When it comes down to the keyboard action, Kawai wipes competitors. Anybody can have a good sample, but not everybody can do an action which actually feels so good and bring pianist close to the real thing.
I think people are missing the point. Are piano samples perfect? No they are not but they sound amazingly good for the price. This will get poor people like me to buy a midi controller like the VPC1. It will sound and feel better than most pianos under $20,000. It certainly sounds better than all uprights and baby grands that I have played. The cost of a Kawai VPC1 is around $1,800 and is built with close to full length wood keys. I have played on Steinways, Kawais, Yamahas and Baldwins and I can barely feel the difference. With Electronic Midi instruments, the technology of recording, mixing, sweetening, controlling every aspect of tempo, pitch, dynamics, and adding other sampled instruments to the mix, makes the purchase a no brainer. A 12 foot grand equivalent can reach into the $60,000 to $100,000 dollar range. I can work a lifetime and I will not be able to afford such an instrument especially considering that my house purchase was around that price. Every year the samples get better and better. There will be a day where most people will not be able to tell the difference between sampled and real. Most people can not tell when Hans Zimmer uses drum samples for his compositions. That is why this technology is so incredible. It puts composition and excellent performance into the reach of common people.
excellent opinion! This kind of instrument are precious to us, not because they can substitute the real thing, but because it will be the nearest experience to the real grand piano for many of us, and his quality everyday is superior...thats the point
I agree, and yet nothing will ever compare to the beauty and texture of a finely crafted acoustic instrument. I doubt there will ever be a day in the history of mankind where masterwork concertos will be performed on a digital piano with an orchestra, and that makes me smile. A tree was once a spirit, a living being, and in its resonance is an essence that not even mans greatest technological achievements can emulate. Not like im saying any thing new here, just placing emphasis on a topic that im passionate about "analog" vs. "digital", if you will.
My $10,000 used mason and hamlin grand wipes the floor with this and every other digital out there. That being said, this digital piano is FANTASTIC and for its price, it sounds amazing. If you have money and space, you'll want both. One for at midnight when the kids are asleep. One for 9 am on a sunday morning when you want to wake the dead. It's not the gentle pianissimo where I would have a hard time telling the real from the false. It's the long resonant sounds, and the unique (different on each instrument) analog/mechanical/wooden artifacts of the real thing that you can't really simulate well with waveforms alone. Then there's the feeling of being in the room with a grand piano. There are now some pretty impressive speaker systems on digitals that can give you almost that feeling. Some of those cost more than my used grand piano.
Stan Lyman it doesnt make sense what you just said... this stage piano costs 2200€ .. and its sounds and feels like shit comparing for what you can get with VPC1 and Garritan cfx for 1500€ total.
I belive they are using the EX concert grand sample from the ES8 model, it's bright and not as expressive as it should be, they should have used the SK Concert, that one is perfect for classical music
There IS the sympathetic string resonance as the damper string resonance. Also there are damper noise, hammer fall-back noise, hamer delay, key escapemant. And there are wooden keys.
I am playing this piece since adolescence - and I played it on my Bechstein grand piano, several other acoustic pianos and on the Kawai. I find that in order to beat the sound of the Kawai MP 11 you need to invest at least 10000 Euros for an acoustic piano. If you do so I agree with all being said.
But the KAWAI MP11 SE is only 2150 euros actually !!!! That means 5 time less. I 'm not sure for 10 000 euros it's sufficent to get the sound of the KAWAI MP11 SE. Beside I have a Seiler 180, 1/4 queue at 38 000 euros and OK It's better than the MP 11 SE
This recording has a muddy sound because the reverb is switched on (see the very first shot). It is especially flat and lifeless in the fast passages. If you want to make a concert quality sound I would recommend recording dry (no reverb or effects) and then adding the slightest touch of reverb later with a digital audio workstation. Pianos are normally recorded this way. The default reverb setting in the MP11 is far too heavy for recording, but fine for your room at home. I sold my acoustic grand piano (Kawai RX2) and bought a Kawai MP11. After 6 months playing I am totally satisfied. I get 95% of the feel and sound of an acoustic grand for 10% of the cost. You will need to own (or buy) a very good sound system to get optimal satisfaction while playing.
I own this DP, and the sound is not bad at all. Not my favorite, but with some adjustments, it can sound much better than what it sounds in this video. This audio recording is missing a bit of reverb and dynamic range. Luckily, with virtual technician, if you change the voicing to "Dynamic", the piano becomes a lot more expressive and lifelike. Putting down the brilliance helps as well with the harsh sound.
Wonderful natural sound! But when you carefully listen and you see the pianist, and her perfectly adjusted wrist movements, you will understand that after all, it's not the piano-acoustic or electronic-that will produce the good sound … no, it's the touch and the technique of the pianist … and so here my compliment doesn't go so much to the technical wonder of this e-piano, but to the musicality of the pianist ...
I think when you look at the Kawai mp series in the end as a classical piano player you might have to concede that a virtual modelling piano sound is the best choice - while that is often expensive in a stand alone piano, there is a cheap option if you have a DAW. I have a mp5 but for an upgrade price of 150$ I am now playing it through the Pianoteq which has a lot more dynamic choice and liveliness for various classical styles. The overall sound of the Kawai isn't bad but I found the reverbs and the harmonic resonance somewhat lacking after playing the Pianoteq (it has convolution reverbs and obviously modelled "real" resonance). I would still recommend the Kawais for the features they offer when you are on the road - I am currently looking into the upgrade to the mp7 as it seems to be friendlier when playing organ sounds. (editable key pressure point).
Virtual softwares are no good. They sound horrible from what you hear on demos. How u can say they r better and more expressive then ur ears are deceiving u. Or perhaps u just want to believe they are better than hardware pianos. The problem with u classical pianists is u think ur playing at a concert hall, which u r not. Therefore, if you are a good enough piano player u can make any piano sound good. I have all top of the line keyboards and VSTs and DPs outperform VSTs by a mile. But to each his own as the old saying goes.
