Looking for a lightweight 88-key digital piano with a hammer-action key bed and spectacularly lifelike sounds? Look no further than the Kawai ES120 at Sweetwater 👉 imp.i114863.net/rnr69v
one advice: since a portion of your customers will be playing classical music, when you demo, at least be able to demo first 10 seconds of some famous or good to the ears classical music... learn 2, or 3, for only the first 10 seconds. If you play some cocktail or improvised songs likes these, customers cannot really get a feel to compare to what they have heard before
Absolutely love this piano! We bought it and instead of buying the 100$+ boring stand just bought a used solid wood antique piano for 80$ and pulled out the old keyboard and this fit in perfectly! Honestly, i didn't know it would fit so perfectly ahead of doing it,, but this key seems perfect for this. I cut out the table to fit the es120 down in and the sound plays out the open bottom. It looks like a real piano but sounds much better because its the sound of a grand and it always has perfect tune! I might do a video showing this off.
Great playing Jacob! Could you list down all the upgraded features in ES120 which are not present in ES110? If you can make a comparison video between ES110 & ES120, that would be great.
I ordered a white ES-120 months ago (from Sweetwater), and finally got it a few days ago. I wish I had known about the gray option. Sounds wonderful through my music system. Not so great using built-in speakers - kind of tinny I think. I wish it had standard bass and treble controls , because its seriously lacking in the bass when using the built in speakers. That may be because I have it on a slide out drawer with a solid bottom, so that may be blocking the sound. Setting the EQ for "on a table" setting seems to help a bit, but not enough. Also the old ES-110 came with a good solid damper pedal, but this comes with a plastic piece of junk. But my biggest complaint is the bluetooth functionality. The phone app works great and is the best way to control the keyboard, but it does lack some functions, like being able to disable or enable the on-board speakers. That's just a weird omission. But the big problem is that when using the app, it's using bluetooth. So as soon as you do that (enable bluetooth) it disables the USB midi functionality. But in order to choose a midi channel to output on, it would be easiest to use the app, but obviously you can't, unless you pair it with bluetooth, make the selection, then unpair it again. You can also set the midi channel on the device itself but you will need to refer to the manual every time, because there are no menus or anything like that. You can also use it as a a bluetooth midi controller. But again, you have to unpair the app to do that, because it can only pair with one thing at a time. So that's a pretty major dissapointment. I know there are way better midi controllers out there, I was just hoping that this could do double duty. I bought this on the strength of some reviews of the ES-110. I figured I'd wait for the ES-120. Currently I have a Roland DP-90, which sounds and feels amazing, but is way too big and heavy to bring to gigs. I also have a Roland RD-88. It is fantastic as a MIDI controller, and has a good feel, but the piano sound itself is modeled, and not good IMHO. I have a Roland half-pedal capable damper pedal (DP10) which is the wrong polarity for the Kawai, and can't be easily switched. I don't think I ever really used half-pedaling anyway, so I won't be buying Kauai's version (F-10H), which is $70.. I'll probably just keep the RD-88 as my controller, and gig with the ES-120. One final comment on the ES-120: the headphone jacks are on the front, and come in both sizes, which is a very nice touch. Headphone jacks on the back of keyboards is kind of stupid, IMHO. But the other jacks are on the back and inset very deeply, and very poorly marked. You will have to basically either go around the back with a flashlight, or pick the piano up and tilt it on its edge to find them.
Please turn Off the internal “Speaker EQ” in order to hear the actual full-bodied piano sound. Kawai chose to have a bright EQ speaker boost set to "On" in default when powered On, to help the piano sound brighter, and unfortunately thinner, in a noisy sales showroom. The first thing I do is turn the weird “Speaker EQ” setting to Off and save that setting to Off. I am also a huge Fender Rhodes fan and believe Kawai’s Rhodes becomes more authentic and “vintage clean tone” when the Touch setting is changed too Heavy Touch. It responds too aggressively with Kawai’s default Touch and sounds like it is being pounded. I also turn off the Rhodes tremolo and it becomes even more authentic-sounding, IMO. I guess it was set in an over hyped manner for the sales rooms.
