Product Review: Kawai ES-520 – Portable Piano

The Kawai ES-520 positions itself in the upper middle class of portable pianos. In comparison to the smallest model, the ES-120, there is not only a clear difference in price: the ES-520 has much more to offer in terms of features, feel and sound.

Portable pianos are ideal instruments for beginners: Favorably priced, the equipment focuses on the essential features of a piano: keyboard and piano sound. Kawai has been expanding this basis for years with the ES series: With high-quality keyboards and playing feel, these models offer all the equipment you would expect from a state-of-the-art home piano.

In the ES series, we recommend comparing the middle-class 520 to the smallest model ES-120 and the top model ES-920. There are important differences in both directions, but – visible or audible from the design and speaker system: ES-520 and ES-920 are from the same litter.

Kawai ES-520: Great built-in sound

As with the top model, when using the built-in speakers while playing you experience an essential innovation of the ES series. For such a compactly built portable piano, the sound of the Kawai ES-520 is surprisingly voluminous and powerful. Bass carries the sound, clear mids and highs, and the sound remains clean even at high volumes.

Not only the piano sound benefits from this, but also externally played music. By the way, this can be done either via the line-in or wirelessly via Bluetooth. Another option in this context is the easily accessible USB-to-Device port, which you can use to feed the built-in MIDI player with standard MIDI files. All in all, this is already top!

Kawai concert grand pianos

Samples of Kawai’s own concert grand pianos provide excellent sound – familiar from other Kawai digital pianos. The Shigeru Kawai EX and the Kawai EX again sound outstanding in the ES-520. You can widely refine the sounds with the Virtual Technician function. However, the brilliant and detailed sound of the total of eight acoustic piano presets is already convincing.

E-pianos and additional sounds

The Kawai ES-520 offers great quality in this regard also: Fender Rhodes and FM pianos in different variations, pads, strings, rock, jazz and sacral organs, a harpsichord and a vibraphone up to bass sounds.

The well-thought-out range of sounds brings additional playing fun. There is also the possibility to use two sounds simultaneously as dual or split combinations. Even further, there are 28 spaces for saving such sound settings – or you can store them on a USB stick if required.

Kawai ES-520: with Responsive Hammer Compact II

You then play these sounds on a graded hammer action keyboard, the Responsive Hammer Compact. Already featured in the small model ES-120, the Kawai ES-520 contains the new, second generation of this keyboard.

While the keyboard of the ES-520 does without a let-off mechanism, it comes with a triple sensor system. Accordingly, this keyboard plays with more precision and balance than the smaller model. The smooth playing feel of the Ivory Touch-coated plastic keys is certainly an advantage for beginners.

Bluetooth and other functions

You can wirelessly link the ES-520 to iOS and Android mobile devices. Possibilities extend beyond just audio connection thanks to Bluetooth MIDI. It allows the connection with piano apps such as Kawai PianoRemote, which can control all functions of the instrument. While this makes selecting sounds more comfortable, especially adjusting settings such as layers or metronome becomes quicker.

PianoRemote also offers functions to influence sound behavior with details such as string resonance, fall-back noise, or damper noise. Bluetooth MIDI is generally also interesting for connecting to DAW or sequencer programs in music computers or tablets.

Otherwise, you will, of course, find the usual digital piano functions such as transposition, fine-tuning, tuning scales, and more.

Included and optional accessories of the ES-520

The Kawai ES-520 comes with an acrylic music stand, an external power supply and a sustain pedal with half-pedal function. To turn the portable ES-520 into a home piano, we recommend the optional HM-5 stand. It matches the chic design of the Kawai ES-520 and can also accommodate the F-302 triple pedal unit. If you are a mobile musician, you can also purchase the compatible triple GFP-3.

The ES-520 in comparison

Kawai ES-110 vs. ES-520: Both instruments feature Kawai’s smallest keyboard model RH-Compact. However, the ES-520 comes with the second-generation RH-Compact II – three instead of two sensors enhance precision greatly. With the same polyphony performance of 192 voices, the “Progressive Harmonic Imaging” sound generation is a significant upgrade. The Kawai ES-110 uses an older type of sound generation with Harmonic Imaging – there is a clear distinction here. In terms of detail and expressiveness, the ES-520 is superior. The differences regarding the speaker system are obvious.

Kawai ES-520 vs. ES-920: On paper, small details such as a higher polyphony performance and the RH-III keyboard set the top model of the ES series apart. However, these details mean more expressive possibilities, even more fidelity, and more precise control in repetition and pianissimo due to the let-off mechanism available on the ES-920. Overall, the ES-920 plays finer and with more detail. It also comes with additional sounds such as an upright piano and a Wurlitzer electric piano. Regardless of which sound you play with, you can feel the greater detail of the top model. The 4-band EQ of the ES-920 is also not available on the smaller model.

Conclusion: Low price, high quality & performance

Outstanding sound and playing characteristics, lots of modern features, and excellent price/performance: that would be the short formula to classify the Kawai ES-520 as a portable piano for beginners and advanced players. Given the 2×20-watt speaker system and the weighted hammer action keyboard, the Kawai ES-520 is actually quite light. This makes it ideal as a portable digital piano you can easily transport to a gig or rehearsal on your own.

As an entry-level piano, the Kawai ES-520 gets to the heart of the important elements: high-quality piano sounds and an easy-to-play keyboard are the main focus. Bluetooth audio/MIDI, great sounds, app connection and pleasing speaker sound – the ES-520 should go down well with anyone looking for a modern and flexible instrument. After all, it is suitable for both learning piano at home and making music in a band.

Kawai ES-520 Overview

Available since: 10.2020
Keyboard: RH Compact II, Ivory Touch
Polyphony: 192 voices, Progressive Harmonic Imaging, triple sensor hammer detection
Piano app: PianoRemote (free of charge, iOS/Android)
Manufacturer/Distributor: Kawai

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