Oh and the MP11 sounds wonderful. Not oversustained with horrible harmonic overtones with VSTs. That is the beauty of DPs they sound clean and crisp not muddied like real pianos unless ur buying a $300,000 acoustic (Then there is a big difference).
spada60 The V Piano is merely the most pricy end of the scale of virtual pianos. I have been playing a real Steinway Grand Piano for about 9 years when I was younger, and have tried various DPs starting with the dreadful sounding PF15 from Yamaha back in the eighties. Back then sampling was still in its infancy so even the "acoustic piano" sounds were FM based and pretty horrible. Samples had an appeal for a while and some sound modules (such as the Roland JV1010) had some half-decent piano sounds in there, but a lot of these rely on Chorus and heavy EQ to sound appealing. I have been playing the mp5 for about 2 years now, and I would agree that it has some quite lovely presets; however I found comaring A/B that the Pianoteq (which is completely built on Virtual Modelling, like the V-Piano) has gotten so good that you really felt you were sitting in front of a real Grand, using some decent head phones and the correct microphone placement (player position). If you set the output to binaural you get very convincing results. As regards "sitting in a concert hall" you are free to choose various types of convolution reverbs, so you can simulate your living room or a concert hall, which is really very much dependant on the genre of music you are playing.
spada60 you sound like you need to try out Synchron Yamaha CFX VST. The good thing about technology is if you're disappointed now, just come back in 5 years to be impressed
Hello Kawai MP, I have notice in this video that you have used both line output that the MP11 has supplied: the fixed line output (XRL) and the normal line output (TRS). I wonder If you have connected the audio interface to record the audio to the fixed line output (XRL) and the studio monitors to the normal line output (TRS). thanks
Hello, this video was produced quite a few years ago, however you are likely correct. The XLR outputs were connected to an audio interface (in order to record the audio), while the TRS outputs were connected to a pair of monitor speakers (in order for the pianist to hear her performance)...or possibly viceversa.
Why does no one seem to understand the point of the video? An accomplished pianist is playing a keyboard...NOT a piano. She is not a keyboardist, she's a pianist...playing a keyboard. The WHOLE point of the video is to showcase what a golly-gee-whiz Kawai has done producing a KEYBOARD for PIANISTS.
Internet Privacy Advocate I can't disagree with that. I was just trying tell that it's not just a electronic keyboard, but actually a very good digital piano. Which of course isn't as good as a grand piano, but it's a very good instrument nontheless. She is a pianist playing a digital piano. Not just a keyboard as the thetravelinghermit is trying to tell.
dot we get the VPC 1 here and add Kontakt with one of several +10gb sample virtual instruments and walk away with 800 more in the bank and a richer much better sound? there are piano samples that are +30gb and one is like 250gb lol
+Nigel Mayhem (NM) Do they actually sound any better though? These huge instruments are so big because they record up to a minute or longer for each sample - so you never hear most of it. And vast numbers of almost indistinguishable levels of velocity. You can only hear one at a time! The quality is really about the quality of the original instrument, expertise of the recording engineer, the processing done when they're played (blending levels, reverb) etc... I agree that you can enhance sound by adding software pianos, but size does not translate to quality!
+Nigel Mayhem (NM) One of the best piano VI's out there is only 500MB or so - VI's are like any other software out there, just putting in a lot of high resolution assets is not enough to save a bad one and many of these very heavy sample libraries suffer when it comes to latency because to really get the same sound you hear on the demos you need all gizmos turned on plus at least some processing in your daw meaning forget 16ms latency at 96Khz and definitely forget any remotely performance sensible latency at even 48khz if you have even a tiny session going in that daw over there. You basically need a separate host and then hardware processing or processing in another host to really make it all work together for actual performance to happen and that is more in the thousands than the 200 dollars you mentioned - the VPC seems like a decent choice but I'd rather have some actual sound source onboard given the weight and size of these compared to say the doepfer controllers because well.... if I was just buying a controller I would probably buy a doepfer.
I half-agree with someone else's comment posted a few months ago, and the half of the comment I agree with is that this particular keyboard doesn't quite do justice to the pianist. It's a little bit tinny and doesn't have a lot of depth or resonance in comparison to a real acoustic grand, although it's possible to adjust to get closer to that. But the half of that comment I DON'T agree with is that real pianists bring out the limitations in every digital piano on the market right now. I'm getting a Kawai CA95 very soon, having spent some time with it, and while the action is unparalleled, grand feel, blah blah etc, the SOUND is what swayed me, as it is unbelievably rich and complex...probably partially due to the soundboard on the back of the cabinet, which I haven't seen from other DP manufacturers I've considered. I practiced routinely on a Steinway in college, so I know how a Rachmaninoff prelude sounds on one of those...and the CA95 is a quality match. Kawai is making some damn good imitations right now. This just doesn't happen to be the best example of one.
I went and compared the two pianos cause of you lol. The MP11 has the same sound engine (Harmonic Imaging XL) as the CA95... So the difference you're actually hearing is probably your computer speakers vs CA95 speakers?
Steven Toth Both MP11 and CA95 have the same action (Grand Feel) and sound engine (Harmonic Imaging XL). So which is enjoyable is really just comes down to CA95's built-in speaker system vs whatever speaker system you hook up the MP11 to.
Sounds amazing, I have my one hooked to a studio amp and a pair of nubert speakers :) All these folks talking about the soundset of this - you forget the digital technican and all its options. You can change the fallback noise of the hammeraction for example and many more. This is still the best bang for the buck when you want a DP with great action! Only drawback is its weight around 30kg :) My humble Opinion!
In the end I went for the Nord Grand. Still not happy with my sound system. For 2021 I'll get a focusrite 4i4 to help out. Still need to learn more about digital techniques I guess 😊. I'm very happy though with the Ngrand, especially the touch.
