Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards James New Review of Kawai ES-110 "Stunning"

James makes videos and people have varying opinions about them.

Sounds like we must have hit page 2!

ES-110 doesn't have a USB-to-host MIDI output which is crucial considering that all the cheap DPs even up to 1000$ sound like [censored] unless you hook them up to a PC/VST.
Considering that most people don't have audio interface with the old MIDI din connector, it's a dealbreaker.

The most value from cheap DPs comes from the keyboard action and the ability to hook them up to VST, so whichever cheap DP has the best keyboard (and outputs all the values in 1-127 MIDI velocity range consistently) and is easy to hook up to a PC/external sound module with least amount of latency is the winner ultimately.

Hahaha. exactly right. This james may be a bit of a hack, in someone's pocket, smoozing up to his preferred brand to get free review samples.

His opinions are not deeply thought out. I think a better use of his time would be teardown videos, Show us the piano-Guts, and let the more technically minded people decide what it's worth.

The ES110 internal samples sound really good, more dynamic and fuller than Yamahas or Roland’s. I use them for daily practice and on professional gigs. It’s not true that VST pianos are needed. I don’t like the latency that external sample libraries introduce.

So, can we now positively say ES110 is the best digital piano?

That's true, however the ES110 does still have the traditional 5-pin MIDI IN/OUT terminals, so it's relatively easy and inexpensive to use a MIDI-to-USB adapter to connect to USB. I would say it's easier to add USB functionality to an ES110 than it is to add 5-pin MIDI connectivity to a USB-only instrument.

Kind regards,
James
x

Unless he was speaking something other than english, those pianos have been bought, not given for free and when it was a piano on loan (such as the MP11SE), it was clearly mentioned in the video.
I've used the midi feature and connected wirelessly via bluetootha and with the midi to usb adapter as KJ mentioned and it works just fine.
It works fine with Pianoteq as well if that's someone's pleasure.


P.S When you said "technicaly minded" you probably meant Keyboard Warriors.

After reading and watching all those reviews on the ES110 I've decided to get my own and try it myself.

And to be honest, I'm very disappointed. I've read many saying that the action is silent, but my neighbors from below tend to disagree. They complain that they hear thumping when I play - not the music. What I have found actually is the loud rebound that the action makes when the keys come back up. It's very apparent when releasing a chord. The other problem with the action I have, probably even more serious to me, is that it's way too light. Because of that it's very hard to control the dynamics while playing, as it's way too easy to press the keys too hard. And the last thing, which is the ultimate no-no for me is the sound. I honestly was expecting something more from this piano - for me it sounds very muddy. The bass notes overpower the treble section which I don't like at all, I wish it would be more clear. Because for me, it sounds like playing on the junkyard toys, smash a can, hit some tinware... Not impressed at all!

As for James' piano reviews, I can't say if they're honest, but what I can say is that they are definitely not unopinionated. His videos are way too long for me, but I guess it makes for more ads revenue for him.

To be honest, the biggest thing I've learned lately is that you cannot judge a piano by others' opinions and reviews. At all. Only you can tell what you will like.

^ Great post 👍🏻

I think his reviews are good, way better than most, most are just infomercials

Do we have a piano of any kind that isn't noisy? Acoustic pianos are the worst ones when it comes to making noise.

I'm not impressed with your post at all and to be honest with you it is too long too, just like Jame's videos, opinionated and I am very disappointed at you too.

Cheers

Very disappointing for you.
It may be possible to at least partly redeem the situation in some ways:
- by changing the touch to 'heavy' - it won't alter the feel of the keys but it should mean that they don't play so loud when played gently. That may also overcome the problem of the bass overpowering the rest of the sounds, but if not it would be necessary to alter the way you play to suit it!
- for the sound, changing it to 'dynamic' or 'bright' might do the trick. Is the sound muffled just through the speakers or through headphones as well? It shouldn't be on headphones, but I suspect that one 'has to make allowances for small, low-powered speakers - perhaps play through the hifi, external speakers or something like that.
- the noise problem is rather tricky. There's a thread: http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthre...se-from-hybrid-piano-and-neighbor-e.html on that subject.

Or, of course, perhaps it just isn't the piano for you, or perhaps you have a faulty unit. Either way, if you can't get it to play satisfactorily then sending it back seems the best way forward with it. As you say, it's best to 'try before you buy,' but sometimes that just isn't possible

Not an expert myself, but perhaps others can chime in. Anyway, I hope you get it sorted.

I would not compare acoustic pianos with digital ones, that's a totally different category. You cannot turn down the volume on an acoustic, so the often used argument "you won't hear the action noise because the actual playing is loud" becomes invalid here. We use digital pianos very often specifically because we want them to be quieter than an acoustic.

As for the second part of your post... was that a joke? Because I don't know if you really want an answer to that?

Thank you for the tips, I will definitely try and see if changing the settings make it a more pleasing experience!

When it comes to the noise, I guess it's about compromise here. No action is perfect, you just choose whichever has the least cons for you.

Choosing an instrument is a very personal thing, no matter if that's a piano or some other instrument. One persons' dream instrument may be an absolute nightmare to play for others. It's always about finding the best fit, player to instrument and vice versa.

Luckily I'm still within the return window and from my experience with the ES110 I'm pretty sure I will be returning it, so probably it's not a match for me.

I think the best possible scenario would be to try all the potential candidates side by side before making any decision, but as you've written, it's all too often not possible, especially these days. And still, playing the pianos at the store may not give the answers you want, as it's a different environment than you'll be using it in later too. But the more you can experience it yourself, the more thankful you will be that you've done it later.

First of all, welcome to the forum.

I have a ES8 and it shows the same sort of noise and bounce, despite being more expensive and having an allegedly better action. Annoying when I am practicing some exercises.

Regarding the author of the post you were addressing in that post I briefly quoted, I strongly advise you to just ignore him. His behavior and "contributions" to the forum are mostly those of a troll.

The ES110 action is relatively quiet compared to the action on my Casio PX-360 digital piano. I never notice noisiness coming from the three different ES110 actions I have tested. They are fast and fairly friction stress free which is a good thing for the tendons.

Thank you. That's interesting, I guess maybe that's just how Kawai does it? I'd love to try out an ES8 but it's unfortunately really hard to get here and to be honest, slightly above my budget currently.

I think in this price category there are going to be compromises no matter which option you pick. It's just a matter of selecting one that suits your needs and preferences. Maybe the Kawai has a loud rebound noise, maybe the Yamaha doesn't feel as much like an acoustic etc. but in the end you need to pick what suits you. I've nearly gone mad (not really), stuck inside, watching reviews and demos, reading forums, but until I can go out to a store and try them out I'll never really know what the best option is for me.

About James' videos. I think its great to get the perspective of a classical musician on so many digital pianos. Sure, it would be better if he knew each piano inside and out before criticizing the user experience. And sure, he might have preferences and biases, like anyone else, but imo its clear he is not getting paid to review or say anything. I know he moderates his comments, and I do find it a little troubling the extent of moderation people are reporting in this thread. He might be sensitive to criticism or want to keep his comments clear of arguments. Either way I still find his videos informative.