Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai announces Concert Artist CA98 and CA78 digital pianos

Wow, that's definitely a true improvement - to my ears, anyway. The lower registers sound fuller and more realistic to me, and just generally more pleasing. You can tell Kawai is really ready stand behind this because the pieces they chose to record have a lot more slower and sustained notes, with room for the resonance to come through. Congrats to the Kawai engineers. I look forward to trying out the actual physical pianos and seeing how much of that resonance comes through on the piano speakers.

I just got the opportunity to play one a couple weeks ago, and it definitely makes an improvement to the sound in the lower registers, around A0 - A2. In other digital pianos, including Kawai's lower models, there's a distinct artificiality I often hear in these low notes, especially played hard, or with the piano turned up to a louder volume (played through the piano speakers, not headphones). It's actually what I like least about digital pianos, that and how much a digital piano starts to fall behind in sound quality when you play pieces with a lot of chords or sustained notes where you really start to hear the lack of resonance in the digital piano.

I'd definitely say that the CA97 sounds the best out of any digital pianos I've tried so far, including Roland, Nord, etc. I haven't had a chance to try the very highest end Yamaha models yet though.

That's a tricky one to answer...



It's not uncommon to see English titles used on Japanese websites and in some UIs, perhaps the notion is that English words have a "stylish" appearance? I'm obviously not Japanese, however it's my understanding that most Japanese people can read and interpret English words to a greater or lesser extent. Moreover, the function of each button and screen is clearly explained in the owner's manual, so I expect the designers or the CA's UI (who are obviously Japanese) felt there would be no problem using English words in certain areas.

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks for the replay James. I will interpret the non-denial as a "yes".

It would be pretty amazing if there were an API - then people could create and share music and settings via their own apps over the internet... backing tracks to play along with, libraries of jazz tunes to play in the background for a soiree... a particularly realistic virtual technician configuration... the possibilities are endless! Great to see Kawai at the cutting edge of user interfaces, but it can go even further if you allow a whole world of users to use their creativity and time/effort to improve it further. I might even write one myself.

Basically if it's on Android then there must already be an API, it would pretty much just be a case of making it public and providing a way to connect an external device.

Two new demos for the 'Classic' and 'Romantic' tonal characters have been uploaded to Kawai Europe's website:

Classic: Rachmaninov, Etude Tableaux op.39 no.1
Romantic. Enrique Granados, Los Requiebros

These pieces were performed by Viviana Lasaracina.

https://www.kawai.de/products/digitalpianos/caserie/ca98/

Kind regards,
James
x

Thank you James! The new engine sounds really great!

One question: I am aware the MIDI player and recorder is not available in pianist mode - and I do understand a number of perfectly valid technical reasons behind that decision. But does this mean that the demos that we are hearing in pianist mode are always played live and recorded to wav/mp3? Or is there any way to actually render/play a proper SMF/MIDI or KSO file in pianist mode?

Another question: is the rosewood finish on the new models darker than in previous models? Or is it just the photos?

Many thanks!

Hello arc_turus,







Yes, the Pianist mode demos that you hear were all recorded live using the built-in USB audio recorder (WAV format). Currently there it is not possible to load an SMF or KSO file and play it back in Pianist mode - the player will automatically switch to Sound mode).



The CAx8 finishes are identical to the CAx8 finishes. However, we obviously shot photography for the two generations at different times, and unfortunately it's not always possible to get a perfect colour match in the images (although every effort is tried).

May I ask if you are comparing the product images on the Kawai Global site:

http://www.kawai-global.com/product/ca98/
http://www.kawai-global.com/product/ca97/

The location images will have a different colour tone, due to the different room and natural lighting, however the main product images (revealed by clicking the 'Gallery' button in the white information box) should match.

Kind regards,
James
x

Here is a video of the CAx8 announcement/launch event at Kawai’s Omotesando store in Tokyo.

https://youtu.be/lQ20PA1mpOE

Cheers,
James
x

Watching the video at .25 speed, the key bounce is pretty noticeable. Other videos show the same thing for these models.

I'm not certain that watching anything at 4x slow motion and estimating how the thing feels based on the slomo video is a good idea. Will your ears hear or fingers feel how something looks bouncy when slowed down? Or maybe you meant the springiness as a positive?

Have you had experience that slow motion bounciness is adversely correlated with keyboard feel? Without context, the statement sounded bit like "the Nike stripe on the sneaker looks rough on the edge when viewing the runner at 400 % enlargement".

Yes, but the new CA98/78 models are supposed to use the same GFII action that has been used in the CA97/67 and CS11/8 models. And GFII is not so different from GF used in many other older models, including the MP11. So, I expect the action on the new models to behave the same way as in the previous models, with all the good and bad things that come with it...

You can also observe the behaviour of the Kawai actions in other videos, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3LNH2Zz_DU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh-i8VbHylI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSRKWy6j2Cg - this one compares the CA65 (with GF action) with a Yamaha acoustic grand

Cheers!

