Kawai CA95 - Premier recording

Does anyone like jazz?

Wanted to shed some positive light on the new Kawai CA95 by posting a new recording of a well known standard "Body and Soul" (1930) by Johnny Green:

https://www.box.com/s/b4xddglelrco5b07khgk

Recorded with "Concert Grand 2" preset.

And, here is the original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppjf9--Sfcs

Wow - your piano sound sounds quite similar to the one in the video!

Greg.
P.S RE: Jazz, I like Cantaloop, by US3 - does that count? :P

@Greg,

Glad to hear you like the recording, although I still need to work on this one a bit to get the steady rhythmic pulse into the playing, since it is a slow "stride" piece as such. Not easy to play, from this standpoint.

I selected the Concert Grand 2 preset on the CA95 as it has a nice sound (not too metallic, overall) and is fairly close to sounding like the piano in the video, which happens to be a Steinway grand.

Will have to check out Cantaloop (by US3) as you mentioned, above.

Cantaloop is a pop version of Cantaloupe Island. (actually I love Cantaloupe Island too, FWIW)

Nice music, nice playing.

But the edge for the acoustic is definitely there. I think You can hear it out how inspiring it is to play on an excellent acoustic.

@Temperament,

Thanks for the compliment, and, reply.

Yes, having a good piano to play on makes a difference when playing this kind of music.

I agree that there can never be a true substitute for an authentic grand piano, although the Kawai CA95 and Roland V-Piano do get pretty close as far as digitals go.

As much as many of us tend to nitpick the details of our digitals (myself included) there is always a place for a high quality digital piano, for those who might not be able to afford an acoustic grand. And, other features such as playing silently with headphones, layering other sounds and so forth, make a digital an attractive choice.

Plus, no maintenance (unless something isn't working right or fails) and no tuning is ever required. I do consider the upper end Kawai, Roland, and, Yamaha models to be decent pianos when an acoustic grand is not available.

Agreed, but the difference is not that massive and it is getting closer as technology improves year by year. I am astounded that a digital piano costing around £2,600 could even be considered to match a Steinway grand costing anything upwards of around £80,000. This recorded piece on the Kawai CA95 is certainly most acceptable and very pleasant to listen to.

Very good playing & piano sound
You said before;
As for the Kawai CA95's piano sounds:

Have determined there is in fact a raspy, buzzing-like, metallic sound on several notes (just above middle C), C#, G#, A, C#, E, as altering many of the various "Virtual Technician" settings doesn't do anything to change it. The only piano preset that mutes/masks this fairly well is the "Mellow Grand" preset.

How did you solved these problems

@MertYazan,

Actually, I have not really "solved" any of this on the CA95 but have learned to tolerate the sounds (or, samples) as they are, since what I am hearing is unique to each preset.

Using the "Mellow Grand" sound does help to minimize the metallic quality that appears to be an inherent quality of each preset. This can be accepted for what it is.

Wauw, very nice played pv88 ! It's nice to hear usefull user information about the Kawai CA 95, but to hear you playing this beautifull piano touches the heart. I'am looking forward to hear other pieces of music. I remember your first musical posts wich I also enjoyed.
Greetings,
Dutch Dhamma

I actually think the digital sounds better in the recording than the acoustic. Nice playing!