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I am interested in the Kawai MP6.
I have watched some video reviews on Youtube, the sound is good in my opinion, and after reading the manual I get the impression, that the user interface is pretty straightforward.
So I am interested in more information of this EP.
I have been reading about some issues with the OS, it seems there will be an update to the OS at some point, does anyone know, when this update is coming ?

do you know of other issues/problems of Kawai MP6, then please post your info here.

I would like to try the MP6 before buying, but that seems to be a big problem.
I live in Sweden, and here there is only one dealer, situated in Stockholm, which is approx. 520 km from where I live. They have one demo in the shop and will not get more unless a customer orders one
The closest shop is in Denmark, and it is approx. 200 km from here, but they don't have the MP6 until August/September.

I am thinking of moving to Thailand some time in the future, and therefore I contacted the dealer in Thailand to ask, if they sell the MP6.
The answer was, they don't have it, they can order it but don't know the price.
but they have the MP8 in the shop and sell it for 125,000 Baht, - approx. 4,000 us$ !
I have not seen the MP8, but I assume, that it is an old model no longer produced ?
Anyhow, this price is outrageous in my opinion.

I just wonder, why it is so difficult to find Kawai products, and reading here on pianoworld it seems people in other countries have the same problem.

Best regards.

Hello
I just bought an MP6, and I am really satisfied of the keybed (very good action indeed), but a little less with the sound, so I am using Ivory with it.
I can say that you can go for the M6, is really a good piano

I also had some difficulties to get it (I am in France), I ordered it from a german famous web dealer I will not say the name here)

the MP8 is indeed replaced by the MP10, and the price you got is really, really expensive (I found it in france for 1600 euros)

Hope this answer could help

Regards,

To my knowledge, the only issue that has been reported here relates to the internal song recorder not capturing pitchbend events. This problem has been acknowledged by the software engineering team and will be fixed in the next software update.

What other issues were you referring to?



Well, the MP10 software update is scheduled for release before the end of this month. I believe an MP6 software update could follow next month, however please don't take this as the official word.



Correct, the MP8 was replaced by the MP8II, which has subsequently been replaced by the MP10. The MP8/MP8II operation is very similar to the MP6, however despite featuring a wooden-key keyboard action, the sound technology is inferior.
The old MPs still make very nice controller instruments for software pianos - especially if you can pick-up a good second hand model on eBay etc.



Admittedly Kawai's distribution model isn't perfect, and unfortunately there are certain areas of the globe in which availability will be limited. However, I don't believe it's anywhere near as bad as some folks like to claim - it's just another example of online forums accentuating the negative.

Kind regards,
James
x

James,

I am running into several things that look like bugs:

- Escapement doesn't work. No matter how soft you hit, it produces sound.
- Midi is still an issue and randomly stops working. I haven't figured out how to reproduce this for sure. I had pianoteq running, it worked for 5 minutes, then stopped. I touched some buttons, maybe something triggered what seems like a bug. Or it's actually a feature that midi turns off based on some button, but I can't figure it out.
- USB + Menus. When a USB key is plugged in, it becomes nearly impossible to operate the zone menu. Plug in USB key. PLay an MP3. Stop the MP3. Select sound piano on zone 1. Select zone 2 then sound piano. Hold zone 2. Zone range appears. Use value to go up and down and try to reach zone transpose. Value buttons do not work.

On occasions, the screen just goes blank. Waiting seems to reset it.

I am told I need to call Kawai and they will send a patch. Haven't done it yet. Don't know if all those problems are resolved.

Overall, the MP6 is a monster board for the money, and the sounds can be tweaked to a great extent, so I'm just in the process of setup up favorite sounds for different occasions.
But the software inside seems a little bit flaky...

Hi knotty, thanks for your post.



I believe 'Silent key-on' functionality is already present in the beta software update, so it will almost certainly be in the release version.



Hmmm...I reported this to my colleagues in Japan, Europe, US, and Australia - nobody has experienced this 'MIDI drop out' issue. The fact that you have to restart your Mac to get MIDI working again suggests that the problem may not be with the MP6.



That's the crucial part, I'm afraid.



The demo times-out after 20 minutes - perhaps that's what you're experiencing?



Okay, this is a useful bug report. I'll pass this onto the engineering chaps - if they can reproduce the issue there's a strong possibility it will be fixed in a future software update.



This obviously shouldn't happen, although it's not uncommon for the instrument to become temporarily unresponsive when accessing the USB device to read/write files.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Cheers,
James
x

''I believe 'Silent key-on' functionality is already present in the beta software update, so it will almost certainly be in the release version.''


Kawai James,

What do you mean with the 'Silent key-on'?
I'm going to buy the Kawai CN-33 this week. Is this problem also with the CN-33?
What is escapement actually?

Kind regards,

Nashwan

I'm pretty sure James is talking about notes played very slowly not triggering a sound. This is the way real pianos behave - if you don't impart enough energy to the hammer it never makes it to the string(s).


It's the feeling you get on a real piano when pressing a key slowly - the point where the hammer slips off the mechanism offers a bit more resistance. Some DPs key mechanisms offer a fake version of this.

Yes AFAICT the CN33 has this as a problem. No matter how gently you squeeze a key a sound is produced. Speaking for myself it's going to be a few years, if ever, before this becomes a problem for my playing. The CN33 has this. You can detect a slight 'touch' as the key is depressed slowly. Again it's going to be a few years if ever before I am able to exploit this.

Ooh,

Thanks guys for the information!
Hope that I will get my CN-33 very fast

Kind regards,

Nashwan

I have run into an issue, which seems like a software bug. When I turn the MP6 on and do not touch any of the keys or switches and start playing the Concert Grand, I get a note cut-off issue similar to the Roland 700NX (as seen on YouTube). I am using headphones and no other devices are connected.

