CS-X1 Prototype Wows the Crowds at Musikmesse 2016!

Last November, Kawai formed a business and capital alliance with Onkyo Corporation, a highlyrespected Japanese manufacturer of premium home cinema and audio equipment, with a view to expanding the core business of both companies, and sharing technical knowledge and expertise. To demonstrate this alliance, Kawai and Onkyo developed the CS-X1 collaboration prototype – a state of the art digital piano surround sound configuration that blends Kawai’s finest keyboard and piano sampling technologies with Onkyo’s premium amplifier and speaker hardware. The CS-X1 was unveiled to the world at the fourday Musikmesse exhibition held in Frankfurt, Germany, and housed within a specially built soundproof booth placed in the Kawai exhibition space. Visitors to the booth were free to play the CS-X1 prototype and experience the unique virtual concert hall environment produced by its multi-channel amplifier and surround sound speakers. Staff from Kawai Japan and Onkyo were also on hand to answer question related to the prototype’s technology and development. In addition, the CS-X1 booth also hosted regular 20 minute presentations each hour, featuring an explanation of the prototype’s technology from Kawai Japan’s digital piano specialist, James Battle, interspersed with a variety of musical performances from Japanese professional pianist, Ayano Entani. The number of visitors to the booth exceeded all expectations, with considerable interest from rival piano manufacturers, dealers/distributors, and representatives from online media and the press. Feedback from those attending the presentations was also incredibly positive, with over 91% of participants surveyed via questionnaire ranking the CS-X1 as either “Good” or “Very good”. The CS-X1 exhibition was undoubtedly one of the highlights of this year’s Musikmesse, and effectively demonstrated to the music industry the value of the recently formed Kawai-Onkyo alliance on a global stage. While there are no immediate plans to bring the CS-X1 collaboration prototype to market, the exciting new technologies developed for the instrument will surely benefit future digital piano models launched in the months and years ahead. For more information about the Kawai-Onkyo CS -X1 collaboration prototype, please visit the special microsite at www.kawai-onkyo.com, or watch the full CS-X1 presentation with technology explanation and musical performances via the online video at https://youtu.be/8h8fuAygtSE