Vidal MIDI piano controller--user review

I’ve had my Vidal keyboard long enough now to offer my reflections on how it plays and feels to a piano lover. In short, it has far exceeded my expectations and hopes for a portable piano keyboard.

This is a keyboard for a serious pianist: its action, feel and dynamic response are very close to that of a full sized (7’) acoustic grand, when used to control a piano VST such as Pianoteq. It will feel completely familiar to a player who has developed their technique on acoustic grands. This includes details such as key angle and pivot point of both whites and sharps, key displacement, feeling of inertia and weight through downstroke and recovery, minimal key bounce on release, ease of repetitions, key-to-key uniformity and a hard-to-describe general feeling of solidity and quality. To me, with its accurate piano action and its absence of buttons, wheels, lights, knobs, and displays, it feels and acts like an instrument more than an electronic device.

I’ve been wishing for something like the Vidal for a very long time…a portable piano that doesn’t require compromises to piano technique that I’ve worked on for over 50 years (I’m an old guy!). At home, I play a 7’ grand (1970 Baldwin SF10 with Renner action, well-regulated, recent new hammers and dampers), whose key lengths are probably very close to that of the Vidal, so I’ve done much back and forth comparison since receiving my Vidal. I’ve also performed on many other grands over the years, from my early days of student recitals to current regular jazz gigs, including Steinways, Yamahas, and others in varying condition. For gigs at venues without pianos, I have used several other digital pianos and controllers (with Pianoteq). All of these can work well, but they don’t really feel accurately like a good piano, and they just can’t support the same technique used on a good piano. I freely admit that this is just my opinion, but it’s always felt like a compromise to me to not be playing an acoustic grand.  I’m saying all of this to provide some context as to why this Vidal keyboard has been so transformative for me. To me, expecting a piano under my hands, it just feels right and plays right.

Here are a few other observations:

The dynamic response, the touch, player command of the keyboard are just like a good piano. I know…hard to accept without trying it, but here goes. For live piano sounds, I’m most familiar with Pianoteq, and try to get the dynamics of various DPs or controllers to match the dynamic response of Pianoteq modeled pianos, until they “feel” like a real piano, from ppp to fff. This usually involves remapping the keyboard velocity onto Pianoteq response. The Vidal requires ZERO remapping of velocity, for Pianoteq models or for any piano VST I’ve tried so far.  I’m guessing that this means the Vidal keyboard accurately matches the piano keyboard actions that were used to create the piano models (Pianoteq) or sample layers (sample libraries) in the first place. If I set the Pianoteq dynamics setting at about 50dB (default is 40), it honestly feels like a live piano to me, if the output volume in headphones or speakers is set to a real level.

An orientation touchstone for me when I sit at the piano, whether it’s my own piano or an unfamiliar one, is to find that equilibrium point at which my arms-hands-fingers are weighted exactly on the keys, so I feel like I’m floating weightlessly on the keyboard. Effortless to depress a key, and it feels like the key “lifts” my fingers back up, no matter how light or heavy the action. Then I’m connected to the instrument and can access its dynamic range. For whatever reason, maybe the mechanics or counterweighting or springs or my own failure, I haven’t been able to find that pianistic state with a portable keyboard.  With the Vidal, it’s there! Equilibrium point and access to the whole range of dynamics.

I can work on piano technique on the Vidal. I now trust its response and evenness of action to to the extent that I have been playing exercises, working on touch and tone development (in Pianoteq at least), and practicing challenging passages, knowing it’s transferable to playing on a real piano. I’ve never felt that before with a DP or MIDI controller. To play ppp or mf or fff passages with complete control as intended…incredible. It also has made me aware of the expressive potential of Pianoteq that I was missing out on because of the limitations of the keyboards I was using. Now I find myself playing the Vidal at home, with various Pianoteq models, just for pure pleasure.

The mechanical noise of the Vidal is different from an acoustic piano. If you aren’t listening to its sound output, you will hear some thumping of keys bottoming. Probably not louder than a grand action whose strings are silenced, or a DP with the power off.

The Vidal is heavy, about 90 lb. The full length wood keys (ebony sharps!), solid wood cabinet, and steel balance weights all add up, but that’s also what adds to the feeling of solidity and stability when playing. No problem if it’s going to be your home or studio instrument, but If the aim is to use it as a portable piano, you’ll need a case, wheeled cart, and a partner to help with lifting. 

The Vidal is crafted in small numbers in a shop in Philadelphia from top grade materials, so it’s necessarily more expensive than most commercially manufactured alternatives, with a different target market. If you’re in the US and can visit their shop, that’s probably the best way to determine whether the Vidal is for you. In my opinion, the Vidal represents a compact instrument for pianists who want a MIDI controller with the feel, control and responsiveness of a grand.