🎹Kawai ES920 Digital Piano Review & Demo - New! ES Portable Series Pianos (Kawai ES8 Replacement)🎹

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#ES920 #Kawai #DigitalPiano

Hello and welcome to the Merriam Pianos YouTube channel. Today, we have a review of a piano we’ve been waiting months to get our hands on - the brand new Kawai ES920.

The ES920 is the upgrade to the hugely popular ES8, and is positioned to compete against other top all-in-one portable instruments such as the Yamaha P515 and the Roland FP90X.

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Piano Overview

The ES920 is a professional, portable, all-in-one instrument built for stage or studio use, but also totally appropriate for the home with the addition of the designer stand and triple pedal system. As mentioned above, it replaces the hugely popular ES8.

While the ES8 was a popular and successful instrument, one area where many people felt the piano was lacking was the user interface. The display, buttons and overall layout simply felt dated, especially when compared to Roland’s FP60 and FP90. Kawai has clearly taken this heart and made some serious improvements here.

Piano Sound

After only a few minutes on this thing, I’m convinced this is one of, if not the best sounding portable digital piano I’ve ever heard. The quality of the sonic presentation out of something that weighs a mere 37 lbs is shocking.

The ES920 is equipped with Kawai’s Harmonic XL, with 256 notes of polyphony. This is an individual, 88-note, multi-layered sample-based engine, built off of Kawai’s SK-EX concert grand, as well as their SK-5. The sound source itself is the same as on the ES8, including the 38 total onboard sounds, but everything else has been improved.

For starters, the ES920 is outfitted with an Onkyo amplifier, Onkyo speakers, and Onkyo signal processing. The bass response is much more controlled than the ES8’s, and the lower mids are much more refined. The upper highs are also noticeably superior. The speaker setup consists of two 8x12 CM speakers, driven by a single 40-watt amplifier.

There’s an onboard 4 band EQ which allows for a ton of control of the character of the tone. There’s also an effects engine and amp engine, which probably won’t be applied to an acoustic piano tone (other than reverb) but will come in handy with non-acoustic piano tones.

The ES920 also features Kawai’s Virtual Technician feature. This allows the user to adjust 21 sound related parameters, such as the touch curve, damper resonance, decay time etc. You can also access this feature on a mobile device via Bluetooth as well.

Piano Action

The ES920 features Kawai’s tried and true Responsive Hammer III (RHIII) action. While this action has been on the market for several years, the RHIII featured here is actually a second-generation version with a redesigned sensor strip and improved durability. Some first-generation ES8’s had some issues with their actions, so those issues have been resolved here.

Playing this action, it’s immediately noticeable that the sensitivity has improved over the ES8. There’s a nice micro-texture on both the white and black keys, which is very important for folks working on more advanced repertoire.

This action features escapement, which makes for better control in the lower dynamic range. The repetition speed is great, and the key dip feels right. Overall, this is a very satisfying action that competes very well in the price point.

Piano Features

Kawai wants you to have fun with this piano. There's an on-board recorder that will record Wav files, MP3, and standard MIDI files, making it one of the most versatile on-board USB key recorders.

There are ¼” outputs, 3.5 mil line-in, headphone jacks, as well as Bluetooth MIDI and Audio with regards to connectivity.

There’s also a robust onboard auto-accompaniment feature that’s very well laid out and easy to use. There are 100 rhythms, each with a variation.

All of the standard features are covered too, such as split, transpose, metronome, sound layering, etc.

The ES920 is available as a slab in both black and white finishes, but a matching designer stand and triple pedal system are available.

We hope you enjoyed this video. Thanks for watching!

Connect with Merriam Music:

[russmaleartist]

Your reviews, your artistry at the piano, your personable interaction, and your honest opinions -- all very much appreciated.

[kschmate]

just played this one yesterday, it's top of my list for the realistic piano sound alone - I was blown away and even at the highest volume at the low end, it doesn't distort. amazing.

[juliodelafuente]

After 3months wait, my Kawai es920 finally arrived. I was blown away and loved it! Liking it more and growing with it. I like the piano key feel as it is responsive….not to heavy and massive and not to light. Top quality sound like the Roland FP 90 with a price difference of $1100 cdn less it is a steal. this before buying other DP .

