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The new Shigeru is lovely

Also mellow pianos are nice, wondering about the GF2 action and wanting to listen some more complex pieces playes on this new one

Any idea what the U.S. price for the CA97 will be? The Euro to US conversion put it at about $4.5k... is that about right?

On the europe site of kawai.....

Kawai CA 97

I just ordered a new CA 95 two days ago........But no regrets.....

Regards,
Johan B

I'd love to learn more details about the enhancements in GF II and more details about the 3 piano samples in CA67/CA97. The videos don't say much. I keep hoping that James would chime in now that the instruments have been unveiled, but his post is not coming....:-(

The manual says they use HI-XL sampling technology, I think the notes are sampled and looped as in CA 65/95 with similar attack times (listen the end of both videos).
Anyway, for me, they have a very nice tone, I'd like to see how they behave with very slow music.

So I've had a look at the video and a browse through the CA97 manual. I haven't physically encountered one, obviously. Here are the changes I can see from the CA95, with my comments.
= good = meh = bad

Hardware:

• CA97 looks very similar design, but has shrunk 1 cm in width and depth, and 0.5 cm in height, and lost 2 kg. Maybe using thinner wood? CA67 has actually grown: dimensions are now the same as the CA97 except 1 cm less depth, and has gained 3 kg - since it now has two 8x12 cm top speakers in addition to the two 13 cm woofers and two 5 cm tweeters. Top speakers seems like a pretty significant upgrade over the CA65, which always sounded a bit underpowered in the speakers dept to me. [Note, the specs on kawai.co.uk for speakers in the two models seem to be wrong]
• Grand Feel II action. "Ebony touch" black keys, so the plastic now has a wood grain effect rather than a generic stippling. Who knows if there are any other differences - no details or diagrams are to be seen. I guess it's probably exactly the same.
• Soundboard now has a Kawai decal!
• Customary pointless generational restyling of music stand. Doesn't appear to be any taller, but slightly less curved down at the edges. Should have been made taller.
• Instead of 2 x 6.35 mm headphones sockets, one of them is replaced by a 3.5 mm socket
• Line In changed from 2 x 6.35 mm to 1 x 3.5 mm stereo. Probably a good thing since tidier wiring, but I would prefer if all these sockets weren't on the front of the instrument (of all the silly places), trailing wires out the side.

Software:

• Now has 3 88-key samples: Shigeru EX, Kawai EX, and SK5 Studio Grand. I suspect that the Kawai EX might be the one on the CA95, but still, two new 88-key samples is pretty impressive. I wonder if they sound any good? Also how much extra flash memory did they add, or (gulp) did they squeeze the whole lot into the same amount of memory as before? Rest of the sounds are the same cheesy collection that have graced these instruments for the past 20 years. Pop Aah anyone? Would be nice to drag the harpsichord sounds in particular, and some of the others, into the 21st century.
• "Phones type" setting, for open-back, in-ear etc. Who knows what this actually does, but if it is as useful as Wall EQ... it will not be very useful. Ideally there would independent EQ controls for speakers and headphone output that you could configure depending on your headphones - just two profiles in the Tone Control section that automatically switch would be ideal.
• "SHS" spacial mode for headphones. I guess this mixes various amounts of left and right into each channel, i.e. "Wide" would be pure left on the left earphone, and pure right on the right one, and "Narrow" would have a lot of left channel mixed into the right earphone, and vice versa, creating a more mono sound. In the real world, of course, you would hear a lot of what the left microphone records with your right ear, so this is useful in theory.
• Virtual Technician has been promoted out of a sub-menu to replace "SPLIT" as a single button selection from the main screen. Now has "smart mode", which is marketing-speak for "presets": Noiseless, Deep Resonance, etc. This is a welcome addition. No user-defined presets as far as I can see, though.
• New VT parameters: Cabinet Resonance, Undamped String Resonance. On previous models, if you have reverb off, you strike and release a key, and the sound disappears immediately, making it sound very dead (as well as unrealistic). I would hope Cabinet Resonance fixes this. And string resonance on the undamped strings on the CA95/65 is incorrect: holding down the undamped notes results in string resonance, but when you release them you don't get it (it should be the same because these notes don't have dampers). If they've fixed that, it's a good thing.
• User Voicing lets you "voice" each key from -5 to +5, to make them mellower/brighter. (Though obviously it can't change the character of the sample, so not sure how useful this is.)
• Registrations can now be named and edited. Good job; now they might actually be useful.
• VT settings can now be saved for each sound. It's certainly an improvement, and useful. But what if you want several different settings based on the Shigeru EX? You have to use a registration, but that changes all your Basic Settings, tuning, metronome etc at the same time. There should be a way of storing specifically user sound setups, without all the other stuff.
• For completeness: "User Memory" has changed its name to "Startup setting"; single registrations can now be saved and loaded from USB; User Key Volume has some presets rather than making you change every key yourself.

