Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai CA79 / CA99 owners club

This thread is a portal to an alternate reality.
There is no rattle of the speakers, no buzzing, and no beta software required in my world.
I own a Kawai CA99.
Perhaps Iawak 99AC are rattling.

Yesterday I was playing a CA79 in a shop, and I loved it. They had also a CA-59, which was my first choice, and the difference is abismal, both in sound and in touch.

I have to move my Kawai KDP110 to a second residence when the authorities allow (covid-19 restrictions), get my wife' s permission, and then I'll buy one, despite what I read in this thread.

I own a Ford Focus, and when I read the posts of owners in a telegram group, I think that I live in a parallel reality, where I own a really good car. I hope this is the case with the Kawai CA79 model.

Yesterday I noticed difference in hight of white keys. In some cases it is arount 1mm. Can anybody share their experience/opinion on that? Is that normal or is it too much? Usually I don't recognize that kind of things, but yesterday noticed visible gap, so I got myself a bit frustrated.
It is GF3 CA99.

For the price you likely paid it is disappointing. Probably no big deal though. Ask the store for warranty service.

The key height at rest is regulated with paper punchings on the balance rail. Should be an easy adjustment for a tech to make.

I'm incredibly envious of your experience thus far dealing with your dealer and Kawaii support.

When I brought up the same issues with my dealer, they told me I simply probably just "dont like the way the instrument sounds" and left me out to dry.

Furthermore, I have been in contact with my dealer and Kawaii regarding my noisy key bed, and my dealer told me to reach out to kawaii as there is nothing they can do, and I've heard no response from Kawaii after getting an initial response over 17 days ago now.

Update on this. I reached out to my dealer who said they can do nothing about this and told me to reach out to Kawai for a replacement or service, providing me with some contact information. I then contacted Kawai (Alan in Product and Juan in support), and while I initially got a response it has been 17 days since I've last heard from them despite several emails asking if I can get an update or if there's more information I can provide to move this along.

Ownership of this instrument has been exhausting. I just reached out to Kawai James via private message again to see if there's anything he can do for me.

I can’t hear the buzzing due to hearing loss, but my wife can and it bothers her. It is discouraging that so much time has passed with no sign of a firmware update.

Hello xchen,


I have received your message, and will try to chase this matter up with my colleagues in the US.

I re-watched the above videos listening with headphones. I can hear a clicking noise, but it's relatively faint compared to the thudding of the keys. Are you able to hear this noise when playing normally, either with headphones on or off?

Regardless, it's up to your dealer and/or Kawai America to determine the best response to your concerns.

Kind regards,
James
x

Hello reefblastbody,


If you would like to test the beta software update for your piano (CA99 or CA79?), please send me a private message with information about your location (country), dealer name, and your contact email address.

Kind regards,
James
x

Yes sir. I just got mine, and darn is the keybed LOUD thump thump thump.... (and the action is too light, I don't care what anyone says about what the weight is or that it's being mistaken for a well-regulated, even action.) I honestly prefer my ES8 slab to the CA79... the RHIII is stiffer and doesn't thump. I think the design of the console on the CA79 acts as a large chamber for the keybed to resonate. Pretty bummed... Luckily I still have my Estonia L190

As an owner of a CA79EB can owners tell me what natural volume setting we have please.

Mine is set to one notch above the middle position.

My reason for asking for responses is that my instrument produces really bad sound distortion both through headphones and normal output. It would be useful to have comparisons if I am setting too loud for the speakers to cope with.

Many thanks in anticipation


Andy

Mine is also set one notch over the middle button. Still not sure about the sound.

Ron

Post

When speaker volume is changed from Normal to Low, the physical volume knob can either be set at maximum (in order to get the same sound level and dynamic range as an acoustic baby grand), or just a tad below maximum (0.5-1 notch down) for a more comfortable volume for longer practice.

When speaker volume is set at Normal (default) which is what I do now, the physical volume knob is set to about 1.5-2 notches down from maximum to match small acoustic grand pianos' levels and comfortable playing.

