Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai ES100: let's collect reviews and impressions here

Updated on Feb 6, 2014

Hi,

I am thinking about whether to get a Kawai ES100. I like the price-point, i.e. I don't want to go beyond $800 at the moment.

There haven't been many impartial reviews I could find on the internet. So I would like to invite you to

- post links to reviews you know
- if you are an owner share your experiences - what other model in the $500-$800 range should I think about?

Reviews
I am aware of these reviews/impressions (there are others here or there but these posts are the most comprehensive)

- http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2161106/Kawai%20ES100.html

- http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2210705/1.html

- http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2192390/Re_The_DPBSD_Project.html#Post2192390

- here is a nice and detailed review but it's in polish! I google translated it here.

- A partial review is on the wholesale webpage azpianonews here.

Issues?

- Hey no USB port?! No problem. It has a MIDI in and out so just get a MIDI to USB adapter like this on for under $6 with free shipping and you are sorted.

- Latency Kawai F-10H pedal have too much latency/delay. Daniel Richter, an ES100 owner, reports issues with very long delays.
Has this been sorted out yet in the new wave of ES100? May be Kawai James knows more? It would be good to know which model numbers have this issue so that we can check the model number before making a purchase. E.g. BHPhoto now has the ES100 in stock for $799 with free shipping and I would like to know whether they have the latency issue or not.

- Sticky keys Some models have sticky keys. Daniel Richter suggests here here to call Kawai and they can give instructions. Kawai seems to think it is not a permanent problem. Anybody else have this problem. Daniel Richter reports here that a friend got instructions to fix it. It would be good to know what they were. Will update as soon as I find out.

- Dying keys Carkar had a frustrating experience with unresponsive or dying keys. See his/her descriptions and videos here.. See also Carkar's post below.. In the end s/he opted to return the unit and went for a Yamaha P-255, however, this is a $500 step up when new. The Casio PX-350 is a strong substitute. On a personal note all else equal I prefer the esthetics of the ES100 to the Casio PX-350 (fewer buttons).

My analysis so far regarding these issues
Should we worry here about Kawai's production and quality control for an entry model like their ES100. Perhaps they lack experience or use different production lines and quality control on their cheaper models?
If early shipments have the latency, sticky keys, or dying keys problem it is more than likely that getting a replacement from the same store might suffer from the same problems. It would be a good idea to first call the store you bought it from to make sure the store gives you a more recent shipment. If they are not cooperative report the store here.


Feature discussions

- Key action technology. The ES100 benefits from the same key action tech as more advanced Kawais like the ES6, EP3 (US only), CN22, CN32, CN42, CL26, CL35, KDP80, KDP90, CN14, CP119. [Thanks Kawai James!].


I appreciate your support and comments. Given that Kawai ES100 is such a strong yet new product it would be good to have the impressions and reviews in one place.

Gauguin

Videos

Some videos of people playing the ES100.

- Playing. Is it me or does it at times sound tinny? http://youtu.be/fB46HlmTs-M

- Testing key action, release noise and voices http://youtu.be/JuhpXgFsDqs

I had owned the Kawai ES100 for about a month, until I returned it do to the pedal issue. While I had it, it was definitely a nice piano, then again, many DP's are. I was not so experienced in DP's and so I bought off of a reaction to an online review that raved about it. After I received, and it malfunctioned, I went out and tried MANY digital pianos. I would have to say that I preferred the Casio PX 350 to the kawai. Now, I just got my Yamaha P-255, which is in a different league than both of these, it is simply awesome.

Fun Fact: I joined this forum because of the ES100 (questions i had, etc), so something good definitely came out of it, because this site is awesome!

Here's a link to my post: https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2205900/Help:_Dying_keys_on_digital_pi.html

Hi Carkar,

thank you for sharing this. I updated the first post to reflect your experience. Let me know if I reflected it fairly or if I missed something. Comments welcome so I can update it.

Regards,

Gauguin

Regarding the issues mentioned above (sticky/dying keys and latency)...

I checked with BHPhotovideo com to see when they received there current batch of ES100 DPs and what the model numbers are to know if they are the first or more recent batches. The person on the customer chat told me:

"Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing.
If there are any issues with your keyboard, you can always exchange it. We would take care of shipping."

Hm....

I received this response from Kawai US:

"The pedal issue has been resolved and I think it would be doubtful that a
dealer would have an early model with the problem now. However it would be
impossible to check accurately given the number of dealers."

"So while it's unlikely you would get an affected ES100 at this point if you
did have any issues with the pedal they can be resolved through the dealer
or Kawai's service dept."

Why no recall from Kawai for the "first" batch?
Thanks grgisme,
my message above from BHPhoto in a way confirms what you learned from Kawai directly.

Still one has to wonder: why didn't Kawai simply recall the first batch rather than us customers having to figure out whether the keyboard we just bought is a dud.

I am a little puzzled and disappointed as to the approach by Kawai here! Not in keeping with their reputation as being a worldclass piano builder.

Hi,

I have recently tried the ES100 and the Casio PX-350. My main criteria was the touch of the keys.

My thoughts:
I was underwhelmed with the PX-350. The action was just about acceptable to me and I didn't care much for the textured ivory and ebony feel which seems a bit tacky to me.

The ES100 had a much better feel and I felt it was a step up from the PX-350. The lack of a display did seem like it could be annoying when needing to edit functions.

The connectivity and USB recording functions on the PX-350 were enticing but I couldn't live with the feel - and the keys were very noisy on the PX-350 (this will drive my wife mad when I have my headphones in).

