REVIEW - Kawai MP10 Digital Piano - The BEST - For Piano Players Serious about their Music!

UPDATED REVIEW - KAWAI MP10 - March 8, 2013 - BEST IN ITS CLASS - Ever since this piano first came out, I have been saying it is an amazing piano playing experience for those people who are looking for the great digital piano at a reasonably low price. The Kawai MP10 is definitely for discriminating buyers who can appreciate its higher quality key action, touch, and tone. I have played this model many times and agree with MP10 owners that nothing else comes close until you get to a much higher price range such as the Yamaha AvantGrand digital pianos which starts at three times the price. If you are looking for a jaw dropping grand piano playing experience in a digital piano and don't want to break the bank, then in my opinion you should look no further than the Kawai MP10 portable concert grand digital piano.

The Kawai MP10 ($2499 internet price) is an outstanding top of the line portable model from the Kawai piano company which can be played on stage, at home, church, school, studio, or wherever. Kawai is certainly one of the most respected piano companies in the world and their full size acoustic concert grand pianos, baby grands, uprights, and digital pianos are played by well known professionals as well as in universities, recording studios, and many other places where great music can be found. I have personally played Kawai acoustic grand pianos as have many of my musician friends and I know how good these instruments can be. So it came as no surprise to me that Kawai was able to develop and build this beautiful portable instrument that can be used to replace a fine acoustic grand piano for many people. I will say that if you have played grand pianos before and are experienced with them, then you know there is still a noticeable difference between digital and acoustic pianos since one goes through speakers (or headphones) and the other is completely organic with sound coming out of a large wooden piano & soundboard. But its low price, the MP10 does the best job in coming closest to the acoustic grand piano playing experience and one can be quite satisfied with the outcome.

The MP10 is a "portable" digital piano because it can be transported pretty easily (if necessary) although it does weigh 70lbs so it's heavy as potable digital pianos go. However that is considerably less weight than the Kawai CA93/CA95 furniture cabinet model version (with the same grand piano key action) which weighs in at 192lbs. So the portable MP10 is obviously far lighter than a furniture cabinet piano and therefore has a definite advantage in that way. The MP10 has no built-in speakers or stand like a traditional cabinet model, but all you need is great sounding small stereo powered speakers (which are low priced) along with a good stand and bench and then you will sound and play beautifully. I can also give you advice as to which specific accessories (incl speakers & stand) would be best for the MP10 and at the lowest prices. The MP10 also looks very attractive as compared to other portable pianos because of its mahogany wood sides and taller height and design which gives it a classy appearance.

So why should you consider a MP10? If you are a professional pianist, long time recreational piano player, and/or just someone who wants the best grand piano reproduction possible under $3000 in a digital piano, then I believe the MP10 will exceed your expectations. One of the main things that makes this piano unique is that Kawai has designed a special RM3 Grand "mechanical wooden Grand Piano key action" (left pic above - click on pic for larger view) which moves and responds very closely to that of the Kawai acoustic concert grand pianos. That is a very difficult thing to do but I believe the Kawai company has done an excellent job designing this new key action and has even included the subtle nuances (such as key let-off and zero minimum key action volume) that occur when playing a fine grand piano key action such as a Steinway or Yamaha. I would consider the touch resistance (the amount of force needed to push the key down to be a solid medium "feel" for excellent control over subtle piano tonal nuances.

The keytops are made of a proprietary synthetic material that reproduces the ivory key feel and look of the older acoustic grand pianos (before buying & selling elephant ivory was outlawed), which is very nice and it feels great. Other digital pianos also have their own synthetic material on the keys but I have seen and felt these other key tops and they are not at the same realism level to what Kawai has done on their piano keys. When it comes to replicating the grand piano tone, Kawai has also done an outstanding job with their sound technology source called Ultra Progressive Harmonic Imaging which includes a large 192-notes of polyphony and more realistic sound subtitles than any of their other pianos. You can feel and sense a more organic sound of a grand piano for resonance, overtones, sympathetic vibrations, and other subtle tone changes with key velocity increases and decreases.

