Keyboards

Kawai's last few digital pianos have been finely wrought things of beauty: solidly built keyboards with an amazingly realistic playing action and beautifully sampled piano timbres. But their latest claims to surpass all of those. Can it possibly be true?

Every pianist dreams of owning a grand piano, but is it really possible to combine the feel of a grand into a stage piano and combine it with great sounds and master-keyboard functionality?

Nick Magnus gets his hands on an instrument which is claimed to provide the best reproduction yet of the feel — and sound — of an acoustic piano.

Just a few months ago you couldn't buy a new additive synth; now you can pick from no less than three, and although they're from the same family, there are enough differences to make the choice less than straightforward Derek Johnson adds it all up.

Ten years after the K5, Kawai return to the technology which gave them the most successful implementation of additive synthesis ever, and include something of everything else they've learnt in the meantime. Paul Wiffen wonders if it all adds up...