Kawai CA901 Premium Hybrid Digital Piano

Product Description

Product Overview

Kawai’s Concert Artist line of pianos has been pushing the boundaries of digital piano technology for many years. The company continues to refine its cutting-edge designs with the line’s latest flagship: the CA901. The revolutionary Grand Feel III action, SK-EX Rendering, and TwinDrive Soundboard Speaker System are a true triple threat that, together, strive to alter peoples’ perception of what a digital piano is capable of.

While the term “hybrid digital” is usually reserved for digital pianos that feature a full acoustic piano action, Kawai has flipped that concept on its head by integrating another component of an acoustic piano into a digital piano design: a real wooden soundboard, which is activated by Kawai’s proprietary TwinDrive Soundboard Speaker System. This innovative system produces a sound that is far warmer, nuanced, and more authentic than even the most elaborate speaker arrays.

Featuring a new, contemporary cabinet design, which includes a Soft Fall fallboard, the CA901 is available in four finishes: premium satin black, premium satin white, premium rosewood, and ebony polish. While the CA901 maintains the cheekblock-embedded LCD touchscreen from the previous CA99 model, the screen has been improved with an anti-glare display. Simply put, if you are looking for the best possible playing experiences you can find in a digital piano, look no further than the CA901. 

Action

Kawai’s Concert Artist models have been revolutionizing the digital piano industry with all wooden key actions for a number of years now. For the line’s new flagship, the CA901, Kawai has chosen the reliable Grand Feel III action that was featured on the previous CA79 and CA99 models.

The Grand Feel III action features an all wooden key stick, extended pivot length, triple sensors, grade-weighted hammers, Ivory Feel and Ebony Feel key textures, and let-off. In other words, Kawai has gone to painstaking lengths to capture as many nuances and details of an acoustic grand piano touch as possible. These impressive features and innovations culminate to a rewarding and responsive playing experience that exceeds even the most discerning of players’ expectations.

If control and authenticity are what you are after, the CA901’s GFIII action is certainly worth consideration. It has been deemed by many within the digital piano community as the best digital piano action on the market right now. The only step above the GFIII action would be making the move to a hybrid digital, such as the Novus series models, or an acoustic piano.

Sound Engine

With the CA901’s SK-EX Rendering engine, players get to experience the beauty of Japan’s “premier piano”, which is typically reserved for finest concert halls and recording studios, from the comfort of their own home. While the SK-EX Concert Grand samples still offer up an excellent piano tone, it is no longer representative of Kawai’s newest generation of nine foot concert grands: the SK-EX-L pianos. That is why Kawai has launched a brand new SK-EX Comeptition Grand sample set, which are included in the CA701 and CA901 models.

The SK-EX Competition Grand samples capture the distinctively bright, clear tone that has made the SK-EX-L concert grands so successful at the Chopin, Hamamatsu, and Sendai piano competitions. These highly-detailed, multi-channel samples capture even the finest of nuances from the pianist’s position. Even more exciting, the user can custom-tailor these sounds via the updated Virtual Piano Artisan, which offers adjustments of 20 parameters. The CA901 is also equipped with an additional 96 built-in instrument tones via the Harmonic Imaging XL tone engine.

If these immersive, high-quality piano samples were not enough, the CA901 also benefits sonically from one of the most exciting innovations to the digital piano world: Kawai’s TwinDrive Soundboard Speaker System. Complementing the CA901’s 135 W 6-speaker configuration is the real wooden soundboard. This unique technology harnesses transducers to activate the soundboard and offer unparalleled warmth, nuance, and organic piano tone. The soundboard features long wooden ribs, which further broaden the resonance and frequency range the piano projects.

Given that some high-level players are restricted from having an acoustic upright or grand piano in their home due to space and noise constraints, the CA901 proves to be the perfect solution for these situations. The convenient volume control allows you to experience all of the rich tonal nuances from the soundboard at any volume and in any setting without disturbing others. Experience the sonic beauty of the SK-EX and SK-EX-L concert grands from your own home.

Connectivity

Being the flagship model of Kawai’s digital piano fleet, it should come as no surprise that the CA901 is fully-equipped with virtually all connectivity options one would require. Two headphone jacks (⅛ inch and ¼ inch), stereo/mono ¼ inch line outs, and ⅛ inch stereo line in with volume adjustment knob are included on the model. USB to Host and USB to Device connections are also included to provide total flexibility.

The CA901 also offers Bluetooth MIDI and audio connectivity, which allows the user to wirelessly connect to Kawai’s PianoRemote and PiaBookPlayer apps and use the CA901’s impressive 6-speaker system and transducer-activated soundboard to play music, effectively allowing the CA901 to double as one of the best home stereo systems you will ever hear. 

Notable Features

It is important to note that the presence of a real wood soundboard on the CA901 technically pushes it into the category of a hybrid instrument. The TwinDrive Soundboard Speaker system is one of Kawai’s most exciting innovations and it serves as one of the most meaningful bridges to capturing the sonic experience of an acoustic piano within a digital instrument. However, beyond the soundboard, the CA901 is fully-loaded with a multitude of features.

• Grand Feel III action, featuring an 88-note all wooden keyboard, Ivory/Ebony Feel key surfaces, triple sensors, counterweights, and let-off
• Grand Feel triple pedal system, which includes a damper (with half-pedal support), soft (with half-pedal support), and sostenuto pedal
• Brand new SK-EX Competition Grand samples, which provide a brighter, clearer alternative to the SK-EX Concert Grand samples
• Virtual Piano Artisan offers customizability with 20 adjustable parameters
• 135 W 6-speaker system, which includes two top speakers with diffusers, two front speakers, and two tweeters
• Cutting-edge TwinDrive Soundboard Speaker System, which activates the CA901’s real wood soundboard via strategically-placed transducers
• Spatial Headphone Sound provides a fully-immersive sonic experience when playing with headphones
• Updated cabinet design with Soft Fall fallboard, fixed position music rest, and newly-improved anti-glare 5” LCD touchscreen display
• Availability in four beautiful finishes: premium satin black, premium satin white, premium rosewood, and ebony polish
• Connectivity to Kawai’s PianoRemote and PiaBookPlayer apps via onboard Bluetooth MIDI
• Utilize the CA901’s 6-speaker and soundboard system as a home stereo system via Bluetooth audio
• Access an extensive library of lesson songs from 13 lesson collections
• 39 demo songs, 29/42 (depending on market) piano songs, and 176 Concert Magic songs
• Built-in metronome with 10 time signatures and 100 drum rhythm patterns
• Internal Recorder allows for 10 songs, 2 parts, and 90,000 notes of memory
• Extensive connectivity options: headphones, line out, line in, USB to Host, and USB to Device

Conclusion

Kawai has raised the bar yet again with the new flagship of the massively-popular Concert Artist line. The CA901’s combination of touch, tone, features, and versatility makes it a suitable instrument for players at virtually any level. In particular, the new CA901 model is the perfect solution for high-level players that cannot accommodate an acoustic piano due to size and volume. While the CA901’s volume control and headphone output allows you to practice at any time of the day, the TwinDrive Soundboard System ensures that you don’t have to sacrifice warmth, nuance, and expressivity in the process. If you’re looking for a long-term digital piano solution that can keep up with even the most demanding repertoire, look no further than the CA901. 

Specifications