🎹Kawai CA99 vs Casio GP-510 Digital Piano Review, Comparison, & Demo🎹

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#CA99 #GP510 #DigitalPiano

Hi everybody, and welcome to another piano comparison video here at the Merriam Pianos YouTube channel. In this video, we’ll be comparing the Casio GP-510 Hybrid Digital Grand with Kawai’s CA99.

Both of these instruments represent their respective manufacturer’s top offerings in the under $10,000 digital piano class, and boast some of the latest cutting edge trends in the industry.

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Casio GP-510

Piano Action:

If there’s a centerpiece to this instrument, it’s definitely the action. The action here (Natural Grand Hammer Action) was designed and built in conjunction with C. Bechstein, the legendary German acoustic piano builder, known for building some of the most precise and highly regulated actions on the market. Unlike the actual acoustic actions featured in digital pianos like Kawai’s Novus series or Yamaha’s N series, the action here is not actually an authentic acoustic piano action, but considering the price point, it’s undoubtedly one of the top piano action’s in its class.

Where Casio has really improved on the previous generation of this action is the regulation - the previous generation action had a great design but left something to be desired with regards to the regulation. That isn’t the case here as this action feels great to play. I like the weighting, repetition speed and how the bottom of the keybed feels.

The one area where the action falls short is the let off, which doesn’t feel particular realistic. This probably won’t matter for most folks, but it’s worth noting nonetheless. The white keys use a polished white polish as opposed to a texture.

How does this piano directly compare to the Kawai CA99? I love the dynamic weight of the Casio action here, and I think the way the piano has been recorded and sampled creates a hyper realistic sense of the subtle details. The GP-510 stands well on its own, and compares very favourably overall.

Kawai CA99

Piano Action:

For certain styles of playing, I’d have to say Natural Grand Hammer Action in the GP510 feels slightly better than the Grand Feel III action in the CA99. That being said, there are those that will prefer this action. Despite the Grand Feel name, the keystick length is actually closer to what you’ll find in an upright piano, and to me, feels very close to what you’re getting in Kawai’s K series upright pianos.

The bottom of the keybed is a little bit softer here than in the GP-510, and I do prefer the escapement here as it feels more realistic.

I would say if action is your main focus, you should absolutely try both of these instruments out before purchasing. The GP-510 does feel closer to a grand piano, so if that’s important to you, that might be the instrument to go with.

Piano Sound:

The main reason to consider a CA99 is due to sound, since the less expensive CA79 features the exact same action. Where the CA99 differs is with the addition of a real Solid Spruce, twindrive soundboard system. This adds a whole new dimension of realism and warmth to the piano tone, especially in the lower register.

In terms of the sound engine, the CA99 features Kawai’s latest SKEX Sound Rendering engine, with limitless polyphony, which is primarily a modeled sound engine. Also on-board is the sample based HIXL sound engine, so you have the option to use either. In my opinion, the Rendering engine has more detail and nuance, as well as more user-editable parameters via the virtual technician function.

Navigating the rest of the on-board sounds is super easy with the new and improved touch screen interface. The pipe organ setting sounds especially excellent here due to the soundboard, and the presence of multiple harpsichord samples is also a nice touch.

Touchscreen Control Interface:

Kawai took a lot of the user feedback to heart with regards to the interface on the CA98/78, and really made serious improvements in terms of responsiveness and ease of use. Watch as Stu takes us through the control interface, showing some of the many possible things you can do with this instrument.

As always, thanks for watching!

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