Kawai MP9000

I have owned this instrument for c. 15 months now. This is the first 'digital piano' that is truly an instrument. All other attempts have been an assault to the ears and fingers, as well as an insult to my intelligence and wallet. Is the MP9000 exactly the same as a concert-class grand piano? No, but that is not a reasonable expectation. I love the way that the previous reviews compare an under $2,000 to purchase item with an item that costs over $30,000 to purchase and countless more to pay enough technicians to carry it around and keep it tuned for you to play any time night or day (as if this were an achievable feat outside of the necessary strictly controlled environment with proper humidity and temperature) let alone adjust the temperment (as would require more than your local 'tuner', but an actual person who earns their living doing just that, yet you can perform this operation yourself with the touch of a few buttons on the MP9000). Get real! What you would pay for the MP9000 itself is about the cost of moving a piano of the class that the MP9000 emulates on one of its presets! I believe this is its own instrument, the same as each model of grand piano (and some would argue each individual piano). One should consider this instrument as another category of piano/keyboard instrument. The touch is its own and very useful, but not exactly like a Kawai or any other make of piano. Why should it be? Who said the touch of a 'grand piano' (as if there exists one generic feel to which we all refer!) is the best way of entering data into an instrument? Buy the Kawai MP9000, make the minor adjustments in your playing style that is necessary with any switch in instrument (whether piccolo or tympani), enjoy the extremely musical overtones and harmonics in the presets, and then use it as a controller for all that follows. I think this instrument presents us with a new paradigm, for we no longer must search for "just like a real 'x' or 'y'..." gadgets, but have the choice of NEW instruments that retain just enough of the qualities from those bulky, unreliable, and expensive (and therefore esoteric to its logical extreme) instruments that we are able to bring our acquired finesse and playing style along for the journey. The next generation of musician won't even search for a keyboard with 'real' touch, for they won't understand the concept...nor do I after the MP9000!

At first glance ist may be a bit confusing because Kawai has its own way to arrange everything (yes those four sliders are just for volume control), but soon its very easy and intuitive to use. The manual is poor, but in this case it is not a big problem (I own a Kawai K5000 where that problem really matters)

The features as a masterkeyboard are very thought through, though they are not complete and there are other controllers with more features. (like my old Yamaha KX88)

The polyphony functions very properly. Even the Yamaha GT2 has more problems with fast tremolos and lots of notes (at least the one I tried started clicking when confronted with Liszt). The keyboard action feels like a mixture between piano and grandpiano action. It is built without any springs and works only with gravitation but one has to like the way the keys bounce back into position. Some real grandpianos also have that effect but not that strong.
I especially like the way the sustain pedal functions although works only as a on/off switch. Very subtle sounds emerge when you release it only a short time.The smooth variation the sound makes when played from pp to ff is impressive. As someone else commented the sound may be a bit "ringing", with lots of overtones. When I tried it first in the shop I just thought the same, but with good headphones and if you use an external amplifier/mixer and not the cheap built in phone jack it gets a lot better. And one can also reduce the cutoff a little or use the equalizer.
The Alesis Nanopiano I own sounds so bad in comparison... (not only the piano sounds)

The first one I had had some problems with the keyboard (one of the keys was shorter than the others) Usually something built as poor as that should not pass the quality control. But it was no problem to exchange it.

I would buy it again it is definitely worth its price. I play the piano 25 years now and the MP9000 is the first digital piano worth buying. Due to the good action one really can work on very subtle differences when playing classical music.Also I like the sound very much. I tried a lot of other digital pianos (Yamaha, Roland, Korg, General Music, Technics, Casio) and its far better than all of those. Using phones it is on par with the Yamaha GT2 or at least in the same category. And the GT2 costs four times as much. I just liked the MP9000 on the first try and after a month playing I like it even more.
It is exactly what I wanted so it gets a 10.

This keyboard was the most complicated of all the digital pianos I tried. It took me 3 visits to the store to fully figure out the buttons and menus. But once you understand it, it's intuitive.

Manual is well-organized but doesn't teach you anything new; you're better off experimenting on your own to figure it out.

Features: Keyboard - 10; Sounds - 5

Excellent keyboard; only the Yamaha P-200 is more realistic, but that has a more difficult and staccato touch and you really have to be a good pianist to play it, whereas the MP9000 has softer key touch and is easier to play.

Sounds: Not enough variety. Why'd they take the harpsichord away? That was one of my favorite sounds! I don't need 5 pianos and 3 electric pianos.

