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Kawai HAT7 Upright Piano Review (Hybrid Piano)
THE CHEAPEST HYBRID SILENCE PIANO IN THE MARKET
You have decided to buy a piano, but now you need to choose the types of piano, whether do you want a digital or an acoustic, you wanted the feeling of hammer striking the string but you wish to play silently so you wont have to disturb your neighbor who just had a newborn. Have you ever wonder why cant you have best of both world ? Kawai feels you and introduced the KAWAI HAT series to the world to solve your problem !
Yamaha and Kawai are the pioneers of the silence piano movement, who developed the technology back in 1960s. For a long time Kawai have been sampling their own top-of the range pianos for the purpose of manufacturing purely digital pianos and they continue to develop and update their sampling method.
KAWAI HAT series was introduced in 1994s (Finally a piano younger than me haha!) in Japan and it consist of a few models in that series such as HAT20, HAT7, HAT10 and some rare models. However, Kawai also introduce HA series, which doesnt comes with the silence machine, such as HA20, HA35. So please with us before looking for a silent piano. Some odd models also does comes with silence sometimes such as BL61, KS1F, BL71 and US50. These pianos are the one that the first owner actually custom order from Kawai to specially requested for it. Consider yourself lucky if you are able to get one of those.
To explain the silent hybrid technology, when you suppress the middle pedal of a silent piano, such as Kawai HAT series, the hammers no longer striking the strings, as it was block by a metal bar which fills with sensor, that detect the key movements and trigger digital piano samples that can be heard through headphones. There are 2 output for you to plug in 2 headphones at the same time so teacher and students can both listen at the same time.
Kawai HAT7 comes with quite a numbers of function, unlike Yamaha SILENCE piano. This is why i said Kawai is always ahead of their rivals in terms of technology and R&D. It comes with
Reverb function
Reverb adds space around your notes and can make your sound seem farther away, even dreamy. Its short for reverberation which describe the continuation of sound in a particular space after the original sound is produced and stops.
Dual
You can play basically splits the piano into two sounds, dual mode or layer, which will put one sound over the top of another, for example piano over strings. The HAT7 also allow the user to adjust the level of each sound according to taste.
It can also record your playing and gives you a built in metronome which can monitor your speed. This is one of the simplest yet greatest feature as for kids to properly learn the discipline of following the correct time count.
2. Specification
| Size | 113(H) x 150(W) x 54(D) cm |
| Action | Millennium action 2 |
| SoundBoard Material | Solid Spruce |
| Back Post | 5 |
| Tuning pin | Nickel Pin |
| Key Surface | NEOTEX |
| Hammer | maple |
| Duplex Scale | – |
| Center pedal | silent pedal |
| Music Rack | normal upright |
| Fallboard | normal upright |
3. Tonality and Voicing
Since the purpose of having this piano is to not disturb your neighbor, Kawai has given HAT7 the height of 113cm, which is relatively smaller compare to other 121cm standard piano. It does help in soften the volume but this does not affect its voice and tone. In fact, most pianos are built in a smaller size cabinet in modern days as the current technology has permitted them to create great sound in a smaller cabinet, it also helps in saving spaces and provide more features.
Kawai HAT7 deliver a full dynamic range that you would expect from an upright piano, making it a real pleasure for situation where you need to an acoustic piano feeling and yet able to mute the sound. The overall tone was quite balance and clear which gives an overall pleasant playing experience. The touch can be adjusted but not too heavy due to the fact that this is a small size piano.
Please take note that not every KAWAI HAT7 STILL comes with silent system as not all first owner taken a good care of it. If the silence system stop working, we will remove them and it can still play perfectly without the silent machine.
4. EXCEEDINGLY GOOD VALUE
Normally, you can get HA series at an affordable price, which is also much younger compare to other series such as BL. Why i said its exceeding good value ? Instead of buying digital piano who has a lifespan of only 2 to 3 years, why not get a hybrid pianos that guarantee a second hand value ? As digital piano cant be repair, or even if it can be repaired, it comes with a ridiculous price that you might as well buy a new one because digital piano makers such as Casio, ROLAND, KOGG, wants you to buy a new piano instead of repairing for you. This problem wouldnt happen if you buy an acoustic piano as this HAT7 can last you another 20 years easily. We also have a 60% buyback policy within 10 years with terms and condition for this model.
5 . Conclusion – Be a good neighbor !
The early days of learning an
instrument can be frustrating for anyone in close proximity, imagine your kids
keep playing your favorite song river flows in you incorrectly, so silent
pianos are the stuff of dreams for irritable neighbor and intolerant parents.
However, while silence pianos are great solution, we shouldnt forget that part
of the fun of learning and playing an instrument is to make a sound and share
it with your love one ! This kind of rare pianos are not easily found and
please give us a call at 017-3497139 to check availability, if yes, its your
chance and faster book an appointment for piano viewing !
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