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Thanks James! What's in the update if I may ask?

So, after few days use (recording keyboards for my bands EP at the moment and I'm using the MP7 as the main MIDI controller) I must say I'm very happy with the MP7, it feels just right under my fingers! Looking forward to lots more playing and writing with it!

A handful of bugfixes, some functionality changes, usability improvements, and much faster USB handling. It's all good.

Cheers,
James
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Hello everyone, I found this forum while looking for MP7 details and experiences from actual users. As you might guess or notice, this is my very first post.

I’ve owned and played a Kawai MP5 since late 2007. Great and satisfying instrument, yet I reached that point of craving for some improvement. So over the last couple of years I went thru this process of purchasing and testing (yep, most of these won’t be stocked at the local music store)…

…a Roland RD700NX: nice overall, but complicated menus/functions, too heavy to carry around, and then some strange and I’d hear these unpleasant harshness in the middle range keys of ac piano patches (not curable with EQ) . Also, the material on the panel seemed to favor fingerprints or greasy spots showing around knobs, buttons and controls…

…then a Yamaha MOXF8: pretty convenient weight to carry around, but bulky, and soon I realized the sounds and key action were not really a significant "step up" from MP5…

…then a Yamaha CP4: great weight/size to carry around; surprisingly this wouldn’t compromise it's pleasant key action. However, I felt that the main ac piano sound was pretty much the only one that appealed to my ears. Then, I like creating splits/layers where some of the piano notes overlap a few of the bass notes and only a certain range of strings/pad notes overlap the piano, but the CP4 won’t allow you to do this type of layering/splitting. Besides, it plays 3 parts only, so a layer/split of Bass + AP + EP + Pad/Strings wouldn’t be possible.

…then a Nord Stage 2 HA88! Yep, decided to take the NS2 plunge about a year ago. I’ve got to admit the NS2 beats the previous DPs I tested with superior and more pleasing samples, articulations, FX (like pedal noise, string res, etc.) plus all the other bells and whistles in the organ and synth sections, dedicated knobs, and of course the advantage of downloading any sound from Nord’s online library for free. BTW, a lot of users seem to swear by the Fazioli being the best in the library, but I still find the Grand Imperial Boesendorfer to be the most pleasant, full bodied and versatile. The XL version sounds even better than the “Large” version that comes loaded from factory …however, I had to delete a few “less favorite” piano samples to make room and this would be one of my issues as the amount of memory from factory (not expandable) seems limited considering the average size of a good ac piano sample.

Well, past the first impression of these samples striking me as full bodied, lush, beautiful, realistic, with a nice top and low end, but soon I started realizing there was a missing connection with the key action, dynamics, expression. My ears started getting tired of hitting so many bright and loud notes when I was trying to play with not so much energy. So, basically, despite the sound/sample quality, it’s been hard to sit and play and feel the desire to keep playing it. Actually, I'm offering it now on Craigslist (full package also including Nord Triple Pedal, Wide Music Stand and hard case) http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/msg/4793362529.html

Then, I found that there was a newer incarnation in Kawai's MP family and started following this thread, thinking maybe I should have waited a bit longer and stayed with Kawai for my next upgrade/purchase.

Well, an MP7 was delivered at my door about a week ago and I can just say I couldn’t be more pleased!

Really nice step up from my MP5… both sonically, cosmetically, and in the key action and user interface departments. Kudos to its designers on the user interface improvements over the MP5!

So far I’ve spent more time with the four patches A, B, C and D on Bank 1-1, and each of this ac pianos has its own personality. I don’t feel like with other keyboards where piano patch #1 is the most impressive and the rest are not as full and nice.

Editable ac piano parameters in the “sound” and “virtual technician” sections make a lot of sense and I feel engaged to tweak and customize. Part of my dislike with the Roland RD700NX was that there were a bunch of ac piano parameters that I wouldn’t dare to modify just because they were kind of hard to understand, and then Nord Stage 2 is the opposite, barely anything to customize in the ac piano section.

I didn’t mean to write an extensive review really, so I just want to say that in my humble opinion (and in my ears and hands) Kawai is hitting a home run with the MP7.

Thank you for your positive feedback mixaudio!

I'll certainly pass on your comments to the MP development team.

Cheers,
James
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Hello everyone, UK MP7 user
I almost bought a Casio PX5S because of the fantastic casio user group headed by Mike Martin of Casio. They have provided loads of new programs professionally done and offer good support.

Is there a programmer at Kawai who could offer some further expansion packs for download, and a PC editor?

I don't think the Kawai MP7 can handle expansion packs. The USB socket is for saving SETUPs, recording, loading firmware updates and restoring settings for SETUPs.

In my opinion, it doesn't even need those expansion packs. The built-in sounds are great and there's a lot of ways to edit them. You can also use four layers of (different) sounds. Last rehearsal, our guitarist and I had some fun on the MP7 with him playing drums in the lower section and me doing a quickly arranged synth sound in the middle section. See video: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=816402828416010

What could be a great way to have some sort of 'expansion packs' for the MP7 is a place to easily share and download custom setups created by users. I shared a SETUP couple months back in the forums:


Anyway, I hope you enjoy your MP7 as much as I do. Keep exploring and you'll eventually find what you're looking for. (though I agree a PC Editor would make the job easier and faster). I have decided to buy a second MP7 later this year so I can use one at my apartment (no elevator) and the other one for gigging. Thanks to the USB port, I can easily synchronize SETUPs.

Cheers,
Lennert

Sinclairgsport, welcome to the forum and congrats on the purchase of your MP7.

