REVIEW - Kawai CS3 digital piano - Beautiful Cabinet

UPDATED REVIEW - Nov 1, 2012 - The Kawai CS3 digital piano is a great one to consider if you want a piano in a beautiful high polished black cabinet for under $3000. Kawai is well known for building high quality concert grand and upright pianos for professionals and students, so they know what they're doing and they have an international reputation for producing some very nice instruments. It's really no surprise to me that Kawai has been able to produce this elegant furniture cabinet piano with a smooth, responsive key action. However, at this point the CS3 is an older model in terms of digital technology and uses an older 96-note polyphony chip as compared with the new Kawai digital pianos coming out now with up to 256-note polyphony including other sound advancments. Polyphony (or note memory) is the ability of the notes to resonate together properly like a real acoustic piano as they are being played along with getting a better pedaling sound experience and a more accurate overall piano sound. As a rule, more polyphony is always better but 96-note polyphony is typically sufficient for most beginner to intermediate players but is not going to allow you to grow with the piano as much as if you had a bigger piano sound memory chip like in the newer models. So keep that in mind.

Kawai did an outstanding job of making this digital piano look especially attractive and obviously went to great expense to do so. Next, Kawai put in their new ivory feel "Real Hammer" key action with let-off/escapement that allows for fairly authentic touch response and control which feels closer to a grand piano across the entire keyboard. The pedaling functions are very good with realistic feel allowing for graduated levels of sustain. As far as piano tone goes, it is quite nice and competes with the entry level Roland HP series & Yamaha CLP400 series of cabinet digital pianos.

The CS3 is really a simple piano. It has 15 high quality instrument tones including grand pianos, full uprights, symphony strings, concert choir, classic electric pianos, baroque harpsichord, Hammond B3 jazz organ, cathedral church organ, and more. But it's important to note that this Kawai is intended as mostly a replacement for an acoustic piano as opposed to getting a digital piano with more "bells & whistles" on it. 

The CS3 also has a basic digital recorder/player on board for being able to quickly listen to your recorded performance and store them, a metronome for timing, a transpose function for electronically moving the key up or down for singing & playing purposes, as well as the capability to layer two instrument tones together in a dual mode that has relative adjustable volume balance control. It has a duet mode so two people can play four hands at one time on the keyboard which is very cool (great for student-teacher simultaneous play or duets in general), and the CS3 even has a built-in lesson program from the Alfred lesson course which is helpful if you don't play well. Also, the CS3 has MIDI connectors (no high speed USB computer/iPad connection unfortunately) for connectivity to computers, etc. At this price range it really should have the high speed USB connectivity to interface with an iPad/tablet to take advantage of the fantastic music education apps available now. As far as the built-in audio system goes, it's OK with 4 speakers and 40 watts total of stereo power, but the sound is a bit on the muddy/mid rangy side and I would have preferred to see this model have a better, bigger speaker system considering its cost and size of cabinet. And as I said before, the lower amount of polyphony is somewhat of a deficiency as compared to the newer models these days. However, the bottom line is if you think this new model sounds like something you'd like to own (especially for the cabinet) and would fit your musical needs, I do recommend it overall and it's definitely worth your consideration.

If you don't mind doing without the polished ebony cabinet then there are some better alternatives to the CS3 including the Kawai CN34 ($2499 internet discount price) in a satin black as well as the Kawai CE220 with an actual acoustic piano wood keyboard ($1899 internet discount price) in a satin black. Go here to read my review on the Kawai CE220: Kawai CE220 review

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864

REVIEW - IMPORTANT INFO when shopping for a DIGITAL PIANO! - Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, Williams, Suzuki, Kurzweil, Benjamin Adams, Viscount, Korg, and others

UPDATED July 1, 2012 - Be careful when you shop for a digital piano! I am a professional piano & keyboard player & musician, as well as a piano, keyboard, and guitar instructor for over 35 years (started when I was very young) and I know a lot about pianos of all shapes, sizes, and types. If you are shopping for a digital piano, then you need to read this because I am going to give you some basic but information on what you need to look for in a digital piano at any price. If you get at least the basic necessities in a digital piano, then you should be fine.

