The Kawai KDP90 is another quality digital piano from the elite brand, Kawai. We know Kawai as a first class brand that makes some of the best acoustic pianos there are, from the grands to the uprights. In fact, it’s probably better known for its line of acoustic pianos.
However, Kawai also carries some of the best digital pianos the piano community has seen. You can tell from its digital pianos that it pours its wealth of expertise making acoustic pianos into making its digital pianos.
It’s no wonder its digital pianos always come out excellently and strong contenders in whatever category they come in.
Today, we will be taking a look at its Kawai KDP90 in depth to find out the pros and cons of this piano. We hope this review helps you make the best decision concerning this instrument.
(3.5 / 5)Kawai KDP90 At A Glance – Is This Piano For You?
The Kawai KDP90 can work for pianists with any level of skill at all. It’s a great practice piano that’s reliable and dependable with loads of features for the pianists to enjoy. This piano is heavy, though. So, don’t expect to move this around easily.
However, pianists looking for a quality instrument with a great sound and a pocket-friendly price will find a friend in the Kawai KDP90.
Now to features…
In its industry, Kawai pushes the bar higher every time it releases a new instrument. So, as you’ll expect on the Kawai KDP90, the standards here are high. But what’s more impressive is its competitive price.
As a four hand piano this piano offers the dual mode feature which allows two people play at a time. This feature is great for practicing duets, and also great for tutors and students as well.
Now, thanks to its sound technology, this piano sounds wonderful. It offers an F graded hammer which is a polyphony that’s built together with the feet pedal system. The sustain pedal, however, you’d have to purchase separately.
Nonetheless, the Kawai KDP90 comes with its own high quality bench, that’s as sturdy as it is good-looking. Its cabinet also looks good in usual Kawai style. And it even comes with a sliding cover too just like an acoustic piano.
As for sound, of course, the Kawai KDP90 does not disappoint. It comes with a number of sound effects which help you to customize your sound as you want to.
And one other thing that impresses us here is the fact that its keys do not feel like practice piano keys. That is, you won’t hear any squeaky sound here.
Altogether, this is a quality practice piano worth the money.
Features Of The Kawai KDP90
Now, let’s check out the major features of this piano, and see if it’s the right piano for you.
Design
The Kawai KDP90 is a beautiful instrument and it comes as no surprise to us seeing the brand behind the piano. If there is any brand that knows the business of making elegant instruments, it’s Kawai.
As a furniture style piano, the Kawai KDP90 will add a unique and beautiful touch to your home or your studio. And even though this comes in a furniture style, it is still quite compact. So, it does not take up too much space.
This isn’t exactly a lightweight instrument, and of course, you shouldn’t expect that from an upright piano. It weighs in at about 83.6 pounds. And although we have seen lighter console pianos, we will say that this piano doesn’t weigh too heavily for the purpose.
Now, to complete this look and further endow the piano with a classical piano feel, this comes with a sliding cover. This cover is every bit as functional as it is aesthetic. It protects your piano from dust and dirt and also makes it look good.
Sound Quality
The sound engine in the Kawai KDP90 is the Harmonic Imaging. Kawai obtains its samples – which the Harmonic Imaging replicates beautifully – from its 9-foot EX Concert Piano. And by recording multiple variations of the piano, Kawai obtains some high quality samples which it uses for the KDP90.
When you hear this digital piano play, it’s too easy to see how this sounds close to a grand piano. In fact, if you were blindfolded and asked to play this piano, you could easily mistake this for an acoustic piano. Well, except you’ve had a long experience with pianos and therefore, trained your ears.
You’ll be super impressed to hear that Kawai records the samples it uses in this piano following the techniques of some of the best studios in the world. In fact, it recorded each of the keys of the piano individually so you can get a sound that’s as close to the real thing as possible.
If you understand acoustic pianos well, you’ll know that the sound and keys aren’t entirely the same from the bass end to the treble end. For instance, some bass notes use just one string but keys in the upper ranges might even use up to 3 strings.
Hammers also vary in their density and shape across an acoustic piano.\
Understanding these facts, therefore, Kawai set out to record its samples using the best techniques that will deliver the most convincing results.
Now thanks to the impeccable techniques Kawai used, this piano produces more sounds than the normal classic timbre you’d expect.
Furthermore, on this piano, you’ll also find 2 beautiful grand piano sounds, as well as a Pop Piano and a Studio Grand sound. But besides the pianos, there are also harpsichords, vibraphones, strings, choir, synth pads, and electric piano sounds as well.