The MP10 was originally designed as a professional "stage piano" (with XLR outputs and other useful pro features) but it's even more popular now in the home, church, or other traditional places because it is fairly intuitive to use and the functions are logically arranged and set up and many like the fact that this instrument doesn't take up a lot of room. In fact, I like it better than the cabinet model version not only because it costs far less money, but because it sounds better with more flexibility in editing and modifying the piano sounds and other instruments tones including multiple layering and splitting of tones.

You can even do a MP3 or wav file audio recording of your live playing and save it on a USB flash drive as well as overdub that recording with another track. You can also sing or play another instrument directly into the piano and record it along with your piano playing with separate volume control for the input setting (very nice). The MP10 can also be used as a piano "controller" so it which can be great for recording studios, stage work with off board gear, and just general playing flexibility. Although the MP10 only has 27 total sounds along with 100 very nice drum patterns (incl rock, jazz, Latin, country, and many others), the sounds themselves are the best possible instrument tones you can get anywhere in this price range. It kind of reminds me of a top racing car which doesn't have all the bells & whistles, but instead has an ultra responsive touch and movement like no other along with the most powerful engine in its class. That's what the Kawai MP10 is; a high performance digital piano which has the ability to take the musical "curves and corners" of your piano playing to new heights. 

If the MP10 is what you're looking for and you don't mind being in the $2500 price range, then I highly recommend this piano. If you'd like to hear actual recordings of the MP10 in action, go to the following link which will bring you to the Kawai MP10 web site and then select the songs in the upper right corner:
http://www.kawaius.com/main_links/digital/PRO_2010/mp10_audio.html

Kawai also produces another model called the MP6 ($1499 internet price left pic) which is a lower priced version of the MP10. Although the MP6 is not quite as refined as the MP10 in grand piano touch (no wooden key action) & acoustic piano tone, it's more than enough piano in my opinion for many people, and it has features the MP10 does not have. It still has the ivory touch keys, a smooth piano touch (although slightly different) with escapement/let-off like a grand piano, 256 high quality instrument tones and 256 individual memory setups, and lots more including a  1 track USB MP3/wav file audio recorder and 16-track MIDI recorder. And it only weighs about 46lbs. If you want more info on the MP6, just do a search on that model number in this blog.

*Finally, I have a couple of songs (below) I recorded playing the MP10 which will give you a good idea of how it actually sounds.

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

*Check out a couple of songs below I composed and recorded on the Kawai MP10

1. Here's a little chord improv below I recorded live on the MP10 showing a combination "string bell synth pad" with a grand piano...just for fun. Although most people do want the MP10 for its great grand piano sounds and excellent wooden grand key action, a few of the other things you can do with this piano can make it even more enjoyable.

   Into the Galaxy - written and performed by Tim Praskins

2. This song is a soft ballad about what's most important in one's life. It's a grand piano with a touch of string symphony combined with an overdub of a female and male voices. 

   Every Time I think of You - written and performed by Tim Praskins
  

*Also, here's a video I found (below) of a Kawai MP10 live demo by a pianist in Europe (Kawai US doesn't have one yet). He is not speaking English but the video will allow you to see and hear this new MP10, and it is impressive. Also notice the wooden key action in the video.

REVIEW - Suzuki Digital Pianos - R-21, DP-1000, HP-99, TSI-1ei - STAY AWAY

UPDATED REVIEW - June 1, 2012 - NOT RECOMMENDED -  Suzuki digital pianos have been around for a long time and the Suzuki name is fairly well known for violins and piano & violin teaching methods as well as for motorcycles, cars, and other consumer products.  There are also Suzuki acoustic upright and grand pianos too. In the case of Suzuki pianos, this (piano) company has nothing to do with the other Suzuki products and services. They are independent and owned apart from the other Suzuki products and the digital pianos are produced by an independent Chinese digital piano factory.

