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Good to hear - thanks for the update!

James
x

Hi guys, let's see if we can help somebody in Chile. He's referring problems with several keys not sounding at all, when played at the same time.
Besides, he's been told to have just a 3 month guaratee, which seems very strange.
I've given the usual tips to him (contacting the dealer, reset, updates, etc.), here in a spanish forum, but perhaps someone in pw knows more than me.
Here you are a video: http://youtu.be/UB7Xe2bgzE8

Yes, the customer should contact the dealer and ask for the issue to be resolved. This approach is usually more effective than posting a video to YouTube.

Kind regards,
James
x

Sure, James, but I think that most of the people posting videos has previously tried other ways to solve their problem. Sometimes is a kind of warning to other potential customers, like the message in a bottle.
In this case, it seems that some store there in Chile is selling deffective instruments and giving strangely short periods of guarantee. Three months...very strange, given the two years I have here in Spain. I've already seen two posts in just one week about this issue, in two different forums, both naming this model and referring different failures.
Of course it has nothing to do with Kawai, but perhaps Kawai would like to be aware of this, just in case...

While this may indeed be the case in this particular instance, the majority of time I actually believe the opposite to be true - that users often take to the internet to complain about an issue or post a video of the problem before contacting the retailer/manufacturer.



I believe it is rather unlikely that any store would purposely sell defective instruments to customers. However, I have passed on the YouTube URL and other relevant information to my colleagues responsible for the South American market.



Are they both from customers based in Chile?

Perhaps you can provide links to the two forum posts in question? While I cannot help directly, the information may be useful to my sales colleagues responsible for this market.

Kind regards,
James
x

http://www.hispasonic.com/foros/kawai-es7-problemas-teclado/457416

http://www.entre88teclas.es/foro/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3015

Hey, you can see Evamar and me.

Thank you for the additional info - I have forwarded it to my colleagues.

Am I correct in assuming that 'Christian' and 'luchorh' are the same person?

Cheers,
James
x

Why do you assume such thing?
They posted different messages in different forums on different dates, talking about different issues. Lucho is the familiar short name for Luis, nothing to do with Christian, so no clue here, too.
The one in Hispasonic is what I linked here, the other one is complaining about random loud bangs (velocity problems)among other things.Both complain about 3 month guarantee periods.
If you want I might translate those messages into english, so that you understand them properly.
Thanks in advance for your kind efforts.

Okay, I see. I assumed that two Chilean ES7 customers reporting similar keyboard issues and both having previously owned Casio instruments suggested they could indeed be the same person.

Thank you for your offer to translate their posts, however it is not necessary. As I say, I have forwarded this information to my sales colleagues and am confident that they will work with the Chilean distributor to resolve the customer(s) issues.

Kind regards,
James
x

Folks,
I'm a new owner of ES7. I like to piano and probably will like it even more when HM-4 stand arrive. Current X-stand is unstable which makes playing harder. Anyway, I'm experiencing some sound trouble, resonance which is too much emphasized which is IMHO even bug in soft. Please try on your setup:
- hold g below the middle c
- hit in fff staccato d which is one tone above middle c
the result is excess resonance of hold g IMHO. It is high spike which is growing even when source d is already dumped.
The bug is probably in algorithm, energy for resonance of one string should be transferred based on time the source string vibrates, hence in firm staccato time is nearly 0 so energy transferred should be also nearly 0. I hope I'm clear with my description of what I mean.
Well, silly to start the post with complain. I must admit that I've chosen ES7 over FP7f and Yamaha's 255. Generally speaking visually it's nice piece of DP which even tries to inspire to play (plastic DP produced by Rolland and Yamaha in the same price category are of completely different league IMHO) so kudos to Kawai for choosing quality materials for it. Keyboard is great -- especially in comparison with direct competitors already noted. I like playing on it and hope will like it even more when HM-4 arrives to get to proper position.
Generally speaking about buttons UI, it looks very logically oriented except of one thing. I can't understand why option 2 is above option 1, option 3 above 2 etc. So when you are on (1) and would like to go to (2) you need to press arrow pointing up instead of (IMHO!) logically more correct arrow pointing down. Otherwise as I said, it's good and user-friendly IMHO. I also especially like its minimalistic design in comparison with competitors and even different Kawai's (over-buttoned MP7/11 for example). ES7 looks really decent.
From sounds I most like CG1/MG1. I also like organs and harpsichord. Unfortunately even I like CG1/MG1 there are still some issues with the sound I'm trying to resolve by Eq (lower bass) etc. and the issue above.
Otherwise very nice piano for very good price IMHO.
The last note, what I especially like, living in flat, having neighbours and small grand and small upright at my disposal is that ES7 frees me from playing only from 9:00 - 18:00, and now I can play whenever I like. Great to live such freedom. :-)
Karel

I am unable to experience what you describe.