I definitely think Harmonic Imaging XL could use an upgrade (i.e. to Shigeru Kawai samples), but I have a feeling most criticisms are from preconceived pianists who are judging with low-level desktop speakers and would fail an ABX test. Advanced at piano (the art, performance, interpretation, etc) does not also mean good at audio engineering (the science, acoustics, technology, etc). The action of the Grand Feel is what matters most to me. And the sound engine can always be swapped to better one, but I'm content with the way Harmonic Imaging XL sounds through my speaker system setup.
I use a set of Vanatoo Transparent One speakers coupled with a compact subwoofer. Nothing fancy but it's practical. My original point was that the sound engine of the MP11 can always be replaced with the sound engine of a piano VST that sounds much better lol. I agree the MP11 piano samples aren't the best but it's not like you're stuck with only those samples
nothing bad ... but I prefer the sound quality of the GEM and its superb piano PROMEGA series. There is not yet a manufacturer that can match the sound quality of an Italian Fazioli F308 on board piano. Keep working KAWAI, you're on the right track.
+wajang1000 could be the 8 against 6 timing of the piece. Some players concentrate on the right hand runs and this sometimes tends to cause the left hand to 'wander'.
Sbaglio o qualche nota non viene riprodotta fedelmente dal piano Kawai.. mistake or a note or more is not played during a fast pass of the hands on the keyboard..
The pianist is superb, but can someone explain for me the strange sound on the very first key she pressed. This single tone did lack the influence from the other strings. The strings resonance is totally missing. Can this be adjusted on this particular piano?
Wonderful instrument the Kawai Mp11...not a pianist but a keyboardist and involved on piano sound and piano literature... I don't know the used preset and i'm sure it isn't fault of the talented pianist in the video but definitely this is not a timbre of a real classical ...much better on pop/rock music scenes
Asuka Matsumoto you are an awesome concert pianist. Anyway I will prefer to buy the Roland RD 800 after this demo. I am absolutely sure that this piece of music will sound even more lively on the Roland RD 800. Thank you for helping me to make this choice.
I ordered the Kawai MP11 with great expectations and it came with the keybed action messed up, really ugly spacing of keys horizontally and also uneven vertically and then found one of the black keys literary scraping the white key beside it making an infuriating noise. I'm going to deal with this tommorow when the shop is in business and try to get a replacement but I am already expecting further trouble and being forced to abandon my decision to own the MP11. A vintage yamaha EP also with a weighted hammer keybed that I have has all the spacing correct and it survived being bumbed around for like 30-40 years so I think it's not just the really incompetent way that Kawai seems to package the MP11 but also the way that the keybed is engineered as a whole. I mean if it can't survive being simply shipped from the store how the hell is it suppose to survive any kind of road treatment? I mean it is hardly a stage piano if it can't be taken on the stage and I can't imagine it is beyond Kawai to finish the sides of keys since yeah, you press on any white key, it exposes an unfinished side of the black keys beside it which scrapes your fingers! At least sand the bloody sides before you claim it feels like ivory or hey maybe it's the fault of the shipping company, they just went in there and roughed up the sides of the keys by hand just to screw with my day! I can't put into words how dissapointed I am with the real thing in front of me in comparison to what was promised!
Proyb P The shop said to just return it - din't want to provide a replacement. I got my money back and bought a Roland RD800 + RPU3 which came in just fine. In general I dodged a bullet there I think because what worried me before I bought the Kawai was the sound which turned out to be great actually and that if there where none of the QA issues I would probably decide to live with the less than perfect keybed design and regret it once no longer able to return it. The repetition is just too slow on these keybeds and the rough sides of the black keys distracted at least me from improvisation and even on top of that there are other mechanical noises that only appear in certain places of the keybed, plastic noises, metallic noises etc. So yeah, I suspect after enough time passes for MP11 users to not be livid about a new versions comming out too soon there will be an MP12 released and that will have the V2 keybed that is already present for a while now on the integrated speaker offerings from Kawai. I almost got one of those btw. the 96 model but in the end I don't need a home type product which has "demo songs" and weights a ton. I neither want to mic up a digital pianos speakers, that would be just going too far for me. That said if the keybed is better on those then it could be a fantastic thing for someone looking for a complete package that looks like an upright and I think they are cheaper than similar stuff from Roland too.
I own a Kawai ES-8 and its keys are also not 100% in line. Also two keys have a clicking sound. But since real pianos have similar issues I have decided to stick with Kawai. Their piano actions are in my opinion the best ones available. And the samples are better than what the competitors offer.
Didn't know keys are not perfect. Good to know that VAXMIDI team even notice the keys has 0.025mm difference which is so tiny that aim to correct the problem in their QA. Yes, that smallest difference can affected a small part of 32,000 levels of velocities compare to 127 levels. How precise is that? :)
I have one infuriating gripe with all the digital pianos : where's the sustain? The sound decays extremely quickly.. Also, have a slight detune in the piano which is sample or at least give the option for it.. These 2 things alone will greatly improve sound
With this Kawai and most of all CA series of Kawai you can use virtual technician to adjust the decay. Very customisable. Adding as much wooden thump key off effect, resonance etc..
I do share the same opinion with Nikoli. The overall dynamics sound rather 'compressed' with lack of sparkle. At least not a complimentary video for a model that i'm very seriously considering to buy and at the top line of Kawai's stage pianos. Maybe a top action (not yet tested it), but quite flat sounded in that video... Kawai, kindly upload more videos to reveal the truth, for all of us classic piano lovers ......
Not sure if its the performance or the limited dynamics of the samples but this is lacking a lot of expression. I think you'd need a lot of reverb to cover the blunt tone. It makes me long for the beautiful bell-like tone of a real piano.
The MP11 does not do justice to this admirable professional pianist. Anybody who can play this piece and has done so on a grand piano can hear that the sound of this digital instrument doesn't breath and is lifeless. She deserves a much much better instrument. Once you put a real pianist on these digital piano it reveals how limited this technology is.
