Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai KCP90 OR CN35 :(

woops

Anyways (ugh, stupid me...), I was continuing to look for Kawai Digital Pianos after annoucing that I will continue to either get a Grand Piano or the Kawai CN35 AND THEN I STUPIDLY came across a ton of beauty digital pianos and I have set myself in a stupid dilemma or something like that! I just want a decent piano that I will need to last for a extra 4-6 years for my piano exams (trinity exams) and to be able to plug headphones.

CN35 looks pretty flash, but the price is pretty pricey meanwhile the KCP90 has much more sounds etc for its price. Its action doesn't look as good as the CN35 though. Also, I reckon the KCP90 has a obsession with circles!

my mind is tellin' me no but my body, my body's tellin' me yes



Ugh! I'll be keen to go back into town and try out the KCP90 compared to CN35. I reckoned CN35 was pretty good, but its LED screen was much smaller than i thought it would be and the keys were really bouncy :\ i think its only me...

Any thoughts or comparisons? Thanks

Hello Swansis,

Given a choice between the CN35 and KCP90, I would select the CN35. Yes, the KCP90 has some nice additional features (and a larger LCD display), however the CN35 offers the superior sound engine and more realistic keyboard action.

I don't wish to complicate your decision process further, however if possible I would also recommend that you play-test the new CA17. This piano-oriented model offers a further step-up in sound and action realism/quality over the CN35, at a more affordable price than the larger CA97/CA67 models.

As always, I would also recommend play-testing the equivalently priced models from Roland and Yamaha before making any purchasing decision.

Best of luck!

Cheers,
James
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Thanks for the rescue xD

Yes, I will look at other digital pianos. Stupid New Zealand, it doesn't seem like they sell CA17. They might be able to send some from other states to over here but yeah ill contact them.

Despite launching in Europe at Musikmesse in the Spring, the CA17 was announced by Kawai Australia just a few weeks ago, so it may take a while for the new model to arrive in dealer's stores. As you note, it's best to give the chaps in Sydney a call to clarify the exact situation.

Cheers,
James
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What about the CA97 or CA67 (something like that)? How much is that? :\

I'm afraid I don't have local prices to hand. I expect the CA97/CA67 are more expensive than the CA17, however this question is best answered by your Kawai dealer and/or Kawai Australia.

Kind regards,
James
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Kawai Australia takes a century to reply to me anyways, Thanks.

I believe the chaps in Sydney are pretty efficient - they usually respond to emails within 24-48 hours.

You can always give them a call if you do not wish to wait for an email reply.

Cheers,
James
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KawaiJames: I see the kcp90 has been announced for the USA, but no retailers seem to know about it. The msrp of $2,999 listed on the website also seems extremely high for this model.


I haven't seen much talk on the cn35, and no reviews really. Except for mention of odd key noises and bouncy action. I'm really hoping at NAMM we see the CA17 or something like a cn36 with RM3II wooden key action and HI-XL sounds in the USA. Am I dreaming?

Rumour has it Australia take a century to achieve one. . . .

CN35 was presented/announced in 2014 and was available in shops late in the year. It was sold out in all shops in Germany's second largest city right after Christmas when I wanted to order.
Kawai has been on a three year cycle, so it is realistic to expect the next version in 2017.

We have ours for 10 months now and I still think it was/is the best choice at its price point (comparing to Roland, Yamaha). I have had piano teachers and professional musicians (= earning money with playing music) from the family remark positively on it.

Being wiser now than I was, I can tell you that the keys noises I observed (and which were fixed by Kawai with a little lubrication) are nothing compared to an acoustic piano in silent mode. Bouncy action comment I have seen, but I can not relate to it. I also think, we at Pianowolrd Forum are a picky bunch. :-)

I have no idea about the KCP90. Looks like US and AU only? Compared to the CN35 and CN25, it has previous generation sound engine (HI88, not PHI) and, I believe, previous generation keyboard/action. While being more expensive?! If you can, get the CN25 (also 2 speakers) or CN35 (four speakers, makes a difference, USB key support etc.).

Yes the KCP90 seems to be an oddity with its 2,999 price point. KawaiUS has promoted it on YouTube and Facebook, yet there is no trace of it in the US shops. Maybe James will chime in.

