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

Hello, i have a question, the problem spacing key is solved? I think buy a es110, All keys have the same distance? What is your thought this piano? Very very thanks! I need help for choose this or Roland fp30

Most probably you are talking about natural thing in digital pianos. Please look at slow motions movies from top dp pianos in youtube (Roland PHAIV, PHA50, Yamaha NWX, Kawai GF and GF2) and see whether you have the same effect and that even top digital actions behave in that manner. Of course, in those top models it will be drastically reduced, but slight bumping when the key is back to it's starting position is normal and nothing to be worried.

Yes, real acoustic pianos have a slight "key bounce" on release too, this is actually something digital piano actions attempt to replicate. I think it does provide a certain level of feedback or feel when playing quick passages and arpeggios but I honestly don't know how important it is, as I've never played a piano that doesn't have it.

Mine has one spot where spacing is just a smudge off. Not like u tube video w ones w big spaces.
I love this piano. No app but virtual tech which works sound settings but doesn't switch instruments. I'm a new piano student at age of 72 so I wanted a piano that sounds and feels closet to real thing. Wasn't interested in bells and whistles and led screens . Just nice piano.

Not sure the kawai Es 110 would be better than Roland for gigs.. the Kawai is not user friendly as u have to hit a button, then a specific key an hope u did it right cause there is no led screen and u have to listen for the change. Wish that one day someone will build a digital piano period . Put all money and effort into a beautiful sound..No stupid drum patterns. Don't we all have that In 3 or 4 other apps an devices. Lose those useless inadequate built in speakers. I can't imagine listening to ANY digital piano w/o proper amp or pa . Maybe two other sounds like organ .. Kawai should use the RHC 3
And some other features from better pianos. Just lose more sounds and bells and whistles.

Combining the two ideas you put forth there, the ES110 is okay for gigs IF all you want is a nice piano sound. If you're not going to use its other sounds, then the inability to tell which sound you've selected is irrelevant. But I agree that in a live situation, where you may have to switch sounds in an instant and be sure the sound is right before you play, the lack of any front panel indication of the selected sound is a real issue if you're using it for multiple sounds.

I use the Es110 for all my gigs, but I only need a piano sound as I play jazz.

In this case, I would recommend using the Registration memories, which can be used to store both the sound and its associated settings (dual/split, effects on/off, etc.).

Kind regards,
James
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That's definitely a help! But it would be better if there was even something that lit up to show you which registration you'd selected. Probably more important for a multi-keyboard setup, where you could be returning to the ES100 after playing another board... you may not necessarily remember what sound the ES100 was set for when you last played it, and you can't tell by looking which sound it is set for. I guess maybe you'd get in the habit of always selecting the sound before you started a new song, even if the sound might be what it was already set for, just to be sure...

As always Scott, you're spot on.

I agree, some indicator lights would have been a nice addition...
Oh well, can't blame a guy from trying to defend his employer's product.

Cheers,
James
x

I purchased the ES-110 about a month ago. I am, overall, very happy with it, and have used it already on 3 jazz gigs. I have been using an Acoustic Image amp, and now have a Electro-Voice xl90 powered speaker on order. Will be here any day to pick up from Guitar Center. GC had an open box deal, and the advantage of GC ship to store is that I could return it right back to store if there is any problem, which is 2 miles from home vs. possibly having to pay postage..

What I do not really understand about this piano is why the F key in the octave above middle C is a little louder than adjoining keys. I have learned to live with this, but then when I sit down at my Kurzweil piano, it is so nice to hear even tones. And, tonight, at the gig, I could hear the E key right below it almost cutting out, at least much less loud. Maybe that is an amp problem, but I do not recall using filters, just eq-ing the treble, mids, and bass mostly around 12:00. .

You talk about dealers here, but I bought this on Amazon. It is debate-able whether it really is a defect, even if it somewhat bothers me. I am just wondering if there is anything I can do to adjust this. Does not appear to be anything in the manual. Otherwise, everything works just great. Key spacing is fine. The piano is more trebly than the Kurzweil, but, for a gig, it really has a nice presence. Any suggestions?

Hello gracegren,



Please contact Kawai America for assistance.

