Kawai CA78 Digital Piano

Power at your fingertips – Kawai’s advanced CA78 digital piano

The Kawai CA78 Digital Piano shares many features with its top-sibling, the flagship model CA98, but comes with an attractive discount. Stu takes the CA78 through its paces, examining the action, sound, features, and sharing his overall thoughts and feelings on the instrument. Just like the CA98, CA78 is a top-quality, powerful instrument that combines Kawai’s Harmonic Imaging sound technologies, their much-praised GFII wooden action, along with a list of impressive technologies/features easily accessible with the industry-first embedded full-color touch screen. Like all of the CA’s from Kawai over the last few years, and added emphasis on cabinet design and finishing quality is obvious, bringing it entirely in-line with similar offerings from Yamaha and Roland in the aesthetic department.

A major advantage Kawai has when starting to design any new digital piano is their extensive experience with acoustic piano making – as one of the largest producers of pianos in the world, and more specifically the hand-made Shigeru Kawai pianos, the R&D facilities available to the digital team gives an unfair advantage right from square one. The primary piano sound on the CA78 is the SK-EX concert grand piano, something that Kawai has meticulously sampled in the acoustic lab in Japan, before adding the additional synthesis on top to create the “Harmonic Imaging” engine. Combining our industry-leading “Grand Feel II” wooden-key keyboard action with the incredible Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Rendering piano sound engine, the CA78 delivers an amazingly authentic concert grand piano experience.

Another advantage the CA78 brings to the market is the integration of Onkyo-made sound-processing circuits and amplifiers. Onkyo is well-known in audiophile circles as respected manufacture of amplifiers and spatial acoustic processing, and their partnership with Kawai is only one of several collaborations that Kawai has entered as their reputation has climbed to the top of the industry (Ravenscroft and Nord are two other notable examples of recent collaborations). The use of the Onkyo tech definitely makes a difference – the sense of ‘space’ around each note that one gets quickly used to is starkly missing when playing earlier versions, or even comparable models from Roland or Yamaha.

The CA78 features 66 sound programs of superb quality; advanced, customizable virtual technician feature; dual-split-transpose and two 44-note piano features; Built into the left cheek-block, the elegant, nearly invisible, hi-resolution full-color touch-tap-swipe/module/control panel is feature-packed yet incredibly intuitive and user-friendly!

Kawai CA78 Digital Piano also offers a comprehensive library of songs by Burgmüller, Czerny, Beyer, Bach, Chopin as well as the most widely used teaching methods by Alfred. CA78 features Integrated Bluetooth technology, allowing for wireless communication with other digital devices and easy access to a range of powerful applications; as well as the USB-port and MIDI connectors, expanding the possibilities of this advanced digital piano.

The Kawai CA78’s 5-inch touchscreen offers a convenient way to navigate between features instantly. The 6-speaker system has been tuned to produce loud, clear volume without distortion. Combined with Grand Feel II wooden keys and weighted hammer action, the CA78 is a fine example of over 90 years of musical heritage. premium rosewood, multi-channel sampling, sk-ex rendering, smart devices, metronome

• NEW – Shigeru Kawai EX Rendering piano sound engine
• NEW – Modern 5″ LCD touchscreen display
• NEW – Integrated Bluetooth® MIDI and Audio wireless technology
• NEW – Premium audio processing and amplification powered by Onkyo
• NEW – Spatial Headphone Sound for enhanced depth and realism
• Industry-leading Grand Feel II wooden-key action
• Ebony & Ivory Touch key surfaces, 3-sensor, let-off, counterweights
• MP3/WAV/SMF playback, record, and overdub MP3/WAV to USB
• 256 Polyphony (max.)
• Grand Feel Pedal System
• Attractive, modern cabinet with 6-position adjustable music rest

The action/feel/touch of the CA78 resembles with just impressive accuracy the fine grand piano’s performance capabilities. I have been amazed by the sound of the CA78 Digital Piano – in search for answers I have learned of the incredibly advanced features and cutting-edge technologies that, indeed contribute to the incredible sound quality of this marvelous instrument, such as:

1-bit DSD Processing

Dual DAC Sound Conversion

KAWAI-ONKYO Proprietary DARDC Circuity

At such a reasonable price point, our customers’ smiles speak volumes:  taking only 58×18” of floor space, the CA78 is that state-of-the-art powerhouse in the digital piano market, and that superior solution for those demanding the finest tonal quality, touch, and overall musical experience!

The Kawai CA78 Digital Piano brings the comfort and authenticity of a real acoustic piano key and extremely accurate action, to the convenience and versatility of a digital piano. The instrument utilizes one of the most advanced piano tone engines in the world and a superbly accurate and durable key action. For those unwilling to settle for second best, the CA78 delivers.  An amazing and hassle-free alternative to an entry-level acoustic.

Here at Merriam Music, we have chosen some of the best current Kawai models to add to the offerings in our digital piano showroom.