🎹 Yamaha P125 vs Kawai ES120 | Digital Piano Comparison, Review & Demo 🎹

#YamahaP125 #KawaiES120 #DigitalPianos

0:00 - Video Introduction on the Kawai ES120 v.s. Yamaha P125a
0:52 - Opening playing Demo on the Kawai ES120
1:04 - Opening Playing Demo on the Yamaha P125a
1:18 - Kawai ES120 review begins
2:06 - Improvements on the Kawai ES120
2:31 - R.H.C Action on the Kawai ES120
3:29 - Additional Improvements (Reverb Engine)
4:05 - Redesigned Cabinet on the Kawai ES120
5:35 - Piano Sound Discussion on the Kawai ES120
6:41 - Piano Sound Demo SK-EX Piano Tone begins on the Kawai ES120
9:16 - EX Concert Grand Piano Demo on the Kawai ES120
13:29 - E. Piano and other Tone Demos on the Kawai ES120
18:16 - Speaker Discussion on the Kawai ES120
18:59 - Review begins on the Yamaha P125a
22:20 - Piano Sound Demos on the Yamaha P125a
25:02 - E. Piano and other tones demoed on the Yamaha P125a
31:29 - More Playing on the Yamaha P125a
31:50 - Comparing Piano Tone to the Kawai ES120
34:06 - Piano Sound Spec Slide
34:17 - Piano Action Review begins on the Kawai ES120 v.s. Yamaha P125a
36:18 - Key Textures on the Kawai ES120 v.s. Yamaha P125a
37:33 - Piano Action Spec Slide
37:44 - Differences between the Kawai ES120 v.s. Yamaha P125a
40:35 - Piano Features Review
42:42 - Piano Features/Connectivity Spec Slides
42:55 - Video Outro

Hello and thanks for joining us on the Merriam Pianos YouTube channel! We’ve finally got our hands on a brand new Kawai ES120 so the first order of business is to see how it matches up with the Yamaha P125A.

This will surely be a key matchup for years to come so we’re excited to do a side-by-side comparison for you here.

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ES120
The ES120 is of course the replacement for the ES110, which was a hugely successful model during its run.

While the 120 isn’t a massive leap forward, there are quite a few improvements; the RHC action returns but it’s an upgraded version with improved cushioning, Bluetooth Audio has been added, the reverb and signal processing has been enhanced, they’ve added the SKEX main sample and they’ve redesigned the case.

Piano Sound
There are 25 total sounds here, with the focus being the default SKEX sample running through the Harmonic Imaging engine. With the new signal processing, the acoustic piano sound is definitely a step above the ES110. The other sounds are improved as well.

Polyphony is solid at 192 notes, and the dual speaker system has been improved from 14 watts to 20 watts.

P125A
The P125A is an update to the original P125, though it’s a little bit difficult to discern exactly what they have improved - the sound engine, speakers and total sounds all appear to be the same.

That same, even though it’s still labelled as the GHS action, we feel like it has been slightly reconfigured.

Piano Sound
The P125A features 24 sounds, 192 note polyphony, and uses Yamaha’s Pure CF sound engine with the CFIIIS serving as the core sample, so on paper, it looks very comparable to the ES120.

A key difference though is a 4 speaker system here, but with less power at 14 watts in total.

How do the Sound Engines Compare?
There’s a handful of key tones on the ES120 that sound quite a bit better than the P125A, which probably has to do with the fact that it’s a newer instrument.

Especially with headphones, the SKEX sample is really out-powering the CFIIIS sample in terms of depth, color and realism. There’s an element of subjectivity here of course, but the SKEX is just an objectively more complex sample.

The 120 gets the edge in terms of electric pianos too, but after that, the sounds are pretty comparable from a quality standpoint.

Piano Action
Anyone familiar with Yamaha knows they make great products, but they generally keep technical details pretty scarce. That said, we think this is an improved version of the GHS action even if they haven’t disclosed this to be the case. Our guess is that the key cushioning has been improved resulting in better weighting.

Features
While the ES110 and P125 were closely priced together, the ES120 is now quite a bit more expensive than the P125A. To keep the price down, Yamaha has actually stripped a key feature away by removing the built-in USB audio interface, which is unfortunate as this was a great feature.

Connect with Merriam Music:

[tomarmstrong]

Of all the piano, and keyboard channels, Merriam Pianos is fortunate to have the professionalism of Stu take this channel to pole position.

[bodiddly]

Thank you for this thorough comparison.

I ordered a white ES-120 months ago, 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 front edge to find them.

Thanks again.

[trombulan]

Waiting for an ES120 vs FP30X comparison review! Thank you for your work, Stu!

[victord.]

Be careful: Kawai ES-120 can make loud case noises when placed on its own piano stand. The case is identical to the older ES-110. So test them out on their own piano stands before buying. Excellent video.

[islandtony]

Thanks Stu for a great review as always! The P-125A is a huge downgrade from the P-125; it’s the exact same piano BUT THEY REMOVED THE AUDIO INTERFACE! And since there is no aux in on the P-125, there is no no longer a way to stream audio in to play along with (backing tracks, YouTube etc), and you can no longer send direct audio out via USB. Hope a P-135 comes out soon…..

[johnlarrivee]

In my humble opinion the Yamaha sounds more like an acoustic piano the Kawai sounds well a bit digital!!! Love your research and content one of the best on YouTube for sure, much appreciated review

[dinobaptiste]

Great review! I’ve owned the shorter P121 and played the original P125. I completed around 300 gigs on the P121 with the original GHS action. During many months the action became quite lighter as it wore in and some of the keys became noisy. This was also experienced on an older P125 which was installed in a live venue.