Things they should have changed but didn't:

• Song recorder still doesn't have tempos for each song. So if you record 10 different songs, they all have to be at the same tempo, or you have to write them down on a piece of paper and change the metronome manually each time.
• The metronome still has to be playing for you to change its tempo or beat. Imagine how annoying this is when you're switching from practicing one piece to another. Or, to select a rhythm patterns halfway down the list, you not only have to scroll through 50 other (un-numbered) patterns, but you have to listen to them all en-route... it's hard to describe, but I'll just say that it's design of such monumental crapness that the only reason this could have been left like this is as a practical joke, which sadly for anyone who needs to use a metronome extensively (e.g. classical pianists) is completely not funny. Some metronome presets simply accessible by pressing a Voice button while in the Metronome settings screen would also be incredibly useful. Basically, the metronome needs a complete overhaul.
• The "Phones volume" feature still only has "normal" and "high" settings, rather than completely configurable to your headphones (as with separate phones volume on the Roland HP series), so you're going to have to keep manually guessing and setting the correct volume each time you switch between speakers and headphones.

So overall it's a good set of upgrades. Not too much different in the hardware except the extra speakers on the CA67. New piano sounds are the main addition on the software side, along with some useful tweaks to the software.

Is there any chance we could see some of these software tweaks back-ported into a CA95 / CA65 firmware update? Some of the things like Registrations and string resonance were never really right on these models, but now they've been fixed, it would be relatively easy to include them in an update. It's obviously not worth the money to upgrade from a CA95 to a CA97, but I'd pay a small amount for upgraded software if that's what's stopping them.

PtJaa, I have prepared documents for dealers and distributors that summarise the new features and improvements of the CA97/CA67. However, I will need to double-check if they can be shared publicly.

Until then, the following PDF may help to answer some of your questions:

https://db.tt/ua9D1Ezp



Correct. The SK-EX, SK-5, and EX sounds all use full HI-XL 88-key sampling.

Kind regards,
James
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Thanks James. Very interesting details about the speaker system at the bottom!

As regards Grand Feel and Grand Feel II, I wonder why this article on Kawai's internet pages

http://www.kawaius.com/main_links/articles/2014/mmr-MPseriesPR.html

states that "MP11 features the acclaimed GFII wooden-key action" while the dedicated Kawai MP pages states that MP11 has the Grand Feel action (i.e. no II).

Maybe James can shed some light on this?

For info I have both an MP11 and a VPC1 and like both but prefer the touch on MP11.

lolatu, thank you for posting your detailed comments.

Please allow me to respond to some of your points:



The CA97 is a little more compact, yes. I am not aware of any changes to the thickness/quality of the wood used for the cabinet.



Yes, the CA67 has a slightly larger cabinet in order to accommodate the improved speaker system, and match the design of the CA97.



The new Ebony Touch surface is a considerable improvement (both in terms of touch feeling and appearance) over the previous black key surfaces. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised once you've had a chance to experience it for yourself.



Aside from the 'Ebony Touch' black key surface, the GFII action offers the following improvements:

- More authentic key width and edge camber for black keys (based on SK-EX specification)
- Richer colour for black keys
- Moisture absorbency for black keys
- Revised hammer shape and weight (optimised centre of gravity, improves dynamic load)
- Counterweights on all 88 keys, graded from bass to treble
- Improved note-on timing, with ability to trigger notes from the let-off point



Well spotted!



Not possible, as I explained to you previously.



Correct. This is an added convenience when using mini-jack earphones.



Correct. This is an added convenience when connecting a phone, tablet, laptop etc. as you don't need to use a splitter cable.




I take your point, however placing jacks on the back side is also inconvenient for owners who place their piano against a wall.



Correct.



The new SK-EX and SK-5 samples (and variations) sound great. The SK-EX is now the 'No.1 sound'. Sample memory size is several times larger than the previous generation instruments.



