Kawai ES520 Review & In Depth Buyers Guide

[@GloryToGodAmen]

Thank you so much. This is such a good review I've watched it over and over. I think that I'll be buying the ES520 as my retirement present.

[@GloryToGodAmen]

Nice...but I think that I'll be getting the ES920 for mine in September.

[@MundoTramites]

That sounds great! God bless you and practice piano is a good idea to enjoy the retirement

[@albertc6040]

Tony, thanks! you are best of the best, if this was the Olympics they would need to create a platinum medal!

[@rafkend1422]

Thank you so very much Tony for this in depth review. After watching too many of those on KZbin, you helped me to narrow down to 2 choices both Kawai; ES520 and KDP120. Now I'm torn between these two and that's a much of an improvement. I recently retired and have the need to go back to my musical roots of playing classical music to accomplish my own Circle of Musical Life...I had not known much about the 520 without this review and for that I bow and give you a million thanks.

[@JAnx01]

So which one did you choose? Where I live, the ES520 with a stand is unavailable, but the KDP120 is.

[@namakudamono]

Nice one Tony! Lovely Donny Hathaway rendition for the EX piano sound.

[@dcoch2000]

Thank you! I'm in the market for a digital piano, and this one sounds great, and has some great features, without being so over complicated, as some in this price range.

[@Papa-Joe]

THX for your magnificient art of presentation!!! It‘s unbeatable… just EXCELLENT

[@adriverschoor4975]

Another perfect demo by Tony. Wow.

[@McSynth]

Tony, your playing is quite stunning. Beautiful.

[@Pannemat]

Loving the bit of Hathaway. Thank you.

[@Frznrcn]

Bonner, you are a legend.

[@hacksaw4966]

Always enjoy your excellent reviews and playing!

[@wisjoh1]

Really love hearing you play ..... so deep and fluidly into the music !

[@renetshiakanyi]

I love kawai products thank you so much for the reviews

[@mmlopez3499]

Always a good review. Thank you. Can I use an ipad to have a larger screen display?

[@markcrossland5156]

Excellent review and product!

[@ammiammi1974]

Thank you very much for this excellent review.

[@6zhnvgz7]

Hello Tony, I always enjoy watching your reviews. :-) Tony could you please make a video (series) about what you pack in your car when you go to a gig? I mean all those little things which never appear in reviews that have saved you millions of times when you were on a gig. But also which stands can you seriously recommend for standing and for seated players from your own experience? Which PA systems and mixers do you recommend for 4-6 person bands with a keyboard player playing smaller gigs?

[@drgoyenaga2009]

A Beautiful digital piano Thank You ForYour Review

[@Zoco101]

Thanks for the nice demo! Does the virtual technician work with all the main piano sounds? I viewed this video exclusively to remind myself what the EX patches sound like. EX patches are the main Kawai patches that interest me.

[@jimmygiannakis3638]

Senior beginner with arthritis in my hands. Have a Yamaha P90 with the GHE action that is good other than a little stiff for my fingers. ES520 or ES920, which would be best?

[@Zoco101]

Jimmy, here's my (rewritten) reply about your concern over actions. I have tried the ES520 & ES920, but only briefly, and they both felt light to me, though maybe not more so than the P-255 which I own. You should like either, but the ES520 felt lighter, and is cheaper. If, like me, you prefer Yamaha sounds, you could try to get an unsold or secondhand Yamaha P-255. It's a great instrument with excellent sounds and excellent onboard speakers, but no longer made, sadly. Its main drawback for me (the light GH action) is a plus for you. You would save some money. I have gotten used to the light action, and prefer it to GHS, which seems lighter still. But maybe you prefer GHS? The P-121 & P-125 have GHS, and so does the DGX-670. If you like this action, these are all great choices. The DGX-670 is tremendous value for money, but heavy to carry, and maybe it has features you don't need. Also, if you don't need 88 keys, the simpler, 73-key P-121 is an excellent and inexpensive purchase.

[@aharown07]

Very helpful! Would love to know what stand you're using under that Kawai--and were you able get the keys to appropriate piano height? (Can't tell from the video). I'm finding that most stands at their lowest height still put the key surfaces too high.

