I have the predecessor to the ES6; the ES4. I loved it so much that when I bought my MP6 I kept it. If I do a "pure" piano gig the ES4 is just fine. Nobody but me realizes the ES4 is a generation back. I have had my ES4 for about 4 years and had no problems. That is why I like Kawai. the stuff works and is very reliable.

I hope you love your ES6 as much as I love my ES4 and my newly acquired MP6.

So you now love your mp6? That is good to hear. I read all your reviews, thanks btw, and it seems like I'll have to save up and purchase one also.

FrankDaddy, if you ever find the time to do a proper recording of the output of the MP6 , please don't hold back. We're all waiting for some 'real' sound demo's to appear, cause the MP3's on the Kawai site tell us nothing (other than some processing artifacts). By the way; I'm talking about the Acoustic piano programs in this regard. Some hard playing in the Mid-key ranges would tell me enough...

Thanks

I be happy to do that. It won't be anything fancy. I will output as a WAV file. That will give more detail than using MP3. this may take about a week to post. I will let you know when I am finished.

Thanks, FrankDaddy. If you could include a few sustained notes and some variations in dynamics, that'd be great. I'd also love to hear the Rhodes Wurli and organs - if you've time...

Cool. That's recording the actual stereo output of the MP6 itself right?


Cheers. Rimmer

Kawai James,

How close is the sample sound of the MP10 to the RX-7 Grand piano? I'm really into the sound of the RX-7 lately (David Nevue, Joe Bongiorno, etc.)...

Earlier in this thread the subject of providing the RM3 action in a MIDI controller board was raised and it was quickly poo-pood under the assumption that it would not sell. Well, I wish Kawai would take that risk and be proven incorrect. The market for a top-end action in a MIDI controller is WIDE open. The Studiologic NUMA was sooooo close but their action is so NON-piano like that it just fails miserably. Nothing else looks or feels like a real piano key surface.

So what I'm looking at here is buying the MP10 only for its action and $2500 seems a little pricey which brings me back to my first question - if I do get this piano with the intention of putting to waste everything internal to it, how close is the piano sound to the RX-7? If it's pretty close, then maybe I'll get a little more for my money.

Thanks James!
Curt

Its pretty close ... you would have a difficult time telling if it was recorded.
I have a fairly high opinion of the MP10 from the one time I played it. I would rate it right up there with the Roland and Yamaha and perhaps slightly better then both in certain aspects.
As always you should really play and have a close listen to the piano yourself before you make any decision. There is no substitute for your own impressions of any board. It may well be quite difficult (or near impossible if you live in certain locations according to recent posts here) to demo a Kawai piano but I'd suggest that anyone in the market should at least try and give it a go to be fully informed before buying a new board.

I would be converting from a Roland RD-700GX to the Kawai. You see, it's not about the internal sounds with me at all (the SN made a huge improvement over the internal sounds of the RD but it still doesn't sound REAL to me - very V-Piano). I don't use them. I'm essentially looking to swap the Roland action for the Kawai and tossing everything else out.

I loved the concept of the NUMA board. Shiny black case, no knobs or mod levers. It was PERFECT! But that action... eek.

I have NO Kawai dealers in my area so I have to order the MP10 from Sweetwater and give it 30-day workout.

Curt

curt88, may I ask where you are based (state and city)?

Cheers,
James
x

I'm also very interested in the MP10 because I have read good things about the action (although I have not been able to play it myself). Not that I have any reason to think the MP10's sounds won't be excellent too, but the action is more important to me.

Any comments people may have regarding the action and how it compares to the action on other dps would be gratefully received.

Jackie Apple, the MP10 and CA93 share exactly the same keyboard action. Therefore if you are eager to play-test the MP10's action, I strongly recommend you to visit your local Kawai dealer and try the CA93.

Cheers,
James
x

Talking about M10 vs CA93, I read something about dual voice not present on MP10.
Is it true? May you kindly elaborate the issue or address me towards the posts where it is discussed?
TY

Deleted.

Qbert, please refer to this post.

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks James. That's exactly the same behavior of FP7.

Yes, I may go to Rose Morris in London but I'm still grateful for every little piece of information from the people on these boards (who are much better players than I am and have more experience to draw upon when making comparisons).

Thanks

FrankDaddy, any chance of an update now you've had the MP6 for a couple of weeks? How does it compare, tonally, to the ES4? Is the action a big improvement?

Hope to hear from you!

I have now ordered a Kawai MP10, it should arrive in the beginning of December. If nobody beats me to it I will upload some demos. Requests in the form of midi files sent to me are welcome from people with higher post count than me ;-)

Good morning chaps,

By popular request, one of my colleagues at Kawai Europe has posted some new WAV demos of the MP10:

http://www.razyboard.com/system/morethread-mp10-infos-kawai-122542-5966602-10.html#go_132400

Enjoy!

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks for the link James!

Personally I think it sounds quite good; I'm looking forward to trying one here in the next month or so.

Aaron

Very nice. James, can we have something very similar for the MP6, so the two can be compared more directly?

Thanks James :-) The Tine1 sounds soo much fatter than everything else I've heard from my original DP-candidate-list. The AP's also sounds great, like a sampled accoustic, not a DSP modeled sound

Is there any English demo video coming? I've sadly forgotten all my high-school german

The pianos definitely sound much much better than the MP5 (i was never able to try an MP8). Very good in fact!

But like voxpops I wonder if the MP6 will sound almost as good. I would never consider the MP10 due to the weight issue.

voxpops, I will have to ask if additional WAV demos can be created for the MP6 too. However, I believe these new MP10 demos were recorded largely for the benefit of those who heard concerned by compression artefacts in the previous MP3 clips.

blueston, the MP5 and MP8II shared the same tone generator. Indeed, it should be noted that the MP8/MP8II were very well received by the industry...they were also a few kilos heavier than the MP10.

tinybox, I gather an English language video is being planned. If there is a specific feature that you would like to see highlighted, please do let me know.

Cheers,
James
x

James, thanks for asking.

What's so good about the MP10 demos is that they are structured so you can clearly hear the range of dynamics and the sustain characteristics. I'd love to be able to compare the same pieces played on the MP6.

Not to put words into tinybox's mouth, but I'd like some PHI vs UPHI compare/contrast video/audio clips. Could we please have more obscure clues / non-answers as to what this difference means to those of us out here in hard earned money consumer land? Think of it as a chance to hawk your wares and flaunt your technical prowess.

Dewster, since the only known place in the galaxy to try an MP10 or MP6 is the planet Magrathea, it's likely that we'll have to be content with the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything as our definitive clue to PHI and UPHI. And everyone knows that that is 42.

Right, James?

Right.

CA63/93 have UPHI, no need to go to the ends of the universe to give it a spin - correct? Or is this one of those "when is UPHI not UPHI" riddles of the Sphinx? James?