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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 114
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I checked the DEMO ES7.
It seems that the piano sounds Concert Grand, Studio and EP are the same as MP6.
Could you confirm, James?
ES7 is a great digital piano. I'm sure it will be a great success.
I'd be curious to see how the 3 sensors are positioned in RH2.
If there were any of the images (as per Casio)
it would be interesting
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 19,097
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IMOL, yes the main MP6 sounds form the basis of the ES7's sounds. However the ES7 uses a new, more powerful DSP, with redeveloped reverb, effects, amp sim, resonances etc. and higher spec DACs, so the overall sound quality should be superior to the MP6.
The RH2 action's triple-sensor switch is located in the same position as for the original RH action.
Cheers,
James
x
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3
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I sure hope the new action will not be clicky or noisy? A few people have reported on youtube (sometimes in comments) about clicking sound from a few keys on MP6 Kawai MP6 key click noiseParticularly his F5 key is clicky. It is even worse on ES6 according to comments in German here Testbericht Kawai ES6 Digital Piano But ES6 used the AHA IV-F action that I guess is cheaper than RH II used in the ES7 model. Most other keybed even the best from other brands seem to be a lot noisier overall (high thump noise when the keys get hit even on Rolands top model PHA III). You can clearly hear them here Zelda Link's awakening- Mabe village (sur roland hp 507) and here petite compo sur roland hp 507 That is one reason why i am so interested in KAWAI ES7.  Another is that I like light relatively firm and pianolike keys. I am looking for a lightweight portable Midi master keyboard that is piano like so the ES7 is a perfect fit. The stand look good and i do want pedals. The ES7 has it as options. Also it is probably not too expensive I hope. Many seem to like the RH I keys in MP6 (predecessor keys to RH II) more than your RM3 Grand (MP10) keys. Here is just one of these guys Review: Kawai MP6 Stage PianoNote that he also says the keys feel better than Yamaha ones he has tried. I have heard another reviewer that said he really liked the MP6 keys very much. So as long as the quality is good enough (no issues) I will probably buy the ES7.
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Joined: Dec 2009
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Looks like the ES7 is going to win many new friends for Kawai. Seems like a very well conceived upgrade to me.
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Joined: Sep 2007
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Good Keys, I can appreciate your concerns about clicking keys. My Nord Electro has a very loud, clicking/creaking keyboard action. This is perhaps to be expected given the board's light weight, however it can be a little off-putting when playing at low volume in my room. That said, I honestly don't believe the Kawai actions have a problem with clicking keys. Of course, you may read the odd negative report, or stumble upon a YouTube video that highlights an issue, however the same could be said for all manufacturer's instruments. If a key does develop a click over time, it's usually due to a lack of grease, and this is a simple job for a technician to resolve. Generally speaking, however, the Kawai actions are quiet and reliable. By the way, thanks for posting the MP6 review on YouTube - it's always interesting for me to watch folks reviewing their instruments and explaining the motivation for a purchase. I thought the guy could have perhaps gone into greater detail about the various settings to adjust the sound (Virtual Technician, effects, reverb, amp sim, etc.), but perhaps he hadn't gotten stuck into those features when the video was made? Oh, I think I almost got a name check too.  Anyway, to return to the ES7, I'm very positive about this new model - there's so much to like about it: really great action, excellent sounds, lots of features, etc. And of course, the manual is a work of art. Cheers, James x
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Joined: Dec 2009
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And of course, the manual is a work of art. Yes. It. Is. A masterpiece. I'm keeping my copy so my descendants can take it along to a future series of the Antiques Roadshow.
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Joined: Sep 2007
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And of course, the manual is a work of art. Yes. It. Is. Well, fingers and toes crossed for this year's International Owner's Manual Awards. The ES7 documentation is nominated along with the Panasonic MK-5076 and Zanussi ZWH6160P. Suffice to say it's a tough year.
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Joined: Dec 2009
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Well, fingers and toes crossed for this year's International Owner's Manual Awards. The ES7 documentation is nominated along with the Panasonic MK-5076 and Zanussi ZWH6160P. Suffice to say it's a tough year. Oh yeah, I forgot about the Zanussi. Great little manual that. I think the Karcher 110 bar pressure washer was a worthy effort too - the way it talks about those different nozzles is very insightful. But I still think you'll shade them James.
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 14
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Well, I'm considering this piano, but I don't know when it will be available in my country, so if someone has tested the ES7, or will test it in the near future, I would appreciate some feedback about the sound (quality, effects and so on) the feel (touch) and its functions.
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,552
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It will feature the same action (with an extra sensor for quick repetition) and same basic sounds (with improved processing) as the MP6, which is a much beloved piano. As far as I know no one here has tested one yet, but based on what we know about it, we can be pretty confident that it will be a winner.
