The vibration of hydraulic piston pumps is induced by the periodically changing cylinder chamber pressure whose waveform is significantly influenced by valve plate geometry. In this study, the force input to the housing of a bent-axis type hydraulic piston pump was computed by deriving the dynamic equations of its piston and cylinder barrel. The vibration intensity of the pump was represented by the acceleration amplitude of its housing. In order to comparatively evaluate the influence of valve plate geometry on the vibration of pump housing, two different types of valve plate were tested. The computed results showed good agreement with the experimental data, indicating that the vibration acceleration of pump housing is rather dependent on the variation amplitude of balance coefficient than the changing slope or overshoot of cylinder chamber pressure. It was also confirmed that the design effect of valve plates could be directly examined out by monitoring the vibration acceleration of pump housing.