Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai ES520 user's own thread

Hi,

I just picked up my ES520. I upgraded from ES110. Quality control seems great (no rattles, sticking keys, etc.)

The 920/520 user thread, IMHO, is mostly 920 owners, and I thought a less-bloated 520 thread will let current and future owners a more focused place to visit.

Don't have much more to add at this point. First impressions playing through the voices and listening to the demo confirms that it will be a great gigging piano.

I already posted my first impression of the ES520 in the 920/520 user thread, that I don't like its action.

Recently I tried using an ES520 for accompanying a guitarist and I think it's useless for this purpose. The built-in rhythms sound cheesy, the pianos don't cut through the mix and the string pads are so low quality, that they hurt the ears. I felt like I played a $150 toy keyboard with a fancy OLED display. Even Casio might have done a better job at a third of the price.

My Yamaha P-515, which does accompaniment job perfectly, is so far above the ES520 with a mere $300 difference in MRSP, that I'm sorry, but I had to tell the owners of the ES520 that they have been ripped off.

To paint a better picture, could you provide a set list? From what you wrote you are using build in rhythms and using dual mode (acoustic piano and strings,) to accompany a guitarist at a gig?

You seem to be a piano teacher with a lot of free time? Does that mean you do not have a lot of student?

Also it seems you are not able to understand the title of the thread... You are not an owner of this piano, why do you have the urge to give your impresion?

You weren't asked for it.
Do you think your opinion is that worthy?

He certainly thinks his opinion is worthy. And he wastes no opportunity to spread misery on every thread. The question is, why?

He is making noise. I begin to think he might be a teacher in some yamaha music school.

However if he is not paid by yamaha for doing this, he might have some mental problems by being so rude with people. I hope he is not so with his students. May be he is and that is why he has so much free time to improve his keyboard typing on piano forum, at the expense of its "keyboard with folded action" skills.
That is humor JoeT, but I would like to know more about your profesional experiences, where do you teach?

And "the (kawai) rhythms sound cheesy" is a funny statement coming from a Yamaha owner...

An so... another thread that becomes fully derailed pretty fast. A pitty, considering the good intention of the OP.

About Joe's post, I have mixed feelings. I understand the rage of the first poster after his. On the other hand, he states his own experience about one point of ES520 when he tried it, that was not positive and IMO it is a legitimate post. His tone is not nice, as usual for some time now (I think he was nicer not too long ago) but, as far as I can tell, he did not break any forum rule. I cannot say the same about the offensive (and OT) posts that followed. It would be better just ignore him and let his post to be quickly lost in the middle of others more positive that (hopefully) will follow.

Yes, you are right. Thread fully derailed on post 2, just after the OT.
Also, I just wanted to remind you that the OT speaks of owner in his post.
Also the post 2 writer said that he "tried using" what does that mean? There was an electricity shutdown?, he break his finger?
Also he already said he didn't like this piano, why he tried to use it then?
Also saying that people that have bought it have been ripped off is clearly offensive.

Just read what is written afterward (The built-in rhythms sound cheesy, the pianos don't cut through the mix and the string pads are so low quality, that they hurt the ears. I felt like I played a $150 toy keyboard with a fancy OLED display.)

I read it, don't worry.

I'm fine. I just hope owners of ES520 will still leave their experiences with the ES520, whether good or bad.

I do hope my question, 3rd comment will be answered after all the distractions. Maybe he can post a recording of this awful experience he seemed to have.

I obviously chose the "ES520 user's own thread" to share my experience instead dropping it into the ES920 thread, because I've yet to get hands on an ES920. And I can understand how people get confused by a real review, which doesn't sound like a sales pitch, because they are only used to advertisements disguised as reviews.


It was an improvised private jam session with an ES520 available on site. Something I've done with a MP7 before, just as with Yamaha and Roland slabs in the same price range. Thankfully I brought a guitar too, so I didn't have to endure the DP for long.

For the ES520 it seems Kawai reused the (now very outdated) ES7 technology, but crammed too many samples into the limited memory of the platform. The result felt like throwback to 1990s ROMplers.:



I mean I know what to expect when I sit down at a $500 digital, which have mostly unusable secondary voices, but at the $1700 MRSP of the ES520 I just expected a little more than a dazzler. There was a real disconnect between the fancy enclosure and the built-in action/tone generator.

Looking at the spec sheet I would say that the "Progressive Harmonic Imaging" engine is not up to the task. It might be the case, that the built-in Onkyo amplification was also great at exposing the low quality voices and a less hefty one with a more boxy sound would have hidden that better.

How do you find it now after some time? What made you go for it over /920?

I bought a Roland FP7 sight unseen. Move ahead a few years and I ended up with a used FP4. In retrospect, I should of bought FP4 from the start. It was lighter, I liked action better and I still had same acoustic sound, which I liked very much.

I used that philosophy when deciding on 520. It's lighter than a 920 and I already liked the action from owning an ES110 and was cheaper, which all made sense since I now gig a lot less.

I thought the 520 would make a better gigging piano and buying it sight unseen I knew I would like action.

Final verdict: Kawai read my mind and improved the ES110 and produced what I think is the perfect DP.... IMHO.

Funny, as the folks ask for a ES120, but Kawai has already released the improved ES110 .

😄 Wow, never looked at it that way.

Cheers and happy playing,

HZ

You're kidding, right? I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me the ES520 is the improved ES110. According to Kawai James (or more accurately, implied from some of his posts), the ES110 is not going anywhere any time soon, so I suppose the ES110 still have an audience, e.g. beginners and giggers that want a lightweight DP, so they keeep it in the product line and can charge a premium price for ES520, positioning it between the ES110 and the ES920.

I can't think of anything he said that was inoffensive . . . his opinion was based on the P515 which was a tad unfair, maybe.

Please, let's not start it again...