Kawai ES520 / ES920. Have you heard?

[Konnector]

9 minutes ago, pinkfloydcramer said:

One aggravation- could anyone PLEASE tell me how to disable the cheesy auto-accompaniment? I just want drums only. So far I can't see how to achieve that and I need to spend time learning November Rain (ugh), rather than pouring through manuals. Thanks☺️ 

 

Page 41 in the manual.

 

Press the Part button and select between:

 

Drums     (Drums only)

B+Dr       (Bass and Drums)

All           (Bass, Drums & the rest of the band)

[pinkfloydcramer]

24 minutes ago, Konnector said:

 

Page 41 in the manual.

 

Press the Part button and select between:

 

Drums     (Drums only)

B+Dr       (Bass and Drums)

All           (Bass, Drums & the rest of the band)

Thank you!

[EVC]

2 hours ago, pinkfloydcramer said:

I'm trying out the ES920. At first I was a little disappointed because I was unrealistically expecting an MP11se

ES920 action is the same(ish) as MP7SE.

[Konnector]

I tried both the MP7SE and ES920 and if there was a difference in action, I didn't notice it. I went with the ES920 due to the fact it has decent built-in speakers. I just wanted something I could turn on and play without having to fire up everything else, or be confined to headphones. If I needed all the extra sounds and control the MP7SE offers, I probably would've gone that route, (or something similar) but I've got all that covered with other boards.

[pinkfloydcramer]

1 hour ago, EVC said:

ES920 action is the same(ish) as MP7SE.

So it's the same as the MP11SE, also? I'll be playing that one Monday and I'll be better able to compare. Been a couple weeks but I remember it feeling a little different. 

[EVC]

1 hour ago, pinkfloydcramer said:

So it's the same as the MP11SE, also? 

Nope, completely different.

https://kawaius.com/technology/wooden-key-actions/

 

ES920 (not mentioned on that link - it is outdated) which is the ES8 sucessor and MP7SE use RHIII

MP11SE uses GF Compact

 

It has a longer pivot length which makes it more similar to (or less dissimilar than) an acoustic piano action.

 

 

[Kurt W]

MP11SE does not use GF Compact but the Grand Feel:

https://kawaius.com/technology/wooden-key-actions/

[EVC]

1 hour ago, Kurt W said:

MP11SE does not use GF Compact but the Grand Feel:

https://kawaius.com/technology/wooden-key-actions/

Correct, thanks. The picture is of the GF though.

[jeffincltnc]

16 hours ago, EVC said:

ES920 action is the same(ish) as MP7SE.

The main reason I chose the ES920 over the MP7SE was the weight difference of 37 pounds vs. 46 pounds.

 

Even though the MP7SE is more of a stage grade instrument, the extra 9 pounds for gigging are less convenient.  Otherwise, what the MP7SE lacks in built in speakers are made up for with a better control surface for MIDI, zones, layering, etc.   I just don't want to carry that much weight plus the weight of a case up a flight of stairs to move in and out.

[16251]

2 hours ago, jeffinpghpa said:

The main reason I chose the ES920 over the MP7SE was the weight difference of 37 pounds vs. 46 pounds.

Gee, I chose the ES520 which is 32 lbs. vs 37 lbs. Well, that's not the only reason, and I seem to be an outlier choosing the middle son, which I think is perfect. BTW - no cheesy auto accompaniment. 

[Konnector]

1 hour ago, 16251 said:

Gee, I chose the ES520 which is 32 lbs. vs 37 lbs. Well, that's not the only reason, and I seem to be an outlier choosing the middle son, which I think is perfect. BTW - no cheesy auto accompaniment. 

 

I was considering the ES520 as I have no need for the accompaniment features, but they didn't have any in stock to try out and the wait time was about two months. I didn't want to wait so I opted for the ES920 instead.

[pinkfloydcramer]

I had alot of fun with the drum patterns in the ES110. Having disabled the auto accompaniment, I'm enjoying the ES920's also. #17 in the ES110 is a fun 2nd line -type beat, labelled Dixie Rock (with an additional variation) in the 920. 

[pinkfloydcramer]

Meant to say, pattern #16 (not 17) in the ES110 is the NOLA type beat. But pattern #17 is great too, it's the one from 50 Ways. 

 

I played the MP11SE again tonight. The weighted action is really nice but the MP is as expensive as my YC88 and 30+ lbs heavier. 

[gravy_no_g]

I'm noticing a weird phenomenon with my ES520 where, after using it for an hour or more, I'll press the power button to turn the board off, and everything will essentially freeze - the screen will go blank and no sounds will be produced, but all the lights will stay on. This doesn't happen every time I use it, but has happened a good half dozen times since I've had the unit.

 

Anyone experiencing a similar glitch?