It's hard for me to pull the trigger on a CN35 knowing that there are different (IMO bettter) options out there in the CA17, and also the NAMM show just around the corner. Obviously I can't wait forever, but maybe I can bare my Casio CDP100 for just a little while longer in hopes that Kawai will bring that kind of value to the ~$2,000 market here in the US at the January NAMM show.

Hello Tony,



I believe the KCP90 has only recently started shipping in the US.



According to my colleagues in the US, the CN35 is one of their most popular instruments.



Hmmm...are you referring to your own posts?



I think it's rather unlikely, given that Kawai America have not marketed the previous generation CA1x models.



Well, you can never rule these things out entirely, however I would say it's unlikely for the CN range to ever see a model with wooden keys - this is why we have the CA range.

Kind regards,
James
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Is the KCP90 at digital piano dealers or professional products dealers? Right now I can't find any dealer that is taking preorders, or even any dealer that knows about it.



I'm talking internet buzz. If I were you I'd say the same. Honestly, why would any Kawai rep ever publicly admit less? Not trying to knock the CN35 I'm sure it's a wonderful instrument.



Nope, I'm talking about the threads on different forums where users claimed they were disappointed in RH3, and preferred RH2. Are direct links necessary? Just search for CN34 vs CN35, or ES7 vs ES8 or RH2 vs RH3, etc.



Perhaps you'd rather I call it the CE230? Anyway my experience is just before a rep says it's not going to happen, is when it does! Kudos.



Hogwash! Technology marches on and the action and sounds improve. It's only a matter of time before the premium actions trickle down into the CN (or similar) series.
I bet you believed no one would ever need more than 640k of RAM in their computers too.

Best regards!

James - speaking about the CN35, the manual is not very clear if it's possible to set it up multitimbrally from the front panel i.e. Assign 16 different sounds to the 16 different midi channels from the front panel of the instrument and save that as a registration. It would seem you might need an external midi sequencer to send the program changes for each channel in order to accomplish this. Can you clarify that for me?

Hello Tony,



I gather the KCP90 will be sold by independent Kawai piano dealers, rather than the larger online chain stores. However, my advice would be to raise your query with Kawai America directly, as the folks there are best equipped to answer questions related to local pricing and availability.



Perhaps, but I'm pretty sure they also look at the sales figures.



If you believe this will help to prove your point, please feel free.

I've worked for Kawai long enough to understand that we always receive a handful of dissenting views whenever a new keyboard action is released. I'm sure if you search hard enough you'll find posts from MP8 owners who felt the MP8II action was inferior, or CN23 customers who disliked the CN24 action. There are probably posts from Roland, Yamaha, and Casio customers also expressing that the action of an older model was better than whatever replaced it. That's natural - after all, differing opinions are what makes the world go around.

Moreover, I've also been a member of PianoWorld long enough to appreciate that folks are far more likely to post negative opinions than positive. If you're disappointed about something, going online to vent your frustration can be a convenient way to get things off your chest. That's perfectly fine too, provided we take each criticism with a pinch of salt, and recognise that for every unhappy customer who takes to the forum, there are probably hundreds of people sitting at home, enjoying their new piano who have never heard of PianoWorld, not least consider signing-up just to write a positive post expressing their satisfaction.

So yes, if you believe a handful of posts from forum users (here or elsewhere) who preferred RHII to RHIII, is more significant than the thousands of satisfied CN25 and CN35 customers who have purchased these models since they launched last summer, or the hundreds of folks who have purchased an ES8 since September, please feel free to provide links.



I agree, and I'm confident that keyboard actions and sound technology will continue to improve. However, Kawai's current policy of separate product lines for wooden and plastic key actions is appreciated by dealers, and well understood by customers. As such, there is little motivation to change. I'm not saying that it will absolutely never happen, just that based on my experience, the current approach (CA = wooden keys, CN = plastic keys) is unlikely to be revised in the near future, and certainly not at NAMM 2016.



To be honest, I was only a few months old when Bill Gates allegedly made that statement, so did not have a great deal of understanding about x86 processor architecture and memory limitations.

Once again, thank you for your feedback Tony!

Cheers,
James
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Kawai stage piano with killer ap and ep sounds and action. Under $1500US, around 30lbs with proper pro audio outs.

The ES8 is pretty darn close to your wish. Price can get very close to your requirement with a phone call to the dealer. Weight is not quite what you hoped for though.