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I recently purchased a Kawai CA49 because of the suspension in making the ES920 and I'm unhappy. The CA49 only has a headphone output and I tried to connect it to a pair of Tannoy Reveals (actually bought ADAM T7s for the studio so I could use the Tannoys for the piano) using a TRS adapter cable and got a tsunami of hum. The internal speakers of the Kawai are only okay but I'm left wondering how to get pro quality output from this thing to feed my recording system. Yes, I have plenty of piano VIs (Garritan and Simple Sam being my faves) but I want to be able to hear and record the SK and EX Concert Grands. Is there a way?

Ground loop isolator will help against hum

You probably knew the CA49 didn't have a line-out when you bought it? This is hacking ground.
A bit of extra noise is unavoidable, unless you find the line signals before the phones amp and lead them to additional line-out sockets.
A ground loop isolator may indeed help.
Firstly try powering the piano and the speakers from the same wall socket, and disconnecting other electrical gadgets that might be causing hum one by one.
In studios sometimes extra fat conductors are used to connect the grounds of connected devices. Are the speakers and the piano connected to ground or floating?
There is more than one possible wiring for the adapter cable if the speakers have differential input.

Thanks for your suggestions.

No I didn't know the CA49 didn't have line outputs. I should call my guy at Sweetwater and bitch him out. It was offered as substitute for the ES920 once that had been temporarily discontinued. I'm not going to try to access the line signals before the headphones amplifier as opening the case would void the warranty. At this point (now that I've called Sweetwater) they're sending me a cable that will split the headphone output to two unbalanced plugs and we'll see if that works. Your advice to plug everything into one power strip seemed to solve the hum problem, but only one channel worked. I then verified the headphone output functioned properly (it does), so I'm left waiting for a cable. FYI, the speakers (Tannoy Reveals) power input is two phase (no separate ground).

> I'm not going to try to access the line signals before the headphones amplifier as opening the case would void the warranty.

Opening the case doesn't void warranty unless you break something. It is less likely to add line-out without leaving traces.
Yes you sure need a splitting cable, phones-out is sort of unbalanced stereo.

Hi Steve,

The provision of line in and out connections is one of the principal differences between the CA59 and it's simplified sibling the CA49. So if you can afford the extra outlay I would suggest you consider upgrading.

Regards,

Tog