At the end of the day, how loud it is, is determined by how much control you have over your playing. I play super softly in the morning to avoid disturbing neighbours before I head to work, without changing the volume knob.

Thank you kindly for all the responses
- yeah mine set to full bore, I produce a very wide range of dynamics when playing and for sure when play lightly and mostly open structures she sounds ok.
On the other hand once a tad more gusto and or playing closer structures it seems like the amplification cannot cope and all the massive distortion kicks in. I never had this type of thing with my Yamaha Clavinova even with blasting full backing orchestras, punchy drums and bass.
I feel a bit disappointed with it to be honest and I think I am going to speak to my Stealer and see what they say

Thanks once again

Andy

Does any one know if I can just do a search in the KAWAI CA79/CA99 owners club.

I am looking for threads that deal with settings people use and or different dual combination with the settings that people have found interesting.

Greetings - I’m happy to be a part of the owner’s club here!

Two weeks ago, I picked up my Ebony Black CA79 from a Kawai dealer near me. I’ve been playing as close to non-stop as possible since then, and have gotten to know her fairly well. I can confidently say that I feel I’ve made a very good choice with this piano.

Before purchasing, I read through much of the thread here and found a lot of useful information. This, like all forums, is rife with problems and complaints. I, myself, will be adding one soon about a couple of relatively minor issues I’m having. Thankfully, I don’t have any of the more serious issues that some have posted about. Big or small, it is important that all of these are shared - feedback is what drives improvement. However…the couple of small niggles I have, in my opinion, cannot compare to the large number of things I feel Kawai designed and implemented beautifully in this instrument. So I wanted to have this as a separate post in which I share my overall thoughts, and joy, with this piano. Hopefully, this will be helpful to future Googlers…to give a more complete picture of this piano - at least from my perspective. I know that subjective reviews were extremely helpful to me…and I’m very thankful to all of the folks here who posted their overall impressions and want to give back, so to speak, since they are what guided me to this instrument.

Some Background…
I’m coming from a Roland RD 700…almost 20 years old. She was showing her age, and the fact that she had no onboard speakers, meant I needed a separate pair of monitors, that needed to sit on a shelf far above the keyboard. This led to some pretty awkward acoustics, and the development of some bad playing habits. The time was right for me to get a “grown up” piano. More than any particular group of features, an acoustic “feel” was a must…I wanted a piano that felt like the acoustic upright that I learned on in my younger years, other upright and grand pianos I’ve played on since. I am not a performing pianist, so my scope of experience is limited compared to some, but maybe more broad than others. Despite my love for acoustics, though…digital connectivity was a must, since I do a fair amount of production work in videography and soundtracks.

The keyboard action…
I could not possibly be happier with this GF III action. It is addictively delightful to me! It feels amazingly authentic, and makes me feel very “connected” to the instrument. The escapement…the touch…everything is perfect for my tastes. Even the weight, which felt a little lighter than I anticipated, ended up being something I fell in love with. There is no glory in tired hands after a lot of playing. Also, I love the texture of both white and black keys, and the responsiveness when playing quick passages. Big win!!!

The Acoustic Rendering Engine…
Another big win for me. I didn’t think this would end up being as important to me as it is now. It felt more like hype at first. I was wrong! All the small things I remember from my acoustic days are back…hammer noise, damper noise, resonance…yeah, it’s a big deal. It adds to the feeling of “connection” that the keyboard action begins. In other words, it completes the bigger picture. In all ways that matter to me, this IS an acoustic piano. Also, the ability to quickly switch between piano “styles” of SK-EX Rendering, e.g. Jazz, Clean, etc., is quickly becoming my favorite feature.

