Kawai ES-1

The ES-1 is a basic 32 note poly digital piano with additional string, organ, E piano, clav & pad patches. 2 sounds can be layered ( but not split as far as I can tell ) across the whole keyboard reducing the board to 16 notes at once. very easy to use apart from some MIDI functions which are accessed by combinations of button and key presses.

Key action is good to heavy, all of the E's & F's make a slightly louder acoustic "clunk" than the other keys but this is not audible through the speakers or external amp. Built in stereo amp & speakers are useful and will accept an external line input. Chorus & reverb are subtle but classy. Basic MIDI & 2 track notepad sequencer.

The grand pianos are superb throughout the range, low notes are full and rich, high notes have a very realistic hammer sound. The low notes are also reserved and continue to sound when playing long sustained passages - a great feature. The EP's are fine, Jazz organ good and strings 2, when layered with piano 2 gives a great sound for ballads. Effects are good and velocity/aftertouch fine - the keyboard is heavier than most Roland and Yamaha but you can really dig in when playing rock/blues.

100% - used on around 250 gigs so far with no probs.

Never dealt with Kawai.

Bought new in 1999 used constantly since with no glitches, would like more polyphony but still love the piano sound. A bit heavy for gigging but worth it when set up for the 88 notes and sound played through stereo Peavey setup ( 2 x 15 inch plus horn powered speakers ). Use either a Kawai K4 or Roland Juno D as top keyboard plus Boss DR 880 & Casio MIDI disk player on solo keyboard/vocal gigs.

Duh. It's a digital piano, not a complicated synth. About as easy as any Yamaha or Roland out there.

The 32 note polyphony is ok. If you use the on-board recorder there may be some cut-off if you're doing glissandos and stuff. There are some basic effects like echo reverb chorus, etc. It has limited MIDI capabilities. The action is superb. Nothing else can come close, not even the Yamaha P250. The only thing better than this is a Kawai MP9500.

The Piano sound on this baby is great. Very dynamic unlike the Yamahas. There is no noticeable velocity switching. I believe it also has sympathetic resonance. Do yourself a favor and buy some good amps, though. While the built-in speakers are ok they don't do the awesome piano sound justice.

Very dependable. I believe the action is a little more complicated than the Rolands and Yamahas though.. So be careful. I don't gig so I can't comment here really, though.

Great for anything but MIDI controlling.

I bought this keyboard for the digital piano (Grand/Modern)and electric piano (rhodes)sounds which i think are great. You can add preset eq's, but I found the standard modern piano patch to be the clearest and most realistic sound, same with the electric piano...basically, you don't need to tweak anything to get at least an acceptable sound, just adjust the reverb to suit. Strings not to bad, and quite a nice affect when layered with electric piano, but polyphony then restricts you. This is not a concern to me as I use modules when layering. Nice enough draw organ, but probably not what you'd use live if you can help it. Other sounds include vibrphone, human voices (ooh's and ahh's) and 1 variation on all the above sounds. The manual is small and straight forward, and midi functions basic if you have any experience in this area.

The polyphony is only 32 which is not great, but as I said before, using a module when layering gets you around this, and produces a better sound anyway. I don't hit enough keys @ one time when playing the piano for this to be a problem. I played the Roland RD150 and FP3 before deciding on the ES-1. The action on the Kawai is lighter than both the above, especially the FP, and has a better feel than the RD150. I think both keyboards are very similar, but I felt the ES-1 had a slightly better feel, coming from a synth & blues player more than a concert pianist. Also, with the ES1 being a hell of a lot cheaper, this was not a hard choice.

A lot of people critisise on-board speakers, but I don't have a problem with them. The speakers on the ES-1 are not huge, but @ 7 watts each side, are convenient when you can be bothered setting up amps, mixers etc.and just want to have a play with your mates in a lounge room or something.They serve their purpose and don't weigh the keyboard down. Another thing is that you get the tangible feedback from the keyboard when the speakers are on, which adds to the feel. Besides, you can turn them off if you want to.

Midi is basic. You can assign the ES1 to about 8 different channels, which serves its purpose. Enough to run a module or 2. Only draw back is that it does not have a thru port, which makes midi to sequencer and modules a bit more complex, and have to add splitters. Again. not really an issue for me.

