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@Ozan - In my case the headphones sound even better than the room i play in. - Think it just depends on how good the headphones are and for hours playing with them - ask do they fit. Nothing to do with the piano per say

Dear Forum Members, since one month I have been really enjoying playing my CA99 EP although still trying to find my favorite sound setting. However since the very beginning I am hearing some ticking noises when releasing some of the keys.

Please have a look at the video (https://youtu.be/G9dvesh2k-Q).

You will hear the ticking noise I have in mind when releasing the B key - this doesn't happen on the neighboring C key. Have you experienced anything similar? I first thought it would go away after a while but doesn't seem to. I find a similar case on 1/3 of the keys - mostly white keys.

@James - do you think this requires a visit of a technician? This happens also when the piano is switched off.

Would appreciate your thoughts on that. Small thing but overtime becomes irritating. Many thanks, J

Hello JMCA99,

You do not indicate where you are based, however if you have any concerns with your instrument, my recommendation would be to contact the dealer for assistance.

Kind regards,
James
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Hi James, I am based in Poland and will of course be in touch with my local dealer. Was just curious to hear other players' opinions who had faced similar issues. So I understand that this is not nominal and should not happen and consequently requires the attention of a technician. Many thanks! J

I received my ca99 today, its really nice, not sure what settings are best at the moment, i have it against wall, slight gap between wall and piano of course... Is there a wall. EQ setting or something i heard about that changes sound?

I noticed my G3 key is slightly heavier with more resistance than any other key on the piano.. I can't see this being intentional either, it bothers me slightly but not sure it's an issue i could get fixed... Not sure what to do. It does not feel of the same high quality as the other keys to me, too much resistance on the down stroke, and i only noticed because the other keys around it are lighter and feel better like the rest of the keyboard does.

Yes there is wall EQ setting for different kind of walls, check manual. As for the key this is definitely worth getting technician over, all keys should have very similar resistance and if you feel this one key then there is definitely something wrong.

Hello mwf, congrats on your new CA99.

As Nordomus notes, there are two "Wall EQ" modes for different types of wall material. Please experiment with each setting to find the sound that you enjoy the most.

Regarding the keyboard action, if you have concerns, my recommendation would be to contact your dealer for assistance.

Kind regards,
James
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With the greatest respect, that's not quite what I said.

I simply recommended that you contact your dealer should you have any concerns with your instrument.

Kind regards,
James
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Tried a few pianos at a large shop to see if why most of you guys love your CA-79/99 so much. Also tried two years ago a CA-78 in the same shop so I am able to compare a little bit.

I own a mid-range Roland EP for 10 years now but had in the past not the time to practise daily or at least every second day. For two years now I take the time to practice and now I can hear and feel all the deficiencies with my Roland – I just need a reasonably good piano now! I am for sure still a beginner but got an extraordinary musical hearing from birth.

Here my Impressions on the shop:
First, I tried one hour some AP grands in the range 15k$ to 60k$ to get the ‘original’ feeling and sound as a kind of benchmark to the following test of EPs. Guess what! In total I was rather disappointed. Even though the store employs good piano technicians with reputation in the surrounding I could not find even one piano which was perfect in tune – but I am extreme sensitive regarding this topic. The feel of the mechanism was very different between the brands at each point: escapement, weight of the keys, inertia, friction, etc.
The escapement feeling was often not perfectly even in all keys and was imho too heavy for most instruments. I tried some brands from all over the world and liked the Kawai and the Yamaha instruments most due to their good balance across all points of key feeling. But in total I disliked in general on the most APs a lot of mechanical friction in the actions comprising of many parts.

To the EPs: The sound in the 3000$+ class was reasonably good for me, slightly better in CA-99NV5NV10. For sure at least one level below the APs but perfectly in tune at least! ..forever! You can feel less friction in the key mechanics due to less moving parts. Curiously enough, even the hybrids NV5/NV10 felt also very ‘smooth’, ‘clear’, ‘lightweight’ and ‘defined’ i.e. they seemed like they have less friction in the action, although they have an acoustic-like action.
Most of the EPs have too short keys; If the distance from front end of the key to the pivot point is too short its hard to depress the key further inside (nearer to the housing). That’s really bad for playing some chords. Another Problem of most EPs: The keys are too heavy (not to mix up with ‘inertia’)! I love regular keys weight and the most AP are around 50 g on middle C and imho ideal.
Don’t know why most of the EPs are tuned in range of 60 to 90+ g!
One guy stated here, EP actions in general feel like toys – yes, they do! And I love it! It is called piano PLAYING and should be FUN – not work! You are right if you say that the most AP have the same weight without pedal depressed – but usually you are playing the most time with pedal depressed! Fun fact: Besides the KAWAIs only some ‘china trash’ EPs around 500$ were perfect in key weight but no one of the known brands.

My Impressions in detail:

All Yamahas: Nice sound, but action with very hard stop, some plastic-like feeling and too heavy.

Casio GP-310: Key feeling is ‘wooden’ but the overall quality feeling of the housing as well as of the action was poor to me. Also, too short keys.

KAWAI NV5: Action close to an upright AP but more ‘smooth’, ‘clear’, ‘lightweight’ and ‘defined’. And as every EP: Perfect in tune! ..but ,honestly, I don’t like the feeling of uprights.

KAWAI NV10: Action close to a grand AP but more ‘smooth’, ‘clear’, ‘lightweight’ and ‘defined’. And as every EP: Perfect in tune! I can’t afford and dream on..