I don't think that's the idea of this video. I mean, with this keyboard, for about $2500 you can get the touch and the sound of a real piano. It does have lots of advantages, like portability, price, features, effects, piano tech, being maintenance-free. Of course it has disadvantages like the sound being less expressive and the feel not being 100% the real thing, but you have to admit, it's a pretty damn good compromise. And the technology will surely improve.
Lions make you brave the action of this DP is fine, but overal sound production, sorry, it's very lacking compared to an acoustic. If you are a real classical pianist which many people nowadays are then you can't play classic repertoire satisfactorily on this. The strings do not resonate mutually (sympathetic resonnance) and as demonstrated in this video an more than accomplished pianist sounds robbed of her sound. For amateurs off course it's more than enough as they won't be playing chopin's impromptu or Rachmaninoff. But for anyone taking classical piano playing seriously, forget it.
oneginee Of course it is lacking compared to an acoustic piano. What with it not being one. All of the compact discs and mp3's we listen to are lacking at reproducing music in the same way. These digital samples sound nothing like being in a room listening to a fine artist playing a fine instrument. My point is, neither of these examples is necessarily touting to be "the real thing". A close approximation perhaps, but open ears reveal the truth. That being said, I cannot easily take my favorite artist and a grand piano with me wherever I go. So I load them onto my phone and take their digital representation (mp3) with me to enjoy as I will. Similarly, have you ever tried touring with a grand piano? Or getting one to a gig? Or, having a grand piano while living in a small apartment in a crowded metropolitan area? The MP11 is looking and sounding very good for these situations. "Good enough" often is.
Tim Flood You completely misunderstood my post, and you are typing nonsense and comparisons that do not apply at all. The fact that all musical performances are captured on CD/mp3 is unrelated and has no bearings whatsoever. I can listen to thousands of digital mp3 recordings here on youtube of pianists playing on ACOUSTICS that have magnificient sound because it's an acoustic. The reason this very video of this more than fine pianist performance sounds horrible in sound is because of the DIGITAL PIANO. Digital recording is never the bottleneck in today's technology. You confuse sound production and sound recording. But your posting shows you are an amateur pianist. so i'll stop there, not worth wasting my time. And yeah that MP11 is perfect for you then !
the pianist tried to feel and put emotion into the song, but she seen like having a constipation, like she wanted to release "something" but failed to do it . I'm playing piano too but not that "too much expression" to feel the song, i mean i dont want to look like having a constipation of my butt :D
am I the only one who thinks this thing sounds terrible? my Yamaha p115 sounds much more natural. a p255 would probably sound wonderful for this piece.
I don't think so... Mmm. They've different character. Maybe yamaha is too mainstream. But kawai piano sound is beautifull. The series MP used by Muse Band. Kawai good at piano sound.
spada60 Jeez are you always going to answer with that? You know yourself that the V-Piano is prohibitively expensive, and I would buy myself a Kawai upright, which is really the most inspiring upright I ever player, if I had that sort of money to burn. In the meantime, I am happy using PianoTeq which gives a decent virtual sound simulation without having to pay 1000s.
+Chaos Neptune You say weird things. Really, what do people always feel the need to be a critic. If you don't like how someone plays, then don't play it that way yourself. When you see someone walking down the street, do you run up to them to tell them you don't like their shoes?
First 9/11, now this. What a horrible sounding "fake" piano. And these are all known (including the MP10) to have uneven/scraping/maladjusted key issues. Do not buy this keyboard. Any Casio is better in sound and quality. Fuhgedabouitit!
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Great sound and great pianist. Digital pianos really are magnificent these days.
Kawai still rocks, just bought today a perfect Kawai MP10 and never felt this soulful and easy to play piano before.
When it comes down to the keyboard action, Kawai wipes competitors. Anybody can have a good sample, but not everybody can do an action which actually feels so good and bring pianist close to the real thing.
I think people are missing the point. Are piano samples perfect? No they are not but they sound amazingly good for the price. This will get poor people like me to buy a midi controller like the VPC1. It will sound and feel better than most pianos under $20,000. It certainly sounds better than all uprights and baby grands that I have played. The cost of a Kawai VPC1 is around $1,800 and is built with close to full length wood keys. I have played on Steinways, Kawais, Yamahas and Baldwins and I can barely feel the difference. With Electronic Midi instruments, the technology of recording, mixing, sweetening, controlling every aspect of tempo, pitch, dynamics, and adding other sampled instruments to the mix, makes the purchase a no brainer. A 12 foot grand equivalent can reach into the $60,000 to $100,000 dollar range. I can work a lifetime and I will not be able to afford such an instrument especially considering that my house purchase was around that price. Every year the samples get better and better. There will be a day where most people will not be able to tell the difference between sampled and real. Most people can not tell when Hans Zimmer uses drum samples for his compositions. That is why this technology is so incredible. It puts composition and excellent performance into the reach of common people.
excellent opinion! This kind of instrument are precious to us, not because they can substitute the real thing, but because it will be the nearest experience to the real grand piano for many of us, and his quality everyday is superior...thats the point
I agree, and yet nothing will ever compare to the beauty and texture of a finely crafted acoustic instrument. I doubt there will ever be a day in the history of mankind where masterwork concertos will be performed on a digital piano with an orchestra, and that makes me smile. A tree was once a spirit, a living being, and in its resonance is an essence that not even mans greatest technological achievements can emulate. Not like im saying any thing new here, just placing emphasis on a topic that im passionate about "analog" vs. "digital", if you will.
