Depends on how much studio work you were doing, Ian

I wouldn't be surprised at some kind of integrated stand, legs, whatever with this unit. Just like the much heavier Rhodes. You put the legs on it while on it's back, and lever it upright. We did it back then with no problem...

So far, of course, I haven't played it... Reality sometimes doesn't match the hype (like when I first played an S900!). But two things I consider essential to good piano playing (as opposed to doing it on an arranger) are the escapement and repetition, essential for rapid passages and rhythmic playing, and the inter-string detuning, which varies the character of the sound more than anything else. Old Motown has an utterly different degree of tuning stability to say a John Legend track.

Nothing else on the market even allows ANY control of this at all, let alone this degree of variability. And variability is the key in studio work. You don't want to sound identical on different tracks. A real piano will breathe and change during the day, and over several days. You can't get it to sound identical no matter HOW hard you try! But a sampled piano...? Ditto, ditto, ditto...

Compare Rabbit Bundrick to Elton John (early Elton!), to Dr John, you won't hear the same piano sound. The V-Piano finally allows this degree of variability, all in the same piano! Heck, just what the studio spends in piano tuners alone (at least once a week for the Steinway if used heavily) would pay for the V-Piano over a year or two!

I don't think this is a day to day tool, but most top players (and at least SOME lesser ones like me!) consider a master of ONE thing better than a jack of all trades (but master of NOTHING ).

After all, a real pianist only plays ONE thing. The piano. I see a boatload of these going to those who want the sound of a real piano (including it's idiosyncrasies and tuning variability) with none of the disadvantages... After all, it is still ten times less than a good real piano, even if it is nearly five times more than an S900

Some see a reduction in weight as a sign of progress. I prefer to see an improvement in SOUND and playability and realism as the sign...

[This message has been edited by Diki (edited 02-07-2009).]