CA-99 Digital Piano Receives the Product Excellence Award from Music Inc Magazine [2022]

Embracing many of the long-established principles associated with an acoustic piano, the Grand Feel III keyboard action utilized by the CA99 combines realistic materials, motion, and mechanism to recreate the exceptional touch of the finest concert grand pianos.

All eighty-eight black and white keys are crafted entirely from long pieces of wood, with finely textured ivory and ebony-like surfaces applied to absorb moisture and assist control. Each wooden key pivots smoothly on a balance pin – the ends rising and falling to replicate the familiar ‘seesaw’ motion of an acoustic piano action. When pressed, the back of the key lifts, triggering a grade-weighted hammer to strike a pressure switch. The amount of force applied to this switch is then measured, and the corresponding note played with authentic tonal character and volume.

The Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano was conceived as the next step in evolving the art of the piano. Earning a reputation as the ‘premier piano of Japan,’ it graces the stages of concert halls and musical institutions around the globe, receiving universal acclaim for its exceptional clarity and dynamic range. The SK-EX has frequently been selected by professional pianists at such prestigious events as the Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Rubinstein international piano competitions. With its magnificent tone and wonderfully responsive touch, the SK-EX can best be described with one word – incomparable.

In order to faithfully reproduce the stunning sound of a Shigeru Kawai concert grand piano digitally, Kawai has developed SK-EX Rendering. This special, piano-only sound engine focuses the Concert Artist’s DSP power, combining multi-channel, 88-key sampling with the latest resonance modelling technology to deliver pure acoustic piano authenticity. When SK-EX Rendering is selected, players can choose ten differently prepared piano characters ranging from Classic and Romantic, to Jazz, and even Boogie.

The knowledge and skill of an experienced piano technician is essential to bring out the best of a fine acoustic piano. In addition to tuning each note, the technician also performs numerous regulation and voicing adjustments that allow the instrument to truly sing.

The CA99’s powerful Virtual Technician function simulates these refinements digitally, allowing discerning musicians to shape aspects of the selected piano’s character to suit their personal preferences.

Perform touch weight and voicing adjustments, regulate hammer and key release noises, and fine-tune string, damper, and cabinet resonances. It is even possible to adjust the precise tuning, volume, and character of individual notes – all in real-time.

Developed in collaboration with Onkyo, one of Japan’s leading premium audio equipment manufacturers, the CA99 utilizes specialist components designed for high-end audio reproduction. With cutting-edge technologies such as 1-bit processing, dual DAC signal conversion, and DIDRC filtering, the Concert Artist’s optimized power amplifiers reproduce the Shigeru Kawai grand piano sound with stunning clarity, richness, and power, while the high-performance Discrete SpectraModule™ headphone amplifier ensures the finest quality listening experience, even when playing in privacy.

Complementing the premium quality drivers, the CA99 also incorporates the latest version of Kawai’s highly-regarded soundboard speaker system. This unique audio technology embraces the rich, harmonic qualities of wood by using transducers to channel sound energy onto a large soundboard, in order to produce a more natural, organic tone. Long wooden ribs securely attached to the soundboard further broaden the frequency range and volume of the resonating sound, resulting in a remarkably authentic playing experience that immerses the performer, and faithfully reproduces the tonal ambience of an acoustic piano.

The TwinDrive system represents the third generation of Kawai’s soundboard technology, and features an improved primary transducer redesigned to deliver more power and volume.

In addition, a secondary transducer, mounted towards the treble end of the instrument, helps to further expand the tonal range produced by the soundboard beyond the existing low frequencies, allowing mid-low and even mid-high ranges to also benefit from the warming, acoustic properties of wood.

Complementing the instrument’s class-leading Grand Feel III keyboard action and stunning SK-EX Rendering piano sound engine, the CA99 also offers a strong selection of digital features that further enhance one’s musical enjoyment.

Full Bluetooth® connectivity and USB audio record/playback allows musicians to extend the functionality of their piano, or play-along with their favorite artists, while the convenient metronome and integrated lesson functions, featuring classical etudes and Alfred course books, ensure that regular practice is both productive and engaging for aspiring pianists.

All functions are accessible from the CA99’s 5″ touchscreen display, which allows sounds and settings to be selected from an attractive user interface simply by tapping or swiping the display with a finger.

The screen can also be set to turn off automatically while playing, thus preserving the instruments’ acoustic piano-like appearance, and minimising any visual distractions to the performer.

In addition to standard USB and MIDI jacks for connecting to computers or other instruments, the CA99 also features integrated Bluetooth® MIDI and Audio technologies that allow the instrument to communicate with supported smart devices wirelessly.

Once paired with a phone, tablet, or laptop, Concert Artist owners can enjoy a wide variety of exciting music-related apps that enhance their learning and playing experience, or stream audio from songs and videos directly through the instruments’ premium amplifier and speaker systems without the need to connect additional cables.

The CA99’s redesigned communication standard allows the user-friendly touchscreen interface to also be accessed via the dedicated PianoRemote app for iOS and supported Android devices. The app connects to the piano wirelessly via the Concert Artists’ integrated Bluetooth, providing an effortless way to change sounds, or enjoy the vast array of built-in music content from the comfort of an armchair.

The CA99’s convenient lesson function allows aspiring pianists to learn piano with classical Czerny, Burgmüller, Beyer, Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin etudes, or a collection of songs from the popular Alfred’s Basic, Adult, and Premier course books.

With a strong emphasis on acoustic piano realism, the Concert Artist also features traditional finger exercises, scales, and warm-up drills, and includes companion books for all classical scores to further aid one’s piano development.

Reinforcing the Concert Artist’s reputation as the most realistic digital piano is Kawai’s Grand Feel Pedal System. This unique feature accurately replicates the position and individual weighting of the damper, soft, and sostenuto pedals of the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano to further enhance the CA99’s acoustic piano-like authenticity.

Moreover, it is also possible to adjust the half-pedal sensitivity of the damper pedal, and effectiveness of the soft pedal using dedicated Virtual Technician parameters, allowing experienced pianists to personalize the instrument’s response to match their individual pedalling technique.

The CA99’s Spatial Headphone Sound (SHS) technology enhances the depth and realism of the instrument’s sound when listening through headphones or earphones. The player can select one of three different acoustic presets that adjust the spatial positioning of the sound, while also helping to reduce auditory fatigue when using earphones or headphones for extended periods of time.

In addition, the CA99 also allows players to specify the type of headphones connected (Open, Semi-open, Closed, In-Ear, Canal, etc.) to ensure an optimal listening experience.