So, if it is obvious to you ... then there might be a problem.

The best would be to record it and let us hear it somehow.

Hmm. I tried to replicate this on my ES7, and here's what I found.

Using the default Concert Grand voice with all Virtual Technician settings in factory default (and current software v1.14 loaded), I held down G3 and struck D4 fff staccato. While G3 was depressed, the string resonance function caused D5 (the second overtone of G3, I believe) to sound and decay over a period of about five seconds.

I didn't think the resonance was too loud. Since the majority of the acoustic energy that causes sympatheic resonance would be transferred immediately after the initial attack of a note (decay of sustained piano notes being pretty fast), I think this is a reasonably accurate model of actual string resonance on a piano, and is working as expected.

Kind regards,

Ben

Karel, you are right. Some people hear those things and other don't. It rings too much, sometimes. Just get used to it and don´t be obsessed about its flaws, unlike me.:)
Have you tried to lower string and damper resonance?

Folks, I need to apologize! Kudos to ES7 engineering team. I've just tested my 80 years old August Forster baby grand (couldn't do that yesterday during night :-)) and honestly speaking it behaves in the same way! Well, ES7 a little bit more over do this (especially when hearing it in headphones -- not so much over speakers), but still AF behaves in the same way. So well, surprising at least to me! ES7 corrects my wrong physical/acoustical expectation.

2 mabraman: if you switch off all string resonance and dumper resonance and off reverb it'll go away indeed.

2 Ben: I tested on Senhaisser HD598 and it was quite loud and un-natural. When doing the same using speakers it is much more natural and more in line with how AF behaves.

So task for me, compare what I get using HD598 and what I get using builtin speakers...

Interesting! Karel

I agree the right amount of string resonance is a matter of taste, and the effect is definitely more apparent through headphones. As mabraman points out, you can use the Virtual Technician settings to adjust this to your liking.

Cheers,

B.

Here I link some recordings (there are 3) to show what I've called "twangy" Studio Grand 1 sound, so many times.It's a work in progress and has many mistakes, what I want you to hear is how F4 and F4# are louder, and have different timbre to adjacent notes, played equally strong. In CG1 happens the same, with E4, as you can hear in other track there, voiced as Bright2.
Piece is in D minor, first two notes are F and A.

I must say I'm getting used to it. Studio Grand with dynamic voicing is more playable to me. Bright 2 voicing for mellows brings out beautiful string sounds. I still think it's best balanced of all three, though CG1 is actually clearer and has better dynamic range.
Well here's the link (please forgive my mistakes )
https://soundcloud.com/mabraman/vals-kendall-studiogrand-dynamic

Edit: 001 track is Mellow1+bright2. It has a bump, guess it's the stick and not the recorder that fails.It happens now and then.
settings for them all: small hall, 2/5
noises off
string and damper resonance, 8/10 (on the edge)

Nowt wrong with that, man. Sounds good to me . .

...So, Peter, don't you hear the louder F?
First note, then at 0:57 (played it three times), again at 1:31, etc. It's clearly different to my ears. Perhaps this is absolutely natural, I thought it is usually a matter of having that single note properly voiced (some needling, you know).
It's really hard to control.
In the track CG1, it's in sec.7-8, for instance. Not as loud as before, being a pass note.
In the track named 001 it doesn't happen at all, just E4b is slightly twangy, in this case I'd agree it's an acceptable deviation.

I don't hear anything either. Sometimes when pedaling on an acoustic piano and replaying the same note already resonating it can be louder. Perhaps that is what the ES7 is mimicking and you are hearing? Does this happen when you play without the pedal? It could be a matter of changing your pedal a bit more often to soften it.

Though it's true that I was overpedalling it has nothing to do with it, it's in the sample I guess. I choosed dynamic voicing because it softens mf a little, making the twangy StudioGrand sound less evident.
So it must be me, then!
Thanks both of you for listening and replaying.