Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards KAWAI MP7 THREAD

First of all, James and the others, thank you very much for your replies and your opinions.

In fact, I fully understand you James that you have by far better insight and overview of all the QA measures Kawai does and (of course) you can not state anything contradictory to your employer's policy, for sure...

It's just this strange feeling: the KawaiMP website tells about outstanding quality and no sacrifices wrt. design and parts. But chosing cheap standard transformers which show a variation in production quality (some are noisy while others remain silent) is in my humble opinion questionable.
At least I know that my previous unit was totally silent, I checked for that shortly after my purchase.

It is strange to me anyways, if Kawai would have included a decent switched PSU without transformer but fully solid-state design, there would not be any hum and even they could have reduced the weight by 2 kg or more (wouldn't that be a KILLER selling point?).

But no complains, I like the instrument and enjoy it a lot!

Marketing and sales will do and say anything to make their product look good. They will never say: "we chose the best 2nd and 3rd rate parts where appropriate". It's a big problem when the selection of parts is very poor.

I don't know anything about PSU, but it's an interesting question... assuming the better PSU is more expensive, I wonder what the impact on sales would have been if the unit were $100 more but 5 lbs lighter... (assuming that changing the transformer really would create as much weight reduction as you suggest)

Basically a switched PSU would be significantly cheaper wrt. a conventional transformer, where material cost for copper and steel + several production steps inclusive resin encapsulation are by far more expensive.

The only drawback with switched PSUs is that you need to deal with anti-EMC measures, so you would have to apply some decent filtering behind the circuit. But no black magic, it's the standard for any laptop or PC power supply for years.

However I do not know which decisions have been made in Japan and what the engineers had in their minds when they selected the conventional transformer design. It's conservative, easier to design and might be slightly more reliable, but it has much worse efficiency, is heavy (2 kg for the transformer are an assumption based on the pictures in this thread: https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1778344/NEKID%20PICHURES!!%20%28Kawai%20MP10%29.html#Post1778344 ),generates lots of heat and is prone to humming...

Well, I really would like to check how Yamaha and Roland did that with their stage pianos. Just for curiosity...

I can tell you after some month there'isnt any humming problem with my CP4 and RD800...

I believe the MP7's EPs are better than the MP6.

Kind regards,
James
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No hummingproblem with my EU Version MP7 (230V / 50Hz PSU) Also checked some german boards. There are no reports.

I saw on KC that you sold your PX5S. Have you settled on a replacement? Is the MP7 the only 88 you have at the moment?

What do they say...?

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you."

Oh well, I should feel honored, Scott - you're my first official online stalker!

Yes, the MP7 is now my only 88. The cull has been swift and brutal. I'm still keeping an eye out for a suitable 88 with speakers. I was tempted by an FP-80 that's just sold for less than $1k on eBay, but it's just too heavy and long. Also, it's possible I may be heading back over the pond next year, and so I'll probably wait until NAMM to see what new offerings there are (if any), and then my personal situation may also be more clear.

Gosh, not looking forward to having to relearn my UK spelling and grammar! Actually, what's worse is that I can't take the MP7 with me - or I'd have to have it converted to 230v 50Hz, (I think all stage pianos should have worldwide compatible transformers). The cost of shipping plus conversion probably means I'd be better off starting again over there.

Well it did pop up right at the top of the KC home page, so I kinda couldn't miss it! I just figured the question was more relevant here than if I had replied to the "for sale" post there. Don't worry, I haven't stalked anyone since my parole. ;-)


Yeah, once you have the MP7, it's tempting to want to play it all the time. ;-) But while it feels light for being 46 lbs, it's still not something I'd want to be bringing to every gig.

Meanwhile, I did a count, I own a dozen 88 key keyboards accumulated over the years (13 if you count my acoustic). That's way too many. I'm going to be culling as well. I've already decided I'm keeping 4, selling 6, and the jury is out on the other 2 (including my own PX5S). Like I said in the other thread, it's a disease. The only saving grace there is they are not terribly expensive. In fact, of the dozen, the MP7 is the highest priced of them.

(And yes, that's just the 88s...)

Thanks. And one small followup... I mentioned being able to assign CC on a setup-by-setup basis instead of as a system function, so that different setups could, for example, control different soft apps. But I also see the benefit to a default System-wide assignment... for example, if you have lots of organ presets, you'd want the same CC's for all of them, and it would be a real nuisance to have to enter the same numbers over and over! So in fact you would want to be able to enter a global default MIDI assignment (i.e. the way it works now)... but it would be good to be able to over-ride those assignments in a particular Setup as well.

Hi everyone. Have had the MP7 on order for a little over a month. Was wondering if some of the delay was connected to this hum and other little things I've been reading about in here. My son got about a years worth of us out of his MP6 before it was stolen from him. When I went to replace it, we learned that the MP7 was out. The MP6 served him well, however it made sense to go with the MP7. Maybe I should have just gone with the heavily discounted MP6,... no? Yes?

