Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Yamaha P155 or Kawai ES6?

"You will need a damper pedal fairly early on. You won't need the other two until you are fairly advanced."

Agreed. The damper pedal (for sustain) is essential. The most left pedal can be useful, but I only use it as a last resort. It´s better to develop the skills to play softly without needing it, IMHO. The middle pedal.. the acoustic uprights on which I played and practiced (some were pretty good) didn´t have them, never missed it.

True, and my wife -- the piano teacher -- would agree. By the time you need two pedals, you will be ready for a better piano, and if you need three, you should get a grand.

My wife's interest in digital is for silent practice, as a make-do between acoustics in a time of transition (with access to acoustics at work), and to broaden her experience pedagogically for those students who prefer digital. And for those times when a portable piano is desired. For these purposes, she's beginning to think she can do without three pedals and Kawai's expensive proprietary add-on (which isn't portable).

I noticed a comment earlier about prefering the 3 pedals of a console because 1 pedal tends to slide about.

I recently compared the ES6 to the P155 and decided on a P155. The dealer kindly swapped the FC4 pedal for an FC3 pedal and it is very substantial and doesn't slide around at all, so I wouldn't let that idea put you off.

Thanks, Gerry.
That's good to know. We've noticed that pedals vary widely in weight and quality.

Hi - I am new to this forum and had the exact same question, as I think I have narrowed my choices between a Kawai ES6 and a Yamaha P155 (or maybe a P140). But so far, the responses on this thread haven't answered my particular questions.

The problem is, none of the dealers in my area have either in stock at the moment. I've tried a Yamaha P140 (lowest price I've seen new is $999.00, lowest price on a new P155 is $1199.00) and another Kawai DP (I don't remember which one, but it was a step-up from the ES6 and not portable). The Kawai dealer in my area told me the ES6 is what he thinks would suit me, and that his price is $1495.00. Obviously, I need to find the actual ones to try out....but in the meantime, even after reading through this thread and many, many other postings on this site and others, I'm not clear on what distinguishes the Kawai ES6 from the Yamaha P155, and MORE importantly - if I've narrowed myself down to the correct choices for my particular needs. The P155 is an upgrade from the P140, but the P140 that I played seemed really sweet...is it worth upgrading to a P155 for $200.00 more, or spending yet ANOTHER $200.00 for the ES6? Is there anything else that *really* matters besides just personal preference? This is what I'm looking for: an 88-key DP that feels and sounds as close to an acoustic piano as possible, but is in my price range (no more than $1500.00), and is also portable (i.e. equal or less than 45 lbs, but also...not too long/wide b/c at home, we have a relatively small space). I am not a professional musician, but I've played piano since I was a kid. My singer/songwriter/guitarist husband and I play together and we sometimes play locally at open mics. We've only done open mics where they have a piano, so I want a DP so I can go anywhere and we can eventually start gigging locally. Because I've never gigged, recorded, or experimented with multiple sounds and features on a digital piano, I don't really know which features besides the piano sound might eventually be important to me when/if we start gigging more and/or recording.

Even if we never end up gigging more, I want a digital piano for my home, because I love playing and there is nowhere in our home where we could comfortably fit an acoustic piano or even a Clavinova.

I was also reading about the Kawai MP5 - why am I having a hard time distinguishing between what a "professional stage piano" and a "portable digital piano" is?

So - to sum up.
1) Should I just get the Yamaha P140, which I've tried and liked...or is it really worth it for someone like me to make the extra effort to try out the P155 and Kawai ES6 and potentially pay $200-$500 more? I think I can swing the $1500 - but it's a pretty big stretch, maybe that $500 would be better spent on nicer pedals and a carrying case....

2) If it's worth it to explore the P155/ES6 - does anyone have an opinion on which would be more suitable for a player like me?

Thanks for your feedback!
Christina
Santa Rosa, CA

Christina... If you liked the P140, then I'd go for the P155. Same action, but upgraded sound and better, more flexible connectivity for both home and on the road. IMHO, the Kawai ES6 would only be worth the extra money based on personal taste. On paper, I couldn't justify it.

