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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 46
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OP
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 46 |
My Wish list to improve an already great portable instrument- 1 Transpose 2 buttons one up/one down as with Technics,Tyros with the ES7 one has to stop playing to change 2 Microphone circuit with vol ctrl for us sole performers 3 More responsive sustain half pedalling 4 Built in power supply (that transformer is a pest) 5 All sockets on top and NOT in BLACK 6 Adjustable music rest..forward/back 7 Extra USB socket for music rest light
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,499
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Joined: Nov 2012
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I love my ES7. But in addition to your ES8 wishlist....
- the same HI-XL engine as MP7 and MP11 - maybe RM3II action or a new RH wooden key action perhaps - SK & EX Concert Grand and SK-5 Grand - better speakers - on par with a CP300 - expression pedal jack - better display screen. 128x64 would be much better than the 16x2
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 46
Full Member
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Posts: 46 |
Didn't want to appear too greedy,as the ES7 is moderately priced but would agree, Expression Pedal socket, Better speakers, and larger screen,would be great.but won't compromise on the 2 button transpose, that is a must . Thanks for commenting Jim
Last edited by jim tulloch; 03/01/15 06:03 AM.
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,268
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,268 |
I'd love to have: - repedaling (catching a released note) implemented for Rhodes piano as well. - consistent touch response for all instruments. Currently I have set heavy touch setting as default and it works for acoustic pianos but have to change it to normal for Rhodes pianos and it can't be remembered per voice so I have to scroll down to menus each time I switch from acoustic to electric pianos and back which is ridiculous. Or at least provide the ability to store touch response per each individual voice. Otherwise it's a great instrument and I love it. Won't refuse more acoustic piano and Rhodes varieties with higher sampling quality though
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,268
7000 Post Club Member
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7000 Post Club Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,268 |
Actually here's an idea. Please provide "dynamic range" setting as in Synthogy Ivory.
I'll explain why. Currently when you use normal touch setting, the piano voice is too jumpy in its sound volume. By switching to heavy, this is partially fixed since higher velocities are harder to obtain unless banging the keys but that's not a good solution because you lose the timbre variation. It would be better to be able to compress the dynamic range, which means you stay in normal and can reproduce easily both ppp and fff however the difference in sound volume is in a narrower dynamic range. Please note this isn't a simple compressor. A compressor acts dynamically on the sound and can change the volume of a single piano sample differently throughout its length. In contrast, the proposed dynamic range limiter will change the whole sample volume by a fixed amount to make all them fit the narrower range.
Last edited by CyberGene; 03/01/15 03:02 AM.
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 672
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The problems of heavy touch (let alone heavy+) are more evident when you change voicing and set it to, say, mellow2 or dynamic. You kill the sound. I've been playing with normal touch and Mellow Grand/ bright 2 voice for almmost 2 years and, though it's not easy to control, is not as harsh (jumpy) as Concert Grand os Studio. With these I set touch to heavy, but something tells me: fake! So each of us has to find his own compromise. I guess if most of us ended on the heavy touch is because it feels more relaxed to play, despite the sound being poorer. Normal is too sensitive, it makes you play with a lot of tension.
Learning piano from scratch since September, 2012. Kawai ES7.Kawai K-200
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,268
7000 Post Club Member
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7000 Post Club Member
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When I get home I will definitely try what you suggest: Mellow grand, bright 2 timbre, normal touch. Sounds promising, thanks!
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 537
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500 Post Club Member
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 537 |
My needs are quite different. No need for any change to the display or buttons on top; keep the look simple and classy. Piano black. No big bright display. This isn't a Casio, it's a stand-in for the nice acoustic grand that the venue doesn't have. If anything, make the branding on the back panel more subtle and refined. Real grand pianos don't have the brand and model numbers in huge letters on the audience side of the case. (Okay, Bosendorfers do, but that's a bit tacky.)
I like the internal speakers and keyboard quite well: certainly don't make any changes that would make it any heavier. Make the VPC2 as heavy as you like; but this is a gigging keyboard and I don't want to destroy my wrists getting it in and out of the car.
A dedicated output to a subwoofer that detects that a subwoofer has been added and creates a cross-over point to send more bass to the subwoofer, more mids and uppers to the internal speakers, would be way cool, and would increase the volume available for piano solo gigs without making the keyboard itself any heavier. Just a second loading-in trip. The Bose L1 Tower system does this when you plug in its bass unit. Heck, make a dedicated Kawai-branded subwoofer that sits under the piano, with a special cut-out to hold the sustain pedal in place, and my pedals will no longer wander about on stage!
For playing in more "folk" or "vintage jazz" style settings, the existing acoustic grand piano sounds can be a bit boomy, so I'd like a good mid-sized upright piano sound. Not every genre wants a nine-foot grand! Somehow the Rock and Modern pianos don't have the right character... too nasal and electronic sounding for what I'm after. And Kawai makes nice uprights, so you can sample one of those and keep it all in-house.
I would possibly use an expression pedal input for volume control, but that's not a deal killer. Technically, I could put that in the output chain. I like that the volume slider affects the internal speakers but not the outputs to the sound system, so don't change that. If people complain that they want to adjust their monitor sound with the slider, that;s fair enough. Maybe set a software toggle for that feature or add a second volume slider.
I used to hate external power transformers, but that was on keyboards that use wall warts. They're inconvenient when plugging several things into a power strip, and the power cords tended to be flimsy (looking at you, Korg SP200). The mid-cord transformer on the current Kawai ES7 is an excellent solution. It's not any harder to use than a regular power cord, and If it keeps the weight low and makes the piano cheaper to build for shipping to various countries, it's no biggie for me. But don't go to a wall-wart, flimsy cord solution. And my Korg SV1 with its internal power supply used to give me buzzing or humming through many sound systems, while the Kawai never has; so I'm not as sold on internal power supplies as I used to be.
I'd love to have an upgrade to the bass sounds to make them sound more like a person playing a bass. MOTU's MachFive software has a very cool acoustic bass simulation that includes more aggressive plucking sounds at louder volumes, and if you play two notes close together rapidly, it plucks the first note and then slides up the fingerboard to the second. A lot of fun to play. Probably takes a lot of memory. Memory is getting cheap.
To make up for the small display size (which I'd like to keep), make a control app with a logical interface for computers / tablets attached with USB or (better yet) over Wifi or Bluetooth. On-screen dials for the effects settings and amp simulations. The ability to set up a list of saved "registrations" for quick mid-set selection, and save them to the keyboard's registration settings if wanted. Korg has this (from computers over USB) for the SV1, and other than the bizarre interface for loading saved presets, it was quite useful.
And I would love to have more details on what the various sounds are supposed to be like... what exactly were you doing with "Rock Piano" and "Modern Piano"? Okay, maybe you can't actually say "Rhodes" and "Wurlitzer," but give us some guidance about which pianos come from what real instruments, and what tonal modifications make the sound "Studio" rather than "Concert."
But it would take a pretty good upgrade for me to bother selling my ES7 for the ES8, since it's a pretty darn solid piano already.
Rodney Sauer Kawai KG-2E • Kawai ES8 • Kawai ES920
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