ok - doing it now.

That and checking prices.

Hey James, so are you implying the Kawai ES7 is an inferior offering to the FP-7F?

The ES7 was not announced when I wrote that post - hence prefacing the statement with 'currently'.

Cheers,
James
x

Hehe. I figured it was going to be something like that. You're a box full of surprises... now, can I bother to ask your opinion of which of these units is best, according to your own personal judgement?

Well, I like the FP-7F, however I prefer the greater flexibility of the ES7.

Cheers,
James
x

Last question: what do you mean with flexibility? flexibility in what?

I believe the ES7 offers rather more control over parameters and settings than the FP-7F, which I felt was a little 'dumbed down'.

For example, compare the EP sounds of the two models. I seem to recall that the Roland's Rhodes has a tremolo effect applied automatically, with no option to adjust or turn it off. The Kawai on the other hand allows effects to be selected and adjusted manually, and then enhanced with the amp sim etc.

Again, I think they're both great boards, however in my personal opinion, the Kawai is superior.

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks for your insight James. Sometime ago I was debating to buy whether the ES7 or the FP-7F. I was very curious about Roland's superNATURAL modelling thing, which reputedly is superior to Kawai's sample and tone generators. Admittedly, even if the ES7 uses the same samples as the Kawai MP6 –which I found lacking in the piano department–, its tone generator gives it (ES7) a more than subtle advantage in pianistic realism. It feels alive, with a little imagination from your part. Only con is that some reverb presets feel kind of over the top.

I will never be able to test the FP-7F to the ES7 side by side, so I'm interested in other people's opinions on this, including that of our dearest Kawai James.

I certainly see your point and found a couple of little features or controls strangely absent, however I think Roland's features are combined in a different way. Plus, the shear quantity of features seems meant to appeal and draw a crazy, wide range of customers. For example, having a mic input is certainly unusual, but very cool for a few customers.

You know, I'd forgotten the mic input was even there - never used it. I suppose there are a small number of people who will make use of the vocal harmonizer, but it does seem like something of a gimmick.

I've not played the ES-7 - and by all accounts it is a great board - but if I had to choose between the FP-7F and the MP6 on piano sound and connection alone, I would have to pick the Roland. That said, I think the EPs on the FP are poor - in fact I dislike them quite intensely, whereas the MP's are excellent. If the ES-7 has EPs anywhere near as good as the MP's then, along with its improved piano processing and action, it would make the choice far more difficult. I wouldn't take the FP-7F on a band gig without bringing along something like the Nord Electro for EPs, whereas I wouldn't think twice about using the MP (and presumably the ES-7) on its own.

The built-in speakers on the FP (topic of thread) are adequate, but can distort with, say, a LH acoustic bass patch selected along with acoustic piano. I wonder how well the ES-7 handles this combination.

As a final thought, if I want to play solo acoustic piano, I will nearly always gravitate to the Roland rather than the Kawai because it is such an expressive instrument, but again, the ES-7 may have eradicated the MP6's AP shortcomings. I wish there was one to test out somewhere near here.