Kawai K1 as VSTi - Nils' K1v is here

[Nils Schneider]

Hey,

there is now a VSTi version of a Kawai K1:

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/nils-k ... -schneider

I asked for a VSTi like this a decade ago or so, now there is one. I very carefully recreated it by analyzing every value of every single parameter and did a lot of A/B tests against the K1m that sits on my desk, the effort was huge but at the same time, it was a lot of fun.

I have blog about it which covers a lot of the K1 aspects in a very great detail. I even desoldered the Wave ROM and dumped it by using an Arduino Mega.

Feel free to read more about it here: https://www.nilsschneider.de/wp/kawai-k1-vsti/

Let me know what you think

Best,

Nils

[DrGonzo]

there is now a VSTi version of a Kawai K1:

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/nils-k ... -schneider

I hate being the first poster asking for stuff - but is there any chance of this ever becoming a plug for Mac? Getting an old Kawai rompler in plugin format is like a dream come true. Love their old stuff. I used to have the K1 and the K4 and I made so many tracks with them.

In either case - thanks a lot for doing this!

/Carl

[AnX]

sounds like a lot of work for a freebie, I'm sure a ton of ppl will appreciate it and reward you accordingly

[layzer]

heads up for winXP users, XP does not appear to be supported.
crashes with dll errors.
no biggie, Korg M1 and luxonix ravityS fill my rompler needs just fine.

[jbuonacc]

heads up for winXP users, XP does not appear to be supported.

heads up for Windows XP users... it is now the year 2020.

[grandmasterbird]

Man if this was available for mac I'd be all over it

[moss]

Hi Nils,

this is totally awesome! I followed your progress since your first blog post and to have my first synthesizer now as a plugin is a dream come true.
I had a very quick run-through and it is exiting how many interesting sounds it can still deliver!

Two things I noticed:
- A drop down list for bank selection would be nice, since there are already now lots of banks
- Maybe it is already possible, if not, it would be nice to edit multiple sources at once, e.g. for tweaking envelopes.

As a far streteched goal VST3 would be nice.

Instantly "bought" it

Cheers!

[Nils Schneider]

crashes with dll errors.

Could you copy the error message? I didn't test on XP but I didn't implement anything Vista+ specific so it should work, in theory at least I'm going to try it in a virtual machine.

[Captain]

+1 for a Mac version! I still have my old K1m sitting in the closet, used it a lot in the 90's. Just last year I tried if it still works, I was able to power it up, but couldn't get any sound out of it (probably I just don't remember how it works). Big props for the effort!

[clipnotic]

Is there a version for my Atari Mega ST4 available, too?

[Saffran]

+1 for a Mac version! I still have my old K1m sitting in the closet, used it a lot in the 90's. Just last year I tried if it still works, I was able to power it up, but couldn't get any sound out of it (probably I just don't remember how it works). Big props for the effort!

There's a button cell inside. Maybe it's dead?
Probably handles the saving of presets but who knows what it can affect?
Does require soldering though.

[planetearth]

Hey,

there is now a VSTi version of a Kawai K1:

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/nils-k ... -schneider

I asked for a VSTi like this a decade ago or so, now there is one. I very carefully recreated it by analyzing every value of every single parameter and did a lot of A/B tests against the K1m that sits on my desk, the effort was huge but at the same time, it was a lot of fun.

I have blog about it which covers a lot of the K1 aspects in a very great detail. I even desoldered the Wave ROM and dumped it by using an Arduino Mega.

Feel free to read more about it here: https://www.nilsschneider.de/wp/kawai-k1-vsti/

Let me know what you think

Best,

Nils

This looks great! You really dumped the ROMs and have all the factory presets? How close is the sound of the plug-in's output to a K1's output? (I never had one, so I can't compare.)

Steve

[DrGonzo]

Is there a version for my Atari Mega ST4 available, too?

Probably the most beautiful computer ever built

/C

[Kumi_27]

This looks great! You really dumped the ROMs and have all the factory presets? How close is the sound of the plug-in's output to a K1's output? (I never had one, so I can't compare.)

From the looks of it, it's very close. Nils described the whole process on his blog, like here:
https://www.nilsschneider.de/wp/2020/06 ... -wave-rom/
and in other articles in the category https://www.nilsschneider.de/wp/kawai-k1-vsti/

I was able to power it up, but couldn't get any sound out of it (probably I just don't remember how it works)

My GEM S2 had similar problem, it turned out that in the internal power supply some capacitors died of age and the whole analog section (amplifier) was mute

[wagtunes]

Very cool sounding. Hopefully, will work on my PC.