[Kawai James]

Hello gravy_no_g,
 

4 hours ago, gravy_no_g said:

I'm noticing a weird phenomenon with my ES520 where, after using it for an hour or more, I'll press the power button to turn the board off, and everything will essentially freeze - the screen will go blank and no sounds will be produced, but all the lights will stay on. This doesn't happen every time I use it, but has happened a good half dozen times since I've had the unit.

 

Anyone experiencing a similar glitch?

That's not something I've seen/heard about before.

My recommendation would be to raise this oddity with your Kawai dealer and/or the Kawai distributor/subsidiary in your country.

 

If you require any further assistance, feel free to send an enquiry via the Enquiry Form of the Kawai Global website.

 

Kind regards,

James

x

[The_Star_Guy]

HI,   I have a quick operational question regarding my ES 920.    Reviewing some of the MIDI documentation implies that there are extra "hidden" voices able to be referenced.   Are these actual extra samples not available from the front panel buttons, or simply simulated voices using effects, etc?

 

By the way, the Rhodes 2 voice, the Hammond Jazz Organ and the new Clav sample are all stunning!   Just wish that there were more like these!

 

[Konnector]

I have as ES-920. You can't access them separately. They're only functional when you use the auto accompaniment features. Kinda dumb considering they're already there. I was aware of that before I bought it, so it wasn't a big deal as all I wanted was a good digital piano with nice action for my basement studio.

 

Having access to them would've been nice. Kawai could've made them available along with the other handful of sounds you can access....but for whatever reason, they didn't and I doubt very much you'll ever see an update that allows that. That's what the MP7se is for. (Although it has no built-in speakers.)

[RandyFF]

2 hours ago, Konnector said:

I have as ES-920. You can't access [the additional hidden sound] them separately. They're only functional when you use the auto accompaniment features. Kinda dumb considering they're already there. I was aware of that before I bought it, so it wasn't a big deal as all I wanted was a good digital piano with nice action for my basement studio.

 

Having access to them would've been nice. Kawai could've made them available along with the other handful of sounds you can access....but for whatever reason, they didn't and I doubt very much you'll ever see an update that allows that. That's what the MP7se is for. (Although it has no built-in speakers.)

Hmmmm…. Didn’t know that!  Do you know where to find out more about this?

 

Kawai did a disservice to the ES series by including so few sounds!  They’d sell a whole lot more if they included a fuller range of bread and butter sounds, esp that it has, for many, a best in class keybed and only weighs 37.5 pounds.

[Konnector]

16 hours ago, RandyFF said:

Hmmmm…. Didn’t know that!  Do you know where to find out more about this?

 

Kawai did a disservice to the ES series by including so few sounds!  They’d sell a whole lot more if they included a fuller range of bread and butter sounds, esp that it has, for many, a best in class keybed and only weighs 37.5 pounds.

 

It wouldn't have killed them to provide access to the additional sounds. I'd probably never use them, but I'm sure there's others that would find them useful if it's all they have to work with.

 

The only way to access the extra sounds used by the auto accompaniment feature as far as I can tell is if you setup the ES-920 in multitimbral mode (16 MIDI channels available for additional voices) and select them via MIDI commands. I haven't bothered looking into how it all works as I just use it as a piano, but you'd have to create a midi file in a daw/sequencer to get it happening 

 

There's a separate MIDI Settings manual you can download from their site which mentions this and lists all the extra sounds used by the arranger function. There's no way to access/play them directly from the ES-920 though. It's a nice digital piano with some good additional sounds & fx available, but it's not a "swiss army knife" that provides a load of extra sounds like some other DP's available from other mfrs. 

 

 

 

[Kawai James]

On 7/3/2022 at 1:04 AM, Konnector said:

The only way to access the extra sounds used by the auto accompaniment feature as far as I can tell is if you setup the ES-920 in multitimbral mode (16 MIDI channels available for additional voices) and select them via MIDI commands.

Yes, that's essentially it.  Those additional MIDI sounds are primarily intended for the Rhythm Section auto-accompaniment feature, as well as for playing back MIDI files.

If a customer really wishes to play those sounds, it should be possible to select them by sending the relevant PGM Change no. to the instrument via MIDI.  This can be from a DAW, and it might even be possible to send the message from the ES920 to itself, by bridging the MIDI IN/OUT ports with a single cable.  I recall PianoManChuck had a video about this for the MP7, and it may also work for the ES920, although it's not something I have any direct experience with.

 

Another option might be to use the PianoRemote app to send the PGM Change message, then store the sound as a User sound within the app (or a Registration on the instrument itself).  Again, I haven't tried this myself, but it could work.

 

Kind regards,

James

x

[The_Star_Guy]

15 hours ago, Kawai James said:

Yes, that's essentially it.  Those additional MIDI sounds are primarily intended for the Rhythm Section auto-accompaniment feature, as well as for playing back MIDI files.