[@Elazarko]

Sounds, features and a key action aside which do you think has the better intuitive, logical, easy, operating system and software between the Roland fp60x and Kawai es520 ??

[@ammiammi1974]

Hi, I would like to know if there's no possibility to transpose on this instrument. Would appreciate your answer. Thanks in advance.

[@wimgroen2547]

Tony, beautiful beautiful playing... Can you give me a hint of the name of the first 2 tunes (with the SK & EX concertgrand sounds)?

[@isaacundie5356]

How come there’s no brass or trumpet on this keyboard ?

[@hansai89]

Great review

[@TariganSuper]

Pls do video kawai 520 vs Roland Fp30x

[@scottliu6042]

ES520 blows FP30x

[@tentrade2]

vs fp60x , check Stu Harrison, Merriam Music Canada, excellent like Tony 😊

[@davidsussman7476]

Bonners has since created a very nice video for the FP-30X.

[@tentrade2]

Bluetooth remote via phone/tablet???

[@theollieparsons]

Just upgraded to this after using the Casio CDP-120 for years and I’m finding my chords sound quite muffled and the bass notes overpower the chords. I think this is obviously down to the fact it plays very differently. Do you have any advice on how to transition so that I can get the nice crisp and distinct sound that you get in this video?

[@davidsussman7476]

If you're playing the 520 with its onboard speakers, that might be the issue. Remember that in all these videos, you're hearing the "line out" audio, meaning what you would hear through powered speakers (studio monitors) or a high-quality pair of headphones. I'm fine with that, but very few videos are capturing what the onboard speakers sound like, which is why so many of us invest in a pair of monitors.

[@Zoco101]

Olliedeozi: The SK-EX (Shigeru) patches have a very boomy sound in the lower mids (on all Kawais, and maybe in the bass notes too. Fortunately, the ES520 has a very pronounced graded action, so this should help, but maybe (like me) you prefer more open sounds. Try the EX patch(es).

[@Zoco101]

@@davidsussman7476 That's true, but the onboard speakers on some portable pianos (Yamahas in particular) are now so good that the main thing missing is just a a big speaker or sub woofer. My studio has a pair of 5" monitors and a sub. They all add something to my Yamaha P-255 sounds, but the sub is the most useful item at monitoring volumes. Thank you Yamaha for putting such clever speakers onboard that just adding a sub fixes almost everything. I tried the ES520, through its own Onkyo speakers. It was OK, but didn't inspire me much in action, piano tone or speaker system. The ES920 was a little better for me. To be fair, it's hard to get the best out of an unfamiliar DP with just a short try. I confess that I remember the P-255 sounding a bit bland at first - now it rocks me. And many of these things are largely subjective anyway.

[@BossBorja]

Song names please!!!

[@williamjackson1819]

These are the best keyboard demos there are, however these are also music demos too, always played brilliantly, and yet we're given no clue as to what they are apart from recognising one or two and then looking to the comments for anyonelses knowledge. Subtitles maybe?

[@madonobel]

Actually I can see finger prints on black plastic front this seriously should be mentioned to KAWAI in review, high quality materials that resistant to dust and finger prints is something appreciated to have in the instrument

[@andywharam4846]

I agree Mado, considering the price of this excellent instrument, for starters it's a sad 😭 shame to see Kawai swapping to plastic from aluminium and wood, which does show fingerprints like on the ES8, in happy to put up with fingerprints provided the instrument is from metal and wood any day!

[@AzP58]

Plisss review kawai um21

[@tentrade2]

Tommy is the best, 👍👍👍💪💪💪

[@khaledramadan3457]

It's tony, not Tommy

[@tentrade2]

Tony, 😐

[@jimmygiannakis3638]

Senior beginner with arthritis in my hands. Have a Yamaha P90 with the GHE action that is good other than a little stiff for my fingers. ES520 or ES920, which would be best?

[@777Witness]

I heard ES 520 is lighter and easier to play than the 920. Hope it helps.

[@777Witness]

John 3:16

[@MundoTramites]

@@777Witness ❤ amen