But the "choir" is nice, and the layering feature is fun.

8 - except that I wish there were more sound patches, it's beautiful.

I recently picked up one of these used. I feel its one of the best keyboard acquisitions I've ever made. After reading the preceding reviews, there's not much I can add. But I did want to note another possible solution to the problem of a case. A company called Kases makes soft cases with a rigid set of bars running underneath the case with wheels at one end and a handle at the other. The MP9000 will actually fit into the largest model. Its a tight fit, hardly a centimeter to spare, but it seems to work.

Now, this being a soft bag, it will not do much to protect the keyboard from collisions. But it will keep off the dust, moisture, and scratches, and it makes moving it around much easier. I'm a bit concerned that, given its construction, the case will not hold up under the weight of the MP9000, but it seems worth the gamble (at $150). I've checked out the aluminum case made by Kawai specifically for this keyboard. Its much more protective while still be reasonably light. But the additional weight and bulk with that case means you either need two people to move it or one person using a handtruck. And the Kawai case costs $300. The Kawai case isn't a flight case. For that, you'd need something specially made and more expensive.

Oh, yeah, portability aside, the MP9000 is very easy to use.

As others have said, the prime virtue of this keyboard is the action. It is head and shoulders about any other digital keyboard in terms of expressiveness allowed. The dynamic range is tremendous. The action is very comfortable and natural feeling, relative to any other digital keyboard.

There are controllers with much more to offer in terms of control options. But the MP9000 is adequate for my simple purposes, which is mainly to play piano-type sounds from a module.

I think the piano patches are very good. I don't know if they are the best around. I'm not one of these people who can hear a piano patch and right away tell notice a flaw in the loop below middle C, or whatever. My sense is that you can find piano sounds as good or better in other modules. But I don't have any concerns about playing the onboard piano sounds of the MP9000.

The rest of the sound set is good but not great. Electric pianos are OK, but there are better and if electric piano sounds are important to you, that will probably drive you to using a module. Like every other manufacturer, Kawai feels compelled to waste good memory space with a DX-7 type electric piano patch. I guess as horrible as that sound is to most ears, its enough a part of a musical history that it has to be repeated. What a shame.

Fortunately, the MP9000 is no less expressive when hooked up to a module. That is, you'll still be able to fully benefit from the great action.

Looks and feels like a quality piece of equipment. But you really should bring a back up. That's right, you should bring two MP9000's to any gig.

My great frustration with digital piano's has always been not with the sounds so much as the fact that they don't feel and play like musical instruments. They may sound great, but they don't feel that way in your hands. The MP9000 is a dramatic step forward in this respect. Its still doesn't feel like a piano, but its so much closer than anything else out there.

The main "price" for this realism is, its seems, a compromise in portability. Hauling this thing around will really put a strain on you physically (assuming you are, like most musicians, not the body-builder type). Whether its worth it will depend on how much you value being able to apply your piano technique when out on a gig.

Navigation of sounds, including layering and splitting, is quite simple.
I'm not a MIDI junkie, so I can't really comment on those capabilities.
The manual is straightforward, but rather simplistic -- there wasn't much
in there I couldn't have figured out by just pushing buttons. I also
suspect there is a fairly sizable amount of information it doesn't tell
you -- see my comments under Customer Support.

Between the other reviews and Kawai's Web site, there isn't going to
be much I can say here about the technical specs that hasn't been said.
I'll gush about the sounds & feel in the next section. I haven't
noticed any problems with the polyphony or voices disappearing. In
general, the piano seems pretty flexible wrt tweaking its settings --
attack/cutoff/etc. can be controlled through panel knobs; the OS is
updated through playing a MIDI file.

From a sound/feel perspective, this is an un-freaking-believable keyboard.
Enough can not be said about the feel -- it really does feel like a real
upright piano. The keys have excellent action, right down to the bounce-
back necessary to play quick chords. Most digital pianos/synths have a
"hard" stop when you press the key all the way down, which really causes
both speed & fatigue problems when you try to play really hard and fast
for a while -- no such issues with the MP9000.

The preset sounds are uniformly excellent as well -- five(!) different
piano sounds give you enough acoustic range for a variety of styles and
moods. Electric pianos 1 & 3 are good for most songs, and the rock organ
sounds pretty decent. I haven't played much with the other sounds, but
the basses sound pretty good. As a vibraphone player, I approve of the
vibes sound, but most digitals get that sounding pretty good. Anyway,
I play rock & blues when I gig/jam, classical & jazz at home, and I've
never had a problem finding an appropriate sound for the piece.

