Kawai ES920 vs. Kawai ES8 

For the record, I disassembled my ES8 once and I can tell that the underside panel is solid wood (not plastic) :)

I just bought the ES920 and have no regrets. The weight savings is appreciated and the build quality is just fine for me, I'm not gigging but using this at home, and it's only rarely that I rap my knuckles all over the case. The speakers and music stand are huge features for home use and they are great. The keyboard action is something else, really amazing to feel and just makes me want to play more, and the piano and other sounds are stellar. I wouldn't hesitate to get this again.

The BEST and honest reviewer out there. PERIOD.

James, in your ES920 review you said you want to sell the ES8. I am happy you made this comparison before you sold it. And I can totally confirm your opinion about ES920 build quality. It's okay, but also not really great. As long it is not moved a lot, it's fine. But as long it is not moved, there is also no advantage of the lesser weight. I guess the main goal was simply cutting production cost. Thanks for your reviews. These are the ones I trust the most!

You are always so full of energy in your videos !! I find it very inspiring !! Love the videos !!

Thank you for a wonderful comparison of the Kawai ES8 and Kawai ES920 as always your play amazingly. :-)

I own an es8. And I love It. I think when Kawai share the RH3 action with Nord, they made an upgrade. I bought the new upgrade for my piano form synth-parts. I hope I can install It soon.

ES8 has a bit of bass boost for some/most tones and sounds a tad darker. ES920 is more balanced, flat sounding which I find good. Better for playing with the band. And the weight difference. I would take ES920 if I had to choose. Or even ES520 as a gig friendly lightweight piano.

I think you got a good point by asking if they changed enough to the e8 to let someone buy a e920. For me, not hearing the speakers, they sounded -almost- the same. But on other moments the e8 sounded better for me. Why? I don’t know. I am not completely sure. I think if I heard the speakers it could change my mind. The plastic case could just give it a better resonance. If I had to buy one now I would buy a e8. Why? Because it is almost the same. So back to your point. By the way I like the little LED you put between the two. Gives it a nice touch. And of course thank you for playing all the sounds and fiddling around. Oh, and thank you for sharing. 🙂

Best piano reviews on the internet. Don’t listen to the others, they are all done by retailers and are much to positive. This guy is the piano nerd to listen to

This guy doesn't miss a thing. Great video!

Two beautiful instruments.

Very thorough, thanks so much!

Thank you. Did you mention the new quick way of transposing (simply hit the key) and the manual graphic equaliser? Plus the new improved (Onkyo) headphone settings. And the main upgrade I think is bluetooth and the ability to have registrations, virtual technician, etc. easily accessible on the app on your phone or tablet. Essentially the ES920 now becomes a CA 79 - but much cheaper and portable.

I always enjoy your reviews.

Thanks for this. Nice to see unbiased and honest reviews. Keep up the great work!

Thank you for the video, love the feature lighting!

Hello, James 👋 . Thank you for test of these two wonderful Pianos. I own the ES8 myself. I've retrofitted Bluetooth with the Yamaha BT-01 drive. I've hooked up an ES8 with two Presonus Eris 5 active speakers and the Presonus T8 subwoofer and the sound is fantastic! I tried the ES920 at home, and I hooked up my speaker... the sound was exactly the same! The inside speakers at ES920 are louder and they sound fatter than the ES8. The quality, stability and haptic is better at least one class at the ES8! Thank you for your excellent work. 👍 I'd be very happy if you could Test a speaker for digital pianos and compare 👍 Stay health! Roland

Great review! Thanks!

Recently bought a CA79 and had to return it due to quality issues. Before I had a CA13 for 10 years no problems ever occured. I feel like Kawai really has downgraded their product quality across all their DP lines and at the same time have augmented their prices, somehow disappointing.

Could you maybe review the newly released Roland FP30-X compared to the original FP30 vs Yamaha P125 please?

really like your reviews ......first one to watch :)

Wow ur awesome man! I requested this yesterday. It's here today

Great review, thanks! Now we'll have to wait for Kawai to come up with an instrument that has the build quality of the ES8 with the weight of the ES920... if such a thing is even possible :-P

The ES8 is just a jewel of a piano. It's been super hard finding one around my area. Hope to get one soon. The ES920 will be even harder to find.

You can give the E.S.8 a loudness boost. Go to Basic Settings and go to Tone Control and select Loudness. Thank you, and I agree the difference is just a bit better, but, however, I would love an upgraded action to my E.S.8 😂👌!

Same sound engine and keybed..but more sounds, better build and features in MP7SE.. also cheaper than ES920.

Обожаю твои ролики в первую очередь за то как ты играешь и что ты играешь! Каждый ролик как концерт!

Could you please do a comparison between the MP7 SE and the ES920 ? Thanks!

If it wasn't for these reviews, you'd never get a chance to compare digital pianos. I think the enthusiasm for what you do makes these thorough . I always wonder what each piano sounds like - it's probably unfair but I believe the sampling should closely match an acoustic. Much thanks for your work.

There is definitly no distortion in the speakers of my ES920, so might be you got a faulty one (or some dirt in the speakers).

Hi James, thanks for, again, an excellent and deep review on not so well known Kawai keyboards. I am fan. My question relates to Clavia Nord Grand that I tried and not yet ES920. I guess the quality of building is no doubt about surely higher than ES920 but this Clavia Grand which has the same keyboard RHIII is really inspiring. Would you say this Kawai ES920 inspiring too ? I play on a Roland HP201 , nice sound but quite hard keybed. I did not feel anything playing the Yamaha P515 and beyond the sounds, the connexion of a keyboard with fingers seems the most important factor for pleasure to play.

Man I can’t wait for the FP90X review!

Where the Yamaha P515 has these two beaten (for me anyway) is the extra XG sounds, makes it a far more versatile stage piano!

Thanks for sharing James,I’d love to see an RMI electric piano but maybe they are harder to come by than say a Fender Rhodes,I first heard one on a Rick Wakeman record in the early 1970’s.

thank you

I'm wondering whether you're playing these pianos thru the onboard speakers or thru monitor speakers. Because the ES-8 definitely sounds a bit richer, and so would the ES-9 sound just as good thru the same amp I'm playing my ES-8?

@6:15 Here's one I made earlier... lol love it.

1st!!! Bro thank you for your vids. I have made a decision due to your vids thank you

Waiting for Yamaha's new DGX670 😌

Awesome

Es 8 sounded warmer

Can you tel me please how a MP11SE key action FEELS compared to a Kawai VC1?

How do these compare to something like a Casio PX560?

James , The 9 has more presence in it's sound except for the bass. I guess it's subjective rather than objective overall .However, they both sound great! Cheers, Rik Spector

Buy the ES8 or wait for ES920 to launch in my country? Thank you

The ES920 sound a little better to my ears.

Sounds pretty much the same tbh

CP88 vs 920.

I thought that the Es

Ah, the lights are probably blue because of the bluetooth! Aren't we all lucky that it's not called pinktooth!? 😉😅 (But of course that wouldn't make sense, since this king's name, after which the transmition standard is named, used to be Harald I. „Blauzahn“ Gormsson, king of Denmark and Norway, and "Blauzahn" translates "bluetooth").