Yamaha P515 vs Roland FP90 vs Kawai ES8 Direct Piano Sound Comparison 

After listening very carefully and with incredible attention to detail, I have concluded that all 3 instruments sound like pianos. 👊😎🎹

3:45 Yamaha P515 4:45 Kawai ES8 5:48 Roland FP90

The Yamaha has the most romantic sustain and most beautiful sound. It's like a piano with soft hammers but medium-bright sound. I really wanted to like the Kawai cuz everyone adores the Kawai sounds but Yamaha is my favorite!!

Man this video was so helpful and professional. Keep up the good work! You also have a nice taste in music :D

I didn't want to go into this video thinking this way, but the es8 simply isn't measuring up to my expectations. It fills the room, but in a slightly artificial way. The sound just feels... stuffy, almost. The p515 is the clear winner in sound, for me at least.

I have a Yamaha 515 and love it. Great piano sounds and action. I have other Yamaha pianos and they hold up really well.

Nice playing and demo. If I lived in uk I would pop into see you. Thanks from Australia 😎 very well done.

They all sound good- I could be happy with either one or even all of them

Excellent video as always Tony!

All keyboards sounding awesome. Thanks...

This is the best way to compare the instruments..! Excellent Job..👍

They are all three good products. Hard to say who is better. Listening to the last part, I have a slight preference for the Roland. I myself have a kawai Mp7

Excellent comparison! Very good!

Very helpful, thank you!

i have an fp90 at home, beautiful machine, feels really nice

I absolutely love all your videos, man. Been watching them all night. Such great information, love the quality of them as well. What a pleasure!

I don't know how many of your videos I've watched over the past several weeks, but they have all been very helpful. Thank you, Tony! If I lived in the UK instead of the US, visiting Bonners would be at the top of my to-do list.

Geat vidéo Tony really great thanks

Sometimes I wonder if it is not very useful to hear the sound differences online because the recording microphone, music player, earphone may affect then outcome of the sound from the different instrument ?. However this is already the best information that I can get while sitting at home. Thank you for your sharing and information! I’m struggling which to buy and your video is good for making reference

Kawai ES8 is the best by far. Incredible.

You are kinda awesome. Your videos are so helpful! Thank you for making them. I still cannot decide which one I should buy. There are just so much choice out there. I am also a musician and I am looking for a digital piano that has the most similar action to a Grand piano. But some of the pitch really bugs me in the digital piano. This is really hard. But thank you for the video,

I would take any of these instruments over the dgx 202 that I have to practice on. Also, for me the key action is really important because I would eventually use them to play virtual piano software.

Thanks for an excellent comparison where you have brought out the dynamics of each instrument.On many Yamaha pianos ( don't know about the 515 ) the b and c one octave above middle c sound very weak and are inconsistent with the rest of the piano. They could almost be from a different piano. This certainly applies to all of the less expensive pianos , yet interestingly NOT their much older models. I wonder if you would care to comment ??

Very informative video, thanks.

You play so well!

You're playing is exquisite 👌

I love the sound of all and feel you could not go wrong with either. I have only played the Kawaii ES8 and it feels and sounds phenomenal in person. Kudos to Tony at Bonner’s for always bringing us the best reviews. Thanks for this great comparison.

The all sound convincing in your video. But when I tried the P515 with headphones I did prefer their 2nd sound, the Bösendorfer.

The Kawai sounds rich and full flavoured, I need to check more as the Yamaha has good software etc for controlling and learning piano.

Bought a FP90 a few weeks ago, still no regrets on the decision, it’s beautiful

I just discovered this channel. Great job! Which of the three feels and plays closest to an acoustic piano?

I wanted to like the Yamaha best because that’s what I was planning to buy but the Kawai had a great open string resonance thing going on there...

Thank you for the opportunity to share your technical experience. Made my heart love music even more. Because you pass that in addition to being professional, you love music in your humility. Congratulations! I liked them all. But, I liked KAWAI more by looking more robust and strong. I just want to know which one has the greatest sensitivity and softness when playing. Hugs.

The Kawai, still outshines, noticeable on the high notes that have that nice ring to them the others do not have.

Just did my own search Dec 25, 2018. P515 is the least expensive so the search is over! Few more days before year-end to see if anyone has a VERY SPECIAL offer!!

Very nice comparison. In terms of sounding like an acoustic piano, I think the Yamaha and Kawai were about equal, with the Yamaha perhaps having a slight lead.

