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I contacted the retail shop where I originally bought it and they said all Kawai Warranties are direct with Kawai themselves. In contact with them now...

Well, I think the SK-EX Rendering Engine sounds slightly better than the HI-XL + SK-EX sound patch (I hear some more resonances and reverb) but I feel the base SK-EX samples, in all the Kawai DPs, lack detail in the high frequencies, they sound a little too much "compressed" to me, and I don't hear much separation between left and right channel so, after some playing, my ears accuse more fatigue, especially because I play always with headphones. The EX-based sound patches are based on older samples, so they have less detail, but somehow they are more clean sounding, they are more "brilliant" when you play fortissimo, and I feel great dynamics and more separation between left/right channels => less ear fatigue.
Currently my default sound is a mellow/warm EX variant with many customizations in the VT options so that I feel it sounding more like a grand piano.

I've just tested this out and can acrually confirm this is the case!
The sk-ex rich sounds beautiful but it's more like you're hearing a recording - it seems almost manufactured, whereas when I select EX warm with a lot of resonance, somehow it just sounds more realistic strangely enough!

Although playing with head phones Sk-ex sounds superior which is really odd.

Good headphones can make you hear details that you cannot hear with just the internal speaker system (which is unfortunately far from a decent Hi-Fi system) of the DP.

My ca99 sounds excellent when playing back music through Bluetooth but I don't have anything else to compare it to aside from an amazon alexa which obviously it sounds much better than.

If your CA99 sounds good to you via BT but it doesn't sound so good when you play it with its internal piano engine, then it could mean that the internal samples are short and low/middle quality (compared to full-lenght and full-quality samples taken from a real piano without too much post-processing). IMHO the manufacturer should re-sample from scratch a beautiful and well-tuned SK-EX acoustic grand piano (like the one we hear in the Sangah Noona video) and they should use at least 12 velocity layers per note, with much longer samples compared to the current ones.
Current technology allows for this, and these instruments are not cheap, but that's another story... There is no much competition in this market, so the manufacturers take it easy...

Sorry, I didn't mean to infer the piano samples don't sound good. They do. I just think that the ex warm sounds more realistic, so I actually wish it was the ex sound they re-recorded with longer samples. Bring the other piano sounds up to the quality and decay time of the sk-ex. Do that and they would probably overtake them in popularity.

Yes, I wish they improved the EX samples too, I already wrote this in other posts but... I don't think they will do that. Unfortunately their usual behavior is to introduce sometimes a new piano sound (i.e.: SK-5) and/or improving only the main piano sound and leave all the other as they were before.

Anyway I think the real acoustic SK-EX grand piano is absolutely gorgeous and I think it is better, more singing, more versatile than the real acoustic EX (which was already a good grand). The SK-EX is really one of the best grand pianos in the world. But IMHO the digital SK-EX version sounds so pale in comparison that you could think it was sampled from a totally different instrument. I think this is the result of too much filtering and post-processing on the original samples to make them work well in the usual looping scenario (playing a short attack sample followed by its even shorter looping part) and to better blend the few velocity layers. So, a solution would be to store MUCH longer samples (at least 10 seconds per note), with 2-3x the actual number of velocity layers per note (it would be suffice 12 vel. layers). Then we could have a digital piano with much more sound similarity with its acoustic counterpart, at least by playing with good headphones.

Yes I think you could be right.
Owed in part to the resonance modelling they apply on top.
The sk5 sounds just horrid on my ca99. Its tinny and not well balanced at all.

Listen to Islamey practice by SeanCassidy on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/TpiK3

I reuploaded this one to soundcloud with direct USB for you to compare with my phones mic to see if this sounds better. Thanks

Listen to Schubert practice by SeanCassidy on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/opQBs
This is the one I said I started learning the other day there.
It is also without any mastering that soundcloud offers, I might purchase this as it sounded effective when I tried free sample.

Can anyone tell me how to save in wav format instead of mp3 as when I plug USB in nothing happens on touch screen except the little icon to say something is plugged in. Doesn't offer any recording options I have to click record as though I would recording to the pianos internal storage. But when I plug in to my pc it did record to usb... Just not in wav format.

Please try the following:

1. Connect your USB memory device to the piano
2. Open the piano/sound editor window
3. Tap the three dots in the bottom right corner of the screen
4. Select "Open Recorder" to show the Recorder screen
5. On the Recorder scren, tap the three dots in the bottom right corner of the screen to show the Recorder menu
6. Change the recorder type from mp3 to WAV

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
James
x

Hello all Kawai CA99/79 users ! In my Kawai CA99 all pedals work very hard /I mean they are very hard to press / AND THIS IN COMBINATION THAT THEY ARE VERY Short, makes my playing very discomfortable. Is there eny possibility to adjust that and make them easier/softer to press ?

Hello Maciek1965,


Please ensure that the pedal support bolt, located on the underside of the instrument is fully extended. This procedure is outlined on page 15 of the owner's manual.

May I ask if you play-tested the CA99 at your dealer's store prior to purchasing the insturment? Did you find the pedals on the display model too hard/heavy also?

Kind regards,
James
x

Thanks for Your answer James ! No i did not testplayed a CA 99 in a pianostore because of the Covidproblems and Yes the pedal support bolt is fully extended. I have playd meny digital and acusticpianos before and never even thogugt about it /hardness of pedals/ Now it seems to be a problem and even my friends who playd on my piano act upon that ! Enethink to de about it ?

Thank you for your reply.


Okay, I see.


Okay. Unfortunately, it's difficult to tell if the pedals are the correct weight, or if there is perhaps a problem with the instrument. My recommendation would be to consult with your dealer regarding this topic. Ideally, it wil be possible to visit the store, play-test their CA99 display model, and check whether the pedal weighting is different to your own piano.


No, I'm afraid not. The weight of the pedals is not something that can be adjusted, unfortuntely.

Kind regards,
James
x

ok I understand ! I wonder if the pedals are a bit softer/lighter in Kawai
Novus NV-5 ?

Is that what you were using previously?
If so why did you switch