Hi all!

I have seen that the new Kawai ES 6 is now available on the internet, but unfortunately it is not yet to be found in a store in my country. I have created this thread in the hope that those who already got one will share their first impressions.

As I want a digital piano as a night (or improper hours for making noise ) replacement for an acoustic piano, I am especially interested in the action and the main piano sound.

After reading some posts regarding issues with the black keys (lubrication problems, as they said) on the older model ES 4, I wonder if this aspect has been fixed with the new AHA4-F action.

Thanks!
Marius

I am very interested in that one too! I am seeking a second piano for my parents' summer house - for a moment it is still impossible to fit an acoustic one, so I'm looking for a digital. I have a Kawai at home and literally love it. ES 6 gives me both half-pedalling, which is not supported by Yamaha's entry level P85, and speakers built-in, not available in Yamaha CP33 series.

I am also very interested in the difference between AHA IV-E and AHA IV-F actions. It is quite obvious it is improved, but I wonder is the difference prominent for a casual player, or lies in the technical details (stability, consistency in production, and others).

It would also be great to know whether the sampling has been improved, or stayed the same throughout Kawai's range.

I hope James will have some experience in this one day

Thanks!
M.

I was recently looking for a digital keyboard and finally narrowed down to Roland FP-7 and a Kawai ES-6. I like both. Though the ES-6 felt much more simple and adequate for a beginner as far as piano playing goes. The salesrep told me that the difference between the ES4 and ES6 was that the ES4 was samples every 4th note and ES6 - every note. Also, the ES4 takes only two pedals; you can switch to a sostenuto or damper but the ES6 has a well built pedal stand with all three pedals on it. It would be nice if you could tell me what your few months of experience with an ES6 feels like. Thanks.

Irene, the salesperson you spoke to is indeed correct, starting with the ES6 (and now CL35, CA18, etc.), all new KAWAI digital piano instruments will utilise the 88-key sampling process. I gather that this feature is found on the Roland HP-207 (and possibly other HP instruments), so I expect it is present on the FP-7 also.

Regarding pedals, the ES6 includes a single sustain pedal, but is also compatible with the F-20 dual-pedal unit. Furthermore, a triple-pedal accessory is also available for its dedicated stand.

Mati, for some reason your queries managed to pass me by - my apologies! However to answer your questions (albeit somewhat belatedly), the improved AHA IV-F action offers a heavier touch in each playing range, which our researchers claim delivers greater stability than previous AHA IV actions.

As for the sampling query, I believe this has been addressed above - the ES6 uses new piano sounds that sample all 88 keys.

Kind regards,
James
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Thankyou James for your reply. I have one other concern: one of the reps at the roland store said that the Kawai keyboards have keys of wood and this is a good thing as well as a bad one: good because the feel may be better but bad because it is subjected to the usual problems of wood - with the weather the wood shrinks or expands and hence you get the issue of sticky keys. Is this the case for ES6 as well? Please let me know. I would appreciate the opinion from others as well.

Also, I noticed that the three pedal stand is not attached to the wooded stand, so if you can keep the keyboard at a certain height you could just get away with the three-pedal stand without buying the stand. All the pedals work really well.

Regarding wooden keys on a DP ...

Yes, wood absorbs moisture from the air in humid summer weather and releases moisture during the cold, dry winter. Swell and shrink.

But your signature says Alabama. Your winters are not that extreme, so I wouldn't worry about wooden keys. Not at all.

(You're not going to keep the DP in a damp basement are you? )

I second what L Horwinkle says.

All acoustic pianos used to have wooden keys (goodness knows whether the cheap ones still do), and some of those have survived well over a century of varying atmospheric conditions. The main manufacturers (like Yamaha and Kawai) have very well established quality control procedures and I expect that their wood supply is properly dried/seasoned.

Irene, certain KAWAI digital pianos do indeed utilise wooden keys, although this feature is typically reserved for premium instruments such as the 'Concert Artist' series and the MP8II. While it is true that small, complicated wooden action parts used in acoustic pianos are susceptible to shrinking and swelling often caused by extreme changes in humidity (a problem solved by composite action parts), I do not believe the use of wooden keys in a digital piano should be of any concern.

Regardless, the ES6,utilises KAWAI's plastic key keyboard, so this is really a moot point.

As for your stand/pedal query, below is a extract from the pedal assembly instructions:



You will see that the pedal board does in fact connect to the stand. So while it may be technically possible to connect the pedal unit to the ES6, I would strongly advise against doing so, as without the accompanying stand, the assembly would lack the necessary stability.

I hope this answers your questions.

Kind regards,
James
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Thanks L. Horwinkle, voxpops and James. This is a lot of help. I think I am looking forward to getting an ES6. I was concerned about the keys because I want to move to Seattle and Vancouver area or even Alberta - so then winters and humidity would be a problem. I think, after reading all your responses, I should be fine.

James, thanks for the clarification on the stand - I know I will have to get the stand now. That would mean a little more money though.

One other thing - do you know how I could contact a repair place around here so I could check out the refurbished or slightly less priced ES6 items (due to maybe a damaged packaging or something like that)? I am a student and any discount would be really appreciated. What would your advice be on this?

Thanks again for your help.
Regards,

Irene

I'm interested in trying the ES6, as I found the ES4 to be expressive, but the action was a little light. Unfortunately, the feature set on the MP5 is a much better fit for me.

Roland and Yamaha tend to use different actions and sound engines in different lines and models so they are not as directly comparable and upgrading one doesn't instantly obsolete a large portion of their products. Where they are comparable (e.g. RD-300/RD-700) they tend to upgrade them at the same time. Kawai uses the same action and sound engine in different models and across product lines, changing the form factor and feature set around them. That means when one gets a significant upgrade, all the rest which shared the same technology instantly become obsolete, which can't be good for sales. Last time it took a year for the upgraded sound engine in the MP5 to make it into the MP8II. I'm wondering how long it will take to see the MP5 and MP8 upgraded this time. Maybe they have very limited resources for engineering, retooling and QA and can only work on one or two products at a time, or maybe they just don't much money from them.

It may be worthwhile contacting KAWAI dealers to ask if they would be prepared to sell a demonstration model for a reduced price, however other than this rather obvious suggestion, I'm afraid I do not have any further advice.

Kind regards,
James
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Thanks James. One other thing - do we need to have "escapement"? Does ES6 have it?

I really appreciate all your help.

Regards,

Irene

Irene, the AHA IV-F action that the ES6 uses does not feature any kind of 'escapement' simulation.

Do we need it? That's a good question. I believe Roland is currently the only manufacturer that offers this feature in their digital piano instruments, however in the constant race to produce the most realistic piano action, I fully expect both Yamaha and KAWAI to add escapement to their respective action technologies in the future.

Will the average pianist benefit from such a feature? Possibly. Would they miss it if it wasn't there? Probably not.

Cheers,
James
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Thanks James. I did find a dealer who has a demo one for less. Won't quote a price over the phone though! Will go over and see it.

Regards,

Irene