Thanks for the comparison. I think all 3 pianos sound fantastic and would be happy with any of those sounds. I own a Kawai MP11 which I love for the action of the keys more than anything. They feel very realistic to me. I've owned a Yamaha digital piano but didn't like the action on the keys. They seemed too stiff . I will be buying an addtional digital piano for my house and it will be a Kawai. I know that sound and it's rich and beautiful. I can't imagine taking a chance on anything else.

Actually I'm a big fan of YAMAHA though, I think I'll go with KAWAI in this time. But three of them are really nice.

Hi, thanks for the useful video. What would make the sound-comparison even better would be to include the sound of a mid-market real acoustic piano.

Yamaha sounds most like a real piano to my ears, really wanted to like the Roland, but the P-515 is closer to what I'm looking for to start playing again

I'm not a particular Yamaha fan but in this case, I found the new Yamaha P515's sound to be the most "realistic" in comparison to an acoustic piano. I could only wish that Casio would bring their fantastic GP500 sounds and action down to a stage piano at this price point for comparison. Searching Casio's website, I thought that perhaps their CGP700 might be it, but not even close as far as their piano sound goes and the other instruments were even worse. There may be hope for Casio going forward if they were ever to incorporate the innards of even the GP300 along with the AiX sound engine from their new fantastic CT-X5000 61 note keyboard into an 88 note stage piano.

For your fourth location, please open a store on Rt 17 in Paramus, NJ.

Sheet music for the same version of "When she loved me" played please? 🙏 I loved this exact version of yours, I could not find it elsewhere. Thank you very much!

kawaii took it on this test...but barely over the Yamaha...slightly more bright...but neither of these 3 shone...you play great

Excellent video, thank you. May I ask the make of the double stack keyboard stand?

They all sound great. The Yamaha is warm, The Kawai has a very rich tone (sounds like church). The Roland is in between and probably would be my pick.

I prefer the P515 because I play more soft rock genre of music. The ES 8 was my second choice.

That opening bass chord was very loud on the Yamaha P515. Was that because the Yamaha had a very powerful bass, or was it because Tony hit the bass keys harder than he did on the Kawai and Roland?

All sound good but I would need to get in front of these and play them. Action and sound through the speakers would be main selling points for me and despite these demos being really helpful, they can't substitute playing them yourself. I'm gonna try all three of these out myself.

hi there guys! can you please tell me which of those have the heaviest action? thanks!

Thank you for your sharing. Which one is the most suitable for preparing grade 8 exam, tks,?

Kawai is a beast and won by far! The sound was spectacular and flavorful! Yamaha is ok but the sound just seems similar to prior models with just better speakers, meh... Roland just seems to be, well, the little engine that could. I’ve even tried all 3 in a music store and the key action of the Kawai is also superior and closest to a real grand piano.

Very nice demo. I think I go for the Yamaha.

El KAWAI ES8 , TIENE MAYOR PROFUNDIDAD EN SU SONIDO , BRILLANTE Y NÍTIDA , YO ME QUEDO CON ESA ELECCIÓN.

KAWAI ES8 takes the Cake!

It is important to mention how did you recorded... LINE outs, mics, which Mic, interface model, etc.

Es8 sounds most Alive and filled the room

FP90 no hard edges a round long string sound there's more spaciousness in it's sound especially at the top and bottom. Large well engineered pianos have the space on the sound board for every note producing a more blended sound the Rolland has that. Next is the Yamaha no complaints. But for jazz trio or solo piano it's the FP for me.

I love the sound of kawai!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Can anyone detail the pricing? Most to least expensive? I'm looking at the P515 in the states, from Kraft for $1499 but they will apply a $100 gift card to drop it to $1399. 36 month interest free financing. If the Roland and Kawai are significantly less I may have to try them, although I favor the P515 right now. Thanks

Thank for that very good made clip. Never be your customer (I am from Germany), but if live in the US I think I would. Great stuff!

I appreciate the comprehensive comparison. My listening environment is a Pioneer HPM-100 system driven by a high quality Yamaha amplifier. To my ears, they are very close. The Kawai sounds the most "muddy" for lack of a better description. My ears like the P515 the best. To my ears the Kawai is #3, the Roland #2 and the P515 is #1.

