Kawai CA99

[zebra555]

I’m considering getting the Kawai CA99 on the basis that it feels and sounds good to me, seems to have all the features of high-end digital pianos, and gets good reviews. What I’m after is a realistic feeling of playing an acoustic without the hassles an acoustic brings.
My problem is knowing where to draw the line - there are much better models if I just consider their higher price, but I don’t know if they would deliver much more. I could go up in budget if it made a difference (although I’m trying to avoid a really heavy DP if I can.

I’d really like to get views and advice on this from others. I know this issue will have been discussed on this forum before - the models change and get updated so quickly though.

[victor66]

I’m after is a realistic feeling of playing an acoustic without the hassles an acoustic brings.

If it helps I have both Kawai MP11SE (original GF action) and Yamaha GC2. Can't say how much GF3 action (CA99) is ahead of GF (MP11SE), but I believe GF and GF3 are very similar. Do I consider MP11SE "realistic" in comparison with GC2? Probably not. Action is lighter and is not as consistent as on GC2. Playing on GC2 requires a bit different technique and it took me some time to get used to it (I had had MP11SE for almost 2 years before I bought GC2). I can't say anything about CA99 sound, but I did try Yamaha N3X (top of the AvantGrand line) and the sound was quite good in headphones, but certainly different from GC2 (or any acoustic for that matter) when playing through speakers.

That been said the real answer to "acoustic vs DP" is "it depends" though. An acoustic does come with hassles, and there are many. So it depends on why do you need that "realism". If you are planning to alternate between playing on CA99 and acoustics then probably acoustic piano is a better choice. Or at least a "true" hybrid (i.e. Yamaha AvantGrand or Kawai Novus), they have "real" action, at least mechanically (it's a bit complicated as action is hard to separate from the sound). If you just want to play for yourself and you like CA99 (do try hybrids and acoustic pianos before deciding) it might be more than enough, and you can always upgrade later.

[lelle]

I have a CA79 which is one price level below the CA99, and I'm fairly satisfied. It doesn't quite feel like a real instrument, but it's good enough to practice on.

[zebra555]

Thanks for your replies, they’re really helpful. I’ll only have one piano and it needs to be digital and preferably not too heavy to move if need be. So I want to get the most realistic action that I can, really just to satisfy my own idea that I could than play an acoustic for example in an exam. Otherwise it doesn’t matter in the sense that I’m an adult learning as a hobby so there’s no real implications either way!  I can try pianos out in the local shop and I know what feels ok, but that is related to the one I already have and I don’t know what a decent acoustic would feel like! I’m relying on reviews which aren’t always unbiased.   Hence any insights from this forum are useful and valuable to me.

[lelle]

Thanks for your replies, they’re really helpful. I’ll only have one piano and it needs to be digital and preferably not too heavy to move if need be. So I want to get the most realistic action that I can, really just to satisfy my own idea that I could than play an acoustic for example in an exam. Otherwise it doesn’t matter in the sense that I’m an adult learning as a hobby so there’s no real implications either way!  I can try pianos out in the local shop and I know what feels ok, but that is related to the one I already have and I don’t know what a decent acoustic would feel like! I’m relying on reviews which aren’t always unbiased.   Hence any insights from this forum are useful and valuable to me.

If you can go to your local shop, why not try out some acoustic instruments while you are there? Then you can get a direct comparison

[zebra555]

Good idea!