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

lolatu, I'm too timid to fix it myself. I'll just leave it as it is because my previous CA95 doesn't feel the same after it has been opened up (again, it could be me imagining things). With this new unit, I'm left with the impression that Kawai's factory has not perfected the technique in producing flawless keys - at least for the Grand Feel keys in CA95. They are so close to perfection though.

Dhamma, I'm telling myself that the new-found openness of the sound comes from the use of a different soundboard. Besides that, the sound coming from the headphone jack and the speakers seem pretty much the same to me.

As a point of interest, my replacement unit is placed at the same location (even the same distance from the wall) in my room.

But, I still believe the CA95 is the best I've played so far. I tried the new CLP 585 and it didn't blow me away. I'd pick CA95 over it on most days. I also tried a N1; and that was quite nice.

Well, congratulations with your new CA 95 Iceporky and a lot off fun for years to come. I’ am almost sure that you can’t really here the slight difference in tonal character of that one particular key while you are playing using the speakers or headphones. At least that’s my experience with those keys of my CA 95 who also sound a little bit different then the others. With digital piano’s we can check out the sound of the action while playing with power off and that’s where we start hearing all kinds of differences between keys.
I' am almost sure if we where able to listen to the actions of even the best Grand Piano’s – without any sound – we will be surprised by the additional noises they will produce. To prevent future disappointments by trying to regulate that one key by an inexperienced technician like last time, just forget about it I agree with you that the Kawai CA 95 is one off the best digital piano's on the market today.
Greetings,
Dhamma

Dhamma,

I can hear the A key making the fluffy/plasticky sound when I play with the speakers - even at 3/10 volume. If I used the headphones, most of the time I don't notice it. But playing with the speakers, it reminds me it's there ever so often.

I’ am sorry for you Iceporky that you can hear that troublesome key sound even at 3/10 of the volume. In that case I suggest you make yourself bold to demand an adequate fix for this problem. After all you have paid a lot of money for your instrument. Otherwise the possibility is there that it starts irritating you every day a bit more and eat up the pleasure of playing. Contact your Kawai dealer and ask for a solution. Keep us informed.
Greetings,
Dhamma

Hi Iceporky,

I feel for you. The problem with just one key making a noise is that it will be in the back of your mind when playing. When you should be thinking of phrasing, dynamics and musical expression, you'll be listening subconsciously for the noise coming from the key. I found the noisy/clunky keys on my CA95 very distracting and irritating. On the other hand, the GF key action is a very nice action. I hope you can get this resolved so you can get on and enjoy your instrument without having to tolerate a fluffy/plasticky sound.

Dhamma, that key bothers me; but it doesn't irritate me as much now. Luckily I'm aware that acoustic uprights can have more quirks, even recently regulated keys are not as perfect as we want it to be. With that in mind, I'll learn how to enjoy my piano despite that key.

Cub, I'm not really listening for it when I play, but it just reminds me it's there when I hit that key - you expect one sound (key note) but get another sound (plasticky/fluffy + key note). It actually affects me more when I'm learning to play a piece - which I focus on phrasing and expression, but much less when I'm learning to improvise - as I think more on which inversions and what passing notes to use. By the way, congrats on your new CLP 585! Very happy for you that you've found a piano that you love and enjoy making music on.

Cheers!

Thanks Iceporky. I decided after the second CA95 had clunky keys to get my money back and try something else. I've been loving the 585 and haven't been able to stop playing with it over the last few days.

Are you going to contact Kawai about this key or are you going to just settle for it? I know what I would do but I guess people have different tolerance levels.

Cub, I don't intend to contact Kawai or the dealer about this. I'll just let it be.

I actually like the key actions very much this time round. I commented a couple of time in this forum about the CA95 keys being mushy and there were also quite a few others who said the same thing. But my replacement unit's keys are actually quite a tad firmer than my previous unit. The keys bounce back with more force than before and the black keys even made a 'tok' sound when i released it quickly. I NEVER noticed the black keys bouncing back with such force in my previous unit, and I had that unit for 7 months. From that perspective, the keys on my replacement unit are definitely less refined than my previous unit; but, irony, it's so much more fun to play on. Again, that's just my subjective impressions. Given my current high, do take everything I say now with a bag of salt.

So, all things considered, I'm happy with how things turned out.