Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai CA 18 vs. CN 42

Rimmer, I don't think anyone is trying to compare two different kinds of cable.

There's no point in comparing expensive shielded cable with cheap unshielded.
Nor is there any point in comparing dirt-cheap shielded cable with expensive unshielded.

Instead, compare cables with like-functions.

Hi, an old thread I know, but a very interesting one!

To the original poster, Oblacone, did you get the CN42? I did, and I've been so very happy with it. The new action and sound modelling Kawai brought in with the CN series is really very good - the differential key weighting between bass and treble is particularly nice. And the sustain is awesome - hit a hard chord with sustain on the CN and listen to the decay - you get 15+ seconds - it's great.

There are negatives on the whole, but it's a top digital piano. Weirdly, the replacement CN43 I think is not good - the build, detail, finish and the 'ivory' key feel seem to me a bit of a step backwards.

Anyway, CN42 - two main negatives - the control interface is really a bit dire - it works, but it's not intuitive by a long chalk, and very awkward on the fly. And given it's got a USB jack I think that the sequencer should really allow step recording (bar by bar, note by note). A smaller negative is that the left pedal dampens way too much (this is definitely an opinion thing - others may disagree!).

I've had Roland before (heavy and plodding), and Yamaha (don't like the feel - well, at this price point, £1000-1500) - Kawai wins for me.

The other discussion here is with cables - someone mentioned that electrons don't know where they're going - absolutely right. I build my own amps (hifi amps) and cabling for me is all about RFI rejection and amp output impedance - the problem is that the two somewhat fight each other. If you choose a more expensive cable it really should be to manage these two aspects better than cheap cables - but even then, you need to know what source and speaker characteristics the designer expected to be attached to his amp! I personally like NVA cables (Nene Valley Audio).

Anyway, Kawai CN42 very good! Oblacone - what did you go with?

Forever13, congrats on the purchase of your CN42!

Regarding the CN42 vs. CN43:



The CN42 and CN43 share the same finishes (although black has replaced cherry as the third finish type) and offer very similar cabinet designs. As for the Ivory Touch key surfaces, I actually prefer the appearance (slightly creamy colour) and texture of the new RH keyboard action, but this is obviously a very personal point.

Anyway, glad you're enjoying your piano.

Cheers,
James
x

Glad to hear you're enjoying your CN42. But, that statement sounds odd. Unless it's a chord in the upper scale range perhaps? If I hit a chord hard with sustain pedal in the lower register on my CN33 it goes on for more than 1 minute. Faintly after about maybe 30 40 seconds, but it's still..............going.................................................................................still.....................there........................................and......................yup....just