NAMM 2023 Keyboards/Synths/Pianos – Full Coverage

NAMM 2023 is here, packed with some great keyboards to share. We are incredibly excited to announce that we are attending NAMM this year and will be reporting on the latest synthesizers, pianos, and digital pianos.

Be sure to refer to this post over the next few days to find out what NAMM 2023 has for keyboards/digital pianos.

I am just back home now and updating this with all of the content from the last few days. Stay tuned for all of my thoughts and reviews on nearly all of the keyboards from NAMM. Apologies for the wait as the week was loaded with interviews.

Here’s a look at one of my top picks thus far:

Best Keyboard/Synth Gear From Namm 2023

Here’s an updated list of what we know. Check back tomorrow and throughout the weekend for more updates as well.

Yamaha 

The Yamaha booth was absolutely insane. I spent about five to six hours in this exhibit and played every single keyboard,

Yamaha CVP909

Check out the CVP 809 while you wait for this to come out.

The CVP909 is a pleasant surprise to me as the CVP is the flagship digital piano series for Yamaha. In-person, this keyboard looks so impressive.

The action might be the best I’ve played on from a digital piano.

On top of this, the sounds are out of this world with the stock piano.

If you’ve never had a chance to play the CVP series, I highly recommend getting your hands on it. This thing feels and sounds like a grand piano.

Yamaha CK61 Stage

The CK61 is a beast for its price point. I will be doing a full review of this as I have a lot of praise for it.

Yamaha CK88 Stage

I was able to spend about an hour with this keyboard as I knew I would like to include it throughout Keyboardkraze.

The CK88 didn’t disappoint and it makes for an excellent stage piano for the price. With impressive organs, pianos, and strings, it would make for an amazing keyboard to add to your rig.

Yamaha PS500

Above you can see me demoing the PS500 at NAMM. I spent about 45 minutes with this one. It’s a super fun play, packs everything that you would expect from a Yamaha and it has really nice action.

Kawai

Kawai had a really cool booth at NAMM that consisted of some incredible acoustic pianos and about 7-10 digital pianos.

While I played a few of the acoustic pianos, I focused mainly on the following:

• ES120
• ES920
• CA 401

Kawai ES120

I spent a solid hour at NAMM playing on this keyboard. While I’ve always loved the ES110, the 120 shines perhaps even more. If you read my reviews, you’ll know I love Kawai’s sounds. The ES120 sounds fantastic, and it’s hard to beleive it comes in at just $899.

While the keys feel very synthetic, they play extremely well.

The ES120 comes in as one of my favorites from NAMM 2023, especially for under $1,000.

If you’re on the fence and comparing this with other keyboards under $1,000, I would highly recommend the ES120.

Kawai CA 401 – White and Black available

The CA401 was a fun play. It’s extremely powerful and has amazing piano sounds. The keys felt great on the model and I think this will do very well.

Kawai ES920

The ES920 has everything that I love about Kawai keyboards and also brings some serious key-action.

Nord 

Nord Stage 4 61

Nord Stage 4 73

Nord Stage 4 88

Visionkey

Visionkey 100

Visionkey 200

Where Can You Buy The Latest NAMM Keyboards?

While there are a couple of places where you can purchase the latest NAMM gear, my favorite is Sweetwater.

With this being said, I am an affiliate of Sweetwater; however, I’ve also been buying musical equipment for the last 20 years, and I’m still looking for a better company to purchase from.

Sweetwater gets to put up a lot of the NAMM keyboards for pre-order, which is super nice.

NAMM History

The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show is an annual music industry trade show in Anaheim, California. The show is open to members of the music products industry, including manufacturers, dealers, distributors, and other professionals involved in producing and selling musical instruments, equipment, and technology.

The NAMM Show typically features exhibits of musical instruments, software, and other music-related products, as well as educational sessions, live performances, and networking opportunities for attendees. It is one of the world’s largest music industry trade shows and attracts tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe each year.