The Kawai ES520 is an exceptional piano for home and stage. It combines the authentic responsive hamper compact II action keyboard with progressive harmonic image sound technologies. The piano also features modern Bluetooth connectivity with a powerful 40W speaker system. The ES520 delivers the best-in-class touch and tone and the piano is indeed a portable and stylish package for the home, stage, and studio.
The ES models from Kawai are great choices for academic institutions, budding musicians, and event places of worship, as the piano features a lightweight feature, powerful speaker systems, and exceptional audio connectivity. With an array of customizable settings, Bluetooth, MIDI features, and other engaging apps, this is indeed a very high-quality personal piano that appeals to players of all ages and abilities.
Kawai ES520 Review 2023
| Features | Rating |
| Performance and sounds | 9.3 |
| Connectivity | 9 |
| Build Quality | 9 |
| Value for money | 9.2 |
Also check: Kawai ES920 Review
Table of Contents
Review of the Kawai ES520 Piano in Detail
1. The keys of the Kawai ES520 Piano
The Kawai ES520 is an excellent piano with a responsive hammer compact II action keyboard. The keys of this piano offer the distinctive touch of the acoustic grand piano. The piano features a spring-less technology and its sturdy construction helps in delivering a consistent upward and downward motion for a smooth, natural, and highly authentic piano playing experience.
Similar to the acoustic pianos that make use of heavy bass hammers and light treble hammers, the keyboard of the Kawai ES520 piano employs different hammer weights for each of its keys. This helps in an exceptional piano playing experience and helps in meeting the demands of the most intricate piano tunes.
2. The sounds of the piano
The Kawai ES520 piano is one of the premier pianos of Japan that is capable of gracing musical institutions and concert halls, present all over the world. These pianos are known for their exceptional clarity in tones and piano dynamics. The piano samples the tones and the magnificent music of the Shigeru Kawai concert grand piano and this instrument have been built at the Shigeru Kawai Piano Research laboratory in japan.
The Kawai ES520 is regarded as one of the finest instruments in the class and it features many distinctive sounds of the acoustic grand pianos from Kawai. The piano faithfully reproduces the 88-key sampling of the acoustic piano with its advanced harmonic imaging sound technology. This is indeed an exceptional piano for musicians and budding pianists as it sets a new standard for the tonal quality of digital pianos.
Additional sounds: The Kawai ES520 offers a strong selection of additional piano sounds, Vintage electric pianos, warm synth pads, drawbar organs, etc., that allows this portable digital piano to serve as a complete giggling board for choir and stage performances. There is also a dual playing mode in this piano that allows the pianist to layer two different sounds to get layered together. There is also a split mode and the four hands mode that helps divide the piano into two independent sections for piano practice and for taking piano lessons.
Headphone experience: The piano features a special headphone technology that helps in enhancing the depth of the sounds of the piano while listening through the headphones. We can select between three acoustic presets, to adjust the spatial positions of the sound. This also helps in decreasing auditory fatigue, even while using headphones for a long time duration. The piano also allows the players to select between a range of headphone types, for an optimized listening experience.
3. Connectivity and other useful piano features
The harmonic grand piano sounds of this instrument complement its responsive hammer-action keyboard. The piano features exceptional features that enhance the music playing skills of the pianist. The piano also offers Bluetooth connectivity, dual and split modes, USB audio recording, and playback features along with a rich assortment of instrument voices. The piano also features an intuitive control panel and a very large OLED piano display.
USB: The Kawai ES520 digital piano features standard USB connectivity and MIDI jacks for connecting with the computers and other instruments. Its integrated audio technologies and integrated MIDI features allow this digital piano to communicate with its connected devices seamlessly.
The modern USB connectors of this piano, allow the instrument to connect directly with the computer and also to load and save data to the USB memory devices directly. This also allows the pianist to save their instrument settings, recorded songs, and other tracks stored in the piano’s internal memory to be preserved on the flash drives, eliminating the need for additional cables and hardware.
Piano app: The piano can easily pair with the phone, tablet, and laptop and it allows the piano owners to connect with an exciting range of music apps that enhance the learning and playing experience. It also enables the pianist to stream audio from songs and also videos directly from the gadget through the powerful speaker system of the piano, without mandating the need for additional connection cables.
The Kawai ES520 digital piano is compatible with the Piano Remote control app that works for iOS and other supported Android devices. With the help of this app, we can connect with the piano wirelessly through the integrated Bluetooth feature. This offers an easy way to adjust the sounds and the settings of the piano with the help of the easy-to-use app interface.
4. Look and design the piano
The new Kawai ES520 digital piano comes with a flat panel and curved edges. The piano is also lightweight and portable with a stylish design. This piano fits in small spaces easily and is also great to carry around and set up. It does have a display, but it is very small and cannot be of much use. The looks of this piano are simple and not overwhelming and it is generally available in white matte or smooth black finishes.
There is a music rest on the piano, that complements its minimalistic design. It can hold heavy books as well and helps with unhindered access to the pianist. The music rest is wide and transparent and adds to the style of the piano. The control panel of this piano is very simple and the important controls are on the right side of the piano. It is thus not much confusing and serves as a great piano for beginners.
Must check: Top 15 Best Digital Pianos in the Market
Pros & Cons of Kawai ES520
Pros
- Excellent piano with weighted triple sensor keys
- The keyboard offers great key action and offers Bluetooth MIDI support
- The piano has great speakers with great amplification
- The samples are great with dynamic resonance and offer exceptional hall simulation as well.
- The piano is also easily portable and is gig-friendly.
- The piano is integrated with Bluetooth MIDI function and audio wireless technology
- It features an intuitive control panel layout with a very high-quality OLED display.
Cons
- The display function in this piano is very basic
- It doesn’t come with a stand or bench.
Alternatives of Kawai ES520
You can consider these alternative pianos if you are not confident enough To buy the Kawai ES520.
Bottom Line
The Kawai ES520 digital piano is known for its ease of use and intuitive controls and is a piano for beginners. It helps them to play and learn easily and comfortably. It also has several great features for professional musicians, who wish to keep things simple. This piano is highly recommended for beginner, intermediate and professional pianists as it has the best features and it is also competitively priced.
Great piano. Great touch sound very close to an acoustic.
I’m puzzled in how to save setups. Like split bass left snd
Let’s say jazz organ or piano with right. I set it up each time but I know there is a quicker way.