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Bought a new Kawai MP6 digital piano for live playing and absolutely love the action on it. The sounds are also very good overall.

Question....for those using the MP6, what expression pedal are you using? I have an old, ancient Yamaha FC7 Pedal that came with my DX7 that I bought in the 1980's(!). When I try to control the volume of a sound, the max volume is cut by a factor of half as soon as the pedal is plugged in, even with the pedal full on. So the pedal works, but it attenuates the top volume range which is odd and the full on/off dynamic range is no where near what I get when I use the front panel slider to control the volume of a sound. If I unplug the FC6 from the SW jack, the volume is restored to full volume. I've tried all the software settings including the obvious to make sure volume is being controlled for that zone sound, making sure the expression pedal is "on", etc.

Since the FC7 pedal is 25+ years old, not sure if it's a version that doesn't work with modern keyboards or it's just not working properly.

So....if anyone is using the FC7 with success or any other expression pedal that's worked fine for them with the MP6, I'd appreciate your experiences.

Thanks,

Steve

Good morning Steve,

I have a Roland EV5 here that I use with my Nord Electro. I also have an MP8II which I used as a piano controller for the Nord. I've never actually connected the expression pedal to the MP8II, but will give it a try later and let you know how I get on.

Cheers,
James
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Yep, just tried it - it works fine, and there's no change in volume when connecting/disconnecting the pedal (provided it's in the 'fully up' position).

To be honest, I'm not sure why the Yamaha pedal you have should function any differently...however, I don't have one here to test I'm afraid.

The ideal choice would surely be the Kawai V-20X, however they're no longer in production, so probably rather difficult to find.

Cheers,
James
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Thanks James for trying that out.

Yeah, I can't figure it out why the FC7 wouldn't work unless there's some bizarre polarity issue/incompatibility with the FC7 and the MP6 or the one I have being 25+ years old is just shot.

Is there an email address/number of someone I could contact at Kawai in the US that would know for sure what pedals are compatible with the MP6? I'm trying to avoid the buy/exchange game.

Thanks again,

Steve

Steve, I will try to clarify this point for you on Monday.

Alternatively, feel free to contact my colleagues at Kawai America using the information on the following page:

http://kawaius.com/nav_links/contacts2010.html

Another thing you can perhaps try is checking if your expression pedal is sending the full range of values, using a tool like Pianoteq or any other software that offers some MIDI diagnostics info.

Cheers,
James
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Greatly appreciate your assistance and for the information James.....

Thanks!

Steve

James, received an email from Kawai US and the individual told me they use the Yamaha FC7 pedal with the MP6 with no problems/works great with it.

So it sounds like I have an issue with my old FC7. I'm going to buy a new FC7 and hopefully I'll be in good shape.

Steve

Okay, thanks for the update Steve.

Please let me know how you get on.

Cheers,
James
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Don't buy the EV-5 instead for all that matters. I had the MP6 and EV-5 and it sort of worked but had a noticeable off-set. Can't remember exactly, but I think it didn't go to zero. Tried the EV on all other boards and there it worked flawlessly without offset- so I think there may have been a small mismatch in compatibility with the MP6. If they say the Yammy works fine - indeed get a new one. (Post: just in case they don't stock the FC7 and try to sell you a Roland pedal instead...)

Cheers, J

Just tried the EV-5 with MP8II combination I have here, using Pianoteq to monitor the MIDI values. Fully up goes to 127, but fully down stops at 13, so not perfectly silent. I adjusted the knob on the side of the pedal to ensure it was at the maximum range. That being said, this pedal is gradually dying...sometimes the signal will cut in and out when used with my Nord.

Cheers,
James
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Appreciate that info J & James!

ok, problem solved. The problem was a bad expression input on the MP6.

Details: I went ahead and bought a new Yamaha FC7 pedal and still had the issue. I called Kawai US and after explaining the symptoms, the tech thought it was a bad IC chip on a board. The retailer I bought the MP6 exchanged a new MP6 and the FC7 expression pedal now works as it should.

Steve

Good stuff, thank you for the update, although we obviously apologise for the inconvenience.

Kind regards,
James
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