If I press any of the sound bank keys ('1' upper row, '1' middle row, 'A' lower row), the note cut-off issue disappears and the Concert Grand plays without issues. Note that these three keys mentioned above do not result in switching to a different sound, but rather all three are pre-selected when you switch the keyboard on and the 1-1-A combination is for the Concert Grand.

Other than that, I think this is a fantastic DP and best value for money. I do however hope that the engineers can find and fix this issue.

victor3, thank you for your post.

I'm wondering if you may have made changes to the default Concert Grand sound and stored them to the POWERON memory? You may wish to perform a factory reset to ensure that the POWERON memory uses the default Concert Grand sound.

EDIT
----

In addition, may I ask you to check whether or not the AMP (amp simulator) function is turned on automatically at POWERON, and also whether or not Song1 has been recorded with the AMP enabled.

Kind regards,
James
x

Well, I only speak for myself, and I think, it is a bit negative, that it is so hard to have a look at the MP6 in this part of the world. I think there are approx. 9 mill. people in Sweden and 5 mill. in Denmark, so three shops (one in Sweden and two in Denmark) and 1 MP6 is not that impressive. I have one shop 60 km from here and two other shops 90 km from here, where I can buy all the Roland and Yamaha keyboards, I can afford, but I am really interested in the MP6.

I understand, that you are not a spokesman for Kawai, but I think you are doing a good job to convey messages/problems/solutions from customers to Kawai and vice versa.
So if Kawai are smart, they will have a look at forums like pianoworld now and then to find out how to serve their (potential) customers as good as possible.
The more products you sell, the more money you make, I presume.

Best regards
north

Hello north, thank you for your post.

I shall forward your comments to my colleagues at Kawai Europe.
Indeed, please feel free to contact Kawai Europe via the address on this page requesting further information regarding dealers in Sweden.

May I wish you the best of luck.

Kind regards,
James
x

James,

How and where will this update be accessed?

Thanks!
Curt

curt88, as with other Kawai DP software updates, the MP10 update will be available from the Kawai US, Europe, and Australia websites. If desired, I can post a new topic once the update is online.

Cheers,
James
x

@James, please post topics on MP10 / MP6 firmware releases when available. I check this site more regularly than any Kawai site and I'm probably not the only one ;-)

Thanks,

J

About the MP6; it's a great board + great value for money. Keybed is good with a nice grip and touch. It has a sturdy build quality, looks nice and it's easy to use and program. Build-in headphone amp is also quite good - it runs my Sennheiser HD250II fine, where most other equipment doesn't provide enough power.

There are a few issues that are either minor, or are only to your disadvantage in certain circumstances.

For my part I miss the fact that you can't use USB-MIDI + 'normal' MIDI simultaneously (MIDI switches off when USB to host is plugged in).

As for the silent key 'issue' ; the MP6 is capable of imitating that behavior, I think I posted that once or twice before. You must make some changes in the Key-switch settings, to make sure the sound starts ringing above key-velocity 1 but stays silent at velocity =1. Works for me, though I don't feel like I really need it. Any firmware update will probably pre-program the same behavior in the sounds, hopefully including a global setting where you can turn this feature on/off for all your AP sounds at once. Not everybody wants/needs this feature. (FYI goto menu; turn Vel. switch ON, set Vel. SW = LOUD and the Vel. SW Val = 1)

As for MIDI functionality , I have not really figured it all out yet. I'm controlling my PC3 with the MIDI out and it seems to get messed up by MIDI from time to time, but I'm not sure what's going on - so too early to blame the MP6's MIDI handling. Couldn't hurt though if they just checked at Kawai if all works reliably for the next FW update.

I also would like to be able to program an offset/range for the continuous controller pedals. If you use third party pedals they might not be 100% compatible and send e.g. controller number 22 - 128 (like my EV5 connected to the EXP pedal input). Although you can change the range on some pedals, they still might not match the input that the MP6 expects; a simple offset menu in the system settings could do the trick to make these pedals useful again.

For an MP6-II I would like to see;
- Next generation Sound Engine (UPHI+ )
- Dial/scroll wheel, so you can more easily program settings / scroll through lists.
- a tad lighter if possible - if that means skipping the wood panels and such, so be it...

Probably something that will never make it because of cost considerations, but nevertheless:
- More complete USB to Host integration (MP6-II as an audio I/O , like some Yamaha's and Korg do ? MP6 editor ? Plug-in behavior ? )
- an Audio I/O , like on the MP10, for easy master keyboard + laptop/second keyboard setup. In combination with USB integration that would make a great studio setup too.
- if there ever will be such an Audio I/O for an additional sound source, please make it digital (optical SPDIF) - makes like so much easier with most laptop setups and provides for the best SN ratio and the least cable clutter.

Note: I figured, that the MP6 can already stream audio to- and from USB devices in real-time, so perhaps it's not even that hard to extend that to the host connection and have USB audio I/O to your computer as well.

I like my MP6 - I'm looking forward to the FW update(s).

J

JFP, lots of useful suggestions there - please feel free to pass them on to the chaps at Kawai Europe.

Cheers,
James
x

James, thank you for the suggestions.

My records were done without the simulator and I have not stored any modifications to the sounds as of yet. I have also not used the Amp simulator apart from testing it early on.

I reset the sounds via the System button, but that did not help. However, I was able to solve the note cut-off issue entirely by deleting Song 1, which was recorded with the Concert Grand.

I then went on to record a new song into Song 1 using Concert Grand again and this time I enabled the Amp simulator. Now if I turn the keyboard on, Amp simulator is on by default (menu shows it is off). Deleting Song 1 fixes this issue.

In summary, Song 1 seems to be in some way causing these issues or the Song memory bank in general.