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I purchased my CA95 from Farley's House of Pianos in Madison Wisconsin October 2012. They are a wonderful Dealer, Family owned, and someday I hope to buy a third piano from them. An Acoustic. They did everything within their power to bring this to a quick conclusion. Their diligence, made this exchange possible.

I also want to thank Kawai US for the exchange.

Shortly after I got the unit home, I noticed (G) above (MIddle C) to sound quite strange in Concert Grand. It had a metallic, raspy sound I called a Twang.

Imho, there is nothing wrong with the recorded sound samples. My issue was only with the Speakers/Soundboard.

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I have placed two Service Calls on this issue.

The first, a Tech came out and agreed there was a problem and after opening it up, did not find anything mechanical. At that time, we did not realize there could be an electronic issue.

The second, a Tech was not dispatched, I was told I did not have a problem, and ultimately the Dealer and Regional Sales Manager agreed to replace the unit with a new one.

The length of time for each Ticket was 71 days and 189 days respectively.

I did everything asked of me. Eventually, I was informed the issue was "Organic". ie: The very nature of sampled sound. I was told I did not have a problem. But, all who were in my home and heard it, stated that note was defective.

My new unit is much better. And I appreciate the help all involved gave to resolve the matter.

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To document the Old and the New, here is what the Notes look like from the Speakers/Soundboard as recorded with a stereo audio recorder from within the room.

I tried hard to play each note with the same amplitude. And, I believe I did. The first and last notes are the same amplitude in both samples. Note, the difference. Same Recorder. Same location in the room. Same Firmware version. Same Concert Grand Voice and Effects.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBzJGckMYO4

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Thanks Lolatu!


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Congrats!! I hope you'll enjoy it, at last.

Congrats, McBuster. That is a clear improvement. I think a few people owe you an apology, by the way. You copped a lot of cynicism about your complaint which was clearly undeserved. Enjoy!

Seems like not only do you get 88 note sampling, but each piano is individually sampled too! A proper bespoke job, in fact.

But it would appear that some are more equal than others; that would upset anybody`s temperament . .

Glad you're happy with your new one. It would have been interesting to see a recording of the exact same MIDI file played on both. But in the end what matters is that it sounds better to you when you're playing it.

McBuster,

Congrats, in the end your ears don't lie, and this is another indication that there is a high variation of production quality with Kawai digital pianos.

Could you also share your recordings, just to get an idea how your old unit was sounding?

Did anyone form Kawai give you some dedicated feedback, of what was damaged in the end?
(Speakers, Soundboard, some electronics component?)

Lophiomys

Here is a typical recording.

http://www.mediafire.com/watch/v21c4p9s1nu88ha/G3_Being_Played.MOV

Best heard thru external speakers.

On the first ticket a local Tech did come out but found nothing mechanical. Kawai never did send another Tech so they could not have diagnosed anything on site. The piano will be shipped back to them from the Dealer.

Kawai made it clear I did not have a problem. They assumed by my providing a WAV File, and their playing that on their CA95, it would sound the same as being played on mine. What they overlooked, was what happens to the stuff after it leaves my actual Sound Engine. Possibly some form of PreAmp. Then a Splitter to separate the signal for Left/Right Midrange and the SoundBoard and then the Amplifiers themselves.

Careful diagnosis will reveal, slight sound differences between Headphones, USB Recorder, Line Out and Speakers. My Twang was present on all four, but quite reasonable on all but the Speaker System. That is not just my conclusion, but others on this Forum as well.

If you want more info, search some of my posts. It is all there.

Thanks very much for the info.

My advice is to play the piano before buying it and then take exactly that specimen home from the store, not anything else from the warehouse.

McBuster, thank you for your post. I'm glad to hear that this matter has been resolved.

Kind regards,
James
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