By the way, I recall my colleagues in Germany mentioning a VPC1 owner who hex-edited the vpceditor.exe file to remove the Kawai USB-MIDI driver restriction - you're the guy, right?

Ahem. Guilty as charged. An act of desperation, and also curiosity.

Unfortunately, as a Kawai employee, I could never condone any attempts to bypass the software's internal functions...

Good job on the deciphering my moniker, btw.

Cheers,
James
x

Yes, I am employed by Kawai Japan.

I thought so. I think I saw your moniker on pianoworld.com, though in a slightly different form. But I know just enough Japanese to know how 'cute' translates.

Let's see: yep, the forum seems to accept it: 可愛.

(To be fair, as an old オタク, I of course know two words very well... these being 可愛 and of course, 馬鹿. )

Ahem. Guilty as charged. An act of desperation, and also curiosity.

I wouldn't say no to a GE-30 either (or a GX-2, but I'm not greedy).

Well, I'm not going to promise anything, but I'll see what I can do.
If the powers that be do not approve the deal, p

But I have this hunch that a gratuitous loaner Kawai grand won't happen to this amateur player in the forseeable future... drat.

Yes, I am employed by Kawai Japan.

Absolutely!  I always enjoy reading the feedback (both good and bad, but mostly the good) that Kawai customers post online, and often pass-on the more constructive comments to my colleagues in R&D.  Feel free to send me a PM when you have a chance.

By the way, I recall my colleagues in Germany mentioning a VPC1 owner who hex-edited the vpceditor.exe file to remove the Kawai USB-MIDI driver restriction - you're the guy, right?

Cheers,
James
x

Cute James wrote:

kalessin wrote:

Maybe someone listened.

We keep our ears pretty close to the ground.

In that case, I wish I could get a VPC-1 on indefinite loan from Kawai in exchange for publicizing its virtues to the world.

That makes two of us.

Edit: James, do you work for Kawai? If so, would feedback (and suggestions for improvement) from someone owning the device for 9 months be appreciated?

kalessin wrote:

Maybe someone listened.

We keep our ears pretty close to the ground.

In that case, I wish I could get a VPC-1 on indefinite loan from Kawai in exchange for publicizing its virtues to the world.

Maybe someone listened.

We keep our ears pretty close to the ground.

The only drawback of not being able to use the 'piggy back' mode is that you can't use the velocity curve learning feature, but at least in conjunction with Pianoteq (which has its own velocity curve and calibration feature as we know, and is also featured with an 'approved' built-in curve in the VPC-1) this is no real problem. All the other features (MIDI channel, routing, built-in velocity curves, not to mention firmware updates) are finally accessible without hacks.

VPC Editor v1.3 is now available for Windows users.
This version allows the VPC Editor to function using the built-in Windows USB-MIDI driver, thus removing the need to install the separate Kawai USB-MIDI driver.
The updated editor can be downloaded from www.kawaivpc.com, or existing users can simply run the current editor, and allow it to check and install the latest version automatically.

Note that the built-in Windows USB-MIDI driver does not allow more than one programme to access the connected device (the VPC1 in this case) simultaneously. This means it is not possible to use the VPC Editor and a software instrument controlled by the VPC1 at the same time, unless the Kawai USB-MIDI driver is installed.

Hm. I can't find any info on the Oxygen 88's piano action. Have you opened yours? I've looked at photographs of the RM3 Grand action, which is the one Kawai uses in the VPC-1. The white keys' pivot length seems to be about 192mm, with a 'visible' key length of about 150mm. This means the pivot point is about 42mm inside the case. The black keys' pivot length seems to be ca. 155mm with a visible length of 95mm, so it's about 60mm inside the case, so black and white keys actually seem to use different pivot points.

I had to calibrate a key that was too loud on my Oxygen so i opened it up, and while i was at it i measured the keys. The white keys are 21.3cm long from the hinge to the tip, with visible length (outside the casing) of about 15cm. The black keys are 16.4cm long from the hinge to the tip, with a visible length of about 9.8cm. The extra length of both black and white keys inside the casing seems to be about 6.5cm. This is surprisingly more than the VPC1.

I really don't understand why almost no manufacturer makes the keys longer. In most keyboards there's plenty of unused space inside the casing, right where it would be needed!!!

Anyway, i really like my oxygen88. This keyboard would really be the perfect keyboard for me if it had 3 sensors per key... or, if i could just figure out a way to increase the "repetition rate" of the keys for fast trills & such. I tried lowering the "key dip" distance by shimming the felt that the keys rest against when pressed down, but that didn't really help much. This keyboard as a rather deep key dip (almost 13mm) so i will probably redo that procedure anyway, but with some proper felt strips.

Do those two action types have both have 3 sensors per key? What's the difference between them?

As to its performance, I can't complain. I still have a quite decent amount of velocity control even when pressing the keys very close to the instrument's casing. This is actually a reason why I dislike most cheaper piano actions. (Another is when playing f(f) feels like hitting a brick wall like with certain cheap Yamaha actions). The black keys also are a bit less wide when compared to e.g. my Casio PX-3, meaning that playing 'between' the blacks is a bit easier.

The pivot values are BTW more or less comparable to e.g. the RH action by the same manufacturer. The RH has a pivot length of about 200mm for the white keys and about 145mm for the blacks keys. The main reason for the differences is that all keys use a common pivot axis in the RH action. Roland's PH offers about 220mm pivot. The only digital piano actions offering significantly longer pivot lengths are AFAIK Kawai's Grand Feel action and the ones Yamaha uses in their highest-class models (e.g., AvantGrand series). Kawai touts to have 'the longest' (yes really, I guess boys will be boys), and the GF's pivot length seems to be about 260mm, which is actually comparable to a real grand piano.

But apart from raw pivot lengths, the RM3 action just feels different. It's subtle, and I don't really have the background to compare it to a real grand action, but I can compare it to the (already superb) RH action. It's somehow... smoother. It actually seems to allow for more precise control, especially when playing softly. I guess the 'seesaw' action is a factor in that, and the fact that the pivot axis is on the bottom of the keys in contrast to the top as in many other electronic piano actions. (Roland's PH action looks like they got at least that detail right.) The RM3 also conveys a vastly higher sense of quality than other actions I tried. The massive wooden keys play an important role in that aspect I guess.

Of course all digital piano actions are compromises, and in case of a MIDI controller or stage piano there are also hard limits in terms of size and weight. I can really only recommend to go to a dealer and try a Kawai instrument featuring the RM3 Grand (I or II doesn't matter), e.g. the CA-15, the CS-9, the MP-10 or the VPC-1. The only better controller would be the MP-11; it of course offers the GF action, but at almost twice the price point.