It has a 2 track on-board sequencer which is a bit of a novelty, but can be fun for practice or jamming (12 bar for instance), but of no real benefit. The controls for this do not take up any room, so just forget about it if you need to.

Onboard effects are a few reverbs and choruses, beneficial depending on what you are playing through. As I said, the preset sounds are good enough to get away with only adding a bit of chorus or reverb hear or there. Not expandable.

Piano sounds realistic, The board itself has a nice feel for piano, you wouldn't use a weighted keyboard for organ sounds anyway, so disregard. I use this piano for modern and traditional blues, so speed of playing is an issue. I found that being a bit lighter in action compared to some of its competitors is a plus, yet it does not lose its feel...ie, you still need to give the keys a decent push to get expression, definitely not toy/plastic action. Has velocity functions, so attack can be altered if required. Nice sustain with provided pedal.

Although weighing only 18.5kgs compared to the Rolands which are a bit heavier, this is a solid unit. I've only had it a little while, but have had no problems structurally or electronically. I don't think reliability will be too much of an issue with this unit.

Not had to worry about this yet.

Definitely worth the price...check out some of the other brands in it's league and you will see the difference, upto $1000 more for some. Basically, you can't go wrong with it. It is as good as any of the Rolands I tried, both in sound, action and usefulness, it is not as heavy to haul around and cost a bit less. I did a lot of research before buying the ES-1, and am satisified with my choice. Sure, it's no Kawai MP9000 or any of the top Rolands or Yamahas etc, but I did not want something that would give me a heart attack every time I lifted it or spotted some passive smoke meandering its way towards the keys or electronics. It's a good board @ a good price and I deifinitely recommend it for live gigs or @ home.

Note: The Kawai ES-1 and ESX are identical keyboards, except for their finish (ES-1 is black, ESX is silver).

This keyboard is extremely easy to use, which is not surprising, as it has few parameters to play with --
16 presets (not all of which are useable, or that different from one another), and chorus and reverb buttons.
There is no editing capability.

The manual is extremely simple, too.

For quality of presets, see below.

Another type of "ease of use" has to do with weight. This keyboard weighs about 40 lbs (which includes internal speakers,
which is a nice extra feature). I was looking for a keyboard with decent action and sounds that was under 50 lbs. Even though
a hand cart makes it easy to move a keyboard over flat surfaces, it's still a pain to have to lift 50 lbs from the case to the
music stand and back, etc.

32-note polyphony.

Keyboard action is acceptable -- not the best, but better than any of its competitors
in its price range, and better than many more expensive ones. Action is lighter than the Yamaha P-80,
and more realistic than the Yamaha S-80. I like it better than the Roland RD-700. That being
said, it's still stiffer than I would like.

The built in chorus and reverb are easy enough to use.

No expansion capabilities. MIDI capabilities are very basic.

There's an on-board recorder, but I don't use it.

The Rhodes electric piano sound is excellent. There's a "tines" EP sound that's OK, but not great.
The piano sounds are good -- I like them better than its competitors -- but I wish I could tweak them.
They're not as good as the best Roland pianos, though much better than the Roland RD-150 pianos.

There's a B3 sound that is passable, but pretty weak IMHO. Other sounds (church organ, harpsichord, vibes, strings, chorus)
aren't important to me.

The sounds work well for rock music, which is what I play. Audience members and other musicians have complimented
the sounds.

I like the chorus. The reverb is OK.

It reacts well to velocity, but doesn't seem to have any aftertouch. That doesn't bother me though,
because I don't need it.

I've used it in 2 gigs so far without any problems. It's still pretty new, though.
I don't think I would need a backup. It seems pretty solidly made, though the underside looks
like it's particle board.

I e-mailed Kawai several times before buying this keyboard, and their response was
very good -- quick and adequately detailed. The real test would be repairs, though.

I think I would get this again, although it's not my dream keyboard. The problem is, to date
it's impossible to find the right combination of relatively light weight, good action, and good sounds
-- at any price. Upper model Kawais have great action and sounds, but weigh a ton. I'll probably
get a module to get better organ sounds, and maybe add to the piano and EP sounds. It helps that
the price of this keyboard is significantly less than most of the other serious keyboards.