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

No, I didn't.

But the clicky/knocking sound can be louder than the note when I'm play softly.

The video is recorded with an iphone that doesn't filter background noises. Also there's compression done to the video (which mostly leave clear, distinct components in the final output). But if you are playing it, it does bother you.

It's just like those folks who mentioned that their piano hums; that humming sound might not be obvious when they video/audio record it to show others, but when they play, they can definitely feel it's there.

This is the frustrating part. It's not super-obvious, but it's obvious enough to affect my playing. When I watched it at lower resolution, it's not that obvious. But when I watched it at 720HD, I can clearly hear the clicky sound in the middle section of the video.

There's definitely a click sound there when compared to the other keys. It shouldn't be there and I hope that next time they'll fix it. Funny that it comes and goes, though!

I had the same (as it sounds in the recording) clicking key on my CA95, it also disappeared and reappeared as I played. But unfortunatelly I do not know what the cause was because in the end I returned it for some problems with the sound generator which could not be resolved (probably rare problem of the particular unit).
Did you have the keyboard open and couldn't find the cause or did you not even open it because the problem "disappeared" once the technician came?

Didn't even open it because I can't produce the problem when the technician was here.

Today, I think I've figured out a certain sequence of notes that seems to always produce that clicky sound - maybe it's the way I attack the keys in that sequence that makes the clicky key prominent. Hopeful I can reproduce the problem the next time he drops by. In any case, I'll show him the video on my phone; the clicky sound is quite obvious when the video is viewed from my phone.

Sorry to hear about the sound generator. May I know what did you replace it with after returning your CA95?

I agree it might be a keybed issue, or it might be coming from the letoff simulator not aligning properly and clicking?

Anyhoo, congrats on the piano, I've been enjoying it tremendously. I recently moved and put my CA95 under a cathedral style ceiling, and the resonance from the soundboard is amazing. Now I don't like going back to headphones because I lose it all!

I would be tempted to open it myself nad see what the problem is:-) But if the technician is willing to come again, it's worth a try.
I think GF action is very very good but possibly not ideal for transportation, I think KJ once or twice explained here something about keys being on balance pins and they can fall out of place when the keyboard is shaked too much. Maybe there is some other part that is suspectible to this. At least this is the general picture that I got from this forum - the GF (or possibly other Kawai) action is either OK from the start and stays that way or it has some minor problem after the piano is delivered, gets fixed and stays fixed. So I would blame too rough shipping:-) Anyway, whatever it is, I think you'll be able to fix it rather easily once you or the technician open the keyboard.


So far I didn't replace it with anything and I returned to my old upright in horrible condition which gets worse day by day. That means I am still on the hunt and will hopefully buy some new DP in a few months or half a year at the most. VPC1 is a strong candidate, or MP10 successor if there is one, maybe CP4 when I get the chance to play it (but it's probably too expansive).

Thanks, chickenlump!

I know what you meant by not wanting to go back to headphones. I feel the same. But I'm actually quite surprised how good it sounded with my headphones as well.

ES7 with headphones is great (esp. concert grand, mellow 1, concert hall reverb). But, to me, CA95 with headphones is quite a few notches up.

Before getting my CA95, I kept hearing people say how good the GF action is. So my expectations were off-the-charts high. But my heart sank a bit when I first touched the GF keys. Luckily, after having it for a week, I now like it quite a lot.

VPC1, MP10 successor, CP4 - all great choices! Happy hunting!

I had this experience with the AvantGrand. It's easy to get expectations inflated. At the end of the day they are just piano keys. The best way to evaluate actions is either owning them for some time or going back and forth between different models in the same store.

Double entendres R us.

The solid wood action in the 12 yr. old Yamaha Clavinova CLP-990 is as good as any of the above.

Hello Iceporky,
This is not a clicking key. This sound, produced by knocking at the bottom, has more to do with the hardness or softness of the shockabsorbing material below the keys. Four keys of my CA 95 also produce a different sound then the others while hitting the bottom. The keybed of my first Kawai CA 95 - replaced by Kawai because of a transformer issue - had also a few of those keys. Therefore I believe this is a general characteristic of the GF keybed. When I play with normal volume I don't hear it. When playing with a headset I also don't here it. But I understand your wish that éverything would be PERFECT ! When such a beautifull piano enters your reality, you immediately start looking and checking if everything indeed is perfect. But unfortunately (well ...?) whe don't live in a perfect world. So I don't think there exists a perfect digital piano. (You can ask PV88 he's a born seeker for perfection, soon he will find faults in his CLP 480 ) But your Kawai CA 95 is for sure a nearby PERFECT piano. And be happy you choose Kawai, their service is great and they will go to any length to help you to be satisfied with your CA 95 (that's my experience). Keep us informed.
Dhamma

I don't know, I definitely hear a higher pitched plasticky clicking sound from one of his keys which sound very different from the lower pitched sound of the keybed.

I'm surprised to see that there are so many complaints regarding the kawai keyboards of 65 and 95! keys that do not work well, noises, etc..

In a distinguished piano price ... too expensive!

Dhamma, try listening with a headphone at 720HD. It'll be much clearer.

Ha! I understand what you meant by wanting it to be perfect. I've tried talking myself into ignoring it. But it breaks the joy of playing enough that I wish for it to be fixed.

In fact, I don't want a replacement unit even if they offer me. I just want someone to assess if that's an easy thing to fix and, if so, fix it.

I can't speak for the rest; but, for me, it's not a complaint. I'm just trying to resolve an issue that could come from any DP brand.

I didn't show the brand name in my video, because I'm not discounting Kawai in any way. I put it up on YouTube just so that the service folks don't have to download a 100MB video just to see what I'm talking about.

No regrets getting my CA95! It has been great so far; even with that clicky key.

If they offer to replace it, they will be indicating that they do not feel comfortable with fixing it. In that case, I would accept gracefully.

Because of a handfull of people on a forum like this sharing their problems you might get that impression. But I don't think that's the whole story. I believe that 98% of the owners of a Kawai digital piano is very satisfied with their instruments. In stead of reading and writing on this forum like I do, they are playing the piano There is nothing wrong in sharing this kind of information, but I also feel the need to ask people to share their no-problems, their how happy they are with their instrument story's. I once owned the most beautifull computer in the world, the Apple PowerMac G4 Cube. Negative story's of just a few people on the Internet caused the downfall of this gorgeous little thing within a year. But that's another story...
I'am happy with my Kawai CA 95. Great piano from a great company.
Amen !

Dhamma