A new demo for the 'Pop' tonal character has been uploaded to Kawai Europe's website:

https://www.kawai.de/products/digitalpianos/caserie/ca98/

Kind regards,
James
x

I applaud the fact Kawai hired such a talented classical pianist as Viviana Lasaracina to showcase the classical and romantic modes. She is a very well known name and her playing is absolutely fabulous. This is much better than recording internal demos that are just programmed MIDI files that were not even played on the same piano judging by how loud they come out, compared to even your best effort to play with the same strength. I'm not sure if the actual Playing by Viviana was recorded without editing and I hope so, but in any case it's at least a testament that a real demanding classical pianist can play the piano.

Nothing against Ingo (if that was his name) who used to do the video demos of Kawai but I've seen him demoing classical music and frankly it could have been better His pop/jazzy demos were very good and he seems to know very well al the features. But from my point of view (a customer one, and a classical music aficionado) Kawai pianos are meant to be appealing as ultimate acoustic piano replacement which I associate with classical music and serious solo jazz piano improvisation, so I expect to see demos made by serious classical pianists as well.

That’s fine, but for balance I don’t agree. (ultimate acoustic piano replacement which I associate with classical music and serious solo jazz)

OK, fair enough. This has been an old argument over here and I'm not saying pop music is lower standard, etc. I listen to pop music and won't divide music as serious and not serious (well, I used the word 'serious' in my previous post though, by which I mean piano playing that is demanding and showcases as many piano features as possible). What I imply, and it's not necessary that you agree, is that typical digital piano demos feature pop, new age and easy listening demos that won't showcase stuff like half-pedaling, resonances, long piano sustain, lyrical playing (that shows how smoothly the notes will blend, especially when played legato and/or with sustain pedal which might sound like an easy task but not all digital pianos actually posses).

Are people really hearing a big difference between the Pianist Mode and Sound Mode here? I just listened to all of the demos on the European site - both the Pianist mode demos with the different "Characters" and the Sound mode demo for the various instruments. The difference between the different Characters in Pianist is subtle but clearly apparent. The difference between the different instruments (e.g. SK-EX vs SK-5) in Sound mode is obviously huge as expected. But the difference between Pianist mode with Classic Character and Sound mode seems to be very small. I can hear, but only just, and I tried it on someone else and they couldn't tell the difference at all. I would have expected a much bigger difference. The new Pianist mode demos are also quite dry; I don't like things excessively reverbed but I think a bit would have helped bring out the differences a bit more.

I guess because they're from the same samples, they will sound very similar, but honestly, the difference between Pianist mode Characters is greater than the difference between Pianist Mode and Sound mode to me, and I wasn't expecting that given the hype. This is through headphones and via audio demos, mind you, so judgment should probably be reserved for testing the instruments in the shop, but I might lower my expectations a bit after hearing that.

If I hear the Pianist vs. Sound mode in Novus NV 10's demo video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb2pbXbLKTk , I do hear significant difference - especially in trills. Note that, in this demo, first piece is in Pianist mode and the second piece is in regular Sound mode. And, Pianist mode does sound significantly better to my ears. This is Novus NV10 demo - but it appears to be identical interface/sound to CA98.

Osho

Haven't tried either of these yet (as they don't seem to be in stock yet). Phoned up Rose Morris in London, but they don't have them in yet.

In any case... This post is really about the colour schemes (or lack of them) that these are available in.

Kawaii James - Why are they available in such a limited range of colours?

Looks like rosewood (which is dark), satin black (which is dark), and white (which is the only 'light' colour available)

How about adding in a white ash version as well?

(For example the Yamaha YDP163 is available in white ash - see here - https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/pianos/arius/ydp-163/index.html )

That way people wouldn't be forced to either get totally miserable dark colours, or slightly ott white. Seeing as most peoples homes are magnolia-ish colour schemes, it would seem to make sense to have something like a white ash version that matches up to that more neutral colour scheme.

Are you thinking that's a good or bad thing?

Most acoustics also bounce in a similar manner. It's an inevitable result of having the key/hammer system having a higher mass.



If you watch closely, the sound mode appears to be playing the EX sample set not the SK-EX, I'd be cautious on judging too much on the modes, the sounds of those two sample sets is quite different, the EX is generally brighter, a little 'thinner' and has a bit more very low bass in it.

Hello

I am more or less an adult beginner (3 years of lessons) and i am just starting to learn the piece on this kawai demo video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb2pbXbLKTk (Pianist mode). Its the beginning of the Chopin Nocturne in c sharp minor opus posthumous.

I have an Kawai CS11 with the "normal hi-xl" sound of the SK-EX.

My recording of the beginning of this piece on my CS11 in .wav ist terrible (just starting to learn this piece and more or less a beginner), so forgive me for hurting your ears. I altered the default resonance settings on the CS11 a bit.

Maybe this comparison between hi xl SK EX and Pianist mode SK EX (on the video) of the same piece is nevertheless usefull for some.

Here ist the link of my recording:Chopin Nocturne c sharp minor opus posthumous

I am very much interested in your opinion of the difference of the sounds (hi xl vs. Pinist mode)

Daniel