Embracing many of the long-established attributes inherent in an acoustic piano, the Grand Feel III keyboard action utilized by the CA701 conjoins realistic materials, motion, and mechanism to recreate the exceptional touch of the best concert grand pianos.

The eighty-eight black and white keys are crafted entirely from elongated pieces of wood, with finely textured ivory and ebony-like surfaces utilized to absorb moisture and improve control. Each wooden key pivots smoothly on a balance pin – the ends then rise and fall to emulate the familiar ‘seesaw’ motion of an acoustic piano action. When depressed, the rear of the key lifts, triggering a grade-weighted hammer to strike a sensitive pressure switch. The velocity of the keystroke and the amount of force applied to this switch is then measured, and the corresponding note is rendered with realistic tonal character and volume.

Evolving the art of the piano was the conception behind the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano. Earning a reputation as a truly world-class concert grand piano, it graces the stages of concert halls and musical institutions around the globe. Garnering universal acclaim for its exceptional purity of tone and dynamic range, the SK-EX has often been selected by professional pianists at such prestigious events as the Chopin, Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky international piano competitions. With its majestic tone and incredibly responsive touch, the SK-EX can accurately be described with one word – incomparable.

In order to faithfully and accurately reproduce the dazzling sound of a Shigeru Kawai concert grand piano in a digital piano, Kawai has developed SK-EX Rendering. This unique, piano-only sound engine focuses the Concert Artist’s DSP power, blending multi-channel, 88-key sampling with advanced resonance modelling technology to convey crystal-clear concert grand piano authenticity.

A new feature of the CA701 is Kawai’s exclusive SK-EX Competition Grand piano. This exciting new version is in addition to the exquisite SK-EX grand piano sound, with all new sampling data, captured from the pianist’s perspective. The Competition Grand sound is characterized by a bold and robust sound with more natural bass notes and a brilliant duplex scale effect in the upper notes.

The experience and skill of a knowledgeable piano technician is paramount in order to bring out the best of a quality acoustic piano. Kawai’s elite group of “Master Piano Artisans” are among the finest in the world.  In addition to tuning every note, the “Master Piano Artisans” fastidiously perform regulation and voicing adjustments that allow the instrument to sing at its best.

The powerful Virtual Piano Artisan function in the CA701 simulates these refinements digitally, allowing discriminating musicians to alter aspects of the selected piano’s character to accommodate their personal preferences without requiring the expertise of a qualified technician.

The player may perform a plethora of adjustments, including touch weight and voicing, adjust hammer and key release noises, and fine-tune string, cabinet and damper resonances. Adjusting the precise tuning, volume, and character of individual notes – all at the touch of a finger- is also possible.

The CA701 contains specialized components designed for full-spectrum audio reproduction. Cutting-edge technologies such as a custom-designed piano sampling filter and a dual DAC system allow the Concert Artist’s optimized power amplifiers to reproduce the Shigeru Kawai grand piano sound with brilliant clarity, authenticity, and power.

The pianist will also appreciate the premium discrete headphone amplifier which provides the user with an unequalled listening experience when playing in privacy. 

In addition to the instrument’s class-leading Grand Feel III keyboard action and brilliant SK-EX Rendering piano sound engine, the new CA701 offers a large selection of useful features that further enhance one’s musical enjoyment.

Musicians can extend the versatility of their piano by way of updated Bluetooth® V5 connectivity and USB audio which allows record/playback functions. The built-in metronome contains various time signatures in addition to 100 drum patterns. Embedded lesson functions, featuring classical etudes and songs from the popular Alfred course books, ensure that regular practice is engaging, productive and enjoyable for aspiring pianists of all ages.

The array of internal functions is accessed from the CA701’s enhanced anti-glare 5″ touchscreen display, which allows sounds and settings to be chosen from an easy user interface.

The screen can also be set to fade off automatically while playing, thus keeping the acoustic piano-like appearance, and minimizing any visual distractions to the pianist.

In addition to standard USB jacks for connecting to laptops or other instruments, the CA701 also features integrated Bluetooth® V5 MIDI and Bluetooth V5 Audio technologies that permit the piano to communicate with most smart devices wirelessly.

As it pairs with a phone, laptop or tablet, Concert Artist owners can enjoy a wide variety of popular music-related apps that can improve their learning and playing experience.  Moreover, one can stream audio from songs and videos directly through the CA701’s deluxe amplifier and speaker systems and enjoy playing along with favorite songs.

To enhance the piano student’s dexterity, the Concert Artist also features a collection of traditional finger exercises, scales, and warm-up drills.

The CA701’s allows the user-friendly touchscreen interface to also be accessed via Kawai’s exclusive PianoRemote app for iOS and supported Android devices. The app connects to the piano by way of the Concert Artists’ integrated Bluetooth, offering an easy way to change sounds, or enjoy the large variety of built-in music content.

The beneficial lesson function in the CA701 allows aspiring pianists to learn piano with a generous variety of songs from the popular Alfred’s Basic, Adult, and Premier course books along with classical Czerny, Burgmüller, Beyer, Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin etudes.

To enhance the piano student’s dexterity, the Concert Artist also features a collection of traditional finger exercises, scales, and warm-up drills.

The Concert Artist’s reputation as the most realistic digital piano is augmented with Kawai’s Grand Feel Pedal System. This valuable feature accurately emulates the position and individual weighting of the damper, soft, and sostenuto pedals of the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano, thus further enhancing the acoustic piano-like realism of the CA701.

In addition, the pianist can adjust the half-pedal sensitivity of the damper pedal, and effectiveness of the soft pedal using dedicated Virtual Piano Artisan parameters, which allow experienced pianists to customize the piano’s response to accommodate their individual pedaling technique.

The CA701’s Spatial Headphone Sound (SHS) technology vastly improves the depth and realism of the piano’s sound when listening through earphones or headphones. The pianist can choose one of the three different acoustic presets that alter the spatial positioning of the sound. SHS technology also reduces auditory fatigue when wearing earphones or headphones for long periods of time.

Another unique feature of the CA701 allows players to specify the type of headphones connected (Open, Semi-open, Closed, In-Ear, Canal, etc.) to ensure an optimal listening experience.

The CA701’s wide music rest is designed to accommodate the most unwieldy musical scores, with smooth rounded edges and faux leather lining the base. The CA701 has score support pins built into the music rest base, for holding sheet music open.

Much like a grand piano, the viewing angle of the Concert Artist’s music rest can be adjusted to adapt to the performer’s height and playing position, or even set to a special ‘composer desk’ angle for greater convenience when making notes in scores or sketching musical thoughts.