The K1ii was the first major update to Kawai's popular K1 digital PCM-waveform synthesizers. The K1ii has the same synthesis architecture as the original K1. There are 256 digital samples of waveforms, 50 of which are from acoustic instruments. You combine up to four wave shapes to create very new and unique sounds. