The Kawai CE220 is made by one of the most respected brands in the digital piano market – Kawai. This is a brand that has worked hard and the result is evident in the quality of pianos it has to offer piano users worldwide. Years in the business has not just made this brand older, it has made it stronger.
And now to the Kawai CE220 itself… This is a quality instrument in every respect from design to feel to actual performance. The Kawai CE220 is one piano we are quite confident in.
In our review today, we are going to be taking an in-depth look into this piano. And you can trust us to give you our opinions as it is. The pros, the cons, the deal breakers, all the deets are right here.
So, without further ado, we are excited to bring you the review of the Kawai CE220.
The Kawai CE220 At A Glance – Is This Piano For You?
The first thing that strikes you about the CE220, and indeed other pianos from Kawai, is its beauty. This is one beautiful piano and you’d hardly be able to take your eyes off it.
You only need look at this instrument once to notice the quality of craftsmanship Kawai put into making this piano. From the satin black finish to the quality and elegance of its cabinetry there’s a lot to take in that will immediately blow your mind.
But you’re not just here for the beauty, you need playability and performance and the CE220 does not disappoint.
First of all, the keys are wooden and then finished in gloss. So, they naturally have the heft and feel of an acoustic piano. Everyone who’s anyone in the piano world knows that that’s something we want to keep going.
Plus, it also comes with a 192 note polyphony. And this means that no matter how complex your piece gets, not a single note will drop. Not even if you’re playing over rhythms, styles or Split functions. Every single note you play will remain intact.
But then again, the metronome here is a bit limiting. You won’t be able to play complicated time signatures. And the rhythm presets are also not very useful too.
The functions and controls on this piano are also quite easy to use just like the pedal included in the package. So, we are sure that whatever your level of skill on the piano, you’re going to enjoy using the CE220 very much.
And now to sound… Quite authentic we must say. Since Kawai samples each note individually, the sound always comes out brilliant however you play the keys. It’s easy to hear all the nuances in your sound while you play.
Features Of The Kawai CE220
Now, on to the full review of the Kawai CE220…
Design – Elegant and Exquisite with the Complete Feel of a Grand
The Kawai CE220 looks really good but we’re not surprised seeing as this is coming from Kawai. Kawai is a well-known as a brand that makes beautiful machines and the CE220 is no exception. You’re sure to be mesmerized by the beauty of this thing, no doubt.
First of all, this is a console piano so it can work as a home piano too. It looks good enough to add a bit of musical character to your space. And the craftsmanship is also obviously high quality.
Now, let’s go over the parts of this piano one after the other.
The kawai CE220 comes with an exquisite cabinetry and also features a sliding cover just like an acoustic grand piano. The wooden frame on this piano is also sturdy which means that it will last. Plus, this comes complete with a pedal frame as well as a music rest for your sheets.
As you can see, this is a piano built to look like an acoustic. Plus, because it comes in a contemporary design, it means that you get the perfect compromise on this instrument. How? You get the looks of a classic grand piano. But then again, you don’t have to dedicate all the space in your house to one piano.
But hey, don’t get any ideas. This isn’t a portable piano, so, you won’t be able to move this around a lot. It’s a whooping 126 pounds in weight after all. Expect some shipping and handling hassle, by the way.
Customers looking for a complete grand piano experience can count on the Kawai CE220. The keyboard comes with the accurate number of keys, the cabinetry, and not to forget the feel too!
Interface – Simple and Intuitive
Kawai keeps the interface on the CE220 quite simple. So, this will definitely appeal to most players. No one wants to solve calculus just trying to figure out their own keyboard. And to make the piano even more interactive, the Kawai CE220 also comes with an LED display.
Now, things get even more aesthetically interesting here. There are buttons on the surface for accessing sounds and functions. And then at the center, the word “Kawai” is written in gold! Amazing, right? But it gets even more interesting…
The gold plated “Kawai” also matches the gold plated pedals. Yup! The pedal is gold plated too. And also, on this keyboard, you get the rare 3-pedal combo system of sostenuto, soft and sustain pedals. Of course, it also comes with a half-pedal function as well.
