Here's an unusual question.

I've called and emailed every shop in town, called Kawai US and emailed them, but no luck.

Does anyone own a Kawai MP6, lives close to DC, and would be willing to let me try the board?

knotty, may I ask you to clarify what you mean by "but no luck" after emailing Kawai US?

Kind regards,
James
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I'm waiting for an email on Kawai back.
I did call them, the lady was very nice, but she could only point me to the dealer I had called. That dealer said they might not have it for a long time. The dealer also said they'd call me back to confirm. But nothing. I was redirected to an "expert" at Kawai who wasn't there, but I think the intent was to convince me that the MP is better than the competition.

I just want to try it

Because now I went back to the local shop and checked out the RD300NX, and in fact, I'm with Dave F. I'm underwhelmed. The CP50 he recommends seems really good. But on paper and from reviews, the MP6 is clearly up there.

I'm emailing some stores in Baltimore, expanding my search. Someone's bound to be helpful.

btw, I called Kawai on Monday, along with the local shop, and just sent them an email yesterday. So I'm clearly not being super patient. Perhaps Kawai via email will be more helpful than phone.
At the same time, if the board is not there, it's not there

I'm being picky with the keyboard. I say the RD is not great. I thought the keyboard was slow compared to the yamaha. I also found the Yamaha's keybed superior. The CP5 has an even better feel, much better than the RD700. They felt like real keys to me.
All that said, the only thing that really matters is that I can play 3 hours with short breaks and not have pain. In the heat of things, I don't think I'll be paying attention to the keybed...

If someone in the area's got one, then maybe I can try it out. Seems like on-line, people have them ready to ship.

Well, still no luck finding this board. I've called 150 miles radius. That's about as far as I'm willing to drive.

The only thing I'm told is "Kawai has the same action on all their keyboards so why don't you come try another model" (that's the dealer speking).

I could look for an online store with a good return policy and take a chance ...

This is not entirely correct. The MP6 utilises the 'RH with let-off' keyboard action, which is currently found in the following Kawai DPs:

- CP119
- CN33
- CN43
- CS3

Other Kawai DPs utilise different keyboard actions, and therefore will not share the same 'feel' as the MP6.

Kind regards,
James
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yep that sounds like your average I have no idea what a digital piano is dealer.

I had the same problem with the mp6 and the roland fp7f. So I did the next best thing. Found their console counterparts. The cn33 and the hp307.

will any of these Kawais have the same piano sample and a line-out ?

knotty, all of the instruments I listed previously utilise 'Progressive Harmonic Imaging' sound technology.

However, unofficially, you may also wish to read dewster's DPBSD reviews of the MP6 and CN33 for some interesting comparisons.

Kind regards,
James
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