kawaian, it's great to hear that the crackling has been resolved, and the polyphony assignment improved.

Thank you once again for your patience.

Kind regards,
James
x

Since it came up - one thing about Ebony finish (although it's a bit OT): I have the CA51 in Ebony. I never planned to pay the extra bucks but when trying out the DP at my local dealer, the ebony 51 out-matched both the higher-class rosewood and cherrywood CA-71 and CA-91 standing directly next to it (63/93 weren't yet out then) in clearity of sound.

The dealer assured me all pianos were at factory settings and he suspected the ebony finish for the better sound (he also said his collegues called him crazy for that) - maybe something to do with sound reflecting/absorbing on the surfaces or the resonance between speakers and the veneer wood.

Unfortunately he had no CA51 in rosewood for direct comparison (and maybe one could suspect he was not perfectly honest because he wanted me to buy the ebony one since I initially wanted rosewood).

However - I'm very happy with the 51 in EB (looks SO neat) and I got a good price so that the extra charge wasn't that high compared to rosewood street price.

I can only recommend that KAWAI would bring out ebony versions of their new DPs - from my experience it's not only for the better looks...

I'm so excited about having no crackling anymore. Here's another short live piece I want to share...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jmrzyuznmnv/Herr_hoer_mein_Gebet.mp3

Interesting assumption, but I would assume the sound difference was just because of a somehow different location in the store, I can't imagine that a loudspeaker is more than minimally (barely audible) affected by the finish of the wooden case. It might also have been just imagination... or, since it might have been a newer production date, revised loudspeakers. I guess you also won't hear any difference by headphone...

I guess you also know that the CA91 has a completely different approach in producing sound (wooden resonance body rather than just loudspeakers) than the CA51? I can't imagine that CA51 ebony polished was superior in SQ than CA91. BTW I wouldn't trust a dealer that tells you stories like this...

Yes, it could all be true (even me only imaginating) and I did the direct comparison (hopping between the two pianos) with the CA71. I played the CA91 only shortly, since it was out of my price range. I was - however - not very impressed by the sound compared to the cheaper models. I played all pianos at full volume in a quite large warehouse with no walls in the immediate surroundings. And yes of course: playing over headphone the case made no difference.
As for the trustworthyness of the dealer: I think he heard the same difference like me and just had no better explanation.

It's nice to see that Kawai is very reactive. Kawaian could you show us the other pianos sounds, like concert 2, jazz or studio grand ? And also could you edit the title of the post to show that it is now fixed ? Thanks in advance.

Didn't know I can change the title of the thread. Will do!

Edit: Doesn't work for the entire thread!

This mean Kawai have a good after sales support and now really convinced me. Very good job Kawai won a new customer: me!

Thanks for providing us with some nice examples of your playing the CA-63. From the recording, without having been able yet to personally audition the instrument, I think I understand more the comments made on another thread about the Kawai having less of a piano-like hammer attack sound at the initiation of the notes when compared to other brands. Did you have any special settings selected for this sound?

The sound is too soft and dull in my opinion, like concert grand in my CA51 which I don't like and never play. I would like to hear the other ones, and with other EQ settings too, it would be nice.

Hey, this is just the style I'm playing in this specific demo...

Regarding your request: Here is a demo of a different sound (Studio Grand) with more ppp and fff in it, so you can better compare if the dynamics and sound signature is to your taste. In my opinion it is in no way dull... Anyway, I'm not selling those DPs, so I don't really care if someone likes it. I for myself really like the sound signature...

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mmjytznzyzg/KAWAI_CA63_demo5_Studio_Grand.MP3

Very nice. Have you made any EQ settings for this?

Thanks! It's again EQ-setting = loudness, that sounds better for headphone use, but linear is better for playing through the loudspeakers. Anyway, this does not really change the sound signature, just how much emphasize you set on lows/mids/highs.

Thanks Kawaian. Studio grand sound is brighter than concert grand. We can clearly hear the difference. Could you demo concert 2 and studio 2 if you have time ? It would be very nice.

I try to do that tomorrow, it's now past midnight *yawn*

I personally don't care too much about Concert 2 and Studio 2, it's not my taste, but maybe yours?

Okay, now here is another quick demo, I need to go to work now...

I played some notes for some of the sounds in this order:

Concert Grand
Studio Grand
Concert Grand 2
Studio Grand 2
Jazz 2

For comparability they all have the same effect/EQ settings.

Obviously all sounds ending with "2" are based on a different sample base.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/j1kqtmny2hm/KAWAI_CA63_Concert_Studio_Concert2_Studio2_Jazz2.mp3

I'm getting my dp on Tuesday. I suspect it won't be already patched. Do we know when the downloads will be available on the website?

Also is there a quick way for me to find out what version of the firmware it is using?

Cheers,
Andy T

The official firmware release 1.06 with the fix for CA63 / CA93 was just released! You can find it on the download area at www.kawai.de, along with instructions on how to update (unfortunately only in German, but it's quite simple to figure out). If anyone needs a translation I'm happy to help!

Thanks a lot kawaian. I personnally prefer the last piano sound in your demo, it is the clearer for me, without being too bright.

cool. Thanks Kawaian it wasn't there when I looked earlier. I can see there looks like an English version for me. I think I maybe told it I was English at some point.
And according to the description:

"To check the version number hold the buttons 4, 5 and 6 while
power on until the display shows the version number 1.06. To
quit this information screen turn off and on the instrument again"

So I can check the version is 1.06 and it may save me a download.

Cheers,
Andy T

Nice playing and nice sound to my ears.

OT, I have to ask what piece and composer is that (maybe Heinrich Schütz?).

That's Jacques Berthier: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Berthier

Actually the basic melody is from him, the piano play is my interpretation of it. Normally I would play this short song many times with different expression for each repetition.

I'm glad to see that the update is now available.

I'll have to do something about those instructions though...

Cheers,
James
x

kawaian,

I think it was you who mentioned that, on the CA63, the additional velocity needed to go from 'p' to 'f' is *much* less than on an acoustic piano. I seem to remember that you were experimenting with the Virtual Technician to see if it was possible to change this aspect of the touch.

Did you succeed in finding a setting which more closely replicated the dynamic profile of an acoustic?

It wasn't me, I'm fine with the dynamic range of the CA63. Sorry I can recall that there was such a statement (without the word *much*) but I can't remember who it was.

You can define your own velocity curve on the CA63, see this discussion about that feature:
http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthrea...tml#Post1382868

kawaian,

Whoops, sorry for getting you mixed up with someone else!

Thanks for the link.