Haven't had any problems at all with this piano, but I've only had
it for a couple of months. I've taken it out to play several times,
and no issues (other than the size). I don't take and don't feel I
need to take a backup; however, I play fairly locally, so you can
take that with a grain of salt -- I can always *get* a backup within
an hour if I really needed to.

Customer support is ok. I've had a couple of dealings with them, neither
specifically relating to the quality of the instrument:

1) I bought the piano on a Friday evening. I knew from reading this forum
that older OSes were "out of tune", so I had already downloaded the patch.
Got it home, and wanted to update immediately. Unfortunately, the manual
doesn't discuss OS update at all, and the instructions in the README were
pretty brief. Furthermore, the patch didn't seem to be working, not that
I could really tell. I tried to contact Kawai, but they were already gone
for the weekend, and I couldn't get info until Monday. (To be fair, they
were pretty responsive once they got back.) Turns out, a) you can't play
the patch through Cakewalk, b) you can determine the version by holding
"Store" while powering on, and c) the display counts up in hexadecimal while
the update is in progress, so you can see that it's actually doing something.
Three pieces of info that I would have liked on Friday, and that I should
have been able to find. If they aren't going to put that kind of information
in the manual (and why they would not is beyond me), at least they could
have some kind of technical reference on the Web site. Odds are, you'll
have to deal with this, too, since my MP9000 came at v1.41, and 1.51 is
the latest available.

2) Finding a case is quite difficult -- Kawai "offers" them through a
separate company. The dealer from which I bought the piano couldn't
give me any specs, and when I called the company directly, it wasn't
quite what I was looking for -- I wanted a case with wheels (since the
piano weighs so much). Ended up having to get one custom made.
I realize that Kawai isn't Yamaha or Roland with their mass-distribution
channels, but you would think that for a "Professional Stage Piano", they
would have put a little more thought into the cases/stands/etc.

If this piano were lost or stolen, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat,
although certainly not from the pirates, er, dealer where I bought it --
Sweetwater.com was selling them for $1700 at the time of this review,
which is much more in line with what other people here paid.

I've seen a lot of digital pianos -- Rolands, Korgs, Yamahas, other
crap -- and nothing in this space comes remotely close to the sound
and feel of the MP9000. (Yamaha Clavinovas are probably comparable,
but they are "furniture" digital pianos, and a decent one costs at
least $4000. Sorry, the P80 & P200 just don't measure up.)

The only real beef I have is the incredible weight -- 73 lbs. is
a LOT to haul. Add a decent case & accessories, and it's like
carrying around my ex-girlfriend every time I go to play. I feel
it's worth it, but if you're the road crew, make sure you consider
what you're getting into there.

Overall, though, I strongly recommend checking this keyboard out
if you're looking for a digital piano. Does the MP9000 help me make
music? I couldn't make the quality of music that I do without it.

Plenty of lit buttons, sliders, 2 line text LCD. Manual is complete, including MIDI implementation specs. Operation is intuitive.

64 mono polyphony, 32 stereo. Action is similar to a light upright piano, with a little bounce-back after depressing/releasing a key. You can apply your acoustic piano technique - the volume is determined by how much momentum you put into the hammer. If you have acoustic piano technique, you will prefer the mp9000 action to Roland A90/RD600, Yamaha P200, or any other non-furniture digital piano. If you are an organist/bassist/never-played-an-instrument, it might be a matter of taste. No aftertouch, but who cares? Use a synth keyboard for that type of stuff. Good MIDI capabilities (16 channel multitimbral) and good simple MIDI-master-controller capability. OS is flashable (hold down some buttons when you power on, play a MIDI file from http://kawaius.com/downloads/MP151.zip, and you have a much improved instrument (most likely any model you find at a dealer will be an older OS). Newer OS improves voice-stealing algorithm, probably favoring louder/bass notes, but you'll still notice disappearing notes if you play big classical music. Pretty good reverb+other effects. Fixed PA outputs (independent of volume control and EQ), standard line output and headphone, comes with two-pedal (quiet and sustain, no middle hold-depressed-notes pedal, which is a shame, but I don't think even acoustic pianos have them in Japan).