I used time stamps from a comment below to jump back and forth between the 3 DPs to quickly compare short sections of notes using AudioTechnica headphones to carefully listen to the note quality. Below are my thoughts: I came in to this video after getting hyped on other videos explaining the technical achievement of the sound modeling in the FP90 and the great sound sampling of the p515. Unfortunately we didnt get to hear the sound of the Bosendorfer from the Yamaha so I cant comment on that. From my careful listening and to my surprise, the FP90 sounded the most synthetic and least expressive in the middle/upper range compared to the other 2. This is definitely due to them synthetically modeling the sound rather than sampling it from a real piano. Modeling is great, but they need to improve their real-time modeling algorithms to better catch the nuances in those middle to upper ranges. The Kawai is definitely the most expressive in the middle range compared to the other two. It has a proper mix of the upper and lower tones you should be getting from the middle range. In the FP90, the middle range is too high and tinny. In the yamaha, it focuses a bit much in the low range and doesnt capture the high frequencies of the middle range in the same way the Kawai does. (This could just be the stylistic differences between the yamaha and kawai concert grands themselves). Yamaha pianos have always been coined as being "bright", so perhaps they purposely detuned a bit to try and mimic a "rich" sound like steinway, but it actually comes across as losing richness in that middle range instead. On a side note, the Roland has many ways to adjust their piano sounds due to the modeling engine so perhaps it's possible to get a richer, less synthetic sound if you play with it a bit, but based on the default piano sound alone, it lags behind the other two. Overall, based on careful listening with AudioTechnica headphones, the Kawai sounded the best in the middle range. All 3 sounded good in the low range. Yamaha and Kawai both sound good in the high range. I hope this helps and is informative to someone.

fp90 has the best action and sound. In this sample, Kawai is just being loud. The sensor on Roland is definitely better as you can control the sound easily compare to yamaha and Kawai

my main comment on this category, is that i really feel the Kawai and Yamaha are lacking sliders or knobs, despite having some relevant parameters, such as in the technician/piano room, as well as compresser and other effects, and also as a controller for external gear (also they could find a way to get mod/pitch wheels on these things!) Obvious aimed at pianists who arent usually riding sliders while playing, but that leaves some of us with no current offerings.

I liked the Yamaha in every example.

I have an Yamaha entry level, p115, and was convinced to move to Roland (in the next big investment). But after this demo, I really think about Yamaha or Kawai.

Hi Tony and Bonners, excellent video as always from you...!, please tell me which one is your favorite key action, rank them 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, and why!, please take in consideration fast passages and thrills, more responsive keybed, best expression or finger to sound connection and articulation for jazz and classical music in first place... Thanks!...

1) yamaha 2) es8 3) fp90, but they all sound well and almost identical. Can’t go wrong with any of the three you choose to buy. At this point, you’re really just looking for which one feels better and has more features or bang for your buck. If you’re buying for the most features, I’d say either fp90 or p515 because of the bluetooth connectivity.

Price drop on kawai es8 to $1650 this weekend at least. Just placed my order. Used a 20% coupon on top of that. $1320 plus tax. Here in California.

Kawai has killer tone. Sounds like a real acoustic.

as a new owner of Fp-90 (just arrived home yesterday), i have a few questions that i'd love to hear quick responses. My first impression of the sound is muffled, it lacks clarity and is even worse than my old cheap $500 digital piano, also there is a slight hiss out of the speaker (can you check if yours has one too? It should be noticeable if your surrounding is quiet, otherwise just put your ears close to the speaker); the key action is not of any different to my previous piano, i was expecting a significant difference between the two, but this can be ignored temporarily, my main concern is still the sound quality, it's just really dull and synthetic. As i blind bought it abroad after having read many raving reviews of it, placing the fp90 among the best digital piano at ~$2000, returning it to USA (i live in Asia) wouldn't be ideal. Thanks!

Can you PLEASE explain, what keyboard-stand you are using for the Roland/Yamaha-Combination? I have never seen this before …

I own a kawai es8. I'm not sure if I'm biased because I own one, but I still think the kawai has the best natural piano sound of the 3 followed by the yamaha with the roland last. The yamaha is a better spec instrument and is worth consideration. I'm not a fan of the roland because of its synthetic sound.

I've always been a huge fan of Roland piano's but I've got to say that Kawai does an outstanding job with their newer models!! I think I will go for Kawai instead of Roland now. Although the Roland sounds still a bit better than Yamaha, Kawai wins as it sounds very natural from the very low notes to the very high notes!!

if you wouldnt mind describing the differences of the actions? I know all three have good reputations.

