Kawai es7, maybe?

[aslak]

Some months ago I bought a Casio px 150 digital piano for silent practise, well knowing that this model is one of the lower end digitals in the marked. For practising purpose it works, in a way. But I see now that playing a digital is more fun and conveniant than I expected, and an upgrade to a better instrument is desired.

My px 150 sounds relatively okay with headphones, but I don't like the action. It's too light, and the keys fall quite hard into the keybed compared to my acoustic, and that is hard to my fingers. On my next piano I also want a better sound.

When I look at the internet, it seems like Kawai es7 is a great instrument and good value for the money. To try one I have to travel several hours since no dealer nearby have chosen to expose it in their shops at the moment. I consider to buy one without trying it first.

Do some of you have experience with this instrument? Goods and bads? What do you think about the action?

I play most classical, easy to intermediate level.

Thanks in advance for answers  
Aslak

[hfmadopter]

I wish I had more for you but I have not played the ES7. I own the Kawai MP6 and have played a lot of different model Casio pianos and can say that there is no comparison in key weight and overall feel of the keys between the MP6 and all the Casios I've played. I have not played a Casio released in the last 12 months though, nor the ES7. Since the ES7 is a newer model than my MP6 I would like to think that Kawai has improved the experience of playing their keyboard all the more. I know that it has a later action and Kawai absolutely doesn't put junky action in their digital piano/keyboards.

Best of luck deciding !

[aslak]

Thanks for reply, hfm.
I called a dealer today, and he would take it in to his shop so I can try it before
I decide. That's good service  
Aslak

[hfmadopter]

Thanks for reply, hfm.
I called a dealer today, and he would take it in to his shop so I can try it before
I decide. That's good service  
Aslak

That's great, sounds like a good dealer !

[ryankmfdm]

 I took a piano class at school last quarter, and I'll say that I much prefer the action on my Korg to that of the Kawais we were using in class, whose was much lighter. Unfortunately, I'm not even sure which models we were using. Just throwing that out there, though.

[aslak]

I'll have that in mind when I try it out.

[aslak]

Today I bought the es7. After playing it some hours this evening I find it very pleasant. The keys are still a bit light compared to most acoustics, and shallower into the keybed than I am used to. But they are very expressive and feels good to my fingers. I think the pianosounds loose some of their natural acoustic sound when playing forte, but generally the sound is very nice. So far, very happy.

[hfmadopter]

Today I bought the es7. After playing it some hours this evening I find it very pleasant. The keys are still a bit light compared to most acoustics, and shallower into the keybed than I am used to. But they are very expressive and feels good to my fingers. I think the pianosounds loose some of their natural acoustic sound when playing forte, but generally the sound is very nice. So far, very happy.

Yes the forte thing can happen, however you are a short ways into this piano and I can only suggest two things to you. One is really look through your manual and see all of the options on key setup. i know that the MP6 goes really in depth on that, endless the more you dig the more you will find if it's similar to the MP 6. The second thing is turn the piano up, yes I know---- just try it and then learn to play it toned down by you. If you don't like that then turn it back down. The forte should be more realistic then though. One more thing, I actually turned the dynamics down on my MP6 to around level 6 or7, down from 10 and also slowed the velocity or reaction if you will, to the keys. I did that in an effort to make it express similarly to my grand piano. It took me two weeks to get it where I wanted it. It wasn't even close out of the box. Then over a period of a year I enhanced EQ, tone etc.

[aslak]

Oh yes.The more I play it, the more I like it. There is a ton of settings that can be changed. It's only a challenge to find out how. A simple thing as changing the touch responce from normal to heavy made a big difference to me. I also changed the tone from normal to bright. It made a big difference too. And I like the touch of the keys better and better. Even if they are shallow, they feel quite much like a real piano. I get more and more convinsed that this is a great instrument.

[hfmadopter]

Oh yes.The more I play it, the more I like it. There is a ton of settings that can be changed. It's only a challenge to find out how. A simple thing as changing the touch responce from normal to heavy made a big difference to me. I also changed the tone from normal to bright. It made a big difference too. And I like the touch of the keys better and better. Even if they are shallow, they feel quite much like a real piano. I get more and more convinsed that this is a great instrument.

I'm glad it's working out for you, congratulations ! My MP6 is not without some compromise but all in all it's so expressive and lets me express my music in ways that I could never tune my grand to do. Kawai makes great feeling keys IMO, considering it's digital by key feel and actual touch you wouldn't know it . I can switch between the grand and the MP6 and feel shocked by the small difference. In my case the grand is actually lighter.