No harpsichord (thank you)! Excellent, playable piano sounds. The default tuning is the mathematically exact each interval is the same frequency ratio variation, which for whatever reason (the overtones of piano strings sound better when they coincide with the other notes played?) does not sound good as the "stretch" tuning a good tuner will apply to your expensive grand (high notes are slightly higher pitched than the mathematically precise value, and lower notes are slightly lower). The "sympathetic resonance" or whatever they call it is just an effect that is applied when the pedal is down and you strike a note. I'm not sure if I like it - it is probably what people think is "buzzing" in the high notes. There are some beats/ringing if you play fifths/fourths in the highest octaves, probably from using the same sample and having unnaturally matching timbre combined with exact tuning ... the electric pianos are very nice, the basses are good, the organs are good (soft pedal = change rotary speaker rate), strings are more of a synthy-pad, and choir is okay. vibe is quite nice and i wouldn't know what to do with a clav so i'll just say it sounds like other synths' clav and goes okay with a phaser effect.

the acoustic piano sound is more playable and believable than any portable digital piano. if i couldn't get an mp9000, i would have settled for the yamaha p200, which sounds much better through good headphones than its (crappy IMO) built in speakers.

More moving parts than normal, but it looks great and seems to be built solid (it endured cross country UPS shipping - box had several gashes/skid marks, and is in perfect condition). Supposedly 70 lbs, but it's bulky enough that it will feel like more if you try and pick it up off the floor. I played a years-old floor model at Sam Ash and the action was still good.

Hard to find a dealer. Excellent support for an old keyboard (I doubt they will be releasing a new one any time soon either) - the new OS is amazing support as far as I'm concerned ... hopefully I'll never need anything further ;) Also, before the OS update was available on their website (before I purchased), I wrote an email to kawai asking about the newer versions, and I got a prompt reply on how to check the version at the store, and the update attached along with it.

Some guy has a web page showing how he opened up his mp9000, and it seems you can probably work on it yourself if you don't want to ship it to a Kawai service center.

Kawai dealers are far less common than Yamaha or Roland (because they have nothing of worth other than the mp9000, whereas Yamaha and Roland have lots of saleable synths/modules

I would have paid retail ($2200?) if I had to. You definitely want a 4-post stand if you play hard - putting this thing on one of those X or Z stands would be like playing on a boat. The sounds are better than any of the alternatives aside from ~$8000 furniture-style digital pianos that you REALLY couldn't move around. I wish the action were a little heavier, and that the counterbalances for the hammer returned the keys back to position - repeated note action isn't as fast as a good grand, but for trills or reasonable repeated-note tempo, it's fine.

This is the piano I bought to hold me over until I have a spare $25k for a good grand, and a house to keep it in (I love you too, babe!). It will always be useful as a MIDI controller/piano sound source. I don't know of any portable piano module or keyboard that would be better, except perhaps a computer with Gigapiano (haven't had a chance to try it to compare, I have the Gigasampler software, just not the sample CD - let me know if you want me to compare it for you ;)

I didn't find any Kawai dealers in San Diego; I was going to buy from Sam Ash in Los Angeles, although they were whining about going down to $1600+tax. I ended up getting it from http://www.pmblues.com/ who were apparently closing out their stock, at $1300+$100 UPS shipping (new). I actually bid $1500 on ebay, but the reserve was mistakenly set too high, and they gave it to me for what I would have won the auction for - amazing class, I was really surprised. Definitely check them out, although they mainly sell rare guitars, they also sell Akai samplers I think, and probably various other things.

The menu system is logical and self-explanatory. The internal presets provide excellent examples of different ways the internal sounds can be configured. Also, the external zones are easy to set up and use.

The keyboard action is very nice - the keys have the slight 'snap' I expect from a keyboard, and wish more had. In fact, the keyboard is the only reason I bought this piano - I figure, I can upgrade the sound of it a lot more easily than I can upgrade the feel of it...

The effects and MIDI capabilities are not mind-bogglingly spectacular, but they aren't bad at all. The built-in synth supports 64 notes (I think - I bought it quite a while ago, so I don't remember exactly - Anyway, I haven't come up against its limits yet)

The two external MIDI zones are nice, especially since they can be controlled in pretty much the same way as the internal ones, as well as through four control channels.

