The Kawai ES110 is an exceptional piano from the legendary Kawai brand that hosts harmonic imaging sound technology. The ES110 belongs to the portable range of pianos from the Kawai brand and is available at an exclusive price. Though it is the most affordable piano available on the market, it is still packed with several useful features for budding and advanced pianists. Kawai has indeed made several reasonable improvements to its piano, which include a redesigned speaker system, MIDI connectivity, and an advanced RHC keyboard action.
Table of Contents
Kawai ES110 Digital Piano Review 2024
| Features | Rating |
| Performance and sounds | 9.4 |
| Connectivity | 9.1 |
| Build Quality | 9.1 |
| For Beginners | 9.3 |
| Value for money | 9.4 |
The ES110 undoubtedly renders the touch and the tone of an acoustic piano in a lightweight and portable package. The best features of this piano are its 88-grade weighted keys and a unique harmonic imaging sound technology from Kawai. The brand renders a highly enjoyable and realistic piano playing experience and is an ideal starter for beginner piano players.
Exteriors of the ES110
Though it belongs to the affordable segment of music instruments, it features the finest available technologies. The piano is available in elegant black and white colors. It belongs to the portable like of pianos from the Kawai brand and will fit seamlessly into smaller spaces in tiny homes. It will be possible to put this piano over a table or a desk, though not convenient.
This piano comes at least 6.5 lbs. lighter than the other pianos of its range and is thus easy to carry and transport. You can take the piano for gigs and stage shows at ease. The piano has an intuitive control panel that looks straightforward with just a few buttons and a volume slider, which gives the keyboard a clean and sleek look.
The button and key combination in this piano helps to access the diverse settings and parameters of this digital piano. This piano is featured a decent LCD and features Bluetooth MIDI connectivity. It is also compatible with the free app from Kawai for iOS devices to control the unique parameters of the piano easily.
The Keyboard of the Piano
The Kawai ES110 is known for its excellent keyboard action, which mimics the nuances of the grand acoustic piano. This piano comes with a complete set of 88 fully weighted keys and a responsive hammer-action mechanism. The keys are finished with ebony and ivory matte finishes to offer tremendous grip. The keys in this piano make use of a spring-free two-sensor technology, where small and delicate hammers are used to mimic the mechanical key movement of acoustic pianos. The keys and the hammers are graded and its low registry keys are the heaviest.
The keys are sensitive to touch and players can adjust this touch sensitivity feature to suit their piano playing styles. There are four preset settings available from light to heavy to play with great expressiveness.
Sound Technology in the Kawai ES110 Piano
The Kawai ES110 features an 88-key full piano sampling along with a harmonic imaging sound source. This harmonic imaging technology of this piano makes sure that it is sampled individually to offer unique tones. There are around 19 built-in instrument sounds in this piano, which includes 8 piano sounds, 3 E.piano sounds, sounds of organs, strings, bass, vibraphone, etc.
The sounds of a piano in the ES110 are sampled from the 9-foot concert grand piano. To recreate minute piano sounds, the Kawai employs different recording methods and instrument sounds. There are also unique reverb sounds, damper resonance, brilliance, temperaments, and other voicing features to adjust the piano sounds to different parameters.
Also Check: Best Sounding Digital Pianos
Sound Effects
The Kawai ES110 digital piano is equipped with an elegant 192-note polyphony, which equips the pianist to play complex classical tunes along with layering multiple sounds with the main tune, without cutting off the notes. It is worth noting here that only Yamaha and Kawai offer a digital piano with a 192-note polyphony at this price point. The pianist can tailor define their music by adding the following effects to the music:
- Damper resonance technology – By depressing the sustain pedal, the strings of the notes that are played vibrate along with the strings of other notes. This feature is simulated by the ES100 along with volume adjustments.
- Reverb feature – By adding the reverberating effect to the sound, it can be made expressive and bigger. There are three types of reverbs on the piano that can simulate the acoustics of a small hall, concert hall, and even a recital room.
- Damper noise – It is possible to change the noise of the damper pedal by touching and releasing the strings.
- Diverse voicing types – With this feature in hand, it is possible to alter the tone of the sound, and get it to suit the music that one plays. The voicing types that the pianist can choose from this piano are the mellow, bright, mellow, and dynamic voicing types.
- Brilliance – The eight piano sounds in the Kawai Es110 have their brightness and brilliance. The pianist can however adjust this parameter independently with the range of -10 and +10.
- Temperament – The tuning system of the ES110 can be altered from the equal temperament to other tuning standards.
- Polyphony – The Kawai ES110 is equipped with 192-note polyphony, which makes it possible to play multiple sounds and complex classical pieces, without cutting off the notes.
Sound Amplification and Speakers
The Kawai ES110 digital piano comprises two 12 cm speakers of a 7W amp each. We have to mention that this piano features an improved piano performance than its predecessors. The ES100 speakers produce sounds throughout a complete spectrum of frequencies and combine with high-quality piano samples to deliver clear and rich piano sounds, making them indistinguishable from an acoustic piano. Though this piano is not as loud as an acoustic piano, its sounds are still very convincing. Headphones will make this piano much better with a detailed sound and an immersive listening experience.
The speakers of this piano are loud enough to play in the living room in front of a bunch of friends and family members. There is a special speaker EQ setting in this piano which allows the users to change the sound characters of the ES110 speakers, irrespective of whether the piano is put over the stand and the table.
Other Functions of the Keyboard
The piano features a dual model that allows to layer two different instrument sounds at the same time while pressing a key and combining the sounds as desired. The split mode of this piano helps the pianist to assign different instrument sounds to play with the left and the right hands separately. There is also a MIDI recorder feature that allows the users to record and store the songs in their internal memory of up to 3 performances. This piano supports one-track recording and it is possible to play the recordings and play songs along with them. The piano also has dedicated line-out jacks to connect with headphones.
Related Review: Kawai KDP110 Review
Pros & Cons of Kawai ES110
What’s Best in Kawai ES110?
- This piano comes with a sustain pedal that supports half-pedaling.
- The piano features a unique harmonic imaging technology with excellent sound sampling.
- The piano features a completely weighted RHC action and a 192-note polyphony.
- Eight authentic piano tones are sampled at the 9-foot concert grand piano
- The piano comes with a bag and a case to enhance the portability of the instrument.
- There is an onboard metronome to practice songs with accurate tempo
- The auto power-off features help in preventing unnecessary power consumption.
- The transpose function in this piano helps to pitch in different semitone steps.
What’s Lacking in Kawai ES110?
- This piano doesn’t come with a stand. It is possible to use a furniture stand for the piano.
- The key spacing in this piano is inconsistent.
- There is no USB type A jack to connect with computers and other smart devices.
Final Words
The Kawai ES110 is one of the high-performing digital pianos from the revolutionary Kawai brand. All its 88-keys feature a tremendous piano sampling technology that outperforms all other pianos in its class. It is available at such a price, which is definitely worth its features. The piano features a lightweight casing and its digital technology allows the young players to offer access to authentic touch and feel at an excellent price point. Its unique features include an 88-full weighted key action, headphone jacks, built-in speakers, and a music deck. The piano also features an optional pedal system for high-quality music performances over and over again.
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I love my Kwai es110. I have had it for several years. I want to find a lighter weight one for gigging.
But so far nothing compares.
I hesitate to buy anything else fearing I will be disappointed.
Thankyou for your review. Good to know you still consider it a great piano.
Probably the lower notes are a bit out of tune. But that doesn’t bother me.
I’m working on 2 Chopin nocturnes right now. So it gets a good workout