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

For what it's worth, I've had my CA79 since the beginning of March and have zero issues with it at all. Touch wood! I quite like the little noises the keys make naturally, gives the DP some character!

The only thing, if you have pets that shed lots of fur, buy a lint roller for the speaker cover on top!!

Hello Theinvisibleman, welcome to the forum.


The CA99/CA79 have only been on the market for a couple of months (depending on the market area), however the structure and materials of the keys/key surfaces are essentially the same as that of previous generation instruments. Therefore, I don't believe this is a common problem.

Kind regards,
James
x

As with all digital pianos, the CA99/CA79 keyboard action uses rubber switches to trigger notes.

The only mainstream (i.e. manufactured in large quantities) digital instruments that use optical sensors are Yamaha's AvantGrand N1X/N2/N3 and selected Silent instruments, and Kawai's Novus NV10/NV5 and AnyTimeX/Aures instruments.

Kind regards,
James
x

Good to hear Amy.

Good tip on the pet hair roller too!

James
x

It just i see already a few people mention the same issue so it makes me a little concerned.

I wonder if they are easy to replace. And can I buy some of those rubber switches.
With other digital pianos I have problems with sensors, even when a triple sensor (so a relatively new design) is used.

Hi Amy,

The little noises you mention, are they like clicks?

Many thanks

I have no plastic clicks but rather dull hits of the wood. like whatever fabric was supposed to eliminate it is missing or lacking. you can clearly hear it on the video with the middle black keys and clearly not hear it with the back keys on the left. but it's completely different and unrelated to what Galuwen has. James is sure downplaying the issue though.

Does the optical sensor provide an enhancement to the playing experience over the rubber?
I saw a CS11 has this property so was weighing up if that makes it worth it over the older sound samples?
Thanks

Probably lack of enough felt around the middle stabilizer hole in the key. It's the same on GF2, I was hoping it was better on GF3.

Hi Kawai,

I find that the SK-EX Rendering reverb maybe set to high and causes the piercing/ringing after effect sound in the treble keys. I tried making many adjustments but the ringing sound does not go away. I switched to SX-EX Concert and it sounded good after switching to Room setting in reverb. To bad, because I'd rather play using SK-EX Rendering.

I also have had my CA79 since March with no problems. I enjoy it very much.

can you record depressing sound (if any?) of the black keys around middle C? perhaps I'm ultra sensitive.

I'm looking at the Startup Settings and I'm confused about two options:
1. Current - The digital piano will always start-up with the current (at the time of selection) instrument settings.
2. Power Off - The digital piano will always start-up with the settings that were used when the instrument was turned-off.

They seem almost the same to me. Is there a subtle difference that I'm not understanding?

Reason is, when I start my piano I want to use the last sound setting I used with its customizations. For example, I want to always use SX-EX | Concert with Room reverb. Thanks.

Pilito,

And how does CA79 sound through Sennheiser HD 660 S?
I was thinking about getting 660S.
That piercing/ringing - is it through headphones or without or both?
If through headphones, is it also through some cheaper different headphones too?

The piano sounds great through the HD 660S. I actually have to lower the volume! I also ordered the HD6XX (half the price from drop.com) to see which I like better.

The piercing/ringing noise is consistent through two headphones (HD660s and Shure 440) and speakers. The noise is due to the SX-EX Rendering sound selection. I wonder if others hears it? I think it is reverb set too high in the rendering. I'm very sensitive to reverb settings set too high. I had the same issue with the Yamaha P515 when I tried that piano. The default reverb was set way too high.
Unfortunately, I can't adjust reverb for the SX-EX rendering sound.

I was literally going to buy one today but will hold off a few more months now to see if there are more key issues.

I hear the odd little click, and I mean very little click. The other sounds are just the wooden keys moving around when you play. I like it!

I am still waiting for my CA99 EP, so I may be mistaken, but the manual says you can switch between various ambiance types when using SK-EX Rendering:

"Ambience will only be displayed when the “SK-EX Rendering” piano sound variation is selected."

Ambience types:
Natural. Simulates the ambience of a natural environment.
Small Room. Simulates the ambience/reverberation of a small room.
Midium Room. Simulates the ambience/reverberation of a medium-sized room.
Large Room. Simulates the ambience/reverberation of a large room.
Mellow Lounge. Simulates the ambience/reverberation of a recording studio.
Bright Lounge. Simulates the ambience/reverberation of a wooden recording studio.
Studio. Simulates the soft ambience/reverberation of a lounge.
Wood Studio. Simulates the bright ambience/reverberation of a lounge.
Live Stage. Simulates the ambience/reverberation of a live stage.
Echo. Simulates the ambience/reverberation of an echo chamber.

Interesting that Lounge simulates studio, and Studio simulates lounge. Probably the manual needs to be corrected

So does this piercing/ringing is affected by changing the SK-EX Rendering Ambience type?

The excessive reverb does not change by changing the ambience. I tried! Again, I'm a little sensitive to excessive reverb. Others may not have this issue.

Overall, the piano is great. Still the best digital piano in the market today