I will start off by making my explanation as simple as possible. When you watch TV or listen to music on your stereo or MP3 player, you expect that you can increase or decrease volume of the sound in varying degrees a little at a time in whatever way you choose. In other words, you don't expect that the volume of the sound you're listening to will jump from very soft, to loud, and then to very loud without anything in-between, right? That just wouldn't be good. When you step on the gas in your vehicle, you don't want it to go 10 miles an hour and then suddenly jump to 40, and then to 70? That also would not be good. And also, when you push down the gas pedal to gain speed and then you let off your gas pedal a bit, you obviously wouldn't want your vehicle to stop when the gas pedal was released, you would want it to start slowing down.

Well, that's the way a piano needs to work when it comes to playing the keys and increasing or decreasing the piano volume by pressing on the keys softly or with force. You don't want the volume of your music to move too suddenly or be jerky when playing (key sensor technology). And when you press on the piano pedal (which is very important in piano playing), you want the pedal to bring in the sustain and then let off the sustain in whatever amount you want instead of just suddenly all the way on and then suddenly all the way off (half-pedaling). Finally, the piano tone needs to change from mellow to brighter as you increase pressure of pushing the key down as you're playing (that's called dynamics). 

There are some piano brands and models (portable and in full piano style cabinets) that only give you on and off for pedal (nothing in-between), and/or only give you a few volume changes while pressing the piano keys instead of allowing you to easily and smoothly change volume to whatever you need when you press down the keys easily or with more force. Also, some of these brands have very noisy keys when they move up & down. All keys make some noise when moving, but there are extremes and I have had these experiences on piano brands like Suzuki, Williams, Benjamin Adams, Viscount, and a few others.

As an uninformed buyer, you would never know to look for these things and may not realize what a negative impact these kinds of limitations will have on your piano playing, especially if you are a student. Also, the piano tone on many digital pianos doesn't change at all or changes very little as keys are being played, and that's another limitation which is not good, especially for students and people who play. The tone needs to go from mellow (when keys are being played lightly), to brighter (when keys are being played with more force). That's normal in a regular acoustic piano and is referred to as "tone color" like colors on a pallete where you can have many colors to paint the picture, but that doesn't happen in many digital pianos, particularly in the lower price ranges.

The top name piano brands such as Yamaha, Roland, Casio, Kawai, Kurzweil, and Korg generally do not have a problem with these things and they do have these necessary piano functions on most models. However, some (but not all) lesser known, off-name brands do have a problem so I would advise you stay away from those, no matter how cheap the price is.

Also, as the digital piano touch response, piano tone, and pedal functions increase in sensitivity and quality of response levels and authentic reproduction, the price of that piano typically goes up. It generally costs more money to get a more authentic piano reproduction and that's why some pianos cost more than others. In most cases, piano sound does come down to personal subjective choice and that's why there are different brands, models, and price ranges. I have certain recommendations in various price ranges and musical needs that I believe would be the best bang for the buck. If you would like to have me give you some specific advice, then you are welcome to contact me directly and I would be happy to help you.

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864

REVIEW - Yamaha CLP430, CLP440, CLP470, CLP480 Clavinova Pianos - Very Nice

UPDATED REVIEW - March 11, 2013 - I really like Yamaha acoustic & digital pianos (I have two of them in my music studio incl one acoustic Yamaha - left pic) The Yamaha Clavinova CLP400 series digital pianos are very nice instruments overall with some fine key action and piano sound upgrades. These newer 400 series models came out in early 2011 so are slightly older technology than newer digital pianos from Kawai, Roland, & Casio, but they're still beautifu and are current models with all new furniture cabinets. The older CLP300 series which had been out for awhile are discontinued now. The newer Yamaha models include the CLP430 (approx $2999 retail US), CLP440 (approx $3899 retail US), CLP470 (approx $4799 retail US), & CLP480 (approx $6999 retail US). Polished ebony cabinets are available in all models and are priced about $700+ higher than non-polished ebony. You can figure the store discount prices should be about 20-25% off retail prices (give or take) depending on the dealer, model, and availability. These instruments get better as you go up the line with better piano tone, better piano touch, more features, better internal audio system, and nicer cabinets.

New CLP440 white

When you are paying $2500, $3000, $4000, and more for one of these new CLP's, you expect them to be great and they do sound impressive. The Yamaha company, like all brands of digital pianos use special words or phrases they have made up to describe their tone or touch technology and some of these phrases sound very impressive in their literature and write-ups. Yamaha has descriptive words such as Intelligent Acoustic Control (IAC), GRE, Smooth Release, Linear Graded Hammers, and Soundboard Speaker. Roland has SuperNATURAL Piano, Kawai says Progressive Harmonic Imaging, and Kurzweil says Triple Strike Piano.