My $10,000 used mason and hamlin grand wipes the floor with this and every other digital out there. That being said, this digital piano is FANTASTIC and for its price, it sounds amazing. If you have money and space, you'll want both. One for at midnight when the kids are asleep. One for 9 am on a sunday morning when you want to wake the dead. It's not the gentle pianissimo where I would have a hard time telling the real from the false. It's the long resonant sounds, and the unique (different on each instrument) analog/mechanical/wooden artifacts of the real thing that you can't really simulate well with waveforms alone. Then there's the feeling of being in the room with a grand piano. There are now some pretty impressive speaker systems on digitals that can give you almost that feeling. Some of those cost more than my used grand piano.
Stan Lyman it doesnt make sense what you just said... this stage piano
costs 2200€ .. and its sounds and feels like shit comparing for what you can get with VPC1 and Garritan cfx for 1500€ total.
I belive they are using the EX concert grand sample from the ES8 model, it's bright and not as expressive as it should be, they should have used the SK Concert, that one is perfect for classical music
72 lbs of awesomeness.. and Asuka rocks the house too :) Bravo !!!
There IS the sympathetic string resonance as the damper string resonance. Also there are damper noise, hammer fall-back noise, hamer delay, key escapemant. And there are wooden keys.
Asuka is fantastic! The MP11 too! Thanks for share with us.....
I am playing this piece since adolescence - and I played it on my Bechstein grand piano, several other acoustic pianos and on the Kawai. I find that in order to beat the sound of the Kawai MP 11 you need to invest at least 10000 Euros for an acoustic piano. If you do so I agree with all being said.
Agreed. My Kawai 506N upright doesn't sound as good and thats 4000 USD
But the KAWAI MP11 SE is only 2150 euros actually !!!! That means 5 time less. I 'm not sure for 10 000 euros it's sufficent to get the sound of the KAWAI MP11 SE. Beside I have a Seiler 180, 1/4 queue at 38 000 euros and OK It's better than the MP 11 SE
AND THE ACTION??
Wonderful sound~~!!
This recording has a muddy sound because the reverb is switched on (see the very first shot).
It is especially flat and lifeless in the fast passages.
If you want to make a concert quality sound I would recommend recording dry (no reverb or effects) and then adding the slightest touch of reverb later with a digital audio workstation. Pianos are normally recorded this way.
The default reverb setting in the MP11 is far too heavy for recording, but fine for your room at home.
I sold my acoustic grand piano (Kawai RX2) and bought a Kawai MP11. After 6 months playing I am totally satisfied.
I get 95% of the feel and sound of an acoustic grand for 10% of the cost.
You will need to own (or buy) a very good sound system to get optimal satisfaction while playing.
I think mp11's key noise is too large.
Key noise is adjustable from 1 to 10. Default setting is 5. It can be switched off completely if you like.
80247617 aaa I think you should shut the fuck up
Thank you for your kind suggestion, is there specific sound system that would do the trick with this keeboard?
I own this DP, and the sound is not bad at all. Not my favorite, but with some adjustments, it can sound much better than what it sounds in this video. This audio recording is missing a bit of reverb and dynamic range. Luckily, with virtual technician, if you change the voicing to "Dynamic", the piano becomes a lot more expressive and lifelike. Putting down the brilliance helps as well with the harsh sound.
Compliment to the pianist.
Wonderful natural sound! But when you carefully listen and you see the pianist, and her perfectly adjusted wrist movements, you will understand that after all, it's not the piano-acoustic or electronic-that will produce the good sound … no, it's the touch and the technique of the pianist … and so here my compliment doesn't go so much to the technical wonder of this e-piano, but to the musicality of the pianist ...
She wouldn’t be able to make those microgestures on a keyboard that wasnt very very similar to that of a real piano.
the feel touch on your finger, the action on keys when you hit them... it does matter sir Peter. A LOT.
I think it's both...
I think when you look at the Kawai mp series in the end as a classical piano player you might have to concede that a virtual modelling piano sound is the best choice - while that is often expensive in a stand alone piano, there is a cheap option if you have a DAW. I have a mp5 but for an upgrade price of 150$ I am now playing it through the Pianoteq which has a lot more dynamic choice and liveliness for various classical styles. The overall sound of the Kawai isn't bad but I found the reverbs and the harmonic resonance somewhat lacking after playing the Pianoteq (it has convolution reverbs and obviously modelled "real" resonance). I would still recommend the Kawais for the features they offer when you are on the road - I am currently looking into the upgrade to the mp7 as it seems to be friendlier when playing organ sounds. (editable key pressure point).
Then go get urself a V Piano
Virtual softwares are no good. They sound horrible from what you hear on demos. How u can say they r better and more expressive then ur ears are deceiving u. Or perhaps u just want to believe they are better than hardware pianos. The problem with u classical pianists is u think ur playing at a concert hall, which u r not. Therefore, if you are a good enough piano player u can make any piano sound good. I have all top of the line keyboards and VSTs and DPs outperform VSTs by a mile. But to each his own as the old saying goes.
Oh and the MP11 sounds wonderful. Not oversustained with horrible harmonic overtones with VSTs. That is the beauty of DPs they sound clean and crisp not muddied like real pianos unless ur buying a $300,000 acoustic (Then there is a big difference).
spada60
The V Piano is merely the most pricy end of the scale of virtual pianos. I have been playing a real Steinway Grand Piano for about 9 years when I was younger, and have tried various DPs starting with the dreadful sounding PF15 from Yamaha back in the eighties. Back then sampling was still in its infancy so even the "acoustic piano" sounds were FM based and pretty horrible.
Samples had an appeal for a while and some sound modules (such as the Roland JV1010) had some half-decent piano sounds in there, but a lot of these rely on Chorus and heavy EQ to sound appealing. I have been playing the mp5 for about 2 years now, and I would agree that it has some quite lovely presets; however I found comaring A/B that the Pianoteq (which is completely built on Virtual Modelling, like the V-Piano) has gotten so good that you really felt you were sitting in front of a real Grand, using some decent head phones and the correct microphone placement (player position). If you set the output to binaural you get very convincing results.
As regards "sitting in a concert hall" you are free to choose various types of convolution reverbs, so you can simulate your living room or a concert hall, which is really very much dependant on the genre of music you are playing.
spada60 you sound like you need to try out Synchron Yamaha CFX VST. The good thing about technology is if you're disappointed now, just come back in 5 years to be impressed
wouu que hermoso....!!!
It's a nice stagepiano for performance and recording. When I get space for one, I guess I will get one or one of it's successors.
Great 🎹 ist Remember Daunte Nathan Jackson as one as well...top 50 of all time.
Hello Kawai MP, I have notice in this video that you have used both line output that the MP11 has supplied: the fixed line output (XRL) and the normal line output (TRS). I wonder If you have connected the audio interface to record the audio to the fixed line output (XRL) and the studio monitors to the normal line output (TRS). thanks
Hello, this video was produced quite a few years ago, however you are likely correct. The XLR outputs were connected to an audio interface (in order to record the audio), while the TRS outputs were connected to a pair of monitor speakers (in order for the pianist to hear her performance)...or possibly viceversa.
Timbre mt estalado piano real nao e assim estridente agudo demais.....piano e mais p o médio.....
Why does no one seem to understand the point of the video? An accomplished pianist is playing a keyboard...NOT a piano. She is not a keyboardist, she's a pianist...playing a keyboard.
The WHOLE point of the video is to showcase what a golly-gee-whiz Kawai has done producing a KEYBOARD for PIANISTS.
ok...I feel better now...
thetravelinghermit did you mean Digital Stage *ahem* PIANO!?
Because the keyboard has grand action hammer simulation, it is called a stage piano. It's not a regular keyboard.
@@oysteinsoreide4323, whatever you call it, it sounds great.
Internet Privacy Advocate I can't disagree with that. I was just trying tell that it's not just a electronic keyboard, but actually a very good digital piano. Which of course isn't as good as a grand piano, but it's a very good instrument nontheless. She is a pianist playing a digital piano. Not just a keyboard as the thetravelinghermit is trying to tell.
Very Nice sample! I would have adjust the response or sensitivity curve, this piece needs that high dynamic
dot we get the VPC 1 here and add Kontakt with one of several +10gb sample virtual instruments and walk away with 800 more in the bank and a richer much better sound?
there are piano samples that are +30gb and one is like 250gb lol
+Nigel Mayhem (NM) Do they actually sound any better though? These huge instruments are so big because they record up to a minute or longer for each sample - so you never hear most of it. And vast numbers of almost indistinguishable levels of velocity. You can only hear one at a time! The quality is really about the quality of the original instrument, expertise of the recording engineer, the processing done when they're played (blending levels, reverb) etc... I agree that you can enhance sound by adding software pianos, but size does not translate to quality!
+Nigel Mayhem (NM) One of the best piano VI's out there is only 500MB or so - VI's are like any other software out there, just putting in a lot of high resolution assets is not enough to save a bad one and many of these very heavy sample libraries suffer when it comes to latency because to really get the same sound you hear on the demos you need all gizmos turned on plus at least some processing in your daw meaning forget 16ms latency at 96Khz and definitely forget any remotely performance sensible latency at even 48khz if you have even a tiny session going in that daw over there.
You basically need a separate host and then hardware processing or processing in another host to really make it all work together for actual performance to happen and that is more in the thousands than the 200 dollars you mentioned - the VPC seems like a decent choice but I'd rather have some actual sound source onboard given the weight and size of these compared to say the doepfer controllers because well.... if I was just buying a controller I would probably buy a doepfer.
I half-agree with someone else's comment posted a few months ago, and the half of the comment I agree with is that this particular keyboard doesn't quite do justice to the pianist. It's a little bit tinny and doesn't have a lot of depth or resonance in comparison to a real acoustic grand, although it's possible to adjust to get closer to that. But the half of that comment I DON'T agree with is that real pianists bring out the limitations in every digital piano on the market right now. I'm getting a Kawai CA95 very soon, having spent some time with it, and while the action is unparalleled, grand feel, blah blah etc, the SOUND is what swayed me, as it is unbelievably rich and complex...probably partially due to the soundboard on the back of the cabinet, which I haven't seen from other DP manufacturers I've considered. I practiced routinely on a Steinway in college, so I know how a Rachmaninoff prelude sounds on one of those...and the CA95 is a quality match. Kawai is making some damn good imitations right now. This just doesn't happen to be the best example of one.
I went and compared the two pianos cause of you lol. The MP11 has the same sound engine (Harmonic Imaging XL) as the CA95... So the difference you're actually hearing is probably your computer speakers vs CA95 speakers?
lazyrate lol
lazyrate Can I ask which one you found more enjoyable? Between the MP 11 and CA95?
Steven Toth Both MP11 and CA95 have the same action (Grand Feel) and sound engine (Harmonic Imaging XL). So which is enjoyable is really just comes down to CA95's built-in speaker system vs whatever speaker system you hook up the MP11 to.
lazyrate Yes, I don't know why I didn't bother to simply search it up rather than ask. But, thanks.
Sounds amazing, I have my one hooked to a studio amp and a pair of nubert speakers :) All these folks talking about the soundset of this - you forget the digital technican and all its options. You can change the fallback noise of the hammeraction for example and many more. This is still the best bang for the buck when you want a DP with great action! Only drawback is its weight around 30kg :) My humble Opinion!
In the end I went for the Nord Grand. Still not happy with my sound system. For 2021 I'll get a focusrite 4i4 to help out. Still need to learn more about digital techniques I guess 😊. I'm very happy though with the Ngrand, especially the touch.
I definitely think Harmonic Imaging XL could use an upgrade (i.e. to Shigeru Kawai samples), but I have a feeling most criticisms are from preconceived pianists who are judging with low-level desktop speakers and would fail an ABX test. Advanced at piano (the art, performance, interpretation, etc) does not also mean good at audio engineering (the science, acoustics, technology, etc). The action of the Grand Feel is what matters most to me. And the sound engine can always be swapped to better one, but I'm content with the way Harmonic Imaging XL sounds through my speaker system setup.
lazyrate Which one speaker system you use for MP11?
+lazyrate Please tell us what your setup is!
I use a set of Vanatoo Transparent One speakers coupled with a compact subwoofer. Nothing fancy but it's practical. My original point was that the sound engine of the MP11 can always be replaced with the sound engine of a piano VST that sounds much better lol. I agree the MP11 piano samples aren't the best but it's not like you're stuck with only those samples
It’s too heavy .. just get it’s Cuzzin, the nord grand
What music sound system is connected to the kawai pls?
none. Your headphones
@@nigo1787 god, you're smart
Mt teatro nos movimentos affffff
nothing bad ... but I prefer the sound quality of the GEM and its superb piano PROMEGA series.
There is not yet a manufacturer that can match the sound quality of an Italian Fazioli F308 on board piano. Keep working KAWAI, you're on the right track.
That's pretty funny.
is it just me or is her playing uneven at times? Not talking about the use of rubato or anything like that, but an uneven left hand.
+wajang1000 could be the 8 against 6 timing of the piece. Some players concentrate on the right hand runs and this sometimes tends to cause the left hand to 'wander'.
+wajang1000 I have that same problem but i don't htink it's as noticeable here, could be that im not concetrating enough on it
Do you mean uneaven in dynamics or timing?
Mp11.god
Sbaglio o qualche nota non viene riprodotta fedelmente dal piano Kawai..
mistake or a note or more is not played during a fast pass of the hands on the keyboard..
The pianist is superb, but can someone explain for me the strange sound on the very first key she pressed. This single tone did lack the influence from the other strings. The strings resonance is totally missing. Can this be adjusted on this particular piano?
Yes you can adjust the string resonance
Wonderful instrument the Kawai Mp11...not a pianist but a keyboardist and involved on piano sound and piano literature... I don't know the used preset and i'm sure it isn't fault of the talented pianist in the video but definitely this is not a timbre of a real classical ...much better on pop/rock music scenes
Asuka Matsumoto you are an awesome concert pianist. Anyway I will prefer to buy the Roland RD 800 after this demo. I am absolutely sure that this piece of music will sound even more lively on the Roland RD 800. Thank you for helping me to make this choice.
What is the keyboard stand brand in this video? Looks very stable.
If you're still looking for the stand, it's the K&M 18950.
I would like to ask, what brand and model keyboard stand is used in this video?
K&M 18950 - the best stand for this piano.
@@namakudamono thank you for your answer
She's really having fun with the rubato isn't she
Yes and it’s so fucking nice
I ordered the Kawai MP11 with great expectations and it came with the keybed action messed up, really ugly spacing of keys horizontally and also uneven vertically and then found one of the black keys literary scraping the white key beside it making an infuriating noise.
I'm going to deal with this tommorow when the shop is in business and try to get a replacement but I am already expecting further trouble and being forced to abandon my decision to own the MP11.
A vintage yamaha EP also with a weighted hammer keybed that I have has all the spacing correct and it survived being bumbed around for like 30-40 years so I think it's not just the really incompetent way that Kawai seems to package the MP11 but also the way that the keybed is engineered as a whole.
I mean if it can't survive being simply shipped from the store how the hell is it suppose to survive any kind of road treatment?
I mean it is hardly a stage piano if it can't be taken on the stage and I can't imagine it is beyond Kawai to finish the sides of keys since yeah, you press on any white key, it exposes an unfinished side of the black keys beside it which scrapes your fingers!
At least sand the bloody sides before you claim it feels like ivory or hey maybe it's the fault of the shipping company, they just went in there and roughed up the sides of the keys by hand just to screw with my day!
I can't put into words how dissapointed I am with the real thing in front of me in comparison to what was promised!
+Borys Pomianek How is your situation with Kawai now?
Proyb P The shop said to just return it - din't want to provide a replacement. I got my money back and bought a Roland RD800 + RPU3 which came in just fine.
In general I dodged a bullet there I think because what worried me before I bought the Kawai was the sound which turned out to be great actually and that if there where none of the QA issues I would probably decide to live with the less than perfect keybed design and regret it once no longer able to return it.
The repetition is just too slow on these keybeds and the rough sides of the black keys distracted at least me from improvisation and even on top of that there are other mechanical noises that only appear in certain places of the keybed, plastic noises, metallic noises etc.
So yeah, I suspect after enough time passes for MP11 users to not be livid about a new versions comming out too soon there will be an MP12 released and that will have the V2 keybed that is already present for a while now on the integrated speaker offerings from Kawai.
I almost got one of those btw. the 96 model but in the end I don't need a home type product which has "demo songs" and weights a ton. I neither want to mic up a digital pianos speakers, that would be just going too far for me.
That said if the keybed is better on those then it could be a fantastic thing for someone looking for a complete package that looks like an upright and I think they are cheaper than similar stuff from Roland too.
+Borys Pomianek I've noticed some of the keyboards are slow as well, not great for Jazz performance.
I own a Kawai ES-8 and its keys are also not 100% in line. Also two keys have a clicking sound. But since real pianos have similar issues I have decided to stick with Kawai. Their piano actions are in my opinion the best ones available. And the samples are better than what the competitors offer.
Didn't know keys are not perfect. Good to know that VAXMIDI team even notice the keys has 0.025mm difference which is so tiny that aim to correct the problem in their QA. Yes, that smallest difference can affected a small part of 32,000 levels of velocities compare to 127 levels. How precise is that? :)
I have one infuriating gripe with all the digital pianos : where's the sustain? The sound decays extremely quickly.. Also, have a slight detune in the piano which is sample or at least give the option for it.. These 2 things alone will greatly improve sound
With this Kawai and most of all CA series of Kawai you can use virtual technician to adjust the decay. Very customisable. Adding as much wooden thump key off effect, resonance etc..
definitely doesn't compare with a good recording of an acoustic grand piano. Still very good though.
Its not a machine, its a monster.
素晴らしい生ピアノの音色です！
日本が世界に誇る河合ピアノ
低音域は少しローランドっぽい音色に感じましたが
高音域は誠至上最高級のコンサートグランドピアノのように感じます（作られた感じが無く自然）
いつも家電屋さんでカワイの電子ピアノを弾いて気に入っています
ヤマハも良いけどタッチ感や音色はカワイが好きです。
ローランド（シンセサイザー ジュノ6愛用してた）は低音の存在感が凄いですがバランスはカワイかな
カシオは昔カシオトーンを愛用していたけど
音の昔と変わらず進化は遅いかも
I do share the same opinion with Nikoli. The overall dynamics sound rather 'compressed' with lack of sparkle. At least not a complimentary video for a model that i'm very seriously considering to buy and at the top line of Kawai's stage pianos. Maybe a top action (not yet tested it), but quite flat sounded in that video...
Kawai, kindly upload more videos to reveal the truth, for all of us classic piano lovers ......
THen go get urself a V piano
Not sure if its the performance or the limited dynamics of the samples but this is lacking a lot of expression. I think you'd need a lot of reverb to cover the blunt tone. It makes me long for the beautiful bell-like tone of a real piano.
Then go get urself a V Piano
spada60 lol. Love you comment, but I don't think many people can justify that $7000 price tag
Reverb can easily be ajusted on the instrument. It's a digital piano afterall.
I think this video backfired spectacularly
Asuka Matsumoto... now that's a real Japanese name
fdsfsfsfdfsfsdfsdfa How many FAKE ones do you see, Lol?
The MP11 does not do justice to this admirable professional pianist.
Anybody who can play this piece and has done so on a grand piano can hear that the sound of this digital instrument doesn't breath and is lifeless. She deserves a much much better instrument. Once you put a real pianist on these digital piano it reveals how limited this technology is.
I don't think that's the idea of this video. I mean, with this keyboard, for about $2500 you can get the touch and the sound of a real piano. It does have lots of advantages, like portability, price, features, effects, piano tech, being maintenance-free. Of course it has disadvantages like the sound being less expressive and the feel not being 100% the real thing, but you have to admit, it's a pretty damn good compromise. And the technology will surely improve.
Lions make you brave the action of this DP is fine, but overal sound production, sorry, it's very lacking compared to an acoustic. If you are a real classical pianist which many people nowadays are then you can't play classic repertoire satisfactorily on this. The strings do not resonate mutually (sympathetic resonnance) and as demonstrated in this video an more than accomplished pianist sounds robbed of her sound.
For amateurs off course it's more than enough as they won't be playing chopin's impromptu or Rachmaninoff. But for anyone taking classical piano playing seriously, forget it.
oneginee
Of course it is lacking compared to an acoustic piano. What with it not being one. All of the compact discs and mp3's we listen to are lacking at reproducing music in the same way. These digital samples sound nothing like being in a room listening to a fine artist playing a fine instrument. My point is, neither of these examples is necessarily touting to be "the real thing". A close approximation perhaps, but open ears reveal the truth. That being said, I cannot easily take my favorite artist and a grand piano with me wherever I go. So I load them onto my phone and take their digital representation (mp3) with me to enjoy as I will. Similarly, have you ever tried touring with a grand piano? Or getting one to a gig? Or, having a grand piano while living in a small apartment in a crowded metropolitan area? The MP11 is looking and sounding very good for these situations. "Good enough" often is.
Tim Flood Totally agree!
Tim Flood You completely misunderstood my post, and you are typing nonsense and comparisons that do not apply at all. The fact that all musical performances are captured on CD/mp3 is unrelated and has no bearings whatsoever. I can listen to thousands of digital mp3 recordings here on youtube of pianists playing on ACOUSTICS that have magnificient sound because it's an acoustic. The reason this very video of this more than fine pianist performance sounds horrible in sound is because of the DIGITAL PIANO. Digital recording is never the bottleneck in today's technology. You confuse sound production and sound recording. But your posting shows you are an amateur pianist. so i'll stop there, not worth wasting my time. And yeah that MP11 is perfect for you then !
the pianist tried to feel and put emotion into the song, but she seen like having a constipation, like she wanted to release "something" but failed to do it . I'm playing piano too but not that "too much expression" to feel the song, i mean i dont want to look like having a constipation of my butt :D
am I the only one who thinks this thing sounds terrible? my Yamaha p115 sounds much more natural. a p255 would probably sound wonderful for this piece.
nothing can beat a good education. Congrats!
I don't think so... Mmm. They've different character. Maybe yamaha is too mainstream. But kawai piano sound is beautifull. The series MP used by Muse Band. Kawai good at piano sound.
il lui manque énormément le timbre d'un piano acoustique
Ok for a electric! Not Bad!
Then go get urself a V Piano
spada60
Jeez are you always going to answer with that? You know yourself that the V-Piano is prohibitively expensive, and I would buy myself a Kawai upright, which is really the most inspiring upright I ever player, if I had that sort of money to burn. In the meantime, I am happy using PianoTeq which gives a decent virtual sound simulation without having to pay 1000s.
You play with weird pauses
+Chaos Neptune You say weird things. Really, what do people always feel the need to be a critic. If you don't like how someone plays, then don't play it that way yourself. When you see someone walking down the street, do you run up to them to tell them you don't like their shoes?
it's too big to bring anywhere
Can’t stand he creepy arm and finger waving taught these days. Weird.
Not to be picky. You missed a note. That should have been an f flat. Besides that, pretty good.
First 9/11, now this. What a horrible sounding "fake" piano. And these are all known (including the MP10) to have uneven/scraping/maladjusted key issues. Do not buy this keyboard. Any Casio is better in sound and quality. Fuhgedabouitit!