The Touch Screen…
I actually love it! Anyone who has tried to weed through nested, text-based menus of a stage piano or synth, will appreciate the ease with which you can change and save sound settings. I am an iOS developer by trade - have been full time for 10 years now, and can appreciate the sheer amount of effort that went into designing not only the piano interface, but also the iOS app, as well as the connectivity and communication between the two. The UI is extremely well designed, and the organization of features is beyond reproach to me. On the flip side of that…there are glitches, and bugs…some of which appear to have been present for a very long time. It looks as though the latest firmware update was a scant 2 months after the piano launched, and nothing has happened since. To be blunt…this is hard to resolve and excuse in my mind - I feel some things should have been addressed by now. This is not a disposable phone that folks will replace in a year. This is an instrument that is designed to be in service for many years…and is priced as such. But…I’ve seen posts from James suggesting that a new firmware is currently in beta, so I am hopeful. He is definitely listening, and Kawai seems to be as well - this is reassuring and welcome in today’s business climate.

Build Quality…
Mine was already assembled in the Kawai dealer’s showroom. However…I’m very happy with what I can tell of the build quality. The style of the piano itself, the ebony polish, as well as the fit and finish of the part have all impressed me. Little touches like built in cable management ties, a break in the back board for easy cable routing, and space underneath for cables to gather when push against the wall…and last, but certainly not least…the smooth action of the sliding fallboard…are all very nice, and show the thought that went into the design. And the pedals are a joy to use! I’ve forgotten how nice it is to use a pedal that doesn’t “run away from you” on the floor. Even better, 3 pedals that all have the weight and feel I’m accustomed to from acoustic instruments. And I can’t forget half-pedaling…I’m relearning old, forgotten skills…and loving it.

Speaker Sound…
In a word, it is “good”. Not great - at least not yet…but I think it could be. It appears that a lot of thought and good design went into the configuration of speakers, installation, placement, DA conversion, processing and the like. I’m very happy with the power, and clarity they provide. But, something, somewhere is definitely amiss to my ears. Some notes - particularly those around C5 - are just simply “off”. They sound shrill, piercing and bell-like - and stick out from the rest of the ranges like a sore thumb, which becomes exponentially worse as the volume increases. But, my piano sits in a small room, so it doesn’t become overbearing since I don’t play at loud volumes. Also, this problem is somewhat mitigated by setting the “Low Volume Balance” to “Off”. Unfortunately, though…this setting is not properly saved between reboots. But, I will post more on this soon…I would love to have the opinion of James from Kawai. I am hoping for a firmware fix. All of this aside, I think that the sound has the potential to be wonderful. Truthfully, it already is in most ranges to my ears. Just needs a little love in a range or two.

Headphone Sound…
In a word…impeccable. The SK-EX rendering and other Harmonic Imaging elements are pristine…all octaves…all ranges…every patch and voice. I don’t particularly like using headphones. I would prefer open-air sound, but when I do…boy am I wow’ed! The problems mentioned above about the shrill notes around C5 are not present when using my Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro open headphones. And, those are high impedance cans, but the CA79 drives them without busting a sweat. No separate headphone amp required! Nice!

So, that’s all for now. All in all, I am loving this piano! Thanks again to those who have posted all of this helpful information here.

Cheers,
Danny

Thank you but I would prefer not to install a beta firmware. I will wait and hope that an update is released soon.

Yes completely agree. Firmware for the 737Max was reworked at a faster rate. Come on Kawai....you make great DPs and world renowned acoustic instruments.

We are talking about a piano here...not a sophisticated aircraft....it has taken far too long to sort out obvious programming issues. We didn’t keep you waiting for our hard earned money when we entered into a contractural relationship by choosing your product over the competing brands in this market.

Please, show your customers that you care about your new CA range and release some fixes for the glaring issues. Even if you can’t fix them all in one release....show us that there is hope and that you are doing something.

Please....

And I completely agree to this. I haven´t bought it yet, only played it at a dealer. I liked it and am interested in buying it but wont´t do so until the UI problems (including the Pianoremote app) and other possible issues are satisfactory solved.
Or are they saving these fixes for the CA80/CA100 (or whatever they will be called)?