Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards My Kawai CA95 has arrived!

Took delivery of my new CA95 yesterday. Played a good 5 hours on it.

My impressions on it (compared to ES7):

1. The CA95's key action is quite close to the Kawai's GM12 baby grand that I've tried. A bit more force is needed to push a key down initially, then there's very little resistance from there on. Compared to CA95, ES7's key action has a rather linear resistance all the way down - there's no initial resistance that you need to overcome. The depth of the keys in CA95 also feels perfect; I now find ES7's key stroke to be a bit too shallow.

2. Playing trills on the CA95 is a breeze. The key action feels buttery-smooth when my fingers race through the keys. Playing repeated notes also feels good. I've work harder on a ES7. I now understand why some folks say they feel like they are cheating when playing on the CA95. But I can't understand why some people say the CA95 keys are sluggish; while they are not "push-your-fingers-back" fast, they are definitely "follow-your-fingers-back" fast.

3. The sound generated from the CA95 is very immersive; I felt myself being enveloped in the music. It really comes alive when you play with conviction (I believe the soundboard plays a big part). There's no comparison for ES7 in this aspect. If the CA95's sound is a 10, then ES7's is a 5.

4. The dynamic range is very wide on the CA95. I can control the dynamics much better on it than I can in ES7.

5. I'm in love with the Studio Grand sample in CA95; the entire experience (e.g. sound, key action) makes me feel like I'm playing on a good acoustic upright.

6. I do wish the pedals on the CA95 are a bit further back though.

Sadly, one of the keys on my new CA95 has a clicking sound. It should probably be fixed next week. Besides that, everything is in order.

Yeah but does it sound good with the volume set to low with the onboard speaker system? If you have to play it with the sound cranked up then what good is it if most people buy digitals because they can't disturb the neighbors.

I had the opportunity to play both instruments recently, and concur with your impressions. I found the E7 to be disappointing for the reasons stated above.

Congrats iceporky! Thank you for posting your comments, too.

I wonder which finish you opted for?
It's a shame the CA95 is not available in white!

Cheers,
James
x

Is that a hidden hint about coming new color schemes or just a loose shot ? Anyway the current rosewood is a very classy color on all CA's - can't go wrong with that. Congrats on the CA, keys are indeed better than the ES once you're able to compare them. On its own the ES is also quite enjoyable though. Simply in another league.

Neither really. I know that iceporky's studio is white, that's all.

Now, a white polish CS10...well, that would be really special!

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks, James!

I opted for the Satin Black, but I wish the CA95 comes in the body of a Kawai CS7. The CS7 looks so slick.

Yes, the CS7 is very sleek, however the CA95 in satin black is also an attractive DP.

May I recommend that you update your CA95 to the latest software, and download the latest owner's manual PDF from Kawai Japan site at the URL below:

http://www.kawai.co.jp/worldwide/

Kinds regards,
James
x

Congratulations, iceporky. Sorry to hear one of the keys makes a clicking sound -- it's good to know it will be rectified soon.

Thanks, JFP. And you're right. The ES7 is an awesome digital piano. It'll always be the first DP that I truly enjoy.

Thanks, Clayman.

For me, the clicky key is not a biggie. There are just too many things with the CA95 to be happy about.

Congratulatins on your CA95, iceporky. From what I hear in YouTube videos, the sound of the Kawai CA65 and CA95 is hard to beat.

The slightly shallow key depth on the ES7 put me off just enough not to get it. Apart from that I really liked it.

The key action was really important to me and something I wanted to be really happy about if I was spending a lot of money.

Thanks, TheodorN!

For me, the Studio Grand sample actually makes all the difference. Coupled with the soundboard, it gives me the priceless illusion that I'm playing an acoustic piano.

Frankly, the slightly shallow key depth of the ES7 doesn't really bother me before the CA95 arrives.

I think the key action on the ES7 is great, but it's quite different from the CA95's. If memory serves, the CA95's key action comes close to Kawai's acoustic pianos that I have tried.

Is that clicking sound caused by the key while playing is touching the key beside it? Is this maybe in general 'the weak point' of the wooden keys and keyboards? Let us know how they have fixed it, and hopefully solved this problem to your satisfaction. I wish you many years of fun with your new CA 95. Send some pictures...
Dhamma

Thanks, Dhamma!

The clicky key is not caused by touching of neighbouring keys. I really hope whoever is coming over to fix it knows what he's doing. One of their technicians I talked to has no clue what a CA95 is!

As requested, the photos are below:

And I bet he'd probably never heard of the CA93 either !! That's a bit unsettling.



Looks exactly like my new Black CA65 - except, of course, for the modification at the rear of the instrument for the soundboard. Beautiful isn't it !!!!! Congratulations !!

Congratulations on the CA-95. That soundboard is something special. I also like that they made the wood thick enough. But not too much. Like the legs and ends of the keyboard. Classy but not a big piece of furniture. Am sure you're enjoying it.
Constructive suggestion... You should change that wall to grey. Maybe all of them. Did you have to wear sunglasses in there before? Some throw rugs in some shade of grey/black. I know, keep them out of the way of that chair racing around the floor.

... Now I see what Kawai James meant about a white CA95. It looks gorgeous, anyway. I hope they'll fix it to your full enjoyment.

Congratulations on your new baby!