Kawai CA58 review: Better Than the Kawai CA48?
The Kawai CA58 is a great-looking and great-sounding digital piano that comes with lots of helpful features for beginner pianists. In this article, we will take a closer look at this Kawai digital piano so that you can determine whether or not it is the best digital piano for you.
And to better help you, please take a moment to view the interactive table below, which allows you to directly compare the Kawai CA58 to other notable digital pianos on the market.
| Photo | Model |
|---|---|
 | Yamaha YDP-145 |
 | Yamaha YDP-165 |
 | Casio PX-870 |
 | Casio AP-470 |
 | Yamaha YDP-184 |
Let’s dive in!
How Much Does the Kawai CA58 Cost?
The Kawai CA58 costs $2,999. This price might seem a bit steep, especially to first-time digital piano buyers. Just remember, the old adage “you get what you pay for” applies to digital pianos, too!
In this price range, you can expect to get features that you would not find in digital pianos that are a thousand dollars and under. Although you can certainly find a quality beginner digital piano at a lower price than the Kawai CA58’s $2,999, this digital piano is one that you can stick with at all levels of piano-playing skill.
How Many Keys Does the Kawai CA58 Have?
The Kawai CA58 has a full 88-key keyboard, just like an acoustic piano. It is important to get your hands on an 88-key keyboard as early as possible so that an acoustic piano’s full keyboard does not seem as daunting to you when you finally get your hands on one.
Below, please take a moment to view some of the best selling digital pianos available on Amazon (and see how they compare to the Kawai CA58, as well):
| BEST SELLERS |
|---|
| 1) Casio PX-770 |
| 2) Yamaha YDP-145 |
| 3) Roland RP-701 |
| 4) Yamaha YDP-165 |
| 5) Casio PX-870 |
What Is the Kawai CA58’s Keyboard Like?
The Kawai CA58 has a graded hammer action keyboard, which means that its keys feel heavier in the keyboard’s low end and lighter in the keyboard’s high end. This digital piano’s graded hammer action keyboard replicates the feel of playing on an acoustic piano’s keyboard; acoustic pianos use differently weighted hammers across their keyboards, and the Kawai CA58 does the same.
Also, the Kawai CA58’s keyboard was made with the brand’s Grand Feel Compact action. Grand Feel Compact action keyboards use triple sensor key detection to provide you with a smooth, natural playing experience. These sensors respond to your touch and help the Kawai CA58 to respond to the dynamics of your playing.
For example, you can go from playing really quietly to playing really loudly with ease. Some players have even noticed that Kawai’s Grand Feel Compact action keyboards respond like actual acoustic piano keyboards; they’ve stated that it feels as if there are free hammers inside of the Kawai digital pianos that use this action, just like there are free hammers inside of acoustic pianos. Read more customer reactions to the Grand Feel Compact action here.
How Many Sounds Does This Keyboard Come With?
The Kawai CA58 comes with 42 onboard sounds, which is a pretty nice sound offering. This Kawai digital piano offers a variety of sounds, like orchestral strings, electric pianos, organs, vibraphones, harpsichords, and synth sounds.
Of course, the most important sounds (and probably the ones that you’re most interested in hearing about) are the acoustic piano sounds. The Kawai CA58 contains the sounds of hand-crafted Kawai concert grand pianos. All 88 keys of these grand pianos were recorded and reproduced using Kawai’s Harmonic Imaging XL technology.
The full dynamic ranges of these concert grands are recreated on the Kawai CA58, so you can express a wide range of emotions through this digital piano’s keys.
How Much Polyphony Does the Kawai CA58 Offer?
The Kawai CA58 has 256-note polyphony. I always recommend getting a digital piano with 120-note polyphony, so this Kawai digital piano is definitely a safe bet.
Polyphony basically means that an instrument can play more than one note at a time. So, technically, the Kawai CA58 should be able to play 256 notes simultaneously even though a full piano keyboard only has 88 keys. However, stereo sounds use more polyphony because they contain layered samples. Also, any effects that you apply to your playing will eat up polyphony, too.
Learn more about polyphony here.
What Kind of Effects Does the Kawai CA58 Have to Offer?
The Kawai CA58 has the following effects:
- 6 reverb settings
- 3 delay settings
- 3 chorus settings
- 3 tremolo settings
- 2 phaser settings
- brilliance
- rotary
Reverb affects your sound output by making it sound as if you are playing in a different sized space. For example, when you are playing on a small venue’s stage, you can make it sound as if you are playing in a large concert hall.
Delay increases the gap between when your fingers press the keys and the digital piano plays the notes.
Chorus makes it sound as if a chorus of whatever onboard sound you use are playing the same notes simultaneously.
The tremolo effect causes the volume of your sound output to change to give your music a vibrato-like effect.
Phaser modulates your sound and creates a sweeping effect.
Brilliance adds brightness and sharpness to your sound so that whatever you are playing sounds a bit brighter.