Many thanks for your lovely reviews Bonners Music. I would be pop in from time to time had I not lived so far away. Can I ask you, do you find the ES8 shortened keys pivot somewhat limiting / problematic when playing deep into the keys (think sharp octave chords)? I believe it's similar to the p515 but not as good as the fp90.

The Kawai sounds most piano-like, hands down. But that doesn't mean that others are bad. I owned a Roland RD-700 in the past, and Roland generates such a rich sound that you forgive whatever nitpicks you might have about authentic acoustic.

I liked the yamaha and kawai. To my surprise I didn't like the roland. Kawai seen to have more bass.

I finally received my new Yamaha P-515 about a month ago. (They are apparently very popular and were on back order). I absolutely love it! If you want an instrument with a realistic keyboard action, I think the P-515 is a fantastic choice. The Yamaha CFX and Bösendorfer piano samples are beautiful.

Great comparison video! Personally I think not one really stands out, their all great and so close it's a very hard choice. I have to play them in person to be really able to say wich one i like the best. Judging from the video i think for me the roland has the (very slight) edge, that was actually the one i least expected it from. I do really like the kawai piano sound, but there is something about the.. sample quality? I don't know, it sounds like it's compressed somehow or of slightly lower sample quality? It seems to me out of these 3 the kawai has the most beautiful piano sound, but also the worst sample quality, wich makes it sound more digital/less realistic. The Yamaha seems nice but at the same time there is nothing that really makes me want it over the others, I do like the fact that it has (from what i read) the heaviest action out of the 3, i think it will therefore be better practice to play (upright) acoustics. Something about the roland seemed more alive and more realistic to my ears, im impressed by that since it's not an actual sampled piano. Does anyone know wich one has the best (most powerful) amp/speaker system, and would therefore be best suited for playing outdoors? Judging just by this video i say: 1: Roland 2: Kawai/Yamaha (can't decide, kawai better piano / yamaha better sound quality)

Ho da poco acquistato il P515,ottima tastiera.Riguardo il suono,rispecchia quello che è il piano acustico.In genere il piano Yamaha ha una timbrica più "metallica", il KAWAI più dolce.Quindi penso sia errato dire che uno è migliore dell'altro.Tutto dipende dal gusto individuale.

Yamaha has a warmer tone and feels more like a piano I GUESS.

Hi, which key action is more confortable, reliable and which feels more balanced and better playing near at the fulcrum between this P515 and Roland FP90?... Thanks!.

The Kawai definitely has the edge on the other two sound wise. It's a richer more complex sound, though I would have liked more contrasting dynamics in the demo to see how the timbre changes.

My favorite was the ROLAND FP-90

I'm pretty sure this is a direct line or USB recording and not using a microphone...pls correct me if I'm wrong! 🤔😁

I don't know about Yamaha, but for me, between Kawai (plastic keybed action) vs Roland FP90 (wood keybed action, PHA 50 same as on RD2000) its not apple to apple comparison. The price margin is also huge in my country (ES8 a LOT cheaper). In terms of actions, which one feels more "natural" for you ?

Well, nothing about keyboard feel, touch speed response and other aspects of similarity to an acoustic piano keyboard.

Kawai Yamaha P515 Roland. Imma go with the Yamaha. Ive heard the Kawai has had electrical problems in the past. Any info?

The volume of the Kawai seems to be louder. If something in a comparison is louder, you tend to love it more.

I love kawai.

Hi, does anyone have experiences?? Which one would you find best for classical piano pieces?

Which one of these has the best keybed? (vitally important)

Kawai the best.

I actually prefer the sound of the ES8

Well; as far as the sound goes it's splitting hairs territory. A competent piano player would need to get the 'feel' of each instrument to judge one against the other, and again that would be subjective. I am drawn to the Yamaha on the grounds of the software Yamaha have produced available through the ipad.

Everybody saying that Kawai is better is completely wrong or not using headphones. The P515 is clearly more brilliant and lifelike, and sounds very natural. The Kawai sounds muddy but still like a piano. I won’t even mention the key action - it’s obvious that Yamaha wins there

5-4-3-1, 5-4-3-1, 1-3-5-1. Sorry, just finished ear training.

Kawai ES8 all the way! Btw