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I don't believe it's a matter of product differentiation - indeed one of the objectives of the MP7 was to deliver the same sound quality as the MP11. However, due to the way the MP7's EFX modules are organised, it is not possible to implement the 'Brightness' parameter.



Yes, the MP7 and MP11 do share the same architecture, however the tone generator is arranged differently for the two instruments. Again, it's not a case of purposely leaving 'Brightness' off of the MP7, but rather that it's not possible to implement the function with the instrument's operation.

Kind regards,
James
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OK I'll shut up now.

On a positive note I noticed that the back of the MP7 looks totally flat with a 90 degree bottom edge - the MP6 has a curved
bottom edge which, with the powder type paint finish made it hard to grab and lift off the keyboard stand.
So its now a bit more gig-friendly.

James,
Can the Kawai two pedal unit be used on the MP7 with the same funcionality as the three pedal one? I mean can you still asign different CCs etc.Im guessing they each have two jack plugs.

Thanks.

Yes. While it's perhaps preferable to use the F-30 triple pedal unit, it's still possible to use the F-20 double pedal in conjunction with the included F-10H and reassign the pedals for triple-pedal functionality.

Cheers,
James
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My MP7 has finally arrived! Haven't had much chance to give it a workout yet, but did manage to load all my setups from my MP6 to the MP7. It is different negotiating the editing procedure but, I think once I get used to it, it will be quicker &, as a last resort, may have to look at the manual for some things. Have got a small job on tonight so will take it along for that. According to the specs, it should fit into my MP6 road case.

Congratulations! You must be one of the first owners worldwide.

I'm sure many of us would love to hear how it compares to the MP6 in terms of sound and action (I know I would...).

Congrats!





I look forward to reading your thoughts (and comparisons with the MP6) after you've had a chance to play it a little more.

Cheers,
James
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I'm sure many of us would love to hear how it compares to the MP6 in terms of sound and action (I know I would...). [/quote]

Thank you voxpops & Kawai James. I was pretty excited.
The piano sounds are a definate improvement on the MP6 and the feel of the action was better too, felt more responsive & firmer (although I have given my MP6 a pretty hard work out in it's time!) I haven't gone into the editing of the sounds much yet but I did load all my previous setups from the MP6 to the 7 & they came through ok although some of the synth sounds have now changed so will have to check those. It is taking a bit to get used to the navigation of the editing system but I think once I get used to it, it should be easier as you can use the knobs as well as the -/no & +/yes buttons to change values which is handy. I didn't take the manual with me last night & was getting a bit frustrated trying to find how to change a tone in a set up but finally figured it out. You have to enter a setup & then press the exit button. You go from set up mode to sound mode, but all the sounds from that setup are in the 4 zones and can be changed & edited & then saved back to that setup. I haven't been able to find this in the manual so I'm glad I worked it out! I tried playing some MP3s through the USB (great to have it on the front rather than the back!) and it was easy to work out. The default volume is really loud though, not sure if this can be changed & saved yet? Maybe by doing a power on setup? Love that I don't have to keep looking behind now to see where to plug the damper pedal or other leads in, they're marked above on the back edge, so simple but a huge+, don't know why I didn't think of doing that myself on other keyboards? It does fit nicely into my MP6 case, which was previously from my MP5 so that is a bonus & has saved me around $500 (the cost of a new custom built NovaForge roadcase)
One thing that was a bit of a negative & may be able to be changed with a system update is when playing in a setup & changing to another setup, the MP6 would sustain all the sounds when you changed over. In sound mode on the MP7, they will sustain if you select another sound but not if you go from sound to setup? Do you know if that can be fixed James, or what the reason for it is? Not a big issue, but if changing from one setup to another mid song can be noticable.
Was playing it last night through a small 150watt powered speaker. Have a gig on the weekend outdoors through a big system. Will really look forward to playing / hearing it through that!

Cheers,

Alleycat

I honestly think this is the best value DP on the market. I absolutely love my MP and it's a generation behind this one. Finally you get really good action, a ton of functionality AND plenty of quality acoustic piano tones AND tons of tone editing, for easily under $2000!

I chose the MP10 over the MP7 due mostly to the timing/availability. I really like the wood keys of the MP10 but I don't know that I would have made the same choice if both were sitting side-by-side, with the MP7 being $500 or more less.

I didn't take the manual with me last night & was getting a bit frustrated trying to find how to change a tone in a set up but finally figured it out.
You have to enter a setup & then press the exit button. You go from set up mode to sound mode, but all the sounds from that setup are in the 4 zones and can be changed @ edited @ then saved back to that setup.

Alleycat [/quote]

Thats worth noting.

Been quoted a great price here in UK from Promenade Music

£1079 for the MP7 (that's cheaper than the MP6 was three years ago)
And £1550 for the MP11 (very tempting but for the weight)

Alleycat6315, thank you for posting your early experiences of the MP7.

One 'trick' to briefly show the sound assigned to a zone during SETUP mode, is to press and hold one of the F1~F4 buttons while the play screen is shown.

I'll try to respond to some of the points you raised.



I just test this with some MP3s on copied to a USB stick. On the MP7 I have here the default volume is 50 (out of 100), which was a comfortable level for my ears. Once adjusted, the playback level will remain until the power is switched, however it's not currently possible to store this setting to PowerOn memory.



Again, I just tried this, cycling through the PIANO setups and holding notes with the pedal. The sound changes naturally without abrupt changes, however I do not have an MP6 here for comparison.

I noticed that if a setup uses very different effect settings there will be a sound change when the first note using the new setup is pressed (i.e. not when selecting the setup button itself) but I think this is unavoidable as the DSP needs to be reset.

When changing tonewheel organ presets there will be a momentary break in the sound in order to reset the tone generator.



Did you mean going from setup to setup?

I'm using a beta firmware, due for release soon, so perhaps this behaviour has been changed? Please try the latest OS when it's available - I'll post info here and on the facebook page.

Cheers,
James
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Thats worth noting.

Been quoted a great price here in UK from Promenade Music

£1079 for the MP7 (that's cheaper than the MP6 was three years ago)
And £1550 for the MP11 (very tempting but for the weight)


[/quote]

I have just been quotes £1099 from promenade music!! Do you order form them?

thanks

Sorry It was my mistake - should be £1099 - still £100 less than
the competition.

Can anyone compare the MP7 to the Roland RD-800 ?

Well, here's the obvious for now until we can all get our hands on a MP7:



_____________________________________

No the price is 1079 its on the web site now

http://www.promenademusic.co.uk/kawai-mp7

So he quoted me the wrong price and you the right price.

It's only 20 quid chaps...

Theres mo such thing as the right or wrong price.

If you want an MP7 I would contact them (Promenade Music)now
cause that price on thier site is not fixed and I was told will rise soon.

Anywys, that unit has my name on it ! YAY!!!!!

James,
When will the www.kawaimp.com/mp7 be going live?

The EP1 demos up there right now have a couple "Casquade" and "Busy Ashante"- the jazzy ones - where the "bell" sound is a bit less pronounced.I was wondering if that was the basic sound without any effects or the result of using a different amp sim or choice of microphone (Dynamic or Condenser type?)

Can you spill any beans?

puff, we hope to have the MP7 content online soon. Much of it is very similar to the MP11 content as both models share a lot in common, however there are obviously some important differences in the action and sound selection.

We're also improving some portions of the existing MP11 site at the same time.

Regarding the EP sounds, those two demos were provided by Kawai Australia and recorded by Greg Coffin. I do believe Greg opted for a cleaner, more direct sound without the effects (and possible amp sim), which may explain the tonal character of those demos.

Cheers,
James
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