The main differences between the between the Kawai CA-901, Roland LX-9 and Yamaha CLP-785

Introduction

We compare Kawai's CA-901, Roland's LX-9 and Yamaha's CLP-785. If design and authenticity is important to you, these pianos will not disappoint. The manufacturers have built the best digital pianos possible, with these flagship models, both in terms of sound quality and key action. If you are wondering how these three pianos differ from each other, this comparison might help ...

The Kawai-901

The Kawai CA-901 is a popular digital piano, that offer high-quality sound and an authentic playing experience. This piano uses the brand new and exclusive SK-EX Competition Grand piano sounds. One of the sounds is from the great grand piano Shigeru Kawai SK-EX. The digital piano also has the industry-leading Grand Feel III wooden-key keyboard action. With these advanced technologies you can produce authentic and expressive piano sounds.

Roland LX-9

The Roland LX-9  stands out within the LX series for its Piano Reality Modeling engine, offering unparalleled digital sound quality. This advanced feature faithfully captures the intricate nuances and dynamics of a concert grand piano, ensuring a deeply expressive musical experience with unlimited polyphony. Whether in a concert hall or a cozy living room, musicians can explore a vast range of sounds, ensuring each performance is nuanced and vivid.

Featuring a Hybrid Grand keyboard, the LX-9 effortlessly combines digital convenience with acoustic authenticity, bridging the gap between the two worlds.

One of the key highlights of the LX-9 is its advanced sound projection technology, which sets it apart from other digital pianos. Its impressive eight-speaker sound system delivers unmatched clarity and depth, immersing both players and listeners in a rich acoustic landscape. With a dedicated center channel, the piano's sound is accurately projected, creating an immersive experience that mirrors the resonance and spatial depth of a grand piano.

Yamaha CLP-785

The digital flagship model Yamaha CLP-785 of the Clavinova CLP Series has the best sound system in the series. It also features the counterweighted GrandTouch keyboard. The virtual resonance modeling performs real-time modeling of the resonance which is created by the behavior of the strings and the body of the instrument. This creates a beautiful sound of a grand piano.

Sound

The sound of the Kawai CA-901

The Kawai 901 has samples from the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano. Earning a reputation as the ‘premier piano of Japan,’ it graces the stages of concert halls and musical institutions around the globe, receiving universal acclaim for its exceptional clarity and dynamic range. The SK-EX has frequently been selected by professional pianists at such prestigious events as the Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Rubinstein international piano competitions. With its magnificent tone and wonderfully responsive touch, the SK-EX can best be described with one word – incomparable. In order to faithfully reproduce the stunning sound of a Shigeru Kawai concert grand piano digitally, Kawai has developed SK-EX Rendering. This special, piano-only sound engine focusses the Concert Artist’s DSP power, combining multi-channel, 88-key sampling with the latest resonance modelling technology to deliver pure acoustic piano authenticity.

The sound of the Roland LX-9

The Roland LX-9 is equipped with the Reality Projection sound system, featuring advanced sonic processing and premium audio components. With eight speakers and a dedicated center channel, the LX-9 delivers exceptional sound quality.

Powered by the Piano Reality Modeling sound engine, the LX-9 offers authentic grand piano sound and response with unlimited polyphony. Its versatility allows for a wide spectrum of tonal nuances and expressive capabilities, effortlessly adapting to your playing style.

From gentle beginnings to powerful crescendos, the LX-9 dynamically responds to your touch, brightening in tone as you increase your intensity. As your emotions and technique merge in your performance, the LX-9 faithfully reflects your passion and musical expression.

The sound of the Yamaha CLP-785

Yamaha CLP-785 has grand piano sounds that are recorded from several world-renowned concert grand pianos. One of them is the CFX, Yamaha’s top-flight concert grand piano. Pianists around the world are enamoured with the impressive, dazzling, richly expressive sound of the CFX in concert halls. Another sampled concert grand is the Imperial, the flagship model of Bösendorfer, a time-honoured Viennese piano brand with an ardent following. The Imperial is known for its abundance of colour and natural, warm feeling. Yamaha faithfully reproduces the idiosyncrasies of these concert grand pianos by carefully recording the entire tonal range of each of the 88 keys, making minute adjustments to capture the most harmonious tones each piano has to offer.

Keyaction

The keyaction of the Kawai CA-901

The Kawai CA-901 comes with Kawai’s Grand Feel III wooden-key keyboard action.  Eighty-eight black and white keys are crafted entirely from long pieces of wood, with finely textured ivory and ebony-like surfaces applied to absorb moisture and assist control. The keyboard surface looks and feels very luxurious.

Each wooden key pivots smoothly on a balance pin – the ends rising and falling to replicate the familiar ‘seesaw’ motion of an acoustic piano action.  When pressed, the back of the key lifts, triggering a grade-weighted hammer to strike a pressure switch.  The amount of force applied to this switch is then measured, and the corresponding note played with authentic tonal character and volume. The Grand Feel III keyboard action also features an accurate triple-sensor key detection system for enhanced playing realism.