[dannyzumwalt]

Have come across your channel just a couple weeks ago and it has become a go to for all things digital piano related. Your method, detail, and production quality set you apart. Well done and congrats on the channel. I am so much more informed as a shopper after spending time here.

Looking to buy a Kawai CA59 for a young learner as well as for myself but still evaluating the Roland lineup and look forward to videos on the upcoming RP701

[shaolin]

I wanted a piano I could easily move from my room that didn't feel bad vs my CA79. The es920 did not disappoint. I don't miss playing the CA79 at all!

[hqiu]

Almost like a grand piano! Pure, clean. Kawai has done an amazing job on this one!

[ferdearmas]

Hi Stu, IMHO you are playing the most impressive instrument to date!. Outstanding piano sounds, put the Yamaha behind the race and the Roland go direct to the last position.

[jen]

Stu... Whenever you improvise, I feel like a kid watching Mr Roger's Neighborhood again... they had such a great jazz pianist that played through transitions and during the show. If you aren't familiar, I hope you go check out some old shows. It is a compliment and meant from the heart. Thanks for the analysis but also for sharing your talent.

[thomasschatton]

If there is something new, I always wait for the review by Stu! This again is also a marvellous review! Could you make a comparison between the ES920 and the ES520 and talk about the differences between these two instruments? What is the ES520 lacking so it can be considerably cheaper?

[harrod]

Just got mine yesterday and love it. Ive had the mp6 for about 7 years and this is an amazing upgrade. I had watched several reviews on a this and few others mainly the yamaha p515. Everything had old out everywhere so after you said te best sound. I jumped when one became available and am so happy I did. Thanks

[eladto]

Best review I've seen on this instrument! Thank you!

[JulienisInterested]

Loving my KDP-110 which I decided on from your wonderful review. Thanks for that!

[soanonso]

Fantastic review, thanks for this! Thanks for the info on the updates to the RHIII action. Looking forward to an FP90x comparison in the future, but for now I'm pretty sold on the es920.

[OnlineMD]

Superb review, thanks, Stu! I just got this piano, the ES920, last month. My first digital piano ever! And I got it mail order, sight unseen! The keys felt real heavvvy at first but after two to three weeks my fingers quit screaming at me! :) Customers *really* need to play a digital piano before buying. However, I need to admit that I'm starting back on piano after 30 years so my finger muscles are probably more flab than muscle right now! :) :) :)

Oh, an important thing: I had trouble with the Bluetooth at first. Especially the Bluetooth MIDI. So I got an idea: I ran the Piano Remote app on an iPad. It shook its head and told me the software/firmware was not up to date. If you keep the piano off, hold down the Piano 2, Organ and Strings buttons, then turn it on, it will show the software version. Should be 1.10; if anything lower in count, it is not up to date. After the update, Piano Remote connected perfectly and I had no more Bluetooth issues. After you display the firmware version, you have to turn it off and on again to play normally.


Overall, no regrets at all. the sounds are rich and superb. I love layering piano and strings together, so easy to do. I then save my choices as a preset which Kawai calls a "Registration." Strange name. My ONLY item on a wish list: Show the rhythms on the Remote Piano app so I can quickly pick out a rhythm instead of scrolling through one hundred of them!!!! The Auto Chord function is a delight.

[mothra]

Thanks, Stu. Been waiting for this. You are the BEST reviewer and super capable player.

[bhaveshmistry]

Always a top notch review. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and a genuine review. This ES920’s acoustic piano sound is mind blowing, I never heard before in any digital pianos in this price range rest other sounds are not that great and Kawai is not famous for that. Only MP11SE is so impressive specially Ep & pads. I am waiting for new MP12 I hope they will announce MP12 soon.
Thank you so much 😊

[andreasvouzikis]

Watching these excellent reviews, is an English lesson as well ....for free

[wout]

great, i like how you show the speakers and line out !!

[mfurman]

Thank you for your reviews, I have just ordered ES920 at Merriam Music. Thank you.
Michael

[timhollins]

Some of the piano sounds that I’m hearing on this one take me back to the Charlie Brown specials that I watched on TV as a child. Enjoyed this very much. 😁