But for me as someone who has played hundreds of different digital pianos over the years, words are meaningless because at the end of the day, your enjoyment level will not be based on words, but on reality instead. Does the piano you purchased feel like and sound like a piano to you? Does it make you happy when you play it and hear it? Will it reproduce the kind of music you like when you play the piano? Those are the real questions that you need to ask when purchasing any piano. Descriptive words used to define technologies and various models do give you a point of reference, but you must judge a piano by its own merit and not by the words used to describe it. I did like the new acoustic piano sounds and nuances that come along with it. They are very nice although sound and touch ultimately is quite subjective based on one's own piano playing and listening experiences.

I did notice something on the CLP430 & CLP440 which bothered me a bit. The  GH3 (the number 3 stands for a 3rd key sensor key which is a good thing) action is somewhat overly stiff or resistant in my opinion when you play the keys lightly or softly across the keyboard. However the CLP470 & 480 wooden key action seems to be better and I don't notice that issue at all based on my experiences with them. Yamaha tries to design their CLP key actions to emulate an acoustic piano, as all good piano manufacturers try to do. But when you play a real acoustic upright piano, the keys get progressively and slightly easier to push down as you move up the keyboard from left to right. This is a necessary part of key action design. The CLP key action is 'graded' in weight and overall does get progressively easier as you move up the keyboard, but the general heaviness of the keys on the CLP430 & CLP440 is still noticeable, at least to me. This may not be apparent to the average person when playing the new CLP piano, but if you played a good Yamaha (or other good brands) acoustic upright piano and compared it with these specific CLP digital pianos, you would probably notice the difference.

The pianos have good volume output, especially the CLP480 with a gazillion watts of total volume! Actually the 480 has a total of 200 watts of power into multiple built-in speakers which will just blow you away if you want that high volume and also puts out quality tone with low volume too. The CLP480 also has over 500 instrument sounds to choose from as compared with just 28 on the CLP470. And the CLP480 is the only model of the bunch that can play & record General MIDI song files through 16 individual instrument tracks which helps with learning, practice, and is a lot of fun to play along with. Too bad you gotta get the top model to experience the General MIDI and multiple instrument 16 track sound and playback features. The CLP470 should have those features as well considering that model sells for well over $3000. Even some of Yamaha's least expensive piano keyboards ($799 internet price) have General MIDI song playback & recording and hundreds of nice instrument sounds available, but Yamaha obviously knew what they were doing by making people pay more money and forcing them up to the CLP480 if they wanted those cool features.

All models have attractive, sturdy cabinets with front legs (above left), nice ivory feel keys (all except CLP430), USB flash drive device input for audio .wav file and basic MIDI piano song play (does not play General MIDI song files except for CLP480) and overall very good key 'feel' and piano sound. Yamaha says they have reproduced the sound, touch, and pedal nuances found in fine acoustic pianos with their new technology in this improved 400 series of digital pianos. I would agree they have done a very nice job of this and for some intermediate to advanced players, or students wanting to get to an advanced level, this would be a nice benefit. But for many families who are looking for a good, solid digital piano as a form of recreation and enjoyment for less money, there are certainly other options that would still give people high quality, many useful educational features, and an attractive cabinet as well.

The lowest priced Clavinova model is the CLP430 which sells on average for somewhere between $2000-$2300 US at Yamaha piano stores. However, the Kawai piano company has a newer digital piano for the US & Canadian market called the CE220 at $1899US internet price (left pic), which in my opinion, outperforms the Yamaha CLP430 and for less money.  The Kawai CE220 has actual acoustic piano full length wooden keys (left pic) with graduated weighted key action, 192-notes of polyphony, 3 traditional full functioning pedals with half-damper control, 100 pro rhythm patterns for rhythm and timing training, 22 very impressive instrument sounds, 4-hand duet play function, and comes in an attractive satin black furniture style cabinet with bench. And to think all that is just $1899 is pretty amazing. I have played and listened extensively to the Kawai CE220 and it is really outstanding for its lower price. You would need to go up to the CLP470 before you get the higher polyphony and wood keys. The CE220 also has USB flash drive input to save recorded MIDI songs, USB to computer/iPad output, stereo audio inputs & outputs, and some other very cool features. Take a look at my CE220 review here: Kawai CE220 Piano Review

As I mentioned a bit before, for the higher amount of money these pianos cost, the Yamaha 400 series pianos (specs left and lower left pics) also have a noticeable lack of instruments on three of the CLP models as compared with other brands at similar prices, which may or may not be important to you. There are just 14 of instrument tones in the CLP430, 28 in the CLP440, 28 in the CLP470, and over 500 instruments in the CLP480. The models with 14-28 instrument tones do have very good quality instrument sounds and are quite enjoyable such as electric pianos, harpsichord, acoustic guitar, organs, etc. Roland offers 337 quality  instruments on its HP line of pianos and even their less expensive RP301R ($1999) has many more instrument selections, assuming that would be an important feature to you.