To answer your queries, there is no PC editor for the MP7, partly because we believe the immediacy of the user interface allows fast, direct editing.

As for expansion packs, the MP7 allows custom SOUND and SETUP files to be loaded from USB, which (like the Casio) adjust the instrument's existing 256 sounds - it is not possible to load new samples into memory in a similar way to that of a Nord for example.

Enjoy your new MP7 - it's an incredibly powerful, flexible board!

Cheers,
James
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Hello everyone, I apologise for my mis-use of the word expansion packs, I really meant the expansion of set ups etc by users or Kawai themselves issuing new file set ups via pc and usb. Casio Px5s have a great one to use as an example.

Anycase I bought mp7 because of quality and realtime control, but that is not to say we cant have more set ups

rgds Julian

I bought a PX-5S to be used with the band (got a MP7 at home) and the PX-5S support, forum AND download section is fantastic. I wasn´t convinced by the standard organs sounds in the PX5, but found great drawbar sounds at the PX5 site.

Yes we need something similar for the MP7!

I expect the PX-5S community is larger than the MP7 community, partly due to the lower price of the Casio.

I appreciate that MP7 (and MP11) users wish to have a dedicated forum and file exchange site, however it requires a considerable amount of work to establish, and I'm still not convinced there is a large enough community...yet.

Perhaps I should set-up an online pole to gauge the level of interest?

It's something of a chicken and egg scenario. Users will not create content to share if there's no means to share it, but in order to establish a means to share used content, there has to be enough existing to warrant its establishment.

Cheers,
James
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It seems that Kawai is not taking the entrepreneurial venture and not providing the budget nor resources to nurture the growth of a MP7 community.

The equivalent would be, that you don't water a baby plant, because one cannot be 100% sure, if the plant would prosper in the end - or someone knows already, that the plant is doomed?

The important point is that in respect of the PX5S site the group is lead by Casio's Mike Martin, and Casio themselves as well as users have produced loads of set ups, sounds etc.
So my question is, with all Kawai resources could they not produce an additional new 256 set up file for the MP7?

The individuals responsible for working on the MP7/MP11 are now assigned to other projects. I'm sure many of them would love to continue developing sounds and setups for these instruments, but the fact is, they're busy with other tasks. The only exception is the software side, which continues to be improved years after the models are released.

To be honest, it's rare that you find companies continuing to develop products after they've shipped. The PX-5S is special in this regard, and Mike Martin undoubtedly spent many hours of his own time (often in hotel rooms, while away on business, I gather...) to ensure that the instrument became a cult hit.

Now, I'm not comparing myself to Mike (although it's true that we both represent the public face of our respective companies), however I'm afraid I don't have the kind of time, experience, nor skill to work on developing new sounds and setups at home - truth be told, I don't even have an MP7 in my apartment. Once my work on the owner's manuals and KawaiMP.com website was complete, the prototypes I used at my office were returned to R&D.

Kind regards,
James
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Guys, let's not demand a sharing community or 256 new setups from Kawai. As James says, they're doing a great job with software updates. A community would be a bonus, but it was not in the package when we bought the instrument.

I'm thrilled for the new update though.

I, for one, feel that James is doing an outstanding job representing Kawai on this public forum! Try to get that kind of support from some of the much larger manufacturers (although Rich Formidoni or Dan at Korg have been known to step in and save the day at the Korg forums from time to time).

Remember, none of the Kawai series offer basic waveform editing (sine, square, sawtooth, etc) - that's more of a synth thing (ie: the reason you have Mike Martin of Casio developing new sounds)... although one could certainly modify/tweak the sounds already built in to specific Kawai Models (MP and CA series) to sound 'different'.

As James pointed out, a less expensive product (PX-5S) at under $1k street price will gather a much, much larger following (and a different type of musician) than those buying the MP / CA series.

I'd be interested in the results of an online poll, but that will only be representative of the users on this forum. I tend to think the majority of users don't even know about this forum!

A poll would be a good idea. I'd be a resounding "yes!".

Patrick

I'm no longer a Kawai user but I don't see why users/owners can't just do this themselves. Facebook pages are free, and easy to set up. Just post links here and on the musicplayer keyboard forum and off you go.

Hello Stellvia, Like you, I had been awaiting a MP7 to come into Perth, and I heard about you getting one early in January 2015, which was earlier than the expected delivery date. There were actually 2 units that arrived, so I went and checked out the other one. Unfortunately, it had a few minor issues, so I didn't buy it at the time, however those issues have since been resolved. I will await the shipment that we had originally been awaiting, that is due in later January. I am glad that you are happy with your MP7. It is also good to see that James of Kawai has indicated that there will be a further firmware update coming. Kawai Australia and Kawai Japan have been very helpful in working though solutions and answers to my questions. The ongoing commitment from Kawai is reassuring. So, hopefully I will soon join the ranks of MP7 owners, which in Perth, at this stage are few in number.

Hello Alan, welcome to the forum and congrats on the purchase of your MP7!

I gather from a colleague that one of the issues with the MP7s you tested was related to the wrong pedal being connected - was this indeed the case?

Cheers,
James
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The MP7 will transmit realtime clock commands using the group of buttons for recorder when a zone is in external mode.
My question is, if you have a set up using a 4 zone mix of int. and ext. zones will the start stop command still work, or do you have to use one zone dedicated to ext. only.
Reason for my question, I have chance to buy Yamaha QY70 backing sequencer which can be used to provide realtime backing rytham and bass inversions when playing fingered chords on a left hand key zone