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Only posting to get some more of the "other side" here also, so that people know that we exist
We bough our CA79 in mid January this year, the only issue "HW side" was a light squeaking sound from some keys after about 1 month of playing. This sound disappeared by itself after playing more so now it is a perfect instrument in perfect working order.

However I also stand in the long line as others waiting for a software update, but while I'm waiting the whole family is still playing it every day

Another 'other sider'!

I have had my CA99 since May 2020. Bought from Bonners UK, who delivered, unpacked and installed it in my home with great care. No issues whatsoever HW wise, it just works. I too also look forward to a software update, but in the meantime will continue to enjoy learning to play piano on my CA99.

I bought CA99 on Feb 2021, but returned it last week for the squeaking problem.
Although the local technician tried to fix it, this problem still appeared again and again.

Before I bought CA99, I had surveyed and tried the same level instruments for two months.
Finally I thought CA99 was the most suitable for me, because I loved the touch of CA99.

But I can't accept to pay so high price to get such quality of instrument.
It is so disappointed..:'(

Chris Ho and Maypole, welcome to pianoworld for your first post...

Add to the "other side" - I got my CA79 in March 2020. It was delivered by a heavy freight company (no special movers), and a kindly friend wore 2 masks while he helped me assemble it. I had a few slight issues with key noises when I would first sit down to play, but even that has gone away in the year since. Perfect instrument for my needs. I use VSTs, but, that's only because I enjoy making things more complicated than they need to be.

I've had my recording save/file disappearing bug a couple more times since I last posted. I still don't know how I get to the state where recording does this, unfortunately.

I managed to get it on video. I think the issue is slightly different from what I initially thought.
The recording is screwed whether or not you go to the "Music" tab and try to play it.
I've realized this because I found a way to tell before you even save that it's going to fail: the playback before saving does not work (the timer starts, but nothing is played, this part is not in the video).
This means that the recording is never even properly done...

Here's the video.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14DoN0nhxLyQrUfsEjdjuelmuih0YoI0R/view?usp=sharing

I've just recorded something, I save it as "tt" and go to the Music tab, USB music player, find it in the list, try to play it. It fails.
Then I move to the recorder playback, with the same results.

I then unplug the USB key, and plug it back in. When I go to the USB music player once more, the "tt" file is not there anymore.

After taking the video, and watching it back I further realized that the 2 recordings that I did just before, just above it disappeared as well ("cz29.02", and "cz29.03", which you can see both in the USB music player and Recorder playback menus before I unplug the USB). So I lost those recordings too...

Meap6,

I recall that you were planning to discuss this topic with your dealer, and visit the store to check their showroom instruments.

How are things progressing on this front?

Kind regards,
James
x

Hi James,
I'm planning to phone them today to see if they can replace the USB port, but I doubt I'll be able to reproduce the issue on their showroom instruments (if they even have any left) since I'm not consistently reproducing it on my own piano.

Thanks for asking though.

You have many recordings on the stick at the moment. Did the failures start even when it was fairly empty? Are the failures more common now that there are many files and more data on the stick? What's the capacity of the stick?

What's the sqeeking problem? Squeeky keys like mine? Random keys and friction noises?

Kawai said its normal to me so I didn't have the option to return it... Are you saying you had a technician come round and acknowledge it was an issue and tried but failed to remedy it?

Yeah, when I first had the issue, I had under 15-20 files. I don't feel they're more common now compared to before (to be fair, I've "only" had the issue occur 4 times with this stick)
The stick is 32Gb and completely empty aside from the recordings, so no space issues at all. I bought it specifically for this.

In any case, I called my dealer, who told me to call their "audio maintenance" dealer, who basically told me to call the kawai france rep. and see with them before calling them back.
At that point in the phone call chain I ran out of time, so I'll see what they say tomorrow.

My problem was while I pressed some specific keys(G1, G2, not random keys), the left speaker of piano produced the white noise.
(I'm not the native English speaker, so I'm not sure whether the term, white noise, is correct to my situation or not)

At the first, the technician came to my home, and agreed my CA99 produced some wired noise.
So he adjusted some screws, replaced a piano component and recorded the occurred problem(wired noise) on the maintenance log.
And also they extended my assurance period from 12 months to 18 months.

