Kawai CN29 Digital Piano

Product Overview

Just like the Kawai CN39, its bigger brother, the Kawai CN29 is a home digital piano aimed at beginners, hobbyists, and even professionals who might be looking for a second practice instrument. It’s a descendant from the very popular CN2* product range, which they’ve been building for close to two decades.

Over here at Merriam Music, we’ve been huge fans of the CN series pianos for many years now, with literally hundreds of highly satisfied customers who ultimately opted for a CN series product from one of our showrooms.

They compete very favorably in their part of the market against Yamaha’s Clavinova products, Roland’s HP series, and Casio’s Celviano series.

Improvements over the best selling Kawai CN27 include a new Motherboard developed in partnership with Onkyo for improved tonal clarity, a new Speaker system also developed by Onkyo, and an updated control panel layout with modern pixel OLED display, The CN29 is available both in Premium Rosewood (CN29R) and Satin Black (CN29B).

Come into our store to experience the CN29 for yourself or call us directly if you have any questions or if you want to place an order!

Action

The CN29 features what many consider to be one of, if not the top plastic action currently available with the Responsive Hammer III keyboard action (RHIII). The RHIII is a staple throughout Kawai’s upper mid-range, and can also be found in the new ES920, MP7SE stage piano, the CN39, as well as the new RHIII digital grand. The RHIII can even be found in other leading stage pianos by other manufacturers such as Nord with their Grand model.

In terms of the specs, the RHIII uses a triple sensor for precise MIDI output, as well as counterweights and escapement/left-off simulation to emulate the realistic movement of an acoustic grand piano.

There’s also a texture on the white and black keys for added grip and moisture absorption, which actually feels quite similar to their Neotex key surfaces which you can find throughout many of Kawai’s acoustic pianos.

Sound Engine

The CN29 is loaded up with Kawai’s Progressive Harmonic Imaging (PHI) sound technology, and features some of the best acoustic piano sounds in the class. The PHI engine is a 192 note polyphony, sample-based engine built off their Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Concert Grand Piano, which is regarded as one of the top 9 foot pianos in the world and a super popular selection among concert pianists competing at international piano competitions. The PHI engine also uses the EX Concert Grand Piano, and a few other acoustic grand piano sounds for their acoustic piano patches. There are 19 total onboard sounds, and while this may look lean compared to some other models in the class, Kawai has gone light on the onboard sounds and focused their energy on the quality of the tone engine itself.

Kawai’s also included their intuitive Virtual Technician feature on-board for a massive amount of customization options when it comes to the tone, including control over the damper resonance, string resonance, soft pedal depth, user key volume, fall-back noise, temperament key, key-off effect, stretch tuning, minimum touch, damper noise, hammer delay, topboard and decay time. There’s also a Virtual Technician smart mode which allows you to program up to 10 presets.

The onboard full-range speakers and amplifier were developed in concert with Onkyo, the famous audio company based in Japan. Even though Kawai kept the output power the same as the CN27 at 40 watts, the newly upgraded sound system unquestionably provides superior tonal clarity than what the CN27 was capable of.

Lastly, Kawai has also included their Spatial Headphone Sound feature which improves the playing experience when practicing with headphones.

Connectivity

Continuing their practice of including Bluetooth MIDI on most of their models, Kawai’s also included the Bluetooth Connectivity on the CN29. Just like the CN39, Bluetooth MIDI means you can access Kawai’s virtual technician app via connecting to a smart device without worrying about cumbersome wires.

One major limitation is the lack of audio line-outs, which is a shame because the audio quality is extremely high, with integrated Onkyo processing onboard. There are two separate headphone jacks (one ¼” and one 3.5mm) so theoretically, you could run one line into an external stereo or recording device and still have headphones plugged in, but to have complete independent speaker control, you’ll have to bump up to the CN39.

As far as headphone jacks are concerned, a really nice add on is a discrete headphone amplifier with more Onkyo processing, serving up a much better headphone experience than past models.

Notable Features

Improvements over the best selling Kawai CN27 include a new Motherboard developed in partnership with Onkyo for improved tonal clarity, a new Speaker system also developed by Onkyo, and an updated control panel layout with modern pixel OLED display, The CN29 is available both in Premium Rosewood (CN29r) and Satin Black (CN29b).

• NEW: Motherboard developed in partnership with Onkyo for improved tonal clarity
• NEW: Speaker system developed by Onkyo, delivering superior sound
• NEW: Updated control panel layout with modern OLED graphic display
• Progressive Harmonic ImagingSound Technology w/88-Note Piano Sampling
• Responsive Hammer III (RHIII) Action with Let-Off and Triple Sensor Detection
• Ivory Touch Key Surfaces
• Graded Hammers and Counterbalanced Keys
• Bluetooth Connectivity (Ver. 4.1; GATT compatible )
• 19 Instrument Sounds with 6 types of reverb
• Dual, Four-Hands Mode. Transpose
• 192-Note Polyphony
• Built-in Lesson Function with Alfred, Czerny 30 (Etudes de Mécanisme ), Burgmuller and Beyer Lesson Songs
• Grand Feel Pedal System
• Metronome
• Premium Rosewood and Satin Black Finish
• Sliding Key Cover, Matching Bench, and Music Rest
• Concert Magic
• Built-in triple pedal system with soft pedal, sostenuto, and damper pedal with half-pedal adjust

Conclusion

The CN series has consistently set a new standard for mid-priced home digital pianos with each successive generation, and the CN29 continues this tradition.

Kawai CN29 Owner’s Manual

• [English] CN29 Owner’s Manual

Kawai CN29 Related Resources

• [VIDEO] Kawai CN29 Digital Piano Review and Demo
• [VIDEO] Kawai CN29 vs CN39 Digital Piano Comparison, Review & Demo