I have a KORG Triton workstation... however your skilled playing makes me want this lol. Killer job with the demo of this 88key beast. Really a huge fan of the organ sounds. 👊🧡👍
Thanks for the interesting review, and nice playing too. Are you using much compression? The bass end sounds a bit woolly. This pianos looks to be an important upgrade to the ES110, and (reluctantly accepting the trend to eliminate built-in screens) I agree that it has everything you should wish for on an entry level DP. You mentioned how a piano like this can be used for simple gigs (and I would add rehearsals too) so portability is a big issue. Actually, it's a very big issue. A lot of us have trouble squeezing 88-key pianos into cars, motor homes, hotel rooms, boats and so on. Only yesterday, I used an unweighted 73-key piano in a rehearsal because that was what fitted in the car. Like myself, an increasing numbers of viewers on these channels are asking for smaller versions of portable DPs with proper weighted actions. There are a few 73-key stage pianos (with many extras and no speakers) but the Yamaha P-121 is the only 73-key "portable piano" available. No other manufacturer is listening.
I think it sounds tinny and thin compared to a Yamaha. This guy also tends to overplay everything. Not a bad musician, though. How much did he say this keyboard is going for?
@@paulwhetstone0473 Compared to a Yamaha which model? This is a $900 board. Which model Yamaha are you referring to that has this feature set and sounds fuller?
This was supposed to be available in August. It's almost October and still pre-order only (every store). Any word when it's going to be released by Kawai? I've been trying to get my daughter one but I don't want to get the 110. *Edit, I just paid-up for the ES520, super impressive.
Probably I'm wrong, but it seems that grand piano acoustic inside Es 110 sounds warmer than Shigeru sample in this new 120. This latter sounds too bright for my tastes!!!! Not possible a comparison with Roland fp30x, which sound is more round, well-defined and a grandlike playing experience!!!!!!
So.. 88 key Hammer action with MIDI. Feel? Quality? Aftertouch - channel or poly? It's KAWAI, so we know the sounds are going to be great. Tell us about the KEYS!!!
Hi, Chris! Thanks for the interest. I haven’t had a chance to play this new model yet, but if it’s anything like previous Kawai digital pianos, the hammer action should be quite responsive and natural for the price point. I’ve always had good experiences with their instruments in the past when it comes to emulating the feel of a Japanese acoustic piano. However, please note that the ES120 does not feature aftertouch of any kind. Hope this helps a bit, and feel free to contact me with any further questions! Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1620, caleb_lowrey@sweetwater.com
If it helps with your decision, I bought my daughter an ES110 last year. As far as she was concerned, the piano sound and key action were both way more natural than the equivalent-priced Yamaha (Yamaha make all their digital and acoustic instruments too bright, unless you like that kind of thing). The piano on this model doesn’t sound very different from the ES-110, but from this video it looks like they’ve put work into improving the selection of other sounds.
I think I want to buy this new Kawai soon, but after watching this video I still don't know how it will sound. Playing so loud is something I will not be doing. I can say I only enjoyed the 4:21 to 4:25 3 seconds of playing. Would be nice to see a comparison against the old es110.
The low and high keys sound great, but the upper mids seem a bit anemic. I don't recall it sounding like that on a different review - was there an unintended filter or EQ in your sound chain somewhere?
You are doing absolutely brilliant job, but I have questions🙋 How you will compare Roland fp30x with Kawai es120? I thinking about to buy one of these and I have big dilemma. Thanks
Hi, Grzegorz! Thanks for your interest. Both of these are excellent digital pianos for the price. In my experience, Roland tends to weight their keys a bit heavier than Kawai or Yamaha. The Roland actually has more polyphony (256 notes vs. 192 on the Kawai) and a few more sounds to choose from. Beyond that, they are quite similar - two different companies’ take on the same basic concept of a great-feeling piano under $1,000. Hope this helps, and feel free to contact me directly with any further questions! Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1620, caleb_lowrey@sweetwater.com
Hi Isul, great question! The speaker volume and number of sounds will be the biggest upgrades there.The key action and individual piano sounds will be the same. Thanks! Jason Filloramo, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1281, Jason_Filloramo@sweetwater.com
Hi, Bobby! Our team would be glad to look into that ETA for you. When you have a moment, please give us a call at (800) 222-4700 or email us at sales@sweetwater.com. You may also visit www.sweetwater.com/about/contact Thanks for the message!
How does the Kawai ES120 compare to the Roland FP-30X? In terms of general differences, features, action, etc. Also, I loved your playing! What's the name of what you were playing in the beginning of the video / what you played for the acoustic piano sound demo?
They fire down but there are also slots at the top to allow some of that sound to leak upwards. The wattage of the amps. is a combined total of 20 W compared to the previous model's 14 W, so it is a bit louder. Pretty much nothing in this price range has upwards-firing speakers or speaker amps. comparable to the mid-range models (which are usually 40 W or more).
