Digital Piano for Serious Headphone Practice – Kawai CA vs Roland LX?

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I bought a digital stage piano from them and they were very helpful.  They will spend time on the phone with you.  They recommended the CA-701 to me to use at night when I can't use my Steinway L.  Any Sennheiser headphones work well--over the ears are better than buds.  

I recently did some research and shopping for digital pianos, so let me share my experience. I am returning to playing after a 30 year hiatus from an injury. I used to play on a Steinway L, so I know what good acoustic grands sound and feel like. 

At the piano showroom, the salesperson was steering me toward the Kawai CA series, and yes, I could tell right away that it's got the touch and sound that I'm accustomed to. I ended up buying the ES-920 for now (portable), but this store offers me a 100% trade-up value policy if I decide to move up to the CA series later. So that's what I did. 

I can say even with this portable Kawai, I'm very happy and impressed all around. 

As far as headphones, I agree Sennheiser is great. That's what I have. Just be sure you get the wired kind, NOT bluetooth, which would have an annoying delay. 

p.s. I've recorded myself with the straight-to-MP3 recording capability and sent it to some friends. They couldn't tell that it wasn't a real acoustic grand! I got several comments on the beautiful tone quality of my instrument, and they asked where did I put it in my small urban condo!

Mr. da Silva,

I used to own the Kawai CS11. I eventually sold it and bought the Kawai ES 920. Like you, I am a serious hobbyist who owns a grand piano (Estonia L210). You’d think that going from a digital piano to a slab keyboard would be insane. However, let me explain. 
The CS11 has a beautiful cabinet but that cabinet is the majority of the cost- not the speakers and microchips that actually matter for sound and playing experience. The “real” soundboard doesn’t actually make the sampled sounds anymore realistic to the ear and is actually very small in comparison to the soundboard of an acoustic upright of the same size. It’s really just a gimmick that Kawai uses to make itself stand out in the crowded field of competition. The pedals on the CS11 use springs to recreate the feeling of depressing pedals with rods and a trap system as in acoustic grands. It feels more like a cheap upright mechanism than a fine grand’s pedal system. Finally, the action on the Kawai, while good, STILL does not feel like a true grand action. Part of the problem is the short key sticks themselves. The other issue, of course, is that the “hammers” are just pieces of plastic making contact with the digital sensor strip in a much different way than acoustic piano hammers hitting strings. It is VERY unsatisfying to play once you get a few hours of playing on it under your belt. The sound, however, is quite good, especially via headphones (I use a pair of AudioTechnica studio series headphones, they’re terrific!)

To me, the Roland sound samples were less convincing, the action felt even less realistic BUT the pedals were nicer.

Like you, I was only interested in finding something I could play on with headphones. I once owned a Kawai upright with a silent system which was MUCH more satisfying to play on but to purchase one again would be more than twice the investment of a digital. I eventually discovered that Kawai has the same chips in their slab keyboards that create the same realistic sounds (you can also hook up a laptop, download a VST, and get SIGNIFICANTLY better sound samples that are hyper realistic). The actions aren’t perfect, but to me, the ES901 had a better touch that was less “gummy” feeling than the CS11. Additionally, the pedals you can order for the slab keyboards feel better too- not perfect, but better. So I realized no digital is going to give me the exact playing experience of my grand (not even the Kawai Novus series though I should say they come close but are a lot more expensive). I also realized sound and touch were more important for me than a fancy, heavy cabinet. So I bought the ES instead after selling the CS. If I could do it all over yet again, I would buy the Kawai VPC slab and use a really high quality VST. The Kawai VPC has perhaps the best touch of all their digital and keyboard offerings. It has no extraneous sliders, knobs, equalizers etc. that us acoustic players don’t need and aren’t interested in. Some VST libraries include Shigeru Kawai samples that are recorded with better realism as well as the other top tier grands like Bösendorfer, Hamburg and NY Steinways, Yamaha CFX, Blüthner, Fazioli, etc. You can adjust all the parameters, including let off, damper resonance, action “noise” and equalizing directly in the software which appears a little intimidating at first but is actually pretty user friendly. So with the VPC1 selling for about $2500 US, a VST software package for about $400 US, and a top-of-the-line pedal system and stand for the keyboard- maybe another $400? You have a practice instrument with better sound, better touch, better samples, and portability (if you care about that) for around $3500 US. The Kawai CS11 is now retired but the new version, the CA99 is currently around $5000 at the dealers near me. I say, save the other $1500 for some sheet music from Henle!