In my opinion it does not really matter where a piano is made and who makes it, as long as it is a good quality instrument which closely (as much as possible) plays like a real acoustic upright or grand piano, has good construction, and is reliable. I have played all of the new Suzuki digital pianos and put them through their paces and the most important things necessary in digital pianos is key action feel, tone quality & velocity response, proper damper pedal movement along with sustain & half damper response, and finally construction. The Suzuki's do look like quality digital pianos but there are some definite problems with their playability. The DP1000, R21, & HP99 are identical in key action movement and piano sound velocity response in how hard or soft you press the keys.

Good velocity response means that the volume of the piano sound plays evenly and gets progressively louder or softer depending on how hard you push on the keys. After playing these pianos I noticed the Suzuki  R21 - $995 internet discount (above left pic), DP1000 polished ebony - at Costco right now for $999 - left pic), HP99 - $1795 internet discount (below left pic), & TSI-1ei - $1695 internet discount (not pictured) all have a problem in this area. The key touch velocity & dynamic response is very uneven and the sound is not smooth and gradual in volume (because of that) when playing the keys. Simply put, this would likely be due to inexpensive electronics/key sensors in the piano along with the physical parts used in the key action. Suzuki uses the same key action and basic electronics in all their pianos so the results are unfortunately the same in all models.

The #1 most thing in a digital piano (and piano teachers look for this too) is getting a good key touch & key movement (at minimum standards). Also, when you press a key down softly as far as it can go, you should hear no sound at all. That is normal in acoustic pianos. In the Suzuki pianos mentioned here, the piano sound actually is triggered about half way down so you hear the sound even before the key gets to the bottom...not a good thing. This will throw off your ability to play with proper dynamics and note timing, especially if you are a beginner and just learning. These things are not something which is apparent when first playing the pianos, especially if you have little or no experience with pianos. But after awhile it will become important as you progress with lessons or if you play and try to use proper soft to loud dynamics. Play any new Casio, Yamaha, Kawai, or Roland and you will not find this problem in those pianos.

The resonance of the piano tone is also very shallow and short when holding down the damper pedal especially on the upper half of the piano keys. And to add to that situation, the damper pedal (right pedal) which is used very often for sustaining (holding) the note for a while after you release the key, does not function as acoustic pianos do. On an acoustic piano, when you press the damper sustain pedal (right pedal) down to get full sustain, the sustaining tone is supposed to gradually let off as the pedal comes back up, and not just immediately stop as the pedal starts going back up. In the digital piano world, gradual up & down sustain is called "half-damper." Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, and a couple other brand names have this feature but Suzuki does not. Suzuki only has sustain "on or off" (like most inexpensive keyboards do) and that is definitely a problem in my opinion, especially for the piano student or player as they progress to higher skill levels. You'll notice that Suzuki does not mention the word "half-damper" on any of their on-line literature or product specifications and the reason for that is they don't have it. If they did, they would mention it because it's a big deal for most people.

My favorite saying is that "you cannot judge a book by its cover" and that's true for pianos as well. The Suzuki digital pianos overall look attractive (most of the cabinets that are in the basic dark rosewood color also come in polished ebony for more money) and sound OK (nothing special compared to the other brands) and can even be price competitive for what they "seem to offer," but the reality is they do not come close to playing at all like real acoustic pianos (even at minimum standards as far as I'm concerned).

As far as reliability, additional features, and warranty, that is unimportant if the basics aren't right although my personal experience has not been too good with Suzuki digital piano reliability in the past. In fact, when I recently played the DP1000 in a Costco, the sustain pedal was not working at all and it was plugged in properly... not a good sign. The DP1000 does have some cool features including drums, chords, multiple sounds, iPod docking tray, and is in a cute polished black cabinet (which picks up fingerprints and smearing very easily). But the key action and volume/dynamic response is just not acceptable in my opinion if you want a good playing experience for yourself or your kids, or other members of the family. For all the digital upright style models Suzuki offers incl their small (cute looking) digital baby grands, I would stay away from them and move on to other brands including Roland, Yamaha, Casio, and Kawai. Those pianos work well, sound great, have useful features and most importantly, do what pianos are supposed to do.