But after one month, this problem occurred again...
So, I started to strive for returning.

At this time, the retailer claimed it was normal.(conflict with the maintenance log...)
So I told them I will appealed to consumer protection officer.
After negociation, finally we reached an agreement to returning with about 3.5% depreciation.

Thanks for the reply and explanation, retailer trying to worm their way out of it, Kawai should just give you another piano, but probably also don't care either, scandalous companies, and I don't care what anyone says in defence of kawai, their products appear to be unreliable... Too many issues posted by customers now on this forum alone.

When my CA99 got the problem, I surfed many discussions on this forum.
I found there were many people have the same problem with mine, so I believed my CA99 problem was not the special case.
It gave me much confidence to fight against retailer, that's why I should contribute some information to this forum.

Kawai should face this problem, and make the global returning policy.

Good morning,
I was thinking to buy the CA99 but I'm a bit scared of the many problems you guys reported in this thread. Do you suggest me to change idea regarding this choice and buy, maybe, a CLP-785?
Thank you all.

I'm asking a similar question. I'm going to the piano shop on Wednesday to pay the deposit on my CA79 and now I've read all of this and I'm worried.

Some questions to ask yourself if the CLP 785 is better for you:

• Is there a price difference? In my country the 785 is about 400€ more expensive.
• Do I like the sound of XYZ?
• I prefer XYZ - do I have a reputable dealer where I can change my mind if I'm not satisfied and only pay the difference (or get it back)? (Get that in writing!)
• Can I wait for longer, such that the update is issued and existing customers can chime in?
• Do I prefer heavier or lighter action?
• Do I care about a wooden action?
• Can I test them in person and make up my mind more easily?
• Can I go for CA79 and use my own amp to get the action but not the sound?
• Can I carry a 90kg piano to the final destination? Does it fit through my staircase? (Y: comes in pieces, K: is one piece)
• If I need it now: which one is more readily available?
• If I need it now: are the problems talked about a problem for me - aka I only want to play piano - that's it?
• Regarding CLP 775: do I care about counterweights?

These are just some. For me it was the Kawai - just love the sound much much more. I don't like Y's bright sound at all. If I wasn’t satisfied, I would’ve only lost 20€ to ship it back. That’s fair. A good dealer is key!

Hello fr34k, the price difference wouldn't be an issue if I could have a reliable piano. Honestly I prefer the Kawai sound because I find the Yamaha's one too metallic (even thought I suppose with the sound settings you could get it more warm).
About the updates I feel there won't be any now because it's been more than an year that the piano is in production, but still it seems Kawai did nothing about the problems. Don't misunderstand me, I think Kawai is a great brand but, for what I'm reading, they are still young in the digital world.
I've tested the Kawai CA99 in the store and it sounded amazing, but there was too much noise to check for sounds problems. I hope to test the 785 soon in another store to see how it plays.

From what I can tell from the website, the new Novus line reuses the interface, down to the android it's running on. So there's some new hardware that's reusing the old software. I don't think they would do this (not fixing bugs), as they do know that there are problems. The UI is separate from the sound controller anyways...

I think that's down to the individual unit. With a Kawai there is a possibility of such an occurrence and with Yamaha non have surfaced yet.

I noticed that 40 Hz is the resonance frequency so with increased base response (Custom EQ & WallEQ), you might get vibrations around D1# and D2# and I do have them when I increase the volume - that, however, is somewhat inevitable (as an aerospace engineer: yes, it can be resolved but it needs serious finagling in the spectrum to not be audible and work). Other distortions I cannot accept and I do not experience any with the normal firmware. The keys are wooden and therefore aren't as consistent as plastics would be (clicking and whatnot), but they have a different feel.

I generally don't recommend any product as often comes down to personal preference. They only thing I am comfortable to say is that the hardware on my CA99 is amazing. The software - something that is easily upgradable - is beta. It's the first new generation so I do expect bugs and their fixes down the line, although I would've preferred DAL C levels of quality assurance. (Design Assurance Levels used in the aerospace industry)

Well the software is the less of my concerns because when I'll find the best setting for the right sound I want to have I will stick to that, I won't play around too much.


So you don't experience any of the problems listened here about the buzzing sounds? (I've read somewhere else that some keys plays a white sound noise too)