Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai announces ES110 ultra-portable digital piano

I got my replacement ES110 today and have just had a quick test of it and all the keys seem to be ok. Key spacing is still not perfect but a lot better than the last one but it isn't something that bothers me.

Will keep you posted once I have had a chance to give it a longer try.

Noticed any issues yet on your new one?

Everything seems fine so far. The key action feels nice. I tested the Bluetooth with GarageBand on my iPad and it connected successfully.

The sound quality over the built in speakers is ok. The lower notes can overwhelm the mid to higher notes at times. Sound through headphones is a lot better.

Overall I am very happy with it.

I'm happy too.
At first I had the piano on my desk (which had a thick cloth on) and the speakersound wasn't good, then my pianostand arrived and wow that was a BIG improvement.
I later found there is an option in the settings to tell the piano it's on a stand or on a table, so it can adapt the sound. (But I guess it will always be better on a stand)

The internal sounds of the piano are good but not as good as the Ivory VST I'm using. (but that may be personal)

Hi everyone!, my new Kawai ES110 finally arrive to my home in Colombia, I'm very happy, very expensive import taxes but anyway I'm very satisfied with my new Kawai DP, I'd like to share with you a little review and photos (sorry for my english):

- Appearance: definitely the space between keys is not perfect, but, it's not so bad to think about return back to the shop, oh no, it's something I can live with, but I expected from Kawai a slightly better product in this respect, I think everything else is fine, in general it looks so good, minimalist, and the matte keys add more grip but not the same feel of real Ivory of acoustic pianos, but it's good, they are not reflective.

- Sound: Wow!, the sound of this DP it's really impressive, and all the voices and instruments have the same high quality, probably some (very few) instruments have a somewhat weak sound, seem the need of more volume, but there are two solutions, connect a headphone or connect to a pair of amplified speakers, in general, very good quality and the distinctive sound of Kawai Pianos.

- Keys: very fast response, they are a little lighter than other models or brands, but for me it's very good for practice, something in the middle, the matte keys are fine, it's a good improvement from ES100, thanks God my Kawai don't have any broken/rattle key, like someone reported some days ago here, and all the keys have the same touch response.

- Connectivity: it has the basic connectors, MIDI in/out, 2 headphone jacks, damper pedal, Line out mono/stereo and DC, I wish it had a USB port, but I can use a good quality audio interface and use the standard MIDI connection, no problema.

I have not been able to test the connectivity bluetooth nor the sound from headphones, since I am working at this moment, perhaps later I tell you more about it.

Some cons:

- The irregular space between keys, in my case does not notice too much, but it's present, it goes against the aesthetics of the piano in general (not a big problem).
- Some instruments have less volume than other (you can use external sound system or headphones).
- Lack of USB connector (you can use standard MIDI instead).

In conclusion, I'm very happy and satisfied, the quality of the sound, voices, and key reponse is really good, it's very pleasant to play on it, I can say that I made a good blind choice XD, taking into account that I could not try one of these in person, no rattle/broken keys, fortunately without any kind of damage, now I have a beautiful instrument to practice in my free time, please if you have any questions tell me.

Photos of my Kawai ES110

Congratulations on the delivery of your ES110 John. Hope you are enjoying it.

I have a technical question regarding active noise cancelling (ANC) headphones. I've got a pair of Lindy BNX-60 headphones which although cheap are fine for my needs. They work fine with all my devices (e.g. computers, phone, iPad) in both normal mode and ANC mode. When I use them on the ES110 they work fine in normal mode but when I turn them on to ANC mode they emit a loud hum. I don't know the technical term for the hum, is it amplifier hum? It's a bit like the hum that you get when you are plugging in an electric guitar to the amplifier. The funny thing is, the hum disappears if I touch the headphone connector. Is this some kind of ground loop issue? I've tried another pair of normal headphones and they are fine. Is it an issue with the piano or the headphones?

What type of connector does the headphones have? Is it one of those new connectors with four contacts, designed for mobile phones? I've got some headphones like that, and I have to position it very precisely in the receptacle in order for it to work properly. (I haven't bothered finding the right adaptor yet)

Greg.

Thanks for your review. On your photos your piano looks fine to me, not any worse from my ES100, where the keys have a little left/right (<1 mm) wiggle room. Does your ES100 look any better?

Due to wear on the felts, the keybed might become slightly uneven later on (depending on use of course). This effect is purely visual and doesn't affect functionality in any way. How much use did you put into your ES100? Does it show this effect too and does it bother you?

The ES110 comes with two standard 1/4in (6.35mm) stereo headphone jacks.

Hello, I'm into thinking of replacing my ES100 for the newer ES110, mostly for the weight reduction. As far as I'm reading for now anyone thinks the action is equal or better on the ES110, does anyone has the opposite opinion, because action is my number one concern and that's why I ended up with Kawai...

The ANC headphones have a standard 3.5mm jack and I have tried a couple of standard 1/4 inch adapters. My normal headphones also have a standard 3.5mm jack.

I don't have any complaints about the action of the new ES110 but I didn't have the es100 before so can't compare.
As the mechanism is "different" I guess the action must be different too.
Best is to go to a shop and try for yourself.

You're talking about ES100 but mine is the brand new ES110, I've used it only for two days, it seems that most of them are having the same irregular space between keys, but in my case it doesn't bother me much because it doesn't look so critical, does not affect functionality.

Thank you Kev W, of course I'm very happy with it, I love its piano sound and the key action/response, no regrets, a great instrument!, I can't compare it with similar models from Roland or Yamaha, I only know I'm at ease.

I've yet to hear from anyone who has tried the ES110, but preferred the ES100 action.

It may be worthwhile referencing this post from jjo, who also replaced an ES100 with an ES110 for the additional features and lower weight.

Kind regards,
James
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Is it worth buying the ES100 today which has the AHA IV action or should I wait for the ES110 to launch in my country.....The question I have will kawai still manufacture the AHA IV Action or have they completely switched to RHC and stopped the manufacturing of AHA IV. Because ES110 in not yet available in my country yet.

I have just swapped my Yamaha P95 DP for a Kawai ES110. Why?

The P95 sat unused for a couple of years after I bought my new-to-me grand. But when our quiet neighbourhood became a hive of building activity, recording the acoustic turned into a frustrating nightmare. The DP with Pianoteq provided a solution, but only up to a point: now accustomed to the action on my grand, I found the P95’s touch quite distracting.

Piano World’s ‘comparison of DPs under $1000’ thread provided an explanation. For example, P115 key fulcrum: 40% of a real piano. ES100: 72.5% of a real piano. The key dip was also significantly different between the two models. Time to try the new Kawai at the local music store.

Apart from touch, most of the ‘bells and whistles’ weren’t important to me, but traditional 5-pin MIDI connectors for my M-Audio Uno cable were - so the Roland FP30, for example, wasn’t a contender. The decent sustain pedal, and the 5-year warranty were nice bonuses, too.

I managed a quick sale and very good price on Gumtree for my well-maintained P95, so the changeover has been quite painless. And although I’ve only had the ES110 for a couple of days, I’ve quickly discovered that it feels terrific, looks good, and is a great MIDI controller for Pianoteq. I’m very happy. Thanks to all, for the advice on this thread !

Great

While the ES100 is no longer manufactured, the AHA IV action is still used by the KDP90/KCP90 console instruments.

Kind regards,
James
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I don't feel RHII better than AHAIV (I haven't tested RHC).
It feels more or less the same, but I trend to prefer AHAIV because I feel it has longer keys.
I would buy ES100 if samples are the same.