Two Kawai keyboards, two different instruments

Search for a premium stage piano and these two names often come up together. The Kawai MP11SE is Kawai's flagship stage piano, built around a wooden-key action. The Nord Grand 2 is Nord's piano-focused stage instrument, and its keyboard is made by Kawai as well. Whichever one you buy, a Kawai mechanism sits under your fingers. The two actions are not the same type, though, and the rest of each instrument follows a different idea of what a stage piano should be.

A note on method: this is a spec-based comparison. We have not played the two side by side. The figures come from our product records, which are compiled from the makers' published specifications. Where a number does not mean the same thing for both instruments, we say so.

The keys: wooden Grand Feel against Responsive Hammer III

The MP11SE uses Kawai's Grand Feel action. Our record describes it as long wooden keys that pivot the way a grand piano's keys do, with counterweights and a clearly felt let-off point. In our database it is listed as Grand Feel Standard and sits at 8 on our 1–10 key-action scale.

The Grand 2 uses a Kawai-built Responsive Hammer keyboard. Our database files it under Responsive Hammer III, the same entry it uses for Kawai's own ES920 and CN-301, and grades it 7. Nord combines it with triple-sensor detection and escapement. Our record does not describe wooden keys for this action.

Some things are shared. Both have ivory-feel key surfaces, and both give you a let-off feel, the small notch near the bottom of a slow keystroke, so neither lacks the basic grand-piano cues. The real difference is the key itself: long, counterweighted wooden keys on the MP11SE, Kawai's Responsive Hammer design on the Grand 2. That is what the one-point gap on our scale reflects. The scale compares mechanisms; it does not decide whose hands each will suit.

A practical tip: because our database gives the Grand 2 the same action entry as the Kawai ES920 and CN-301, a Kawai showroom can give you a first impression of that action family. Only the Grand 2 itself will tell you how Nord's version plays.

Sound: a built-in Kawai set against a Nord library

The MP11SE has 40 sounds built in, generated with Kawai's Harmonic Imaging XL technology. Our record lists Kawai's SK-EX and EX concert grands among them. It is a fixed set: what the instrument ships with is what you play.

The comparison table shows a dash for the Grand 2's sound count, and that is deliberate. Nord does not publish a number of onboard sounds for it. Our record describes its pianos as coming from the Nord Piano Library, which you load onto the instrument and can customise. The MP11SE's 40 are a fixed set built into the piano. So there is no like-for-like count to compare: the Kawai gives you a curated set out of the box, the Nord gives you a library you manage yourself.

The Grand 2 is also narrow by design. Nord's Stage 4 has organ and synth sections; the Grand 2 leaves those out and concentrates on pianos, with layer and split for combinations such as piano and strings. The MP11SE offers layer and split as well. Whether you prefer Kawai's own concert grands or Nord's library is a question for your ears and your headphones, not for a spec table.

Polyphony: 256 against 120

The MP11SE lists 256-note polyphony, the Grand 2 lists 120. For a single piano sound this rarely becomes an issue. It matters when you layer piano with strings and hold the sustain pedal through long passages, because every layer uses up notes. That is where the Grand 2's 120 is more likely to run short. If your sets are mostly solo piano, the difference will seldom show. If you layer a lot, it favours the Kawai.

On stage: weight, size and what comes in the box

This is where the two separate most clearly.

The Grand 2 is 12.7 kg lighter and smaller in every dimension. At 34 kg, the MP11SE realistically needs a sturdy case and a second pair of hands every time it travels. The Grand 2's weight is realistic for taking to gigs on a regular basis.

Neither has built-in speakers, so both need an amp, a PA or headphones. Both have a line output for that, and each has a single 6.3 mm headphone jack. Neither includes a stand. Both come with a three-pedal unit: the MP11SE with Kawai's GFP-3 (damper with half-pedalling, soft and sostenuto), the Grand 2 with the Nord Triple Pedal 2. You will not need to buy pedals for either.

Connections and practice extras

Both connect by USB MIDI. Neither has Bluetooth audio or Bluetooth MIDI, and neither works with a companion app, so on either instrument everything is wired. Our record describes the MP11SE's MIDI features as extensive, suited to more complex stage setups.

The MP11SE also has a built-in recorder and metronome. Our record lists neither for the Grand 2, so practice recordings and a click would come from your phone, a computer or a separate device. Both offer transpose.

Age is worth a line too. The MP11SE came out in 2017 and the Grand 2 in 2024; both are current models in our database. On price, the Grand 2 is the more expensive of the two.

Which one to choose

Choose the Kawai MP11SE if the keyboard comes first and you want long wooden keys on stage, if you layer sounds and want the 256-note headroom, if a built-in recorder and metronome are useful to you, or if the piano mostly stays in one place or you have help moving it.

Choose the Nord Grand 2 if you carry the instrument to regular gigs yourself, if you want Nord's library approach to choosing and swapping piano sounds, or if you want a piano-only instrument without organ and synth sections.

Both keyboards are Kawai designs, but they are different designs, so playing each one is the most useful test before you decide. For other candidates in this class, see our guide to the best stage pianos for gigging musicians.