KAWAI CA-59: Action with ‘wooden feeling’ but keys a bit too short. Compared to the 79/99 is the action slightly more ‘mushy’ and ‘inaccurate’ but better than competitors I tested nearby in the same price range! They have cheap plastic keys in this price range!

KAWAI CA-79/99: Action with ‘wooden’ feeling, perfect light in weight, very low inertia, very responsive, Stop is medium hard, less perceptible escapement simulation, nice matte surface of the keys. Housing could by worthier.

KAWAI CA-78/98: Comparison to the CA-79: Unfortunately, can’t remember the sound exactly but the action. The same light weight keys but much more inertia. I assume this fact triggers the discussions of different weight – but physically correct we have a different inertia here; the weight is very similar! The stop is much mushier, and I assume due to heavier ‘hammers’ the responsiveness is ‘coarser’. The escapement simulation is a bit stronger.

My Summary / Recommendations:

Wanna save money? : Go for the CA-59, it’s really good for the price tag.

Got some money? Go for the CA79/99 if you prefer a light-weight action, go for the CA-78/78 if you need a bit more inertia and escapement simulation force feedback.

Got more money/room: Go for the NV10!

Got even more money/room and you are willing to let your piano tune at least four times a year to have no Honky-Tonk-like sound and you want the ‘real’ thing: Go for an AP.

I’m going to buy a CA-79 this year – hopefully getting one without any flaws!

I had a similar problem with the A2, F4 and C5 being slightly heavier than the others on my CA79. My local dealer picked up the piano (the upper part) on Sunday evening and returned it on Monday evening fully fixed. He said there where some problems with the lubrication (lack thereof?) on some kind of mechanism.
You could fix it yourself (Kawai sent him detailed description on how to do it), but I guess that is not recommended within the warranty period.

I really hope uneven key weight is not a common problem with the new CA series. If it is, I guess many people dont even notice it. Or they are not bothered by it. But it is fixable, if only you can get your dealer to do it.

Thanks for that, i am in touch with the shop i bought it from who should act on it.

My first impressions on the ca99:

1. Touch/action is near perfect for a dp in this price range, beats everything else hands down. It's an absolute pleasure to play on, i can't fault it.. (my unit does has a defective key though). I find it almost impossible to get off the piano because it feels so good under the fingers, so so good in fact I think im in love with it.

2. Sound is a strange one overall, it's definitely growing on me, speakers seem good, but unless i have the master volume above half way the sound seems to come from the back of the unit only and sounds flat, dull and boxy, however volume turned up more makes the piano immediately spring to life! I have to say it's LOUD! Too loud for my room/house in fact. The soundboard is great and i love the haptic feedback. The main sk-ex rendering is gorgeous and I'm in complete awe of the resonances that are produced by everything working together so well. I hear very rich tones from this piano and it has surprised me how good they are. Some odd sounding notes, like the A and D in treble but overall excellent.

3. Some critisms: pedals are a little too small, touch pad is terrible and unresponsive (android app eliminates this though completely).

4. Want to end on this criticism if anyone can explain: why does the main default sk-ex rendering voice not have reverb, but has ambience instead? My issue is the reverb you can apply on the other piano voices is more noticeable and effects the tone far more than the weak ambience setting does on the rendering mode. I want concert hall reverb on the sk-ex rendering voice not some weak ambience setting like natural or large room setting which hardly adds anything to the main tone. I prefer the sk-ex concert setting with reverb, the piano sounds more alive and vibrant like it should. Yes i know you can alter the depth of the ambience, but it's still nothing compared to the reverb effect, a simple way of testing is to play staccato notes/chords and listen to that ringing out/spatiousness effect.

I also don't hear any difference between sk-ex rendering and sk-ex concert for example... Only if the sustain pedal is pressed, then its very different, far more resonances going on.

In summary, this piano is growing on me day by day, it is very much a pure piano alternative... Its meant for playing piano nothing else, kind of like the opposite of a yamaha CVP model and even more piano orientated than a CLP model... If that makes any sense. Its geared for serious piano players and concert artists.

What is a fair price for kawai ca99? In USD?

What's the method to play a vst through the ca99 speakers? There are no 6.5mm jack inputs, just a small 3.5mm input I think on the kawai, have to get a adaptor from 6.5mm to 3.5mm?

The connection method will vary depending on the hardware used to producing the sound. If you're connecting a laptop or Macbook, a simple 3.5mm to 3.5mm stereo cable (from the laptop's headphone jack) should do the trick. If you're using an audio interface, it may use 2x 6.5mm terminals, in which case you would need a 2x 6.5mm to 1x 3.5mm stereo Y-splitter cable.

Kind regards,
James
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Is it possible to place a Piano music lamp on top of the CA99. My lamp has a 15cm round base and I want to place it in the centre of the piano and was wondering if that will cover a speaker over because I believe there is 4 speakers placed on top of the piano.

Ok so - I thought I was crazy. I might be, but now I know I'm not alone!

The action is so smooth and "buttery," almost, that I do find myself oddly thinking about it when I'm not playing, too. And it's been many weeks since I got it. I'm not typically an obsessive kind of person so I've felt odd about it! Maybe there's some sort of neurological re-wiring going on.

Me too...

Thanks Kawai James for all your helpful replies.

Why is there no local on/off on the kawai ca99? I am trying to run a vst through it but it plays both internal sound at same time as vst, so now I guess I have to take the audio from the kawai into my audio interface and mix it so it goes silent, think that's what i have to do?

Think it's under midi settings lol, I'll check tomorrow sorry

Yes, top-right menu button --> MIDI Settings --> Local Control.

Cheers,
James
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