🎹Kawai K300 Aures Hybrid Piano Playing Demo & Review - Hybrid Upright🎹
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2020
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#Kawai #Aures #Hybrid
Welcome to another piano review here with us at the Merriam Pianos CZcams channel. In this video we’ll be looking at the Kawai K-300 Aures Hybrid Upright Piano. A hybrid piano is essentially a piano that combines both digital and acoustic elements.
This term hybrid gets thrown around all the time by manufacturer’s, even in cases where you have a fully digital piano with a single basic acoustic element. This isn’t the case here; the K300 Aures is a true hybrid instrument, meaning it’s both a fully functioning acoustic and digital instrument.
At its core, the K300 Aures is a K300 upright piano, but blended into this traditional acoustic instrument is the ‘brain’ of Kawai’s CA99 digital piano, with four transducers directly connected to the soundboard, and a 256 note tone engine with lots of different sounds.
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The Action:
Just like the traditional K300, the Aures version is also outfitted with Kawai’s highly regarded Millennium III Action. This action features all kinds of modern innovations, including the use of carbon fibre instead of wood in many of the assembly components, extended length key sticks for added control and evenness of key surface, satin finishes on the black keys and double felted mahogany core hammers (a premium material which minimizes distortion.)
The Aures modification to the action involves the addition of a silencing bar that when activated, blocks the hammers from striking the strings when the silent mode feature is engaged for playing with headphones or with only the internal sound engine engaged. The presence of this silencing bar necessitates an increased level of action regulation to ensure that the action still feels authentic when the silent mode is engaged.
This type of technology has been available for several years as an aftermarket retrofit, but in most cases even with increased regulation, the action would feel very different when playing acoustically vs playing with the silent mode engaged, with an overall sense of sloppiness and lack of control.
Piano Sound/Tone Engine:
There’s definitely a lot of things to point out from a design perspective to explain what makes the acoustic portion of the K300 Aures sound the way it does. A couple of highlights; the bass strings are longer than average which improves clarity and power. The soundboard is solid Sitka Spruce that also happens to be tapered, a process that is generally reserved for soundboards on instruments that are much more expensive. Tapering improves responsiveness as well as the overall dynamic range of the instrument.
In general, Kawai’s are observed to have a darker, warmer tone, especially as compared to the ubiquitous Yamaha U1, an instrument the K300 is often compared to. This definitely holds true here; the K300 definitely has a dark, rich and complex tonal profile.
In terms of the sound when it comes to the digital components of the instrument, this is where things get really interesting - there are no speakers to be found in this instrument! For instance, when you engage the digital sound engine and select a sound such as a string section, when you hear the sound of strings coming from the piano, that sound is not coming to your ear via speakers, but rather directly from the soundboard itself! This is done via transducers. The K300 Aures is equipped with 4 Onkyo transducers of various sizes, which essentially turns the soundboard into a giant speaker.
The bass response you get out of using a transducing the surface the size of a soundboard is totally unique. Even when layering the acoustic piano sound with the digital sound being transduced, there’s a remarkable level of clarity and virtually no distortion.
Conclusions:
The K300 Aures is without a doubt one of the coolest and most innovative pianos I’ve seen hit the market in my entire time in the industry. They’ve been hugely popular in our showroom and frequently on backorder, and this seems to be the case worldwide as Kawai can’t seem to make them fast enough. All in all, the K300 Aures is a truly engaging and highly musical experience through and through.
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I've tried this yesterday and I fell in love with it. Aures functionalities are really icing on a cake!!
That was a really good/clear cut explanation of how these work, I've played a couple and always wondered what was actually going inside, thank you for shedding some light on it!
Wow , thanks for a great review ! I think this might be exactly what I’m looking for ! Thank you !
Thanks for the review. I enjoy all your reviews. Super talent player and reviewer.
wow, it seems I'm not the only one looking for a K300 Aures x NV5 comparasion...
or K200 ATX3 vs NV5! almost the same price and same use cases...
If you’ve got the money, and don’t mind paying for tuning, the Aures wins hands down. The NV5 is the best digital piano I’ve ever played, it’s head and shoulders above everything else, even pianos with a ‘grand action’, but it’s still not a patch on an acoustic upright. Go to a piano shop and try them yourself, you’ll see what I mean. I’m in the U.K. where the NV5 is about £5.5k, while the K300 Aures is just over £7k. The one I really want is the K500 aures which is £10k. Better start saving up…..