Kind regards,
James
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Only 4 registration memories. Better than none I guess

You know mine is slightly louder on F too but since I'm a 72 beginner not sure it will affect me much.

My Yamaha keyboard stores transpose in the registration memory which i found very useful!!. I understand about mid song but then you would not store it is the registration memory.!! Its just having no separate button for transpose how do you do it quickly in a live situation? Using the registration memory would have been ideal. Its a shame it cant be added on an update!! Even with an option not to store the transpose settings in the registration memory. You are claerly aiming this to the gigging person with the aux outs!! So we need transpose as well!!

It is something that can be controlled by the app over bluetooth?

There are boards that can do this, and boards that can't... We're kind of spoiled having the feature to begin with, some boards don't have it at all. Actual acoustic pianos, for example. ;-) (Or an actual Rhodes/Wurli, clav, tonewheel Hammond organ...) Many of the people we gig with can't necessarily transpose their instruments, either. At least you can transpose the ES110, even if the transposition can't be stored in a single button press.

Really, since (as you say) you're not doing it mid-song, the ES110 approach isn't too terrible, especially if most of your transpositions are just, say, a half step or a whole step, which is pretty commonly the case. With only 4 registration buttons, you couldn't store many transpositions anyway. And every time you used one of those buttons to store a transposition, you'd be unable to use that button for any "normal" playing, so you'd be trading off an opportunity to store quick access to some other sound, which I don't think many people would find to be such a good trade-off, with only 4 spots available. Plus, if you wanted to change sounds mid-song with those buttons, and accidentally hit the wrong one, you could suddenly be sounding in the wrong key. ;-) I'm not saying it wouldn't be a nice feature that people could choose to use or not use, but I think suggesting that gigging players "need" this feature overstates the case. I suspect the number of giggers who "need" this is very much a minority.

Personally, I think the real limitation of the Kawai approach is having to repeatedly hit "plus and minus" keys. It would be better if there were 12 different keys for the 12 different, well, keys. Then an alternate key could be selected more quickly, and with less chance of error. I understand the problem they faced... with all the other functions they have assigned to keys, they were running out of keys, so conceptually, it's hard to place everything in places where they make sense and balance all the things you'd like to have direct access to. But yeah, I'd have preferred having, say, the top 12 keys used for selecting transpositions.


If you have an iPhone/iPad, you can probably turn Local Off, use an app like iMidiPatchbay, and select transpositions that way. It might work with the bluetooth MIDI... if not, you could try a hard-wired MIDI connection.

Excellent reply Scott.

Cheers,
James
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I received a response from Kawai Suggesting iI move the piano to a different room or part of room. I had already relocated the piano to the back music room and no longer a problem! The other room had wood floors, a lot of stuff in it whereas the music room is carpeted by choice and has fewer items and other items to absorb sound. Just surprised how this made a big difference.

Kawai James, can you help me where can i get this piano ? im based in indonesia. (Sorry for my English)

Best regard
Andi

Hello Kawai James & co! I Finally bought the ES-110 yesterday... It really seemed like it was designed for someone like me -- no frills, just basic good piano feel/sound; so I was very optimistic. I'm still getting used to it -- played the first gig last night, and the next will be tomorrow. I'm a little concerned by the look/feel of the plastic -- it really evokes an early-90's Casio kind of cheapness (ominously reinforced by the dreaded "made in china" written on the box). It's gonna be hard to make myself think that I'm not playing a toy. Then again, maybe that's what's necessary to keep the weight low. I dunno... a little uneasy about it.

I'm pretty happy with the action, so far. And the pedal is great, too. The only other area that I'm uneasy about is the sound. I feel like it's a little metallic and electronic-y, especially in the upper register. Hopefully, I'll get used to it, or figure out some better settings with my amplifier (the sound sounds further away now, so I have to adjust the amp placement -- which is weird). I've spent a while with the manual, trying to figure out the best settings to my ears. The process for choosing settings is a bit rough, but if that keeps the weight (and unnecessary frills) down, then I guess that's ok.

I wasn't sure if I was happy with the sound last night. But, after the gig, a good piano player in the audience came up and said he loved the sound, and then he tried the ES-110 out and was so overjoyed that he said he'd buy one for himself today. So, that definitely makes me feel better... we'll see how gig #2 goes, tomorrow night.