Kawai CA-501 digital piano

Introducing the Kawai CA501 digital piano

Combining all the best new features, the Kawai CA501 provides a concert artist performance at an affordable price.

The CA501 is the latest Kawai digital piano with the grand feel compact wooden-key keyboard action. This action has been designed to reproduce the authentic touch weight characteristics of the industry’s top grand feel keyboard actions, within a smaller form factor.

Despite its smaller unit size, the CA501 delivers the most realistic playing experience in its class.

An improved design

The Kawai CA501 has a refined cabinet design with improved pedal position and new music rest score support pins, which can be raised to hold the pages of thicker score books securely in place.

There’s also a redesigned control panel with direct button printing for intuitive operation, and a high resolution OLED display providing information about the selected sound, function, or setting.

A rich sound selection

The CA501 features an excellent selection of beautiful acoustic piano voices, it also includes additional sounds, ranging from electric pianos and drawbar or church organs, to strings, human choirs, and synth pads, inviting musicians to add greater variety to their performances.

The Dual playing mode also allows two different sounds, such as grand piano and strings, to be layered together, while the Split and Four Hands modes divide the keyboard into two independent sections.These modes are particularly useful in learning environments, allowing a teacher and student to play together at the same time using a single instrument.

Ivory touch key surfaces

The impressive CA501 features Kawai’s highly regarded ivory touch key surfaces. This finely textured material assists with playing control, with its natural, matte finish that’s smooth but not slippery. The keytops are also easy to clean, simply needing to be wiped using only a damp cloth.

High quality sound hardware

This keyboard features a redesigned motherboard and speaker system that incorporates unique 360° diffuser panels. These components combine to deliver high quality audio, producing an extremely rich, clear sound with minimal distortion.

The CA501 top-mounted speakers also feature custom-engineered diffuser panels, which help to expand the piano’s tonal projection in all directions, creating a 360° sound field around the instrument, ensuring a natural piano sound for both the player, and those listening elsewhere in the room.

Bass key counterweights

The CA501 keyboard features counterweights attached towards the front of the bass keys. As with an acoustic piano, these finely balanced weights help to lighten the touch of the keyboard when played softly, while adding a feel of greater substance when playing with force.

Triple sensor key detection

The CA501 utilises an accurate triple-sensor key detection system for enhanced playing realism. The added third sensor improves responsiveness when playing the same key repeatedly, and unlike conventional two-sensor keyboard actions, allows the sound of a single note to be gradually ‘layered’ without the previous tone being lost.

Let-off simulation

As the most authentic digital piano keyboard action in its class, CA501 even reproduces the let-off characteristic of acoustic piano actions. This subtle ‘notch’ sensation can be felt when playing the keys of a grand piano very gently, and is used by experienced pianists to aid control when playing pianissimo passages.

Spatial headphone sound technology

The CA501’s spatial headphone sound technology enhances the depth and realism of the instrument’s sound when listening through headphones. The player can select one of three different acoustic presets that adjust the spatial positioning of the sound, while also helping to reduce auditory fatigue when using headphones for extended periods of time.

Built-in lesson function

The CA501’s convenient lesson function allows aspiring pianists to learn piano with classical songs, or a collection from the popular Alfred's Basic, Adult, and Premier course books.

With a strong emphasis on acoustic piano realism, the CA501 also features traditional finger exercises, scales, and warm-up drills, and it includes companion books for all classical scores to further aid students with their piano development.

Integrated Bluetooth connectivity

In addition to a standard USB-MIDI port for connecting to computers, the CA501 also features integrated Bluetooth MIDI and Audio technologies that allow the instrument to communicate with supported smart devices wirelessly. Now you can stream audio from songs and videos directly through the instrument’s speaker system without the need to connect additional cables.