Great review as always!
in the middle right now of choosing a real upright over my digital clavinova and listening to the difference bewtween the digital and acoustic there is a real difference......
UPDATE bought a Willhelm schimmel 114t, what an absolute amazing piano and distinct sound...
Your explanation at the 15 minute mark answered my exact question. Digital is resonance from soundboard... got it!!! Thank you.
After hearing the way you explained about the long keys
I immediately Subscribed to your channel 👍
Awesome, thank you!
Again brilliant video, we can see that you know what you are talking about! Question: Did you feel that the action was "heavy" in digital mode? (Like on digital hybrids such as nv10/nv5). I'm curious to see if Kawai deploys the aures system to its grand piano line - it sound feasible !
Hello Stu, a transducer is not a magnet. A transducer does have a permanent magnet, but it also has a copper coil. It is basically a speaker driver without the cone.
Hi Stu, thank you very much for the review. Has this piano got rhythms in the digital mode?
Can you please do a side by side comparison of the NV5 with a K300 Aures? I'm really curious how the strings/no-strings compare to each other. Thanks! Love the videos.
That was a satisfying review Stu and you mentioned that this instrument actually has the electronic "guts" of the the new CA99. I've been waiting patiently for your review of the actual Kawai Ca99 for a couple months now. Are you about to review that instrument any time soon? Thanks.
I was gonna ask that. CA99 please
It has the electronic guts of CA98 not CA99, it doesn't have the new UI of the CA99, not a dealbreaker but would be nice if it would run on the new platform, but the K300 Aures was released in the 2018. Or is there a "new" version, but don't think so.
@@alexpixeli The new Aures2 (just announced) has CA99 internals.
Did you have the volume turned down on the electronic sample when you switched to SK-EX? It sounded much quieter than the acoustic, hoping this isn't a speaker limitation as I was opting to get a CA99
Can you tell any difference between the acoustic mode and the digital mode using transducers? How closely does the digital mode manage to replicate the live sound produced by strings? I assume there are still reasons you would want to play in the normal acoustic mode sometimes?
maybe it is a weird question, but do you have any suggestions between the choice of NV10 and K300 Aures? thank you very much.
Hello! Quick question, how does the action compare with the ATX2 because I can get an K300 ATX2 with a substantial discount and I really only need the silent mode not the whole sounds thing but the regulation you talked about scares me, thanks!
Great Piano. I own the K300 Aures. You can get out more of it with a individual voicing. Donˋt miss anything...
I own one what exactly do you mean?
When I want to learn something about a brand of piano I come to you because there is not one on You Tube who is as detailed and informative as you are.
Great review as always. Is there any chance you can say something about the Kawai GX2 Aures 2? I saw this grand piano shine in some of your reviews here, but I am wondering what sticking these transducers onto the sound board does to the acoustics. I would also like to know how much sound the bare action still makes - I play through earphones on a Roland LX-17 at home, and even this may make my better half go ballistic three rooms away 🙂
Thank you kindly! We appreciate the kind words! A review of the GL30 Aures 2 and/or GX2 Aures 2 is on the list of things to tackle, so, hopefully, we can get one of those out to you sooner rather than later. With that said, in my personal experiences, I have not found the transducers to have much (if any) impact on the acoustic experience. When playing a K300 and K300 Aures 2 or GL30 and GL30 Aures 2 side-by-side, I was able to achieve the same fantastic and rewarding sonic experience out of each version of the instrument. As is typically the case with Kawai, they go through painstaking lengths to optimize the musical experience and ensure that any integration of technology is not detrimental to the playing experience. In terms of the key noise of the action, there is naturally a noticeable amount of some key noise. I would say that it is a little more pronounced than your average digital piano given the fact that you are dealing with a heavier and longer wooden key stick. Thanks and hope this helps! :)
thanks ,great video explanation and presentation of basicaly where we are today with digital technology.I just wonder when we are going to see digital grands with soundboards with transducers.THey are in the KAWAI AURES grands but you still have to pay for the acoustic piano which drives the price enormously.These AURES pianos show the way to go in getting the digital sound alot more realistic.This piano actually only becomes what we call today digital with headphones,because when the soundboard engages in the digital mode there are still real strings in there that resonate,which doesnt happen in digital pianos.
