Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai MP10 compared to FP-7F (actions and AP sounds)

Congrats Rimmer - I shall look forward to reading your review!

Cheers,
James
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Thx James. Hopefully it'll be as I'm expecting. Been a confusing road getting to the point of making my decision. It was partly based on company discount from a shop the studio uses. I was hoping they did Kawai as the MP10 was becoming very attractive. Sadly not.. Everyone has been very helpful here. It's one of the best Internet music forums I've joined. Well done to everyone for that!!!

After going through a lot of audio clips from the HP307 and CA93 I came to a very annoying conclusion. I think I like the tonal character of the Kawai better because it's more held back and clinical. But at the same time it sounds a bit dead, especially in the decay. The Roland has much more life and the decay is brilliant but the tonal character seems a bit over the top, like it's trying to sound too cool

But in the end I thought "just make a decision, damnit!" and decided to stay with the Roland order. FP-7F arriving in end of November if I'm not changing my mind again :-P I'm going to try to stay away from all audio demos and just try it out myself.

I've had good luck with Roland gear, tinybox. I'm sure you'll enjoy it; they do a good job. This time I went with Kawai, and that has also meant happiness.

These buying decisions are certainly nerve-wracking.

tinybox, you're right, at some point a decision has to be taken! I'm sure once you have the Roland at home you will have enough time to play it and then also get used to the sound, and you will be very happy! There will be no buyers regret! So now that you've made a decision don't look back, you should look forward for your new baby to arrive soon!! Good luck!

Tinybox said: "After going through a lot of audio clips from the HP307 and CA93 I came to a very annoying conclusion. I think I like the tonal character of the Kawai better because it's more held back and clinical. But at the same time it sounds a bit dead, especially in the decay. The Roland has much more life and the decay is brilliant but the tonal character seems a bit over the top, like it's trying to sound too cool "

That nails it exactly for me, well said ! I agree with every word - indeed the Kawai is a nice classical rounded sound, but too clean and 'short' to be really natural. And the Roland is too much 'Super' in the Super Natural, which makes it dynamic, but also a bit too processed and over the top.

So either way: neither is perfect, which is exactly what makes the purchase decision so damn difficult. You don't know what you would prefer - over a longer period of time - . You might find out that you can live with the bit static , but classical sound of the Kawai, or you might find out that SN would have fit you better despite the 'over-saturated' sound.You simply don't know , cause you can't try them out both for a long period of time. I , for one, really don't know if I will become more annoyed by the 'obvious sampled' sound of the Kawai, or the 'obvious processed' sound of the Roland after a while. Tough choice...

Now, in that case where I could not decide between the sounds I would consider a software sound as a possible alternative.

So the action and the pedals and the sound system would decide.
And of course the cost.

Also so far I know, the CA93 cannot been disassembled. This might also be a factor.

As someone who prefers acoustic pianos, the processed sound of Rolands has always worn on me quickly. The sounds seem very unnatural. When I had the G8 with ARX2, I found the EPs to be quite sterile sounding. To each their own, but I'm not overly impressed with any DP out there, so for occasional practice I'd rather go with an action I like and a sound that doesn't grate on me.

Ok, I'm laughing at myself now... but I think I have changed my mind and will go with the MP10 Here's my reasons:

- Price -
I just saw that Thomann.de will sell the MP10 for 2100 Euros (I thought it would cost more), being just slightly above the FP-7F + stand, with the Roland 3-pedal they are probably almost the same price. Stand and 2-pedal are included with the Kawai if I understand things correctly.

- AP Sound -
It's really an even fight in this.

- Action -
MP10 wins for me if it's the same as CA93, which it is

- Extra features (outside my main priorities AP and action) -
The FP-7F's extra features are pointless for me, even the speaker since it's going to suck (compared to a good sound system).

The MP10's extra features is REAL wave recording to USB stick, which FP7F seem to miss. Also some better EP's that might be more worth it than a very limited looper and harmony effects in the FP7F.

--

tinybox, the MP10 is listed at 1999 Euros for me, although that's probably because I am entering the site through the UK flag.



The 2-pedal unit is included, however a stand is not.

Cheers,
James
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Hi James,

Whops, I read that wrong. It's a heavy duty rack mounted ON-TOP. Ok, never mind that ;-)

How would you suggest I protect the MP10 from two crazy kids running around bumping into things? Does Kawai have a stand made to survive gigs in drunk-crowded pubs?

tinybox,

I'm afraid Kawai does not manufacture keyboard stands.

I believe there are a handful of separate threads here that discuss sturdy keyboard stands, so I recommend having a scan through other user's suggestions.

I use a nice solid stand at home (I forget the name, but it's from a German manufacturer) with legs that fold in on itself. I much prefer this to any X-stands that I've used, which in my experience tend to be a little wobbly, cramp your leg-room, and hamper access to pedals.

Cheers,
James
x

EDIT: Ah, found it - this is the stand I have at home.

Four empty beer boxes should do it ...

SCNR

Quik Lok WS-550

I use it with an MP8 - bombproof!

Perhaps K&M 18810 , or K&M 18810 set (with additional arms for second keyboard) ?

Thanks for the suggestions.

The Quick Lok WS-550 looks interesting but I cannot find anywhere to order it (I'm in Sweden).

The K&M 18810 looks good but it holds 30kg less than 18953.

The K&M 18953 seems to be the sanest choice right now.

EDIT: Found the answer to a question I had so I removed it

new mp10 video on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6APMOjekYgg

Great!!

At least it's not in German this time.

Er, Oh......

Around 2:00 in Grand Piano; second high lead note ; ziffy noise is back ! I listened to the H1080 version on YouTube. Don't know now if it's the internet compression again, or that there is really something going on when notes are hit very hard (this second note I mean is played way to loud by the demonstrator, but clearly demonstrates the ziff-noise attack problem). I didn't notice any problem on the recently uploaded WAV demo's by Kawai, so I still hope it's not in the MP, but a compression flaw of online formats. Or in the MP10 recording to USB , if that is what they used for this demo. That is also a possibility !

FP7F / MP10/ FP7F /MP10...can't decided and these internet demo's don't help a thing...still no FP7F in the shop (or MP10 for that matter ;-(

It sounds ok. The decay seemed really artificial, much more than the SN stuff I'm used to playing and hearing. It is however, a fantastic looking instrument. I love that nice touch with the Kawai name placed in the same place as on real grand pianos. BTW, what's with the weight??? Why is it 70lbs!?