Great video and review :). Can you please confirm what stand you're using to support it? I've just bought Kawai ES120, which comes with a cheaper stand model (Audibax Onyx 130), but it does not hold properly, feel secure, anyone recommendation on this? Thank you
Hi, Daniel! Thanks for your interest. I’m not sure which specific model of stand Jacob is using in this video, but it’s clearly a double-braced X-style stand, which is a good option for an 88-key digital piano such as the ES120. Here are a couple examples of that type of stand: www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IQX3000--ultimate-support-iq-by-3000 www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KS20X--roland-ks-20x-heavy-duty-double-braced-by-stand I personally tend to prefer Z-style stands over X-style, since the Z-stands have a bit more leg room. Here’s a good one to look at: www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KS400B--hercules-stands-ks400b-autolock-z-keyboard-stand Hope this helps, and feel free to contact me directly with further questions! Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1620, caleb_lowrey@sweetwater.com
Hii would like to ask which one should I buy with the piano only or piano with 3 pedals, dun really know if one sustain pedal is provided in the piano only package
Hi, Ruwan! Thanks for your interest. I haven’t had the opportunity to play the new Kawai ES120 yet, so I can’t say for sure - but in my experience, Roland tends to weight their keys heavier than Kawai or Yamaha. Feel free to contact me directly with any further questions, and thanks again! Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1620, caleb_lowrey@sweetwater.com
I want a digital piano that has a lighter action and responsive enough to play fast passages. I bought fp30x and hated its action. It wasn't responsive at all. As of es120, 1. Is it a reaponsive action? 2. Would it give muscle fatigue as fp30x(awful) was giving me? 3. Is it too stiff and hard? 4. Is it ideal for playing fast passages and repetitive notes?
Hi, Suyash - a few years ago Jacob actually did a keyboard action experiment which you can check out here: www.sweetwater.com/insync/keyboard-action-and-key-weight-experiment/ While the exact pianos you are comparing are not listed, it will give you an idea of the differences between and within brands. For instance you’ll note the FP30 action was only about 5 grams heavier than the Kawai keyboard. However, whether or not the Kawai action will be appropriate for your specific needs is quite subjective and not something we can really assess in the scope of a comment. Like a mattress, sometimes you won’t really know until you try it. Feel free to call us to go into more detail. Thanks! Jason Filloramo, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1281, Jason_Filloramo@sweetwater.com
Hi, hope you ended up finding the info you needed from somewhere else and got this piano - but just for the sake of giving this comment an actual answer instead of a BS response by a brand, this keyboard's action (RH-C) is known for being dynamic, fast, smooth and light. Pretty much the best entry-level action out there. (Also, criticizing Sweetwater's response some more, their action weight experiment is very inaccurate and flawed because they didn't test the weight correctly, giving results that don't line up with how it actually feels to play them.)
@@Persun_McPersonson Hii! Thanks for your valuable time. I ended up buying p125 coz I was afraid of the weight of kawai's action. I had fp30x and it was way more heavier that it was giving me muscle fatigue and I had to sell it. I wanted a light and fast responsive action. Nobody told me that kawai's action was light and smooth. Most importantly, that piano wasn't available in my country at the time. I was seeing reviewers saying that it was quite stiff and I was afraid about it. You are saying that this piano's action is light and smooth. May I ask that how could you make this claim
Hi Burps, good question! The updated ES120 does not come with the Piano Style pedal, but a plastic square pedal. But, the keyboard itself is a full upgrade. You get a more refined hammer action keyboard and brand new, very high fidelity piano and electric piano sounds. It sounds really awesome! If you have any questions, give me a ring! Drake Sobehrad, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3271, drake_sobehrad@sweetwater.com
@@toplespecah666 Hi, thanks for the question! Any pedal with a ¼” connection should work fine. I am a big fan of the Roland DP-10 as the heel pad helps keep the pedal in place. If you have the ES120 furniture stand you can also use the Kawaii F-351 triple pedal, which gives you damper, sostenuto and soft/una corda functionality. If you have any further questions, give me a ring! Drake Sobehrad, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3271, drake_sobehrad@sweetwater.com
@@sweetwater as i know sometimes when we use different brand for sustain pedal it will works backwards, there is no issue about this? thanks for the answers
Hi Scott, great question! You can directly connect external speakers via the ¼” outputs. We can get you cables that go from ¼” to RCA or XLR if needed. Thanks! Jason Filloramo, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1281, Jason_Filloramo@sweetwater.com
Anybody know if bluetooth headphones can be used with this? I know this has bluetooth capabilities but the user manual doesn't specifically say the bluetooth can be used for wireless headphones.