You're very welcome! Thank you for taking the time to tune in! :)
Kawai has released a number of digital pianos that utilize the soundboard/transducer technology, such as the CA901 and NV5S models. There are a multitude of previous generation models that have been using this tech as well. I imagine that we will see more innovations like this from other manufacturers in the coming years. But, the fact that Kawai has been doing this for some time is a testament to their position as one of the leading innovators within the industry.
How's this compare to the Yamaha transacoutic system?
прошу сделать строчку текста перевода - очень понравилось в виде сравнения u-1 b k-300
K300 ATX3 or Novus NV5? Or save my money and get Nu1x and wait for next generation. I need to decide...
Having tried all three, the aures gets my vote. You can’t beat a real acoustic instrument. Have you tried each one yourself? If not you HAVE to try before you buy. The acoustics are much better than the digitals. The Aures is two pianos in one, and a Bluetooth speaker to boot!
@@Playingbyear only tried the Aures as the NV5 and NV5S are not available for demo in my country. The NV5S also takes up less space and HK has some of the highest rents in the world so every inch here counts (the price of one square foot of real estate where I live can be almost the price of the K300 ATX3!)
Also anyone knows the length of the keys k300 are the same as the Novus5?Much appreciated.
The 'visible' part of the key will be the same, I haven't compared the key-stick length, but if they've done the same with the Novus 5 as they did with the Novus 10, the key action is identical to it's acoustic equivalent. So there's a good chance it's a 'yes'.
Hi Stu, greetings from England. Thanks for another elucidating review. Tell me, does the addition of the Aures system detract in any way from the base K300? Does a K300 sound better acoustically than a K300 Aures? I would have thought the transducers would mute the soundboard somewhat, but perhaps it’s not perceptible? Is there any difference between the soundboards used in each? Would you have this over something like the NV5? Thanks
same important question...
What is the difference between this and the K500 Aures?
K500 is bigger and longer key length I think. I have played both, but my skill level is not good enough to tell a real difference.
Kinda weird. I temporarily own a K300 Aures until I get my NV5. I was utterly disappointed with the digital sound. It was lacking power and was quite a bit quieter at max volume than when playing acoustic. To me it also sounds very muddy and just weird. Before I owned an old Roland which to me sounds much clearer and has more power, especially in the base.
Can you play this piano in a blackout?
The acoustic part isn't powered, so presumably so! :-)
OMG news to me. So what happens when the strings go outa tune?
You tune the actual strings to the virtual stings.
I’m still worry about the regulation issue switching between acoustic and silent bar. Just the paranoia of the more stuff and gadget you add to an already perfect acoustic piano it is asking more and potential problems. Don’t know.
He specifically called it out as awesome.
It’s got a 10 year warranty, what’s to worry about?
Stu, you look tired recently. Take good care.
His kid was 18month old at the time. If you ain't tired from that you ain't human
how much is this piano?
4:08 he says under 10,000.00 US range. I've seen another priced at $9,150.00 US on line so appears correct.
@@Dobermanator wow I guess I can't afford it :(
I have the yamaha P-125 that I love but I want now something more exotic :)
@@Dobermanator
@@Dobermanator I was searching and I didn't see any of the hybrid model that he posted ,and they showed the right model at Music center, and other music stores but no prices listed , also I looked on amazon and nothing but no prices .
@@nellyvetterodriguezgarcia3240 Buy a second hand upright.
Soundboard transducer technology has HUGE drawbacks, when it comes reproducing the intricate details of sound, due to the soundboard being a lot heavier, and thicker, than your traditional dynamic speaker cone material. So, it (soundboard) just can't vibrate fast enough.
But, ofcourse, marketing videos like these, will never tell you that!
Does this problem only occurs with these Aures models or is it the same with ATX3 models?? Can you compare k300 Aures with k300 atx3 for this specific issue.
@@canbalcioglu4229 An AURES is an ATX3 with soundboard transducers. With the ATX3 you can only use headphones. The sound engine is the same, meaning an AURES and ATX3 sound the same through headphones.
That's an interesting observation. I would ask, however, how the soundboard on a piano manages to produce a piano tone if it cannot, as you say, vibrate fast enough to reproduce the "intricate details of sound". Does the soundboard behave differently when set vibrating via the hammer-string-bridge mechanism on a traditional piano than it does when set vibrating via transducers?