Not many digital pianos even come with one pedal to start with. So, this is something to be happy about.
Built-in Voices and Tones
The built-in tones here are marvelous. With all of the success from its previous pianos, we’re not surprised here. Kawai uses its experience from making its other high quality grand pianos, synths and digital pianos to make the CE220.
The sound on the piano is fantastic especially since Kawai uses its proprietary sound engine – the Progressive Harmonic Imaging. You see, Kawai samples every single note on a grand piano and layers them using its Progressive Harmonic Imaging technology.
So, all 22 sounds in here sound great. And you’ve got nearly everything covered from church organs, to strings, to harpsichord, to, of course, grand piano sounds.
Keyboard – Fantastic Engineering
The keyboard of the CE220 comes with a graded hammer action which means that the keys feel like an acoustic. Kawai calls it the 88-key AWA PROII wooden key graded hammer action.
With this action, this piano feels real natural pretty much like what you find on other brands like Casio and Yamaha. Probably even better.
Now, we really appreciate the fact that this comes with wooden keys. You don’t find many pianos in the market that come with wooden keys. It’s a rarity that we appreciate and you’ll also come to appreciate.
The only other piano we can possibly compare with this by way of its keys, is the Yamaha Arius pianos. But with a 192 note max polyphony, this piano beats even the YDP-V240. Plus, the sound source on the CE220 and the action on the keyboard are also way better than what you find on the Yamaha Arius series.
And you know what’s better? The Kawai CE220 is much more competitively priced. So, we’ve got to give it to the CE220! This piano outdoes itself.
Other Features
There a number of other features on the Kawai CE220 to be impressed by.
The sound effects are more than enough. And you can apply them to the tones, voices and rhythms to make them sound even better. The effects here include reverb, delay, tremolo, and chorus. Plus 2 rotary functions too.
Again, this also comes with Split and Dual functions, as well as transpose and tuning functions too.
Lastly, this comes with a class compliant USB – an improvement on most Kawai piano models. Now, you can save your compositions. Or you can also connect to a computer and go about your music production seamlessly.
And now for the more technical details of this piano…
Kawai CE220 Specs
- 88 wooden keys with Graded Hammer AWA PROII action.
- Max Polyphony: 192 notes.
- Sound Engine: Progressive Harmonic Imaging.
- 22 Presets, 29 piano songs and music book.
- 2-track recording: can record 3 songs.
- Sound effects: 5 Reverb types, Chorus, Tremolo, Delay, 2 Rotary types.
- Functions: Transpose, Tuning, Metronome, Virtual Technician, Virtual Voicing, Touch Curve, Damper Effect, Temperaments, Brilliance, String Resonance, Lower Octave Shift, Layer Octave Shift, Layer Dynamics, User Memory, Damper Hold.
- Inputs/Outputs: MIDI IN and Out, USB Types A and B, 2 headphones jacks.
- 3-Character LED display.
- 2 Amplifiers: 12 centimeters, 20W + 20W.
- Dimensions: 54 x 30 x 35 inches.
- Weight: 126 pounds.
Pros Of Kawai CE220
- This piano looks absolutely stunning.
- The sound quality here is unbeatable.
- We also love the engineering on this piano, the keyboard plays and feels amazing.
- Comes with powerful speakers.
- Interface is quite simple and also comes with an LED display.
Cons Of Kawai CE220
- There’s no built-in synth or rhythm here.
- This isn’t a portable instrument.
- You can’t really use this to play duets comfortably.
- The metronome here can’t allow complicated time signatures.
Conclusion
There’s no beating it, the Kawai CE220 is absolutely amazing in every respect. From the looks, to the engineerin,g to the sound quality here, we are totally wowed by what Kawai did here.
The Kawai CE220 easily beats some of the digital piano consoles we have seen from more popular brands like Yamaha and Casio. And it’s also less expensive too.
It hardly gets better than this, we tell you.