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3
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Good Keys, I can appreciate your concerns about clicking keys. My Nord Electro has a very loud, clicking/creaking keyboard action. This is perhaps to be expected given the board's light weight, however it can be a little off-putting when playing at low volume in my room. That said, I honestly don't believe the Kawai actions have a problem with clicking keys. Of course, you may read the odd negative report, or stumble upon a YouTube video that highlights an issue, however the same could be said for all manufacturer's instruments. If a key does develop a click over time, it's usually due to a lack of grease, and this is a simple job for a technician to resolve. Generally speaking, however, the Kawai actions are quiet and reliable. By the way, thanks for posting the MP6 review on YouTube - it's always interesting for me to watch folks reviewing their instruments and explaining the motivation for a purchase. I thought the guy could have perhaps gone into greater detail about the various settings to adjust the sound (Virtual Technician, effects, reverb, amp sim, etc.), but perhaps he hadn't gotten stuck into those features when the video was made? Oh, I think I almost got a name check too. Anyway, to return to the ES7, I'm very positive about this new model - there's so much to like about it: really great action, excellent sounds, lots of features, etc. And of course, the manual is a work of art. Cheers, James x Thank you. Yes I think you are right about the grease. I have decided I do not want a Fatar keybed (found in Nord, Kurzweil and Numa keyboards i think). Interesting you have clicking/creaking experiences of your Nord. All keyboards seems to have it to some degree. Now I almost can't wait for the ES7 to be available here in Sweden. Please ship it to Thomann (reseller) as soon as possible. The ES7 just must be a BIG Success. And yes the guy making the MP6 review must be talking about you Kawai James although he doesn't really say your "name". I had to look at you playing on your Nord Electro 3 with your band. Clicked your link "occasional rare groove player". I must say I am impressed of the whole band. I really like your music. Especially the quality of the sounds from your instruments and how you all perform. I bet somebody will accuse me of being a Kawai representative now. These things tend to happen to me with all these trolls out there.
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 4,115
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Good keys sounds like a Kawai shill to me
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,552
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I bet somebody will accuse me of being a Kawai representative now. These things tend to happen to me with all these trolls out there. Haha, it's like I said to that one knucklehead a few days ago: accusations (and maybe the event of) someone being a shill are very common in the piano forum, not so common here. I guess because retailers are more promiscuous, selling lots of brands of digital products at the same time? Dunno.
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 19,097
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Good Keys, thank you for the compliment about the band's playing. That live gig was pretty good fun, with a great atmosphere...although I made quite a few mistakes throughout! I'll pass on your comments to the other chaps in the band too - who are all Yamaha employees, by the way. Cheers, James (in transit in Singapore) x
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Joined: Dec 2009
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Cheers,
James (in transit in Singapore)
x India awaits. You'll soon be "elbows on knees" for hours on end so take a good book into the toilet James. A certain part of your anatomy might resemble the Japanese flag in a few day's time. I'm a glass half-empty kind of guy, in case you were wondering. Cheers, Steve
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Joined: Aug 2009
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Wouldn't the graded action be an improvement also. I don't think my ES6s' action is graded. Are the acoustic piano's set of samples different or the same? I have always liked my ES6.
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 45
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I wish they'd put some decent demos of the different piano samples on the website. Are the other voices from different pianos or modifications of the concert grand? I don't love the standard Kawai Grand sound from what I've heard so far, it's what I'd describe as "clinical and clean".
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Joined: Apr 2007
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I'm sure it's graded in the same way as the RH action in the MP6. The AWA PRO and RM3 actions divide the keyboard into four zones with a weight for each. I suspect RH has the same.
There are only a very few digital pianos with true grading (each of the 88 notes having a different weight).
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,675
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Tom Love recently wrote an insightful blog post detailing the main improvements to the ES7, here. Thanks! From the insightful blog post: Let’s get a little “techie†for a moment, shall we?Uh oh. Kawai R&D engineers have been working on this new TG for a while and the ES7 is the first Kawai instrument to utilize it. This new TG has a lot of horsepower. For instance, the older ES6 had 192-note polyphony, achieved by using two TG’s “slaved†together. The new TG offers 256-note polyphony all by itself. Polyphony is a reference to how many notes an instrument can play simultaneously. Thus, the new ES7 is able to handle a lot more notes being played at once, so note dropout in a complex piece of music is much less of an issue.Is polyphony so important that it needs to be mentioned first? It's not like everyone's complaining about Kawais dropping notes. Another major improvement comes in a dramatic increase in DSP processing power. Having more processor power allowed Kawai engineers to completely rewrite the algorithms for the various DSP effects, such as chorus, echo and rotary speaker, and reverbs, greatly enhancing and expanding the ES7’s effects and reverbs.I do like a nice reverb. Though I wish he had mentioned sympathetic resonance here. Other important technical improvements include improved digital to audio converters (DACs). This enhances the quality of the sound coming from the speakers and headphones, and through the audio outputs. I'm not sure I'd make a blanket statement like this. The audibility of modern DAC quality differences is debatable. It's not like they're replacing a 12 bitter or something. Hi res DACs are so cheap there's no reason not to throw half-way decent ones in there. The ES7’s key action now has a 3-sensor system, which gives the TG better key sensing capability and faster note repetition.This is the real news IMO. Though I'm not sure what took Kawai so long to catch up to Casio. Okay, enough tech talk.Huh? What about the elephant in the room (tiny piano sample sets)? *sigh*
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