PS - "Professional stage piano" means built for the road, which usually means no internal speakers, no matching stand, and stereo line outs at minimum (some have XLR outputs). "Portable digital piano" can include professional stage pianos of course, but it also includes digital pianos with more home-friendly features like a matching stand and built-in speakers.

hi Christina, aka xtinaznap,

It would actually have been decent to the original poster to have put this in a new thread. But since we´re here,

I have been thoroughly looking at the P155 (I just didn´t buy it, because I didn´t need its portability and liked the CLP340 and 370 better).

Anyways, check-out this thread, if you didn´t already:
https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1232836/Re:%20Yamaha%20P155%20user%20experienc.html#Post1232836

Furthermore, I agree with JScomposer. If you are seriously considering to go gigging, take the 155 and not the 140. I read somewhere that connecting the 140 to an external amp doesn´t give a great sound quality (compared to similar instruments). I don´t know how the 155 performs that way, but considering the amount of critique the 140 received it´ll probably be better. Also its internal speakers are a fair bit better and more powerful. Only downside: the p155 has only 2 pianosamples while the p140 has 3. If you like one or both pianosamples on the 155 then there´s no harm done though.

I can´t say too much sensible on Roland and Kawai. Only Roland usually does have a lot of extra stuff for the same price, which can be interesting if you´re going to play on stage. Good luck.
And apologies, pilgrimjoel.

That's true, but the main sample on the P-155 is 4-level (like a CLP-340). The main sample on a P-140 is only 3-level. If the extra $200 or so is doable, I'd go for the P-155 also.

I am certain this cannot be correct.
A P155 sells for euro 1385 at Thomann.
If the ES6 were selling for 15% of the cost of the p155 that would be 208 euros: I am sure they would be the best seller in Europe. As it is, there seem to be comparatively very few sold.

Thanks for your responses jscomposer, pieper...they were really helpful. And sorry pilgrimjoel for not posting to a new thread. I actually thought about posting to a new thread, but then I thought that since I had essentially the same question (granted, with more of my own personal specifics) that the answers may have been useful to pilgrimjoel. But you're right - I guess he could have just seen/checked out my new thread and his thread wouldn't have been clogged with responses to me. So...I apologize!

Maybe Kawai James meant 15 percent OFF the cost?

What, are you some kind of mind reader or something???

No need to apologize and no worries. This was all helpful. And isn't easier to keep similar questions together for later searches?
Peace

Although I almost packed my bags for the move to Europe when I heard Kawais are so cheap there.... Really disappointed this was (allegedly) a mistype.

Thanks! Have you made a decision then? I decided that I just could not afford an ES6 - with the other accessories I need to purchase (gig bag, keyboard amp, etc) I cannot afford it and I really loved the P155 and know I'll be happy with it. I got it from Musician's Friends for $959.00...

How on earth did you do that? It's selling for $1200 on Musician's Friend.

sorry to jump in and answer a question meant for someone else but I had read this on another thread here; there's apparently a music123 coupon for $200 off yamahas (i know music123 and musicians friend are one and the same now but i guess they still have their site up) So you put the P155 in the cart, apply the $200 coupon (code on the other thread here) and then call musicians friend who evidently will match that as well as beat it so i guess that's what gets it down to the $959.

On a side question i was wondering about the yamaha F3 pedal which alot of people say is superior to the F4; well it is twice the price, but when i looked at some reviews a few people said it was squeaky which makes me wonder if the M-Audio SP-2 pedal (amazon 20 bucks) is perhaps a better choice than either of the yamaha pedals..??

Sorry chaps, I should have perhaps said approximately 15% less than the P155, which I believe is 85% of the cost.

I have corrected my post to avoid further confusion.

Cheers,
James
x

What the?!
In Europe the P155 is sold for about 1400 Euros. And that´s at the big Yamaha dealers! Against the current exchange rate that would be almost exactly
$2000 (!!!!)

(it´s not as if we earn in Euros what you guys earn in Dollars - at least I think not).
Does Yamaha have any Europe related issues or what?

Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.

Prices are often much higher in Europe. Paying almost 20% value added tax, plus more expensive retail overhead, etc. leads to higher prices.

Look at the bright side:

The P155 comes with an international power adaptor
You can buy it n the US for the equivalent of 665 euros
Airfare to New York is around 350 euros if you shop around.
That still leaves you with 385 euros for excess baggage charges, lunch and a day of sightseeing in New York to match the Dutch price.
Why buy in the Netherlands when you can get a free trip and weekend in New York included in the one you buy in the States?