Another option I can recommend:

A Kawai VPC-1 Midi Keyboard which has a very good action (like the Kawai CA-series). Connect it to a Mac mini M2 or later and use the software "Ivory III American Concert D" from Synthogy, and you have the experience of playing on a Steinway D grand. I think that's currently by far the best digital piano sound you can get.

Disadvantage: you need the keyboard, the Mac and the software, and a good speaker system (if you do not want to be restricted to headphones), which need to be switched on before you can start.

Advantages: if one of the components is broken, you just have to repair or replace one component of your setup. Transport / moving is much easier. Cheaper than an all-in-one digital piano. You can easily use other software / other virtual pianos. Upgrades will be easier and less expensive. And the sound is really the best IMO.

I have a Kawai CA-79 which is good, but once I tried the Ivory software, I could no longer just use the Kawai sound. So now the CA-79 is just the keyboad/MIDI controller most of the time. I should have known earlier, and could have saved some money. I saw a similar setup in a YouTube from "The Independent Pianist" (listen to his YouTube recordings, which are made with a comparable setup, really very good and hard to distinguish from a "real" instrument).

With a digital piano there are two considerations - sound and touch.

If the feel of the keyboard is most important to you, check the Yamaha Avant Grand series or the Kawai Novus.
Both have modified acoustic piano actions with escapement.
A good pianist I know, however, sold his Avant Grand in favor of a Casio GP-310, which feels better to him.

For playing with headphones you can use the sound that comes with the piano.  Or you can connect your piano to a computer and have it control any number of sound libraries that you can purchase.  The VPC-1 keyboard another poster mentioned requires an external sound source.

I've lived in an apartment with cardboard walls for 40+ years and only play out loud a few hours per year.  The rest of the time is just with headphones.
I have an older model Yamaha Avant Grand N3.  I sometimes play it with its own sounds.  At other times, I use it to drive a Steinway or Fazioli virtual instrument.  

Here's a link to what it sounds like driving a Steinway.  (Although I recorded the audio directly into the Android phone, which somewhat compresses the dynamic range.)

I bought the CA-701 for similar reasons after trying most of high end digital pianos. I think the Kawai Novus NV10 was nicer but not worth being more than three times the price. All the Yamahas felt very heavy despite the nice sounds other than the NU1xa but that has you tied to an upright action. I’m broadly happy with the Ca-701 and it’s relatively easy to go from it to a good grand piano without too much adjustment. 

I use a software solution - MODARTT Pianoteq 8 Pro Edition. It’s not sample-based, but it’s a digital modeling program, and a convincing one, at that (as good as I’ve heard from a digital). It has models of many popular instruments- mine is the Steinway B. Paired up with good quality controller, it’s a winning solution - better than ANY discrete digital piano I’ve played. 

Christopher Macy said:
better than ANY discrete digital piano I’ve played

 Pianoteq is, I've noticed, rather polarizing.  People either REALLY like it or REALLY find its sound nasal and annoying.
There are many nice features to Pianoteq - the variety of piano sounds, mic positioning, so many adjustment options, and the ability to have it automatically record your playing in case you have a magic moment. 

I have Pianoteq, the various Ivory (II and III) libraries, most of the VSL pianos (which I hardly ever touch - their lack of una corda bothers me), the Garritan CFX, and the VI Labs Modern D, which is what I most often seem to play (with Ivory or Garritan being occasional alternates).

It's nice to have choices!