Korg D1 vs Kawai ES110

[p19978]

This is a follow up to a thread from pre-virus days... was in the market for a $500 stage piano for a jazz player. The only use will be as a gigging piano.

 

Budget has expanded and I'm down to the Korg D1 vs the Kawai ES110.

 

Opinions please (and I am aware of the products differences... weight, etc). Looking for opinions on keybed and tone more than anything else.

 

Would love to hear from folks who have played both, if possible.

[The Piano Man]

I have played both. Owned the D1 for about 6 months. Played the ES110 in my local music store for just about 20 minutes.

 

Keybed

- in my view, Korg wins this one. The D1"s RH3 is such a solid action. I really like it. Nice medium weighting to it. The Kawai was surprisingly nice for being so light but just didn"t quite feel as substantial. (You know the spec difference in weight, so not too surprising)

 

Tone

- I preferred the Kawai. Just had more depth of tone. When I had the D1, I midi"d it up to a sound module. The internal sounds are very basic sounding. Kawai just sounded more like a real piano.

 

I ended up selling the D1. Haven"t bought a replacement yet but the Kawai ES110 is in the running. Another alternative is the Korg B2. It has improved piano sounds over the D1 but it has an inferior keyboard action.

 

Your mileage may vary! I wonder if there are any online dealers that could send you both to try and then refund whatever one you don"t want. You would probably need to cover the cost of both initially, of course.

[marczellm]

This is a follow up to a thread from pre-virus days...

For a moment there I thought the original thread is older than the Virus synth.

[ElmerJFudd]

Definitely another "have to play it to decide" situation. The D1 has some nice stock sounds, especially the EPs. Do you prefer the Korg action to the Kawai? I don't typically choose the Korg RH3 for acoustic piano playing (like on the original SV1, I haven't played an SV2). Although, the RH3 feels nice on EPs on the SV1. At this price point, which is a factor, I'd really want to A/B the two keyboards - hands on and see how the action interacts with the sounds. Are the internal speakers part of making your choice? how it sounds in headphones? and your amp/pa speaker.? All factors.

 

Lots of choices in this entry level digital piano arena these days. - if the shops are open, go play them, GC, Sam Ash etc. do stock these family priced models. Wash your hands after playing!

[Biggles]

Why are you limiting your choices?

 

I was in the market for a piano in this price range so tried:-

 

Korg B2

Korg D1

Roland FP 30

Yamaha P125

Kawai ES110

 

Keybed

 

B2 keybed poor

D1 keybed OK

FP30 best keyboard feel

P125 second best keyboard feel

ES110 had a very noisy action which I have put down a a faulty unit

 

Tones especially piano and DP in order of my preference

 

Yamaha

Roland

Korg

 

Do take note of connectivity and not all have inbuilt amp and speakers

[Stokely]

These two are my two top contenders, with the p125 being a darkhorse mainly due to it's IOS capabilities (which I'd need to read the fine details on)--if it can indeed act as an IOS audio and midi interface that is a really powerful feature.

 

Sucks not to be able to try them out right now. I've never played the es110 and can only vaguely remember the Kronos action. My vendor of choice (proaudiostar) does not carry the es110 and is out of stock on the D1 with, I'm told, no new stock anytime soon.

 

I'd be primarily looking for a controller for software pianos; 2nd would be potential gigging, 3rd being for quick practice (which is easily done already by keeping Logic pro running).

[Biggles]

I ended up buying the Yamaha P121 since portability was a main requirement of mine and 73 keys is enough for my present requirements.

 

I have it connect to my iPad via a genuine Apple Camera Adaptor, this enables me to use the Yamaha Smart Pianist App which works very well, in it I can create a Favourite list of Registrations within which the splits, duals etc are incorporated.

 

All the other iPad apps that I have like ISEM, Korg Gadget, Galileo 2 work with no issues.

 

Hope this helps.

 

PS

Initially a Korg D1 was on my list but after playing one it moved from top spot to last place, the action and sounds of the others including the Casio S series is for me better than Korg"s coupled with the fact that the D1 does not have onboard amp or speakers.

 

I have also made use of Amazon"s free 30 day returns to test out kit.

[Stokely]

73 (or 76) keys is actually preferred for live at least, and studio as well...I don't do a lot of "real" piano playing, can't think of anything I ever play that needs that top octave! I was thinking about the studiologic 73-key controller but it's the tp100 action (and not the tp40 from the Grand) which I dislike. Good to know about the camera kit,that is what I use with my MODX.

 

Actions are just so subjective, the D1 on paper has the "best" action of all of the lower-priced ones but that doesn't mean anything if you try it and don't like it!

 

What scares me a little is that I'm getting more used to playing piano on my MODX7--which is quite possibly the lightest action I've ever played, I have very little control when playing piano on it. Need some weight, man! Going to check out the p121.

 

Edit: GHS action, which is...ok...on boards I've tried, though those were not the p121/125 and for all I know that could make a difference. My buddy is offering his MOXF8 to me at a great price, it's the same action so that's yet another option if I'm ok with GHS. Obviously that's a different beast, a lot bigger and with way more sounds so pros and cons.

[Adan]

imo Yamaha has gotten a big jump on the competition with its ios connectivity. If you have an iPhone and can afford $50 worth of apps you'll be playing sounds way better than anything else in the under-$1K price range, and it's easy to do. Furthermore, the GHS action on the P121/125 is my favorite in the cheap/lightweight digipiano category. But none of these actions are great.

[Biggles]

One more suggestion to check out on the keyboards on your list is the ease of changing voices.

 

On some it is a case of pressing and holding the function button with the right hand and then pressing one of the keybed keys to the far left that correspond to the Voice, the adjacent keys will be voiced for other instruments.

 

I found that this sucks.

 

Compare the keyboards on your list to a Yamaha P125 where you press one button ie Piano, press the same button again and it goes to the next Piano Voice plus the first light shows, press it again for the next Piano Voice and the second light shows etc. It is a single fingered action using just one hand, hence much easier to change the Voice during a performance.

 

I am not usually a fan of Yamaha, I much prefer Korg or Roland but hats off to Yamaha they have a great unit in their P125/121.

[Jazz+]

In an ideal world, I like a very light action set up on a Steinway D or a Yamaha CFX. Same on guitar - the lowest action possible, lightest gauge strings. As B.B. King said, "Why work so hard?" He used the lightest strings possible. On piano, I favor the lowest friction and lowest weight resistance as possible. I love the keys to "fly away" without a lot of effort. Thus I avoid repetitive stress injury and both physical and mental fatigue.

Personally, the FP30 feels like driving a Mac Truck to me when I solo. I like to burn and "substantial" of "heavier" sounds like an impediment on any piano to me.