I then sold my P121 and bought a new P125a…….I totally agree, the GHS action has definitely been updated with a firmer feel, less wear after many gigs and additionally an overall fat sound both through the speakers or line outs! Maybe they did this while preparing for the new CK88 to use the same keyboard action, but more durable and playable!

[naddydatty]

I don't even need this particular review anymore after making my decision on the P125, but I just enjoy Stu's presence and unbiased reviews on everything this channel offers.

[JoeLinux]

Stu's piano playing is sounding better than ever. The ES120 sounds good to me.

[greentea-uk]

Great video! Decided the ES120 for myself although the P125 was pretty good too. Will you be reviewing the new P225 or p145? They're pretty much direct upgrades from the P45 and P125/P125a and I would love to hear Stu's thoughts about it

[Moegivesmelife]

I’m looking at getting my first piano, and after checking out several reviews, I was pretty sure it was going to be a Kawai since I liked the sound of them. I also want a portable one which is why I settled on the ES line. I was initially going for the ES120, since I’m a newbie and probably don’t want to spend a four-digit amount for it. But then I noticed that, here in Europe, the ES520 actually costs only 200 € more (or even just 100 € if you buy a product returned within 30 days; essentially new). Considering this, 899 € for the ES-520 seems like a no-brainer!

[bbbbbbberbqwvq]

I just bought a yamaha p125a, the absence of the audio interface doesn't affect me since I'm going to use it as a wall piano! I really liked the sound

[MoAwkati]

Hi, May I ask please: when you first played the ES120 were you using the pedal, or the sound is without? Thank you.

[Lore_Piano]

Yess !! Finally a es120 review/comparison !
Tysm for the review 🤍🤍 !!!

I have one question tho, i know it's a random one, but is there a huge difference between playing on the es120 compared to the yamaha ydp 165 ? I know this Isn't a fair comparison due to price tag, but does the ydp hold good during time? I will study mainly classic pieces.
I tried both the ydp 165 and the es110 (not the 120) on a piano store, and pointed out that 110 has much much more a "gummy" feeling to me, compared to the gh3 action which felt better under my hands.
So my question is, can the ydp 165 be a good replacement to an acoustic piano for practice and then would it be difficoult to move and playing on a "real" one ?
I have an upright but need the best practice piano for a limited budget.
( Thank you so much if you will reply, i really need a confirm of this, ty in advance for your time🤍, I wish you a wonderful day and gl with your job, thanks for the quality content you upload everytime, you deserve way more subs !! ) ^^

[aliar]

Thanks Stu, great video as always. I enjoyed a lot when I tried ES120 in the showroom, though, to be honest P125 had never been my cup of tea. I am also quite a big fan of Roland FP30X and I am looking forward to Stu comparing it to the ES120. As a long time loyal follower of the channel, I have the feeling that video would be in the pipeline 😉.

[MrBaroquer]

Great review as always on the Stu's channel. I am stll preparing myself to buy the ES920 as this is somehow a financial challenge but I believe that the fame of the Kawai brand is 100% deserved. Paired with, for example, PianoTeq, it could potenatially embody truly musical wonders. :)

[peterdvideos]

I’m a heathen. I just bought and received a P125a. So far I dig it. It’s my first weighted keyboard after having various synths and keyboards for many years.

[randalgoat]

I'm surprised you didn't talk about the major upgrade to the es 120, that it now includes the sk-ex sample that you like. The es 110 only had the ex sample. Like you, I much prefer the sk-ex sample and for me that would be a significant reason to consider the es 120, especially if you use external monitors or headphones.

I have the es 110 and it is my all-time favorite keyboard action, I feel like I'm flying, the expression is so fluid and dynamic. However, I really grew to dislike the user interface, just too basic and a hassle to remember what combination of button and keystrokes will do what. And I very much disliked the sound from the speakers, and with the es 120 still being downward firing, I doubt that a few extra watts are going to make much of a difference.

My solid recommendation if people like the action on the es 110 or 120 and are on a tight budget, buy the es520 if you can. It has the infinitely improved upward firing speakers, a very decent user interface, and the same wonderful RHC keybed with some minor improvements.

A surprisingly significant omission on the es 120 is that there is no aux in. Bluetooth MIDI has very little latency and is very usable and super convenient, no wires. So your keyboard playing gets sent via Bluetooth MIDI to your iPad where you have various instrument apps. Bluetooth audio by contrast has way too much latency and is unusable, so getting the sound FROM the iPad back to the instrument means you need an aux in on the keyboard. With Bluetooth midi and an aux in you come close to the convenience and practicality of having an audio interface (at least for adding sounds from an external source). Without that simple aux in, you need external speakers as well as a mixer so that you can blend the sound from the keyboard along with the iPad instrument sounds, and you can no longer use the onboard speakers if you want to hear the additional iPad sounds. What a hassle! All they needed to do is add that aux in.

The es520 and 920 both have Bluetooth midi as well as an aux in, which makes integrating external instrument sounds into the keyboard very simple, one little audio cable.

I've got the es920 and love it. As far as I can tell there is nothing else on the market that has such nice speakers, great sounds and keyboard action, and weighs under 40 lb.

[Oliver-uhze]

Oh no! Looks like you've changed the intro (0:04) and the comparison background music (34:07). But I loved the old ones!

[XtrAMassivE]

I literally just got home from a store where I picked up the ES120. I really didn't like the Yamaha so I'm happy with my purchase. Picked it up for 780$ converted.