Hi everyone,

I am following this channel for quite a while now and reading many opinions about digital pianos with great interest.

As an intermediate player who played on an acoustic piano as a kid, I would like to get a digital piano (to be able to play in silence in my apartment) which resembles an acoustic one in the best way possible.

I started trying out different pianos and quickly fell in love with the Kawai CA 701 for it's key action - it just feels very close to an acoustic one.

Now I am faced with the question whether to get a used CA 79 (~1600€) or a new CA 701 (~2600€)

My main criteria (in order of importance) are the following:

1. Key action: I tested both and found both to be quite good which is obvious as they have the same Key action. But are they exactly alike or are there improvements in the CA 701?

2. Speaker sound: Here I am a little bit torn as I tested the CA 701 in a store with a big room and it sounded pretty different than the CA 79 which however I tested in a small apartment. The CA 701 sounded a lot more balanced with the CA 79 being quite bass-dominant and sounded a bit worse than the CA 701. However it is not easy to compare as I couldnt play them on the same day and in the same room. My room is obviously also smaller than the store and therefore I am not sure if the CA 701 speaker system will sound more similar to the CA 79 in the same setting - or if room shape even has that big of an influence.

3. Samples: I found the sound of the SK-EX Concert Grand to be the best, but I also enjoyed the new SK-EX Competition Grand on the CA 701 - but this is not a winning argument. But is there a difference to the old sounds like the SK-EX Concert Grand to be expected between the 79 and the 701 or is it the same sound, same processing same engine etc.

4. Reliability/Warranty: The used CA 79 is 2 years old and has 3 years of Kawai warranty left. However Kawai state that their warranty only applies to first-buyers in Europe... Has anyone had any experience with the Kawai warranty policy and of they will really invoke this policy? Also how can I expect the reliability of the CA 79, are there known issues which arise frequently, or is it unlikely that I will face issues in the next years? The new CA 701 will have 5 years warranty bought brand new

5. Value/Reselling: Also this should be one point to consider as I am still young and studying and my life circumstances might change a lot in the next 5 years. I am planning to keep the piano long term but if I would like something different in 3 years or so, it would be a shame to have to sell the piano with a big value decrease... This one is tough to answer but how is the used marked in your experience, what kind of value drop is to be expected off a CA 701 in the next years? I found that there is little demand and offer on the used market for the CA 79 and also the CA 701 but this might change

In the end I could afford both instruments but as the money is valuable as a student the Idea of saving 1000€ upon buying the used CA 79 is very appealing.

If you can comment or give your opinion on any of these points it would be very helpful for my decision!

Thanks a lot and have a great day 🎹

I'm a classical pianist, working on my ARCT currently. I've spent most of my life playing on a Steinway Boston baby grand. I got a job fairly far from my house and am going to be moving in my aunt. Obviously, I can't really bring my piano with me. My idea is to buy a really good digital piano to leave at her house, and play the baby grand when I come home on the weekend.

I'm completely torn between the Kawai CA701 and the Roland LX706. The Kawai gallery near me actually has a few in stock, despite them being so new. At this point, I've gone to both galleries multiple times. But, the two galleries are a few hours away from each other, and without having both the Kawai and Roland next to me to directly compare, I'm struggling to choose between them. I want to minimize the difference between the digital and baby grand as much as possible, so that when I play on my grand I don't play horribly. I know keyboards are very subjective, but can anyone with an LX706/708 or CA701/79 (since they share the same action) comment on how they like their choice?

I'm a classically-trained piano player. Played it seriously for most of my childhood on both an upright and a grand, and now just play for fun whenever I can. I no longer have a piano since moving to a new country, so I was thinking of getting an upright.

But recently, I've had a lot of tunes and music playing in my head that I want to try and record. So now I'm thinking of getting a keyboard. I know *nothing* about recording. I have to familiarize myself with the concepts of MIDI, workstation, audio interface/sound card, etc. I still don't get all of it, but hoping to get the hang of it soon, especially once i have the keyboard.

I've been going to a few shops and so far, my top choices are the Kawai CA79 and Roland LX 705. Neither still feels like a grand or even an upright piano to me, but I could be happy with them and out of all the ones I've seen, these seem to be the best for my budget (admittedly, I've only tested maybe 10 keyboards so far). But my most important criteria is that the keys feel more like a traditional piano, then the sound, and finally having the ability to record, which would be a balancing act between simplicity and perfection. What do I mean by that last point? I can get more and more devices and better and more expensive ones to bring the latency down, make the audio out better, etc., but I'm a newb and that might overcomplicate things. So, for example, do I go for an external audio interface, or do I rely on a keyboard that comes with it? A keyboard with decent speakers, or a quality headphone? And so on.

Anyways, any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated. Thank you :)