I've been using this with a Carvin acoustic guitar amp, and it sounds great. Of course, it's not the same as a real piano, organ, or orchestra, but from a distance it's hard to tell it's not really a grand piano.
The expression is a little difficult to get used to at first, but after tweaking the settings a bit (it allows a lot of control over the response to how it is played), I've found I can play more expressively on this piano than on many concert grands, and far more than any other keyboard I've used.
The effects are nice, though I generally prefer not to use the internal effects, since they are stored in memory with the performance settings, and the change when I change instruments is often sudden and harsh. So I usually avoid them except for small performances when I don't want to carry an effects rack with me.
As far as the style of music - It works well, for me, for rock, because of its relatively light touch and the assortment of piano sounds (all of which are very well-sampled) and its voicing adjustments, which basically allow you to bring out certain qualities of the tone based on how you play the keyboard. The organ and string sounds are also very nice - I haven't really even considered a rack synth for any of these, but of course everything depends on the performer's taste.
When I'm in quieter moods, it also works very nicely for classical music, since the action is so crisp and precise. The only problem is that the keys feel lighter than a piano, so it's hard to keep the tempo steady when I'm playing quick pieces.

I haven't had any reason yet not to trust this keyboard, but as far as I can recall, I've never had much trouble with any keyboard. At least, not to the point that I would doubt its reliability. So, I really have no opinion on this matter.

I have not had occasion to deal with Kawai, except on one occasion - When I was looking for a case. The experience was not particularly pleasant, but it was not by any fault of Kawai's - in fact, in the end it was Kawai that resolved the situation. Basically, the deal was that I needed the case within the next two weeks. All the retailers I contacted gave me a huge run-around, saying the case did not exist, or would not be in stock, or whatever else may have been the problem. In the end, after 3 calls to one particular retailer over the course of a week, I called the retailer and told them to call the Kawai rep (like they said they would do the last 3 times) while I was on hold. About 30 min later, I was told they couldn't get the case within 2 weeks - even though they had one in inventory... Anyway, I'll cut to the point - Kawai offered the case direct for the price the retailer quoted (even though they don't normally sell to end customers at all), and got it to me on time.

I would definitely buy another of these, and would recommend it to anyone else looking for a good keyboard with a nice sound. Because of the excellent feel of the keys, I think it is well worth the price I paid.
I don't know if I could remember how long I've been playing - I guess I could say I've played since my infancy - or at least banged the keys of my grandparents' piano. I only took lessons for about two years, during high school. I've had this particular keyboard for about 6 months now, and so far i have no real complaints about it.
The one thing I was most impressed with when I bought it, and the thing that continues to impress me, is the feel of the keys. After comparing it to every keyboard I could get my fingers on (including several Yamaha digital pianos), It by far has the most realistic feel and most expressive potential of any keyboard I tried.
Since I bought this keyboard, I have spent at least twice as much time playing as I did before (and everyone told me then it was ludicrous), and my single most enjoyable pastime has become just sitting and improvising for hours. I absolutely love this piano.

This isn't a very full-featured keyboard, so it wasn't hard for me to figure out how to use it. The controls are intuitive, and I really like the retro look. The manual sucks, but who reads that anyway? The presets are OK, but twiddling w/ the EQ and dynamics helps a great deal.

This keyboard is a beast -- not only is it heavy (as others have noted), but it's pretty big too.

I bought this keyboard to be a piano replacement. I have a classical background, but also do jazz (Bill Evans, not Kenny G.) My decision to buy this keyboard was based on the action and the piano sounds. You might want to note that I personally don't think any digital piano/keyboard out there comes close to a piano, except for the Yamaha GranTouch (which is way out of my price range. But I definitely recommend trying one out in a store just to see what you're missing.)

Action was more important to me than sound; besides, I don't think any piano samples out there really sound good (except the GranTouch.) The action is the best out there -- by this I mean it is nothing like a real piano, but is much closer than any Fatar crap, or even the Yamaha P80/P200s. You can feel that you are throwing a weight when you press a key. Don't expect it to replace a real piano though; it's weird, it feels more like a spinet action than a grand action.

MIDI is not too important to me, but it seems to be a pretty good controller (aftertouch is cheesy anyways.)

Like I said, I don't think there are very many good sampled piano sounds out there. I believe the GranTouch has like 430MB of piano samples, which explains why it actually sounds good, as opposed to everything else. But having said that, the MP9000 is pretty good. Having 4 pianos on this beast helps. I didn't like their defaults much at all -- I advise fiddling w/ the parameters before you make youre decision. (I use mellow grand, dynamic touch, turned down the low mid and high mid, and reduced their harmonic imaging stuff a lot.)

I think with all the piano sounds, it can be used for a wide variety of music. I'm mostly interested in classical and jazz, and if you mellow out the pianos you can get realistic ones -- using the stock ones or making them bright will probably do well for rock etc.

