Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Roland hp505 or Kawai ca 65? Help Please

Thanks for the info Kawai James. Now I can make an informed decision.

Tomorrow morning I am going to possibly order my CA63. I think I will have to stretch my budget a little bit as I am now interested in the CS6. If I get a good deal on it, am definitely going for it.

I've read a few threads about 'bugs' in the CA63. Is that something to worry about or is it easily rectified by the latest firmware? And does the CS6 experience similar problems?

If you are referring to the CA63 "resonance bug" thread, it hasn't been completely investigated and determined to be a bug. It's a bit early to worry at this point. For one thing, the piano has been around for years now and this is the first we have heard of this apparent bug (which, if true, is just an incorrect formula for sympathetic resonance), so it does not appear to be a show stopper.

Gvfarns, I take it you have the Kawai CA63? And if so, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the least satisfied and 10 the most, how satisfied are you with it?
And have you had any major problems with it in terms of hardware and/or software?

Sorry, I actually own the MP8, which is the predecessor to the MP10 and features the AWA PRO action (the predecessor to RM3). I haven't had any problems with it except a botched firmware upgrade when I first got it (my fault). But anyway, there are others in the forum that have the CA63 that can review it better. If I didn't own a DP there's a good chance I'd go for a CA63 or CA65. Or rather, I'd love to exchange my MP8 for a CA63.

I just re-read that thread more carefully. I take back what I said. I guess it is a bug. Still, not exactly a death sentence.

Personally I do not use onboard sounds, so that kind of bug wouldn't affect me anyway.

Oh ok I see Gvfarns. I have opted to go for the CS6, sort of had no choice because I started to notice minor issues with the actual demo CA63 I was about to purchase plus the dealer has given me a good deal on it, but I think I should have negotiated him further down but nonetheless, it's still a good price I think, as other dealers I went to quoted me much more and weren't willing to negotiate.
Dealer said he couldn't order anymore CA63 so I had to have the demo which am sure has been the demo since the CA63 model was released and a lot of hands have been on there, so I started to feel like I was getting a second hand piano for the price of a new piano so in the end I decided to go for the CS6.

When you say you use onboard sounds, are you referring to softwares like pianoteq?

Today I visited one of the largest retailers of Yamaha instruments in London. They had the Avant Grands. I tried them all N1,N2 and N3, they feel solid but the key action feels a little too heavy for me, after playing for about 15 minutes, my fingers started to ache. I must say, the £50k-£100k like Bösendorfer, Steinway, Kawai, Fazioli and others, didn't feel like the Avant Grands. The key action was heavy but soft at the same time, if that makes sense. They were just great to play on. The only thing that I liked about the Avant Grands was the 'let off' feature. It does feel really good on them, they've nailed that feature. The sound is probably good on there too but sound doesn't matter to my untrained ears, I think Roland sounds good, Kawai sounds good and I think Yamaha sounds good. I could'nt pick a favourite as they are similar sounding, there's obviously subtle differences but I think it's subjective. Just had to say this about the Avant Grands as they get so much hype and are apparently meant to be the best digital pianos that emulate the feel of Real Acoustic Pianos. To be honest, I'd go for the Modus model instead of Avant Grand,I thought that was really great.

Onboard sounds mean the ones that come on the piano. The ones you get when you just turn it on and play. Software pianos are the ones generated by a computer, like PianoTeq and Vintage D, which is what I use.

Congrats on your CS6! That seems like a great piano to me. Beautiful cabinetry, great action. Good idea not to take the CA63. You shouldn't buy anything that you have complaints about during the demo because whatever bothers you then will only bother you more when you own it.

With respect to the AvantGrand, I can empathize with your disappointment. Not that it's a bad machine, but the hype sort of makes you expect something transcendent when you play it. Actually when I played an N2 in the store I was a bit turned off by the loud, loud clunking of the action, and it just didn't feel $10,000 worth of special. It was like a loud, poorly regulated grand. There was actually a Yamaha NW action piano there that I was pretty impressed with, and that's a much-maligned action around here (it has wood in it just for decoration). One thing I did like about the AvantGrand were the onboard samples. They've taken some heat for using antiquated looping methods, but I felt like their samples were very good and detailed. Decidedly better than the other models I tried (that store only had Yamahas and I was using pretty nice headphones to demo them). Great sounding piano. Still, it's not as good as Vintage D and it costs an awful lot more.

Oh ok I see.

Yeah I love the polished ebony on it. Makes it look much more expensive.

I think Avant Grands are way too expensive compared to what they deliver. With Yamaha, I just feel like they don't put much effort in their DPs as they are already a good reputable company, so anything that carries the 'Yamaha' name, can be priced ridiculously and the justification would be because it's a Yamaha, and they use 'sleek' terminology to describe the most basic functionality that makes people think, its worth the money. That's why I had to go for Kawai or Roland because as competitors and smaller companies compared to Yamaha, they deliver and put so much energy in their DPs.

Regarding AvantGrand pricing, I agree to a certain extent that the N3 and N2 models are rather expensive. However the N1 and new NU1 offer an excellent piano-oriented package at very competitively prices. I have it on reasonably good authority that the NU1 is particularly good.

Cheers,
James
x

Just reasonably good?

@Kawai James. At that price you could expect an ivory key top would be good for N1 and NU1? Then if you get it for 3600 this would be competitive.

What is particulary not good on the NU1?

I would not have said "just" but that is "just" my personal opinion