Kawai Concert Artist CA65

A "mind-blowing" digital piano - no, really! – Having owned two digital pianos (a second-from-the-top Yamaha Clavinova and a top-model Casio Privia) and recent-model Kurzweil and Roland synthesisers, the Kawai CA65 is breathtaking. The soundboard resonance simulation is astounding through the built-in speakers and the piano sounds are utterly convincing. Although the samples are looped, the loops are either or impossible (or extremely difficult) to discern, and only if you play a single note in a silent room — you will never hear loops whilst playing a piece of music.

There are a few additional sounds including convincing EPs and B3 emulations with a damned good Leslie speaker effect. The strings and choirs are respectable but are best used for layering rather than used on their own. The pads are quite dull and dated but with this not being a stage piano it is not a bother. The acoustic guitars are good enough for a home piano but again, they're not something I'd use for a recording.

The keyboard has real wooden keys - when the weather is right you can smell the woody aroma. The action is wonderful. There's nothing else I can say about that!

The menu system is not terribly intuitive but I was able to work out the various functions without the manual. It can record performances as sequencer data or WAV files, will play back WAV, MP3 and MIDI data, and has basic controller functions. My iPad recognises it as a MIDI controller so I can prop the iPad up on the music stand, patch the audio through the piano speakers and go to town.

Instore I tried this along with Roland and Yamaha digital console pianos. The Yamaha still sounded much like it did years ago and the keyboard felt the same too. It was also $2500 dearer. The a Roland sounded nice enough, but the action just didn't compare and it only had 128-note polyphony compared to Kawai's 256. The price was a tiny bit higher, but not tiny enough to be a clear winner.

To get down to brass tacks, the Kawai CA65 sounds organic, has a sublime action and is not as expensive as other brands. It really does give you a grand piano sound AND feel for the price of a terrible upright. The big decider however was the Kawai has a 5 year warranty — SOLD!