Nord User Forum

HwyStar wrote:Report back, Dude! We would like to hear all about your experience with it.

Will do!!

Great Frank! I ordered from Kraft as well.

HwyStar wrote:... Steve Escoffery (Piano Teacher) that has a very extensive post on different pianos that he suggests to his students (https://steveescoffery.com/digital-pian ... -teacher/).

Piano teacher?
Among his reviews about Kawai keyboard actions, he wrote:
"The Grand Feel II ... the action is not too heavy."
"I would only recommend Kawai’s RHIII action with a caveat: ... is best for those who like pianos with heavy actions."

Sorry, but I can't agree. It's completelly oposite.

Rychubil wrote:"I would only recommend Kawai’s RHIII action with a caveat: ... is best for those who like pianos with heavy actions."

Sorry, but I can't agree. It's completely opposite.

I agree with you Rychubil. In my email back to him I mentioned the issue I have when users say "an action" is heavy or light. He alluded to that as well. I may have not communicated properly that he really does like the "very slight" heaviness of the RHIII compared to other actions. It is nothing compared to most Yamaha heavy actions. Numbers do not lie and it is important to discuss the three ways of describing an actions down-weight, up-weight, and resistance/inertia.

Does anyone know of a device that measures an action for those three parameters I just listed? Down and up weights are easy to measure with weights. It is the resistance/inertia that may not be able to be measured with a device?

I suspect the RHIII allows the user to "dig into" the samples without having a heavy truck-wreck to play. Truck-wreck = Yamaha Motif action. I gave that piano away as a charity gift. What a POS.

Nice!

A bit torn. More or less decided on the Kawai MP11SE, coupled with a Dexibell Vivo SX7 sound module. Compared to the MP7SE, the MP11SE is a no-brainer, for me at least. The MP7SE’s keybed is very very good, and it's not that I don't like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nothing like the MP11SE. So, the MP11SE and the Vivo SX7 make a very powerful pair, I think. The Dexibell library is pretty amazing, to be honest.

The thing is, the Kawai action in the Nord Grand isn’t 100% the same as in the MP7SE, since it’s been customized for Nord. Haven’t played the Grand, but if it feels the same as the MP7SE, then I’d be disappointed not having bought the MP11SE. And sorry to say this, but seeing that Nord stands for quality, with matching prices, having played the Piano 4 with that mediocre keybed, I’m not all that confident.

Still, difficult decision : Nord Grand or Kawai MP11SE+Dexibell Vivo SX7. Same price, more or less...

Even if modified to some extent, the Nord Grand keybed is most likely of the same "league" (i.e. same mechanical schema) of the MP7SE, however what counts most in digital pianos is the key-sound interaction, which can be different across models even with the same keybed and can only be tested personally.

Otoh if keybed quality is your primary evaluation parameter and you plan to get the Dexibell SX7, you may consider also the Kawai VPC1 as a cheaper alternative to the MP11 (still as valid, for some the RM3 Grand II is even better than the GF as a keybed, but again... personal tastes ).

What impresses me most about the MP11SE is when you strike a key, it’s just about completely silent when you strike it and subsequently let the key go. Not so with any other stage piano. I’m kind of picky about that.
The MP7SE is better than most, but it’s still not silent like the MP11SE. So, I’ll make it easy for myself : if the Nord Grand keys are equally silent as the MP11SE, then I think I might reconsider...

My concern has always been that the Piano,samples in Kawai were not stellar and that the connection via midi from its Keybed to the Nord Piano SMAOKES in a stage 3 compact was not par with the connection in a Nird single unit.... Even with the Nord Painao 4, it was said that the specific connection was worth the deal compared to a Kawai mp11 SE if the ke pyres itself was not the only argument.... That's why I still don't have a Kawai ml11se.... But if the total: samples plus Keybed plus samples connection with the Keybed in the Nord grand is on par or even a bit superior to the whole Mp11 SE, then I will opt for the Nord Grand... Anyone who has the answer to this question?

I think that a VPC1, instead of a MP11SE, coupled with a Dexibell Vivo SX7 sound module, would give you that connection as well. The sounds in the Dexibell are second to none. Of course, the library is rather modest in comparison with Nord, but still, top quality sounds.

Still, not an easy decision, a VPC1/MP11SE and Dexibell SX7, or a Nord Grand...