 As the most authentic digital piano keyboard action, Grand Feel III even reproduces the ‘let-off’ characteristic of acoustic piano actions.  This sensation you can feel when playing the keys of a grand piano very gently and may be used by experienced pianists to aid control when playing pianissimo passages.

The key action of the Roland LX-9

The Roland LX-9 boasts Roland's Hybrid Grand key action, featuring an 88-key Hammer Action Keyboard. This advanced system incorporates escapement and offers the feel of ebony and ivory keys, complete with haptic key sensing for precise control. With progressive hammer mechanics, hybrid wood/shaped keys, and extended key travel length, the LX-9 replicates the tactile experience of playing a grand piano, ensuring comfort during long playing sessions.

Enhancing the realism further is the haptic vibration technology, which provides tactile feedback for an incredibly lifelike playing experience. This feature not only adds to the authenticity but also makes the piano suitable for gaming enthusiasts seeking a realistic touch.

Thanks to these innovative features and precision control, the LX-9 excels in achieving articulations like legato and staccato, making it an excellent choice for musicians looking to capture expressive nuances in their performances.

The key action of the Yamaha CLP-785

Yamaha CLP-785 with the GrandTouch keyboard. Yamaha’s latest keyboard action features a broad dynamic range and faithful response to every nuance of touch that puts a wide expanse of tone—from delicate to bold—at the pianist’s fingertips. The highly consistent grand piano hammers replicate the pleasing response felt when the hammers strike the strings, enabling precise control of the tone. Highly absorbent synthetic-ivory white keys and synthetic-ebony black keys prevent slipping even during extended play and feel just like those of a grand piano. GrandTouch keyboard features wooden keys that showcase Yamaha’s expertise with wood for pianos.

Design 

The Design of the Kawai CA-901

Kawai CA-901 is available in four different colors:  Premium Rosewood, Satin Black, and Satin White wood-grain finishes, as well as classic Ebony Polish. Kawai have used the design of their acoustic "k-series" pianos, for the CA-901 so it almost looks exactly like an acoustic Kawai.  The CA901 has a premium quality wooden cabinet, with tapered legs and rounded edge details contributing to the instruments’ light and modern character. The CA901 and features a full-colour, anti-glare 5″ touchscreen display discreetly embedded within the instruments’ left cheekblock. This high resolution touchscreen allows sounds and settings to be selected from an attractive user interface simply by tapping or swiping the display with a finger. 

The design of the Roland LX-9

Roland LX-9  is available in polished white, polished ebony, and charcoal black finishes. This premier upright piano with elegant high-gloss and non-polished finishes and finely crafted details. With its rounded edges and the streamlined design, the piano is very modern and elegant. The ability to with the top lid at an angle and open is reminiscent of the upright piano, giving a classic aesthetic. Premier upright piano with elegant high-gloss and non-polished finishes and finely crafted details. 

The design of the Yamaha CLP-785

Yamaha CLP-785 is made in three different colors: Polished Ebony, Polished White and Satin Black. Due to the top lid, being the same type as on an acoustic piano, the CLP-785 looks very similar to an acoustic upright piano. With its innovative but traditional design, sharp edges and black, solid hinges, this instrument radiates quality. Due to the sloping edge over the keybed, you also have lots of space at the keyboard, even when playing on the back of the keys.

Unique features

The Kawai-901 offers premium audio technologies to reproduce the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX sounds with stunning richness and clarity. It also has the latest Bluetooth® MIDI and Audio v5 wireless connectivity. This digital piano also has a high-performance speaker system with TwinDrive soundboard. It’s the latest version of the Kawai soundboard speaker system. This unique sound technology embraces the rich, harmonious qualities of wood using transducers to produce a more natural, organic tone.

Roland LX-9  features Progressive Damper Action pedals, including soft and sostenuto pedals with continuous detection. These pedals are equipped with damper modeling and support traditional techniques, offering a nuanced and expressive playing experience.

Enhancing the sonic experience is the Piano Reality Projection sound system, which boasts advanced sonic processing and premium audio components. With eight speakers and a dedicated center channel, the LX-9 delivers immersive and lifelike sound quality.

Moreover, the LX-9 offers integrated Bluetooth MIDI functionality, allowing seamless connection with apps like Roland's Piano Every Day and the Piano Everyday app. This enables easy access to digital sheet music, songs, and other resources, enhancing your overall playing experience.

Yamaha CLP-785 has very special speakers. Drawing on their experience in manufacturing both acoustic pianos and high-end speakers, Yamaha has developed speaker units with membranes of the same spruce tree used in the vocal cords of an acoustic grand piano. The result is a more natural, piano-like "attack" in the sound, so it sounds more like an acoustic grand piano. The CLP-785 deliver this pleasant feeling through Grand Acoustic Imaging. The latest acoustic design and measuring technology create the same sound image and sound field of a grand piano despite the compact size of the digital piano.

You also can connect your phone to the digital piano with the Bluetooth connection as well, with this function you can play music through the audio system. It’s also possible to use the smart pianist app, to use several functions.

Specifications for these models:

Video of the Kawai CA-901

If you want to know more about the Kawai CA-901, you can watch this video down below. 

Video of the Yamaha CLP-785 

If you want to know more about the Kawai CLP-785, you can watch this video down below.