Hope that helps.

Hey Bltizn,

greetings from PA to England (oh bugger oh crumpet)...

Thank you for sharing these impressions - I liked the approach you took on comparing the two.

Hi Gauguin,

Thanks for the greetings!

I haven't tried anything else in this price range that I feel comfortable playing. I was inclined to buy the more expensive Kawai ES7 but the ES100 will keep me happy in terms of playability.

I also tried the Korg SP250 and SP280 and I would rate them lower then the Casio. This is just for the action only. I never compared the speakers etc and all the finer details i.e. sympathetic resonance (which I don't feel qualified to comment on).

Here's a quick impression of the Kawai ES100 from my own personal experience of owning one. I'll just list what I like and dislike about it so far.

Likes

Style: As a slab-type piano, you really can't be that much different in terms of looks. I do, however, love the clean look of the dash as the buttons only appear on the left side of the board. I also like how the speakers aren't visible to ruin the 'acoustic' look.

Action: The action was very important when it came to finding a decent piano and having a low price point with it. Out of all the ones I looked at at my price point, I decided to choose this one and I haven't regretted since.

Sound: I couldn't have asked for a better sounding simulation of a grand piano and the strings sound amazing too. The speakers aren't crazy loud, but they're clear and it's sufficient for the living room.

Dislikes:

Lack of outputs: Other than the Midi-In, Midi-out, 2 headphone jacks, pedal, and power output, everything else is missing. It would have been very useful if I had a USB output and a Line-out as well.

Functions: it's impossible to change reverb, resonance, etc. without checking the manual. There's no screen to show you what piano sound you're on. Gotta keep my manual handy.

Overall: There are definitely compromises when looking at this piano with its price value, but Kawai does a good job with it by leaving the best parts in and the optional stuff out. 8/10.

I recently had a chance to compare a korg SP250 and SP280 side by side in a shop. I was stunned at how horrible the action felt on the SP280. The older SP250 had a much better feel. Why would korg downgrade the action so terribly? I mean of all the places to pinch pennies, that's just about the worst choice they could make. I would also rate both of them lower than the current line of Casio's. I've yet to play any of kawai's digitals, but hope to get a chance to do so soon, because they really seem to put a lot of thought into the design of their actions.

Squall21 - I couldn't agree more with you about your review of the ES100!

Fizikisto - The SP280 I tried was so terrible that I thought the display model must have been broken. I only later learned that they downgraded the action - I can't understand their logic on this one.

Hi there,

thank you for those impressions and valuable reviews.
Regarding connections (only one MIDI out and two headphone outs) I see the argument that it would be more convenient to have a USB out straight out of the box but there are cheap and reliable MIDI to USB adapters.

My question then is: did the limited connections on the Kawai ES100 inhibit or restrict you from doing something so far? It would be great if you could share and report a scenario here you encountered.

Thanks,

Gauguin

I haven't gotten around to researching how the Midi-to-USB adapter would work and how much they cost. Unless I used software like Pianoteq or a synth, the connection is rather useless to me. From what I know, Midi-to-USB does not transfer the Kawai's audio sample so I technically cannot record using that connection alone. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

To answer your question, it isn't so much of a 'restriction' and more of an 'inconvenience'. I can still record my play to a computer, but the only way I can do that is through an headphone jack connected to the microphone jack of my computer. There are factors like the volume, quality of the jacks and cable that can contribute to how crisp my audio is going to sound.

I can still get the job done, but I'm sure you can see how having a USB-out would make this task a lot easier. I mean, I could spend another $400~ more for the p255 (probably more in Canada). Although it may be worth it, it's not another 400 I want to spend (at the moment).

Audio through the headphones sound great by the way. However, I was wondering if anyone else had the issue of some of the sound (instruments) not sounding properly through the headphones. For instance, one of the electronic piano sounds is simply too quiet for the headphones. It is completely fine through the buildin speakers. Let me know.

Good morning,

Information regarding the ES100 pedal latency mentioned above can be found at the following page:

http://www.kawai.co.jp/worldwide/support/es100.html

Kind regards,
James
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Hi,

I'm new here so bear with me. I've been looking for a piano that I can use at home and for occasional gigging and I've almost decided on buying an ES100 but I have some questions.

I haven't been able to try one out but I've tried the KDP90, which apart from being in a cabinet has the same action and sound source but better speakers (from what I understand). Is the KDP90 a fair reflection of what I can expect the ES100 to feel and sound like?

Another question I have is regarding the lack of line outs. I'm completely clueless technologically so could someone tell me with how much trouble would using the headphone outs cause me when connecting to external speakers, PA system..? I'm told the quality would suffer at least. On the subject of speakers, where are they in the ES100?

Finally, am I able to use a MIDI keyboard controller to connect to play the sounds from the ES100 and have them come out of the speakers or line outs of the ES100?

Thanks in advance.

Using the headphone jacks is not ideal from a convenience standpoint, but the quality doesn't necessarily have to suffer. If you're not satisfied with the results, using a small, inexpensive mixer between the headphone output and the external speakers/PA system should provide an improvement.

KDP90 and es100 felt the same to me, and the KDP only sounded a bit better cos of the obvious cabinet based reasons, so yes.

SJ88, welcome to the forum.



Yes, as you note, they share the same core keyboard and sound technologies.



They two speakers are directly below the top panel, on the left and right side.



Yes. Conversely, you can also use the ES100's keyboard action to control another MIDI device.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
James
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