Hi Noel, great question! The ES120 cannot be used with Bluetooth headphones. Generally speaking, most instruments do not use Bluetooth for their headphones due to the noticeable latency inherent in Bluetooth. Since Bluetooth headphones from different manufacturers all perform differently, it would be very hard to deliver a consistent and enjoyable experience this way. If you would like to chat further, give me a ring! Drake Sobehrad, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3271, drake_sobehrad@sweetwater.com
Hello, great question! This keyboard does not have escapement. Let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks! Jason Filloramo, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1281, Jason_Filloramo@sweetwater.com
Hey, wardad5628! Thanks for your interest. The right monitor for your setup will depend on the context that you’re using it in. We have monitors for casual practice at home, practice with a group, performance on stage, playback and monitoring in professional and home studios, and just about any other scenario. Feel free to reach out if we can help you find something for your setup! Connor Smith, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1793, connor_smith@sweetwater.com
Bass and mid tones are too artificial, at 02:27 the piano sounds like a midi instrument. Either the piano is fatally flawed or we need some reviewer to be aware of this "Internal EQ" that is being spoken. I don't want to believe they put such a clumsy speaker on top of es110 as an upgrade. And please please play some classic music when you're reviewing a piano.
On Kawai 120 vs 520. It does seem that es120 has an 15.000 note inner memory vs the 5.000 note memory on es 520 and a single addtional effect in the smartphone app from what i see (I think it is open, semi open, closed piano lid). Besides that Kawai es 520 offers 34 sounds vs only 25 on es 120 and a LCD screen absent on es 120. The 520 es keybed is tripple sensor vs (Improved 2 sensor keybed from 110 present on es 120). The es 120 offers 2x 10w speakers vs es 520 2x 18w. Also nobody is saying it but Kawai es 120 does not come with the excellent F10H damper pedal like es110 before it and 520 currently. It comes with and F-1SP plastic foot switch and it must be verry bad because Kawai is encouraging on the site to get the F10H for better expierence. Needless to say this will rise the cost of your Kawai es 120 about 60 Bucks. Also worth mentioning the Kawai es120 is upgraded with a MIDI to USB conection over the es110 but it looses the less popular 5 pin midi port that the es110 had and es 520 still does while having the USB midi connection aswell. That said The es 120 is newer and Kawai advertised that they listened to the feedback about how loud the keys are and silenced the Kaybed, for anyone that does not know this is a serious issue plaguing even the es 520, verry loud clicky key action really soon after purchase. This was the main cause of a refund for many es520 owners as it seems the quality controll was not really there, that and also the buzzing speakers on some notes. . The new Kawai es 120 has been upgraded with the new SK-EX concert grand samples and in a small room or on headphones i doubt the es120 is going to get outclassed by the es520 judgeing by the price points and how excellent the es110 already was. BUT i highly disadvise on getting the es 120 on lauch since the pre-order prices are ludacris and are reaching B-Stock es520 levels. I Recommend using this time to see reviews how well does the piano sound compared and is the keybed really improved? When the price goes down after the launch the es 120 is going to be a legit choice for it's clear sound, excellent piano samples, slik design and nice keys. Hope that helps!
Before buying, please test this piano on its OWN ORIGINAL PIANO STAND!!!. There is a hidden flaw: the keys hit the piano case really loud because it bends in the middle. The piano stand that this man is using puts pressure up near the middle!, therefore, the case does not bend in the extremities. There is nothing new with this piano in comparison with the es-110 (identical to es110 - this piano has 197 voices = the same!!!). So watchout!
@@lbamusic I returned my es110 last week to the Kawai Service. I bought it brand new. What do you think, the es120 will solve this issue? I don't think so. That is why I advise people to test the piano on its own Original Piano Kawai Stand. You will be shocked to hear the super loud case noise. No hardfeelings.
@@victord.4388 the new 120 is expected to have the same keybed as the 520 and 920. If so, that will surely solve the problem you had with your 110. Im waiting for the arrival of the new 120 and do not expect it to be faulty as the 110 was.
Stop doing demos on pianos that you can’t buy at your local stores… the 120 and 920 no one knows when they will be at the stores. And of course so give you an approximate ETA