CLP440 polished ebony

The CLP 430 does not have the synthetic ivory keytops like the other models do and it only has 128 notes of polyphony as compared to the CLP440, CLP470, and CLP480 with 256-note polyphony memory which is very useful and generous, especially for intermediate to advanced players. More polyphony memory allows allows for better reproduction of music when two or more instruments are combined and played at the same time (like piano & strings, etc). Most families I talk with typically want to spend less than $3000 for a digital piano so the CLP440 (above left - polished ebony) will likely be the most popular model and is vastly upgraded over the CLP430 along with a somewhat better internal sound system. The CLP440 does sound and look good, has 80 watts of power going through two speakers (which I actually thought sounded a bit mid-rangy in tone), can play and record audio WAV song files which is really nice as well as regular piano MIDI song files (no General MIDI files record or playback). It is a very good piano and looks attractive along with having the new synthetic ivory keytops. It also has Yamaha's popular GH3 (3 sensor) key action which provides for more precise piano play as opposed to the lower priced Yamaha Arius series YDP162 & 181. Click on the pics (below) for a larger size of the specs of each model.

If you want a furniture cabinet model in a lower price range, then you should also look at the Yamaha YDP162 ($1499US internet discount price) or new Casio Privia PX850 ($1099US internet discount price - left pic) which are very nice pianos too. The Casio PX850 compact home cabinet model in satin black has the upgraded synthetic ivory & ebony feel keys, 256-note polyphony (very high polyphony in that price range), a wav file audio recorder/player using USB flashdrive (just like on the CLP's), fairly realistic acoustic piano tone and convincing acoustic piano key action (tri-sensor key action for smoother play with 4-level stereo samples) and other cool things all in an attractive compact cabinet. (I have reviewed the Casio PX850 on my blog with the link here: Casio PX850 Review. As digital technology progresses and advances, it allows for better products at lower prices in many product categories (such as cell phones, tablets, TV's, digital pianos, etc), and such would seem to be the case in this new Casio PX850. I would also recommend in the higher price range (over $3000) the new Kawai CA65 & CA95 which are very impressive with their grand piano let-off key action and also Roland's newer HP505 & 507 which offer more sounds and the let-off grand key action like Kawai. Those models compare favorably to the Yamaha CLP470 & CLP480.

Kawai ES7

Another new and unique digital piano to consider in the $2000 to $2500 price range that I really like is the new Kawai ES7 compact contemporary furniture style piano (left pic). It comes in a polished ebony finish and polished white finish and they both look attractive. The ES7 is using Kawai's newest upscale key action and 256-note polyphony acoustic piano sound technology along with having some useful digital features. This model compares favorably with the Yamaha CLP440 and actually offers quite a bit more in my opinion in terms of performance and control along with some cools features which the CLP440 does not have. This piano is a serious instrument but yet fun at the same time (a great combination). With its flexibility, compact size, and superior performance, I think the Kawai ES7 should be a serious consideration for those people who want higher quality features in a solid, attractive, and functional cabinet at a lower price. Go here to read my review of the Kawai ES7: Kawai ES7 Piano Review

The Yamaha CLP model pianos do look great, particularly the polished ebony cabinets, and sound good, especially through headphones, and for the most part, play nicely with the exception of the key touch movement on the CLP430 & CLP440 (in my opinion) being a bit stiff or resistant when playing softer and lighter. But overall, the Yamaha CLP Clavinova's are very popular and I believe most people will enjoy them very much. I also recommend you take a look at the newer Roland line of furniture cabinet digital pianos over $2000 as they are quite enjoyable to play and listen to and have some advantages over the Yamaha Clavinova's, although the Roland pianos typically cost more money than Yamaha digital pianos in US piano stores. I happen to like the Roland pianos better than the Yamaha CLP's for key action movement & sound, but that's just my opinion because once you are in the higher price range like this then sound and key action is somewhat subjective. Go to my following review to read about the new Roland digital pianos: Roland HP & LX Digital Piano Review

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864