If a customer really wishes to play those sounds, it should be possible to select them by sending the relevant PGM Change no. to the instrument via MIDI.  This can be from a DAW, and it might even be possible to send the message from the ES920 to itself, by bridging the MIDI IN/OUT ports with a single cable.  I recall PianoManChuck had a video about this for the MP7, and it may also work for the ES920, although it's not something I have any direct experience with.

 

Another option might be to use the PianoRemote app to send the PGM Change message, then store the sound as a User sound within the app (or a Registration on the instrument itself).  Again, I haven't tried this myself, but it could work.

 

Kind regards,

James

x

Hi, James!   Thank you so much for the prompt response.   I really like your suggestion about the registration trick, so I plan to investigate that one further.   As I mentioned earlier, several of the ES-920 voices are greatly improved over my MP6   so I definitely want to explore further.

 

Any chance of a 7x key lightweight version of the MP7se down  the road for pro giggers?   My ES-920 has become my centerpiece home piano so I prefer not to move it, if possible.    I even purchased a wooden piano shell to make it resemble a DG30!

 

Best regards,

Ron

[stoken6]

1 hour ago, The_Star_Guy said:

Any chance of a 7x key lightweight version of the MP7se down  the road for pro giggers?

Keep preaching the word brother. Kurzweil were always believers; Yamaha and Roland have more recently converted - we need Kawai and Casio to get the message.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Kawai James]

9 hours ago, The_Star_Guy said:

Any chance of a 7x key lightweight version of the MP7se down  the road for pro giggers?   My ES-920 has become my centerpiece home piano so I prefer not to move it, if possible.    I even purchased a wooden piano shell to make it resemble a DG30!

I'd love to see an 7x key version of the MP7SE, however I'm afraid I don't know if this is mechanically possible.

 

Kind regards,

James

x

[Mothra87]

I tried the single cable midi loopback suggestion on my ES920 as suggested by James and it worked.  There is not much you can do to adjust the sounds but I was able to split and layer with on-board sounds.  There is a Van Halen 'Jump' patch as well as a few guitars and pads.  Nothing to write home about but nice to know I can play around with them.  The program change numbers are in the separate midi manual for the ES920. 

[Kawai James]

3 hours ago, Mothra87 said:

I tried the single cable midi loopback suggestion on my ES920 as suggested by James and it worked.  There is not much you can do to adjust the sounds but I was able to split and layer with on-board sounds.  There is a Van Halen 'Jump' patch as well as a few guitars and pads.  Nothing to write home about but nice to know I can play around with them.  The program change numbers are in the separate midi manual for the ES920. 

Thanks for confirming that this is indeed possible.

 

I guess it might also be possible to use the Registration function to store one of these MIDI sounds to a memory, making it a little easier to recall if you really needed the jump patch in a hurry.

 

Cheers,

James

x

[Josephc66]

Does anyone know how to make the simulated Leslie go faster. That’s the only thing I don’t like about the es520. 
 

it’s a pretty amazing keyboard 

[16251]

23 minutes ago, Josephc66 said:

Does anyone know how to make the simulated Leslie go faster. That’s the only thing I don’t like about the es520. 
 

it’s a pretty amazing keyboard 

Yup, the leslie sim sucks.

[Kawai James]

14 hours ago, Josephc66 said:

Does anyone know how to make the simulated Leslie go faster. That’s the only thing I don’t like about the es520. 
 

it’s a pretty amazing keyboard 

Hello Josephc66,

 

As explained on page 26 of the ES520 owner's manual:

* Pressing the [UP] and [DOWN] MENU buttons simultaneously alternates the speed of the rotary simulation between “Slow” and “Fast” effect modes. If the optional GFP-3 or F-302 pedal is connected, the left (soft) pedal can also be used.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Kind regards,

James

x

[16251]

6 minutes ago, Kawai James said:

Hello Josephc66,

 

As explained on page 26 of the ES520 owner's manual:

* Pressing the [UP] and [DOWN] MENU buttons simultaneously alternates the speed of the rotary simulation between “Slow” and “Fast” effect modes. If the optional GFP-3 or F-302 pedal is connected, the left (soft) pedal can also be used.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Kind regards,

James

x

I believe the question is not about fast/slow of Leslie. It is to be able to tweak the the fast speed to find a more realistic sim.

[LarsHarner2]

My ES8 is going strong after close to 7 years. As soon as I played the RH III action I ordered one within weeks. Were there any significant upgrades beyond specs for the 920? i.e. I know its lighter, has the 4 band EQ and speaker changes and perhaps a lighter shell. 

I believe from talking to someone at Kawai that they sampled the Rhodes from one an employee owned in their garage? This was the first time I spent $1,600 on a piano vs $500-$600 and it was well worth it.