Rotary replicates the spread of sound through a pipe organ, so this effect will work really well with the Kawai CA58’s organ sounds.
All of these effects help you to customize your sound. You can use them to make an ordinary sound seem a bit more grand or to make off the wall sound creations. Learn more about the different types of digital piano effects here.
What Else Should I Know?
This Kawai digital piano comes with a full suite of three pedals just like you would find on an acoustic piano. Having access to all three pedals early on helps you to get accustomed to using them, so this is definitely a very beneficial feature.
The Kawai CA58 has dual, split, and four-hands modes. Dual mode lets you layer two sounds over one another and play them at the same time. For example, you can play a grand piano sound with a string sound to create a classic orchestral sound.
Split mode cuts the keyboard in half and divides it between two sounds, like a piano in the right hand and a bass in the left hand. Four-hands mode divides the Kawai CA58’s keyboard into two identical halves. Four-hands mode is really helpful during piano lessons because it makes it possible for you to play along with your teacher.
The Kawai CA58 also has Bluetooth capabilities. This feature is really awesome because it lets you play audio through the digital piano’s speakers; this comes in especially handy when you are playing along with a recording of a song.
This digital piano also comes with built-in lessons. You can play along as the Kawai CA58 plays the lessons, adjust the tempo, and even practice the right and left hand parts separately.
Kawai CA48 vs Kawai CA58?
The Kawai CA48 is currently available for $2,099, so it costs nearly a thousand dollars less than the Kawai CA58.
This model has 19 onboard sounds, which is significantly fewer than the Kawai CA45’s sound offering. Still, if you are only looking to practice with piano sounds, the Kawai CA48 has enough to satisfy you.
The Kawai CA48 has 196-note max polyphony. This amount of polyphony eliminates the fear of note dropout, so this is definitely a win! Still, the Kawai CA58 offers more wiggle room.
The Kawai CA48 comes with six reverb settings and brilliance, so it does not offer the same variety of effects as the Kawai CA58 does.
Both the Kawai CA48 and the Kawai CA58 have weighted hammer action keyboards, Bluetooth capabilities, and built-in lessons. The Kawai CA48 also has dual and four-hands modes, but it does not have a split mode. If you know you are going to want to be able to split your keyboard in two, the Kawai CA58 is the way to go.
- You can read our in-depth Kawai CA48 review here!
Kawai CA78 vs Kawai CA58
The Kawai CA78 is currently going for $2,528, so it is just a bit cheaper than the Kawai CA58.
This Kawai model also has 256-note polyphony, but it ups the number of available onboard sounds. The Kawai CA78 has 66 onboard sounds whereas the Kawai CA58 has 42.
The Kawai CA78’s keys are also topped with real ebony and ivory, so they feel just a bit more like an acoustic piano’s keys. If your goal is to move toward playing on an acoustic piano someday, you can’t go wrong with Kawai CA78.
Kawai CA67 vs Kawai CA58
The Kawai CA67 also offers 256-note polyphony, so it is just as safe a bet in terms of polyphony as the Kawai CA58 and Kawai CA78.
The Kawai CA67 comes with 60 onboard sounds, so it is second only to the Kawai CA78 in this regard.
There are not many overall differences between the Kawai CA67 and the Kawai CA58.
Read what buyers of the Kawai CA67 have to say about this digital piano here.
Yamaha CLP-645 vs Kawai CA58
This digital piano is currently available for $3,499.99, so it is considerably pricier than all of the other digital pianos included in this article.
The Yamaha CLP645 comes with 36 onboard sounds and has 256-note polyphony.
Like all of the other digital pianos included in this article, the Yamaha CLP645 has Bluetooth capabilities.
Overall, the Yamaha CLP645 does not have any features that you cannot get with the cheaper Kawai models.
Which of These Digital Pianos Is the Best Value?
The Kawai CA58 earns 3.7 out of 5 stars, and it is definitely a great value. However, the Kawai CA78 is the winner here.
This digital piano offers plenty of polyphony, so you will never have to worry about note dropout when you play the Kawai CA78.
The Kawai CA78 offers the most onboard sounds with the Kawai CA67 as a close second. Still, those extra six sounds do make a difference.
The fact that this Kawai digital piano’s keys are topped with ebony and ivory puts it ahead of its competition. If you are looking to get as close to replicating the experience of playing on an acoustic piano without dropping tens or hundreds of thousands on an acoustic piano, look no further than the Kawai CA78.
Of course, the Kawai CA78 also gets extra points for being a little cheaper than the Kawai CA58. Although the Kawai CA78 has more to offer, it is still less expensive than the CA58. If I were you, I would snatch up the Kawai CA78 as quickly as possible!
Although the Kawai CA78 is the ultimate winner here, you can’t go wrong with any of the digital pianos that are included in this article. From here, your next step should be to try these digital pianos out for yourself before deciding which one to take home.
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