Some of these additional sounds have been improved or taken directly from the MP11/MP7 (I don't have a list to hand, I'm afraid), however it goes without saying that the vast majority of sample memory is dedicated to the acoustic piano sounds.



I'm sure some customers will find this feature useful. Please let me know what you think after you've tried the instrument for yourself.





I believe this feature was also present on the CA95/CA65, wasn't it? Just without the padlock icon printed on the panel.



Correct. This is a company-wide policy, requested by the domestic (Japanese) sales division.



I'll have to double-check this with the development team.



Well, if enough users complain, we may consider revising this functionality with a software update.



This may be difficult to implement with the CA's hardware volume fader (as opposed to 'software' buttons), but it's a good suggestion that I will pass on to the CA team. Thank you.



Correct.



...and the improved keyboard action, larger sample memory, higher quality headphone amplifier.



Yes and no. The new piano sounds are obviously the main software improvement (although this also relates to hardware, as noted in my previous comment), however the additional modelled resonances, more flexible Virtual Technician and Registration functionality, along with the ability for each sound to have its own settings are all great improvements. Ah, and we have the iPad app compatibility too.



I'm afraid I don't know, but by all means feel free to contact Kawai UK/Kawai Europe to make this suggestion to the staff there.



Actually, I believe a large number of existing CA95/CA65 owners will be keen to negotiate trade-in terms with their Kawai dealer when the new CA97/CA67 instruments start shipping next month.

Bear in mind that the existing CA95/CA65 instruments were already very competitive with the latest models from other manufacturers. So with new piano sounds, an even better keyboard action, and various other upgraded features and improvements, I believe the CA97/CA67 raise the bar considerably, further reinforcing Kawai's position as market leaders.

As always, thank you for your valuable feedback, <EDIT> lolatu.

Kind regards,
James
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This appears to be a typo. I will ask my colleagues at Kawai America to correct this point (after they return from NAMM).

Thank you for bringing this error to my attention.



Interesting. Some prefer the MP11, others prefer the VPC1. I wonder if the new GFII action on the CA97/CA67 will split the difference?

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks James - "makes sense" if it is a typo.

As regards one's preference on touch (e.g. MP11 vs VPC1 which are both great actions) I believe it depends to a large extent on which (acoustic) piano action one is used to. And as the case is with different pianos, the player adapts relatively quickly to the action at hand and the immediate impression of particular differences in an action may wear off - unless the action is really bad. But of course that shouldn't hold back Kawai or other brands to continuously improve the action.

How will the new models ship (assembled/disassembled)?

rpw, as with previous generation models, the CA97 will ship as single, pre-built instrument from the factory, while the CA67 will require assembly. Some dealers may assemble the CA6x at their store, others will assemble at the customer's home.

Kind regards,
James
x

Thanks, your document and Lolatu's (commented) list are a great source.

I shall be very interested to try these when they arrive at the European dealers.

A question about the counterweighting: does it bring the up and down weights near to those of a Kawai acoustic grand?

Wow these seem like killer pianos! Sampling for beautiful sound and modeling for resonances, one of the best grand piano like wooden key action with longer pivot point improved even more, new samples from Shigeru! I have GAS That's the spirit Kawai!

Congrats to Kawai for the good job. Hope it will work fine. Three different pianos is just amazing. Good move!
I'm glad to see some presets in the VT too, I've always thought that is up to the manufacturer to test and deliver best settings combinations. It frees the player from doing that work.
New registration features are great, also, same for voicing capabilities per key.
Trying to improve such a nice keybed shows you are looking for excelece, wich is fine.
I'd like to play one. When playing CA65 on heaphones, I liked Upright sound the most. If Shigerus are what they're supposed to be, wow.
Listenig to the official video in youtube, though, doesn't say much with regards to this. The player wasn't inspired, and there's too much talk and little music. Was it recorded in a rush?
But based on the short time when he plays SK5...it has 'that' same signature I find strange through headphones. I'm sure it will sound much better on speakers and a large room. SK's are wonderful instruments with a beautiful singing voice.

Hope some of CA's software features were in the ES line, too.
I wish you the best for this new products.

I'm afraid I don't know.

However, I gather that the hammer shape refinements (and possibly graded counterweights?) have brought dynamic weighting closer to that of the reference Kawai grand.

Kind regards,
James
x

CyberGene, for the purpose of clarity, I need to correct you on this point:



The GFII and GF actions both share the same key length and key pivot length.

Kind regards,
James
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