoustic piano!! It's pure joy, to be able to play such amazing piano libraries available, with this beautiful controller. I have to thank the guys at sweetwater, Jeff Law, and his assistant Tyler Dworak, for a great deal, and perfect, on time, and careful delivery!! If you're a pianist, this is the controller, you owe it to yourself!!

I am not a pro keyboardist, but have been a pro musician over 50 yrs. My studio has many superb pianists come through to record on my 1930 Mason & Hamlin grand. They usually want to try my digital keyboards and although my prior Yamaha CP-33 had nice action, no A-level player has ever preferred a VI over my Mason.

That has changed. This keyboard is getting raves from everyone that plays it. Especially with Ivory Steinway D. No MIDI weirdness so far with one week of use. All comment on the touch and realism. Half pedaling. Sostenuto. Soft pedal. All works as it should.

My clients are happy, so I am happy! Two this week have decided to record on the VPC1 instead for the Mason, to save time in editing. Wow!

If you care and are proficient enough to appreciate subtle keyboard touch, buy this.

I have been working with David Mikautadze, my sales rep, for many happy years. His knowledgeable advice never disappoints. I was originally looking for a midi converter that I could put on my acoustic piano, but I was unable to find anything that I thought would work well. David hit the bullseye again by recommending the Kawai VCP1. It feels great! And coupled with the Vienna Instruments Imperial Grand, the best piano library I own, and I have quite a few, I couldn't be happier.

First of all a thanks goes out to Andy Miller the sales rep. He's been helping me for years at Sweetwater and he's a great guy and very helpful and patient and not a pushy salesman which i really like about him. Always willing to suggest what he thinks is right for you. Hope all is well Andy. And he did suggest controllers for half the price but I bought this one anyway! Lol

Ok....After playing the VPC1 for about a month I have to say that I'm very impressed. If you've ever played a grand piano and want that close your eyes "I'm playing A Real Grand Piano" keyboard feel ....this is probably the best midi controller that money can buy for that reason alone. That is the only thing that may be a surprise to some. It is very heavy in the sense that a lot of pressure is needed to play this keyboard like a real grand piano. Your fingers are going to get a work out if your not a piano player so if your not into that type of feel, I would look for something else. There's that recoil also, like a real piano, when you press the key and take your finger away the key bounces like a real grand piano key. If thats the feel/touch your looking for then don't hesitate, this is the real deal. I bought this site unseen based on reviews/youtube videos and it plays like everyone said it would. The main reason for this controller is to play piano type plugins, that's what its made for, nothing else.

It only sends midi data, no onboard sounds or knobs. You can play anything midi with it but obviousIy it has the feel of a piano, not an organ, and there is no aftertouch so if you need that for such things like string articulations etc. it will not provide that information for your software. If you have another keyboard you can use it's pitch & mod wheel via midi while playing the VPC1.

It has a power on/off button on the top right and that's it. The sustain pedal seems very beefy and a very good build. It's a triple pedal and is included.

I love the fact that a USB cable is only required to power it up and play all of my piano plugins, one cable! FYI...The USB cable provided is not very long, only a few feet, so if you need a ten foot or longer cable I recommend purchasing a few extra lengths. Also no midi cables are provided. The power supply is provided if needed. My only gripe is that it's a wall wort and not built into the keyboard. Personally, i don't use it. I have a 10' USB cable and it works perfect.

I'm currently controlling the Ravenscroft 275 via UVI workstation software, Addictive Keys Steinway and their version of a Rhodes, and the Waves Grand Rhapsody's Fazioli grand software. The sensitivity is amazing, from super quiet to very expressive playing......it nails it perfectly, and you can adjust the velocity curves to your hearts content if you like with downloadable software. Personally i do this inside my plugins and use the standard setup. I'm using two self powered LSR308 JBL 8" studio monitors and an Mbox interface and it sounds amazing! You don't need a sub woofer with these in my opinion. Tons of low end if desired.

It's heavy!!!! I think it weighs around 65 lbs. out of the box so it's a beast your not going to want to move around a lot. Set it and forget it type of set up. You will need two people or a dolly to move this when it's delivered in the box. I needed a dolly to take it up the stairs to the loft, in the box, by myself where my studio is located. This is not an under the arm and carry keyboard!!!!!! In the box it's very large, and well packaged by Kawai. Not a scratch on it and it looks really cool, The key bed looks just like a Kawai Grand. The entire outside of the controller is metal. It's probably the most solid controller you will ever find with regard to build quality. I bought an On-Stage stand and have the added arms for another keyboard or work tier if needed. That stand claims to be able to handle 400lbs on the main stand and 60lbs on the upper. With that it's solid as a rock with plenty of leg room underneath, and its height adjustable.

Again, in my opinion I wouldn't buy this if your looking for a controller that's made for multi tasking, i.e. playing strings, organs, etc. It will do that......but it's main function and purpose is for piano.

That's it! If you want a grand piano without having to drop 20 Grand $$$...... buy this controller.
Hope this review helps those in the research phase. Take care. Michael

Great action. Sits next to my Yamaha C6 grand for silent practice. Another reviewer stated it was unusual for the black keys not to be finished all the way down. All acoustic pianos share this characteristic.
The action is different from my C6 acoustic grand but it is like many other acoustic pianos I have played. I use Pianoteq 5 as a software piano and a PlanB Piano shell as a stand for the keyboard.

Love the VPC-1! The action is great and editable. Best piano controller action out there. The simplicity of the layout is fantastic. Combined with the East West Bosendorfer, I'm more than satisfied.

Got the Kawai VPC1 to use with Finale on an iMac as well as Ivory 2 American Concert D software which I also got from Sweetwater. Both the KPC1 and Ivory 2 American Concert D are amazing! I have a real Kawai in my living room and it feels just like it; real wooden keys and action just like the real thing. The Kawai VC1 works great w my Finale software for creating music scores, etc.

This is the best piano controller I have. Great hammer action. I bought it for my children's piano lessons.

I started my shopping by visiting a piano dealer (Roland, Kawai) and playing anything they had in store (acoustic and digital). I knew i wanted a digital one (no room for acoustic) but it provided me a lot of insight. Pretty quick I ended up always going back to the same one, Roland V-Piano Grand but no room and a bit pricy ($18,000) for me. From there I knew that I wanted the best piano key-bed I could find and I wanted modeling not sampling so no real incentive to pay for a sound module or integrated speakers.

After a bit of experimenting and reading I decided on the VPC-1 / PianoTeq combination. I could not try the VPC-1 so it was a blind purchase but I didn't feel there was a lot of competition either. Well I'm definitely happy with my choice and it turned out to be everything I was hoping for.

How does it stack against the V-Grand? The VPC-1 is definitely in the same league and the key feel is more a matter of preference than quality difference. The VPC-1 velocity curve is so easy to use and such a great feature. To me PianoTeq sounds even better as a modeling software and is a much more flexible option for evolution. For those that prefers sampling there is also plenty of great options (I mostly use NI). Last it comes down to the speakers. The V-Grand has great speakers for a d-piano (to me the biggest flaw of most of them). Well in my case I already had a Genelec 5.1 monitor system ($5K) in my home studio so it wins hands-down on the V-Grand. And if you're willing to spend some time setting up the 5.1 microphone feature of PianoTeq then sky is the limit. Do you need that much to make the VPC-1/PianoTeq sound great, probably not, but you need good monitors and adding a sub-woofer in the mix makes a world of difference in the bottom octave (a difference you can feel while you play). Now the V-Grand has a killer look... (I also consider the V-Piano but still twice the price with much less flexibility).

Now on the flip side, not having a sound module also comes with some challenges. The main one if like me you're running a PC is the ASIO driver that cannot be shared with multiple applications (tried ASIO server and JACK but no silver bullet and too much latency). In a DAW setup (Sonar for me) I can do anything I want and it was easy. With other software it took me some time to figure out the right setup but it can be done. Not really a flaw but a consequence of this VPC-1/PianoTeq option to take in account.

Finally, buy a great stand like the K&M Omega (w/ stacker option). I also added a Roland A-800Pro on top of my VPC-1 to add easy software controls and triggers. The A800 works well with Sonar but there is plenty of great options and the VPC-1 is very flexible in rerouting MIDI through its USB connection.

My practice piano is based on Ivory II running on an iMac. I think my expectations are high for a controller - my regular piano is a Steinway grand that I maintain incessantly. I used several 88 note controllers in the past (StudioLogic, Roland, etc) and found the experience to be okay, but not great. The VPC-1 is a game changer - the playing experience (particularly with Ivory) is exceptional. You feel like you are playing the real thing. The response is unbelievable. The only downside I found is that it is a bit heavier and bigger than other 88 note controllers - a tradeoff to consider if you plan to transport it on a regular basis.

Perfect. You need a good computer. I paired it with Ivory 2 concert d software. There was latency with new windows 8 PC i7 dual core with solid state drive. Switched to mac pro laptop with retina i5 and worked perfect. Be sure to get a great stand.

I bought this sight unseen, as I couldn't imagine any dealer I'd have access to would ever have one. So I was a little nervous when it arrived - not quite buyer's remorse, but worried that I might. Within five minutes, all I could think was "I am going to spend SO many hours sitting in front of this thing."

The feel of the keys is the best I've ever experienced in a digital piano. Real wooden, weighted keys! And _fast_, too. It looks great, minimalist and refined. Not full of knobs and faders, simply as "pure" as a piano controller could possibly be.

This is a pure controller, with no in-built sounds, so you need a good software piano. While I had a few software pianos (mainly the ones included with Native Instruments Komplete) I wanted to try one of the four that the VPC1 includes custom "touch curves" for - I ended up trying, then buying Pianoteq Stage, and the add-on Bluethner pack. I'd never tried a modeled piano before, and have been thoroughly impressed with it. Definitely recommended to try with this.

Be aware that it doesn't have a mod wheel, nor pitch bend. Fair enough; it's a piano controller. I have a few orchestral sample libraries that use mod wheel for dynamics, so when experimenting with them, I've just placed a small USB keyboard atop the VPC1, and used its mod wheel - and that works fine, though I've also experimented a little with using an iPad with the Lemur app, and I've had more fun with that, as I can create mod sweeps with inertia, etc. - if you're of a technical bent, try that. Having said that, I did get this intentionally as a piano controller, so most of the time I don't need - or want - a mod wheel.

The VPC1 is heavy; a good stand is a must. I'm using the K&M Omega stand, as it doesn't have annoying crossbars to whack your knees, and it's built very solidly, with a very discreet, minimal look that I think matches the VPC1 well.

I LOVE this controller! Finally, somebody gets it. I have wanted a realistic piano controller for a long time and this is it.

The price might seem high, but it really isn't when you consider a few factors.
1. Half Damper pedal. Find another keyboard of this build with a half damper pedal. It doesn't exist. (plus you also get the sostenuto pedal and soft pedal)
2. Wooden keys. This ads a lot to the durable touch of this keyboard.
3. Much more realistic action. My previous "hammer-weighted" keyboard started having the problem of keys getting stuck. I took the keyboard apart and no amount of lubrication could fix the problem. I can't see the action of this keyboard having the same problem. The feel of this keyboard is far superior to my previous "hammer-weighted" keyboard.
4. The Look. This keyboard does look amazing. It was a good choice to eliminate all of the controls. On the flip side, if you do a lot of sequencing, you will want to have another keyboard too that can give you all of that type of control. Those keyboards are super cheap now days and they can work along side this keyboard. So for example, you can use the Modwheel on the other keyboard while playing the keys on this keyboard.

My only complaints are super minor and are as follows.
1. There is a little bit of roughness next to some of the keys when the neighboring key is pressed down and if your finger rubs against it. Again, not a big deal, but can be a little distracting at times.
2. Although the RM3 is amazing, if you want True Grand Piano feel, then the pivot point of the key would need to be further down the key likely requiring the keyboard to be even deeper then it is. This is found on Kawaii's GF Action. The only difference here is that the GF action would make it easier to press the key down at the very top of the key. Nevertheless, this is not a problem for me. You can still easily press the key down at the top of the key, it just isn't equally as easy as if it was at the bottom of the key. Only Grand Piano only snobby people would care (or even notice anything) about this.

Overall, AMAZING keyboard for the price. Worth saving for.

Like the other reviewer this is the first time I have made a major purchase like this without trying it first. I was not disappointed! I am a classical player so what I was looking for is a practice instrument that is as good or even better than a real acoustic upright.

The action is very nice. I can tell its not a 100% real piano action but Kawai has done an excellent job in coming close. As I play I don't feel that disconnect that I experienced with other keyboards. The triple sensor does make fast passage work a lot smoother. The wooden keys and simulated ivory tops feel good to the touch.

The triple pedal unit works well and sits solidly on the floor. You can feel the gradations in the sostenuto pedal and does not quite feel continuous as it does on a real one but that's understandable given how it would need to be implemented. It is nice to finally have this kind of control and be able to use half pedal effects.

In my mind the big plus are the velocity curves. One of the most frustrating things with a standard digital piano is that you never feel you can get achieve real louds and softs. What striked me most when I first tried it was that I could achieve a real pp and even a ppp. At last this level of control is available from an electronic instrument! Once I figured out how to setup the right velocity curve for the software I discovered a world of difference. You feel connected with the keyboard and it feels like you are playing a real instrument, not just a simulation.

The only reason I'm giving it a 4.5 is the curved top. I guess maybe it was an aesthetic choice (and it does look nice) my laptop does not sit very well on it. Also a common occurrence now is that I leave my headphones on the top and they eventually slide off and hit the floor.

The service from sweetwater has been great!

I expected a lot out of this controller as it is hailed as the best piano controller on all the forums and every review I've red. To my knowledge that is probably true. This seems to be the best the industry can achieve to the feel of a real piano on a digital controller. But is it good enough? I argue far from it. Since no one seems to point out its shortcomings I'll be the one to do it:

1. The RM3 II key tech is just not good enough. They should have included the GF tech in this, that Kawai puts in their other digital pianos. Due to the short keys sticks and closeness of the fingers to the fulcrum of the rocker is it very hard to press the keys especially when going deep into the black keys. Feels very unnatural compared to a real piano. Kawai's excuse it that this would have made the slab too deep. So what? This thing is not portable anyway.

2. The top of the unit is curved meaning, everything you put on top slides down off it. Esthetically is makes sense but practically its a looser.

3. The craftsmanship is not really at the expected level (maybe because its made in Indonesia ?).

- Two of my black keys are tilted to the left as the unit came new. It was not damaged in the transport. The box was in good condition and wrapped very well. It looks like the wooden keys were either cut imprecisely or mounted a little off. I am living with it.

- The gaps between the white keys are not consistent through out the keyboard.

- The black keys are not finished all the way down. So when you press the white exposing the roots of the blacks, you feel the raw coarse unfinished wood of the blacks. Very unusual. Haven't seen this on any other keyboard.

4. The sustain pedal feels very weird and unnatural. Probably due to the mechanism that they have employed for progressive sustain. It feels like there is friction inside there as if gears are grinding or winding up.

5. Why not go optical on the sensors? ,so in a few years we won't have the problem that ultimately plagues every other controller -- uneven velocity key input. Apparently Kawai predicts this will happen so at least they do provide a per key velocity editor.

Other than that, great controller.

I bought the Kawai VPC-1 for practice work because an acoustic piano often can disturb others.
I use it with a Kurzweil piano module but sometimes a GM module to experiment. One should be able to switch midi channels from using a combination of the keys and two increment buttons. I feel that is an oversight.Not all of us want to use a computer for modest needs.