Kawai Aures Series Hybrid Pianos

Analogue action, digital world

The AURES hybrid instruments blend Kawai’s masterful acoustic piano craftsmanship with advanced digital piano technologies. Each piano begins with the solid foundation of Kawai’s award-winning upright and grand pianos, offering class-leading features such as the Millennium III action, considered to be the world’s finest upright and piano actions.

Equipped with Kawai’s most advanced digital and sound technologies, AURES instruments are also premium digital pianos that can be played silently with headphones or through their acoustic soundboard. Players can complement their performances with a wide selection of digital sounds or layer these sounds with the acoustic piano to create unique combinations. Practice new pieces using the built-in metronome then record their performance, or play along with tracks from a Bluetooth-connected smart device and enjoy a personal ensemble performance.

Integrated Hammer Sensing System

The AURES pianos’ precise hammer movements are measured with Kawai’s Integrated Hammer Sensing System (IHSS), which utilises high-resolution contact-less optical sensors to provide greater accuracy then conventional key-based sensor systems.

This more advanced approach reproduces the mechanical flow of the upright and grand pianos’ actions more closely, allowing the full range of dynamics to be expressed by the instrument’s powerful digital piano sound engine with natural fluency.

Flagship Digital Piano Sound Technology

The latest AURES instruments incorporate Kawai’s latest digital piano sound technologies from the highly regarded Concert Artist and Novus product lines. When playing through headphones or when AURES mode is active, pianists can enjoy the beautiful sound of the flagship Shigeru Kawai SK-EX full concert grand piano, stunningly reproduced using the advanced SK-EX Rendering sound engine.

In addition to a diverse selection of authentic acoustic piano sounds, AURES2 instruments also feature harpsichords, strings, and broad range of other instrument sounds, such as electric pianos, organs, guitars, etc., inspiring pianists to explore further musical creativity.

Soundboard Speaker System

In addition to the acoustic muting and digital sound features, AURES instruments are also equipped with the latest iteration of Kawai’s advanced Soundboard Speaker System. This innovative technology utilises four high-performance transducers which are strategically placed onto the piano’s solid spruce soundboard. These transducers channel the AURES instrument’s digitally generated sound through the large wooden soundboard, resulting in a naturally acoustic tone that is more expansive than that produced by traditional cone speakers.

Pianists can then enjoy the flexibility and convenience offered by a digital piano, such as the ability to select a broad range of different instrument sounds, record and playback one’s performance, or freely adjust the volume level to avoid disturbing loves ones – all while continuing to play the AURES’s exceptional Millennium III piano keyboard actions.

Modern Bluetooth connectivity

Designed to meet the connectivity needs of modern pianists, AURES pianos feature standard USB and MIDI jacks for connecting to computers or other instruments, as well as integrated Bluetooth® MIDI and Audio technology that allows wireless communication with supported smart devices.

Once paired to a phone, tablet, or laptop, AURES owners can enjoy a wide variety of exciting music-related apps that enhance their studying and playing experiences, or stream high quality, low-latency aptX audio directly through the instruments’ headphones or the AURES’s Soundboard Speaker System without the need for any cables.

PianoRemote control app

The digital features of AURES pianos are exclusively controlled via the dedicated Kawai PianoRemote app, available for both iOS and Android devices.

PianoRemote provides a range of functions, including sound selection and customisation via the Virtual Technician feature, performance record and playback with integrated metronome, and a built-in piano music library consisting of hundreds of classical pieces to enjoy – all accessible from an attractive, intuitive user interface.

Excellent headphone sound quality

The AURES pianos’ Spatial Headphone Sound (SHS) technology enhances the depth and realism of the instrument’s digital piano sound when listening through headphones or earphones. The player can select one of three different acoustic presets that adjust the spatial positioning of the sound, while also helping to reduce auditory fatigue when using earphones or headphones for extended periods of time.

In addition to featuring a premium quality headphone amplifier, AURES instruments also allow players to specify the type of headphones connected (Open, Semi-open, Closed, In-Ear, Canal, etc.) to ensure an optimal listening experience.

Developed with MPA Supervision

To ensure that all AURES instruments match the premium quality and excellent playability of their standard acoustic upright and grand piano counterparts, Kawai’s R&D engineering staff worked closely with the company’s internal Master Piano Artisans (MPAs).

These extremely knowledgeable and experienced technicians supervised each stage of the AURES development process, to ensure that the instruments’ acoustic keyboard action remains exceptionally responsive and balanced, even when used to trigger the digital piano sound engine, and guarantee that the tonal characteristics of the Soundboard Speaker System are as close as possible to that of an acoustic piano.