Hello Eric,

The current back-order delays in the US are due to one of the vessels carrying a large shipment to Kawai America being delayed. However, I gather that steps are being taken to ensure that the current shipment will have sufficient stock to cover the existing back-orders and a large number of additional orders.

The MP6 was an excellent instrument, however the MP7 is better in ever way - I'm confident that your son will be very happy with the upgrades.

Kind regards,
James
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This is my experience only:

I have had three MP7s. I was a very early purchaser and some of the initial bugs were only just surfacing. Kawai America decided that it would be sensible to see if swapping my machines would produce a different outcome. It was then discovered that most of these (minor) issues were software related, and steps were taken immediately to resolve the issues with OS updates.

Of those three machines, hum was evident in two if I put my ear close to the area housing the power supply. It is possible that the hum might be further mitigated or amplified depending on the surface the MP7 is resting on. However, it is impossible to hear the hum when the instrument is being played. I admit that my hearing is not as acute as it used to be, and a few people have expressed concern about the hum, but I would not regard this as a reason not to purchase the MP7 - it is such a capable and well-designed piano in so many respects. Most audio products produce some background noise (lean over a Roland FP's internal speakers and you'll likely hear some hiss).

As to other issues, as with all computer-related products, there have been some bugs, and a very few are still not quite resolved, but almost all have a workaround, and in normal use you will be unlikely to encounter them, as they are more likely to appear when editing or changing a function. There is one bug that occasionally impacts my setup editing, but I know how to get around it and so it's of little consequence. Sure, it would be nice if it wasn't there, just to make the process more smooth and reduce irritation, but it really isn't a big deal.

We tend to focus on small issues here on the forum, and that's a good thing as it helps people weigh up the pros and cons, and assists manufacturers with feedback from "real world" experience. However, occasionally this laser intensity can cause potential purchasers undue concern as the small issues are magnified in their minds until they become real impediments - often unnecessarily. I would suggest that the MP7, with its great action, beautiful design, as well as excellent sound and DSP engines is one of the top half-dozen stage pianos out there right now, and in the context of that, these residual bugs/flaws are of minuscule importance to most people.

Ho-hum...

Thanks so much fellas for the feedback. Actually, I've already purchased the MP7 from an online dealer that we've bought our last MP6 from. We've just been waiting for a month for delivery. I could have purchased the MP6 and received it in a matter of days as several online sources had a few remaining in stock. However, we decided to go with the MP7 and wait for the initial week for delivery,... that 1 week grew to almost 5 weeks. So during the wait, we began reading (mainly this forum), and admittedly, began wondering if buying another MP6, which was immediately available AND heavily discounted, would have been the better choice. Especially after reading so many bug reports, particularly the hum. But now after voxpops comments I now totally understand what happens here and can appreciate the reports. Seeing that Kawai actually has eyes-n-ears in here by way of James ain't nothin' but pure confirmation and comfort. I might also add that we didn't jump off of the MP7 even after it was clear we'd be waiting for a while, because of our dealer. After two other digital piano purchases from him, there was a lot of trust there. The good news,... just received an email that the boy's MP7 is being shipped direct to us from the Kawai Warehouse in Carson CA., so it's finally on it's way. Thanks again guys!

I hope both you and your son enjoy your MP7, Eric. Best deal out there, IMO!

voxpops, thank you for your post.

Eric Harrison, thank you for your post too, and the positive comments. The shipping delays are a headache for all concerned, however we're grateful for everyone's patience while the situation is resolved. It's great to hear that your son's MP7 will be shipped soon, and directly from Kawai America's HQ.

Kind regards,
James
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'will be shipped soon',... did you say James? Well it arrived today,... 36 hours after receiving the email announcing their warehouse arrival. Looks like somebody expedited things and got it to me in a hurry. This thing is gorgeous. My sons agrees with you guys 100%,... the MP7 is leaps ahead of his old MP6. He just finished experimenting with the Organ Presets and Modes and I thought Joey had paid us a visit. Went to the fridge to make certain I could support such a visit. To an old jazz musician who knows absolutely nothing about keyboards,... this thing sounds amazing. Hope he's not in for an angry learning curve, I remember his first week or so with the MP6! Pretty entertaining from my chair, I imagine a little frustrating from his chair however.

That's great to hear Eric! Congrats to your son!

As for the learning curve, the MP7 is designed to be pretty intuitive to use right out of the box, however you can delve into the EDIT menus and tweak a lot of settings if desired. I'd also say the interface (and owner's manual) is a lot nicer and easier to understand than the MP6.

Again, thanks for the update...and speaking of which, if he hasn't done so already, I recommend visiting this page and downloading the latest MP7 software update to get the most out of the board.

Cheers,
James
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