Keyboard
We love the keyboard of the KDP90. There are 88 keys here backed by the AHAIV-F Advanced Hammer action. An advanced keyboard from Kawai, this keyboard gives this piano an irresistible feel and response.
Now, while most practice pianos would give you a spring action, this comes fully weighted. So, it feels quite natural and super sensitive too.
Four Hand Model
Like stage pianos, the KDP90 comes with a duet mode. This means that you can divide the piano into two halves with 44 keys on each side. And then you can play two different sounds on the two halves. For instance, you can play strings and piano at the same time.
And besides this, this feature also makes this piano great for teaching students. Now, you no longer have to keep trading places. And tutor and student can remain where they are and enjoy their lessons together.
Concert Magic
Now this is new even for us. We haven’t seen the Concert Magic feature on any other piano besides the Kawai KDP90. So, what exactly does the Concert Magic Feature do?
With this feature, you simply load a Concert Magic song and then, even if you play the wrong notes entirely, the piano will play the right thing!
This is great for beginners as it can boost your confidence when you have to play to an audience. So, even if you get jittery, you can be sure that Concert Magic has got you covered.
It’s like your fairy godmother in a piano!
Lesson Feature
Here’s another area where Kawai impresses us and establishes the KDP90 as possibly the best practice piano in the market right now.
We all know Alfred, right? And why not? It’s only about the leading and foremost brand in the teaching of music curriculum. Alfred offers some of the best texts in all kinds of music theory such as Bach inventions and the likes.
Knowing this, Kawai has partnered with Alfred to create the lessons on the Kawai KDP90. You’ll find lessons from Alfred’s basic Piano Course from Books 1A to 1B.
And with these topnotch materials, you’re set to begin a fulfilling time in learning music and piano playing.
Pedals
The digital piano comes with three pedals which include the soft, the sostenuto and the sustain pedals. And with these three pedals, of course, you also get the half-pedaling function. In fact, the way the pedals are designed, they look and feel like the pedal of grand pianos.
Again, the Damper Resonance is another feature that impresses us. This feature helps you control the resonance of your sound so that it suits your preferences. For a digital piano in this price range, this is certainly commendable.
And now, to the technical details of the Kawai KDP90…
Kawai KDP90 Specs
- 88 fully-weighted keys with AHA IV-F graded hammer action.
- Built-in Tones: Concert Grand, Studio Grand, Concert Grand 2, Modern Piano, Modern Electric Piano, Classic Electric Piano, Church Organ, Jazz Organ, Vibraphone, Harpsichord, Slow Strings, String Ensemble. New Age Pad, Choir, Atmosphere.
- Sound Engine: Harmonic Imaging System (88 key sampling).
- Max Polyphony: 192 notes.
- Sound Effects: Reverb, and others.
- Lesson Function: Alfred / Burgmuller and Czerny.
- Dual Mode.
- 4 Touch Sensitivity Levels: Light, Heavy, Normal, Off.
- Recording function: max of 3 songs or 15 000 notes.
- Functions: Metronome, Transpose, fine tuning, Brilliance, Damper Resonance, MIDI Multi-timbral mode.
- 15 Demo Songs.
- 3-Pedal unit with half-pedal function.
- Sliding Key Lid.
- Connectivity: MIDI In/Out, 2 headphones jack.
- 2 Speakers.
- Dimensions: 53.4 x 15.8 x 22.8 inches.
- Weight: 83.6 pounds.
Pros Of Kawai KDP90
- Cabinet comes in a rosewood finish.
- Keyboard comes with the advanced AHA IV-F hammer action.
- Sliding cover included to protect the piano from dust and add to the overall look of the piano.
- Harmonic Imaging Sound reproduces high quality sample beautifully.
- Lesson features here are from renowned music educational brand, Alfred.
- Concert Magic feature which we’ve never seen in any other piano.
- Half pedaling supported on the piano.
Cons Of Kawai KDP90
- Does not feature the Chorus effect.
- Comes with Dual and Duet mode, but no Split.
- No USB connectivity here.
Conclusion
We love how Kawai makes the KDP90 in such a way that it appeals to all kinds of pianists at a time. It is down to earth enough to appeal to the beginner. Like, there are the Alfred music lessons which help the beginner find his footing on the piano.
But at the same time, this piano is still packed full with enough features to make it usable by an experienced player as well.
In the end, we can tell you for sure that the Kawai KDP90 is possibly the best piano the market has to offer.