The interaction between the action and the sounds is kind of strange -- it is clear that MIDI doesn't quite have enough velocity resolution to make for a truly acoustic experience. But it certainly is expressive; maybe I'll try to edit the velocity settings to get a more realistic feel.

Just bought it.

Just bought it.

This is the best cheap digital piano. Action is more important than sounds in my opinion; w/out a good action, you can't practice for the "real thing." The MP9000 has the best action out there in this price range, as well as a good set of sounds. But it don't be fooled -- it doesn't feel quite like a piano.

I have to think that with the number of pianos being made in the world, someone is going to figure out how to make a piano action that can send MIDI cheaply (sorry, Yamaha's optical stuff is not cheap.) But it'll probably not happen soon, so that MP9000 is the best bet in the meantime.

I've had this piece for 8 months now, and thought some might like an update on earlier issues I encountered. I'm using software rev 1.41
It's still a very easy board to learn, and the owner's manual is written for humans.

The intonation problems I (and others) identified have been addressed by Kawai in the form of software revisions. The new intonation is better to my ears, and it's nice to know that Kawai listens to end users. They will email you the rev as a Standard Midi File, as well as instructions.

The sounds are very good, to my ear, and I feel a lot better about the fact that these can change with the software revs. This is still the best action out there, in my opinion. If you don't want to spend 3-400 $$ on a case, I've found that a sleeping bag (or two) gets it to the gig without too much hassle. I wish someone would make a case for it, tho, and not charge the proverbial arm and leg.

After 8 months, it's still great. Not been touring with it or anything like that, so I don't know how it would hold up to that kind of use. As an around-town kind of axe, it's fine.

The company was very helpful, especially when I had some trouble with trying to download a software rev from a laptop (don't do it).
They're accessible and patient.

It's the best action out there. It's an open-ended architecture, so
any tweaks, etc. can be loaded via flash programming. It's heavy, but worth lugging to any gig where you'd like to use all that technique you'd bring to an acoustic piano. Buy one.

My experience is 15 years as a classical pianist, with very little midi background. I found that the manual is written towards those who already have a strong background in midi, so I, of course, I found the manual to be a bit sparse.

It seems to me that some crucial options are hidden away too deeply in submenus, but that is a minor quibble.

Please read this review from a strictly classical pianist's point of view.

Its 64 note polyphony. The keyboard action is very realistic, but in comparison to a quality grand piano, the action is very "light", ie not as much inertia behind it. I just went to my local piano store and pounded on some Steinways, Yamahas and a Boston and I'm sorry, there's no way that the action even comes close to a $30,000+ grand piano(duh!). I'm saying this just so you don't believe that "enhanced AWA grand" action to mean that it actually feels like a real grand, because it doesn't. If you want that, the ONLY digital piano that actually comes close is the Yamaha GrandTouch series, which costs substantially more at $6,000+. So if you master some complex piece on the MP9000, don't plan on being able to execute it quite as perfectly if you happen to be requested to play a little something on your boss's new $40,000 Steinway :-)

Again, my midi knowledge is prety weak, but I was able attach a Kurzweil Micropiano module with utmost ease. And I don't think it has a sequencer built in.

I'm sorry, but I can't STAND the sound samples, especially in the middle C and above range. It's either out of tune or the samples themselves are bad, but I can only play for so long before my ears hurt from the ringing overtones. Perhaps this is normal for other sorts of music, but for classical, no way. Thumbs down.

Have no clue as to its reliability, but if it ever does break down, I think you might have a hard time getting the thing repaired. There are very few places that even carry the MP9000.

As for its portability, it has a "hump"; I was told from the music store I bought from that there's only one case that will fit it...a special one from Kawai itself.

Never talked with Kawai...although I should ask them about those damn sound samples...

I give this guy an 8. If it weren't for those sound samples I'd give it a 9. Its action is better than the Roland A-90 & FP-9, Kurzweil Mark series, Korg SGProX & Trinity, and the Alesis QS8.1 & DG8. The only action that I personally like better because of its heavier feel is the Yamaha P-200. I was rather critical of the MP9000 earlier because I was not comparing it to other pro keyboards, I was comparing it to itself. Compared to other pro keyboards, its one of the best if you can stand the sound samples(you may very well love it), so I definitely recommend playing one. If you can't find one, the Kawai CP150/170 and CA series have the same action, although I don't know about the sound.