I really did want to like these Suzuki pianos, but unfortunately could not. I have also reviewed in detail a couple of their other Suzuki models in the past which can be found on the following links:

TSI-1ei... http://azpianonews.blogspot.com/2010/04/digital-piano-review-suzuki-tsl1ei.html

MDG100 Micro Grand... http://azpianonews.blogspot.com/2010/10/suzuki-mdg100-micro-grand-at-costco.html

Be sure to check out some of my other blog articles on digital pianos from the "big 4" piano makers especially the Casio AP620 & AP420, PX830, Yamaha P155, Kawai EP3, Roland RP301, as well as the Kawai CE220 as they would likely be better choices.

If you want more info on these pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864

SAVE 50% OFF Roland HP307 or Kawai CA93 Digital Pianos

UPDATE: July 20, 2011 - How would you like to save up to 50% off two of the best new furniture cabinet digital pianos in the world, the Roland HP307 and the Kawai CA93? Of course you would. 

Now that I have your attention I can tell you that you cannot save 50% off these particular pianos. BUT...you can spend 50% less to get the same piano tones and key action touch of these top of the line Roland & Kawai pianos by purchasing their portable versions instead. That's the point I'd like to make.

Most digital piano shoppers do not know (except for the pros) that both Roland and Kawai make portable versions of their top two cabinet pianos when it comes to offering the same top of the line piano key action touch and some of the same sampled acoustic piano tones in both models. The Roland HP307 (top pic) and Kawai CA93 (left pic) are sold in stores at discount prices for somewhere between $4000-$5000. If you instead purchased the Roland FP7F/RD700NX (lower left pic) or Kawai MP10 (lower left pic under Roland), you likely would not be able to tell the difference between the cabinet and portable model version when playing piano on them, although the piano sounds on the Kawai MP10 are even better than the CA93 cabinet model and that's really saying something because the CA93 is so nice. So there are upgraded piano sounds on the Kawai MP10 over the CA93. 

The biggest (but not the only) difference is between the portable and cabinet piano versions are the internal speaker/audio systems and full size cabinets on the home versions. However, in many ways the portable versions have more sound flexibility because they can produce customized acoustic piano and instrument sounds that you can design for your particular tastes as opposed to mainly factory preset piano sounds for the cabinet pianos. There can also be differences in the total amount of extra instrument tones one way or the other on these instruments. 
 

I have played all of these Roland & Kawai portable piano versions and I can tell you it's a great way to get that top-of-the-line- digital piano experience while saving big money in the process. The pros have been doing it that way for years. Many non-professionals (families, students, etc) think the portable "stage versions" would be more difficult to operate and to figure out. In years gone by that would have been true, but no more. These new portable pianos are user friendly and intuitive for the most part and once you start playing on them you'll see what I mean.

There is another lower priced portable Kawai piano called the MP6 and it's a very nice piano, although not near as refined as the Kawai MP10 for piano touch and tone. But with the MP6 at $1000 less than the MP10, it's definitely a great piano at that price. I have reviewed the Kawai MP6 (below left with stand) in another blog article so please check that out when you have time because it's a fine instrument that I highly recommend (I believe it's a "best buy" for it's high quality) and it's just $1499 internet price:

http://azpianonews.blogspot.com/2011/01/kawai-mp6-digital-piano-awesome-piano.html

If you are the type of person who wants a good looking full size cabinet in their home with a powerful internal audio system, and don't mind spending the extra money for it, then that's understandable and paying the extra money might be worth it for you. Cabinet models can be beautiful and certainly look more substantial. But as far as I'm concerned, if I don't want to compromise my piano quality and expectations but am willing to look for ways to save money, this is a very practical way to do it. And...you can actually move these portable piano versions very easily as they are much lighter and easier to get around when you need to:). Who knows, you might get so good or become so popular you'll have to take the piano with you when you go out on your "gigs":)

One more thing, dollar for dollar, I believe the new Kawai digital pianos outperform the Roland pianos in both piano sound and key touch based on my experience with them although both brands are quite nice to own and you would be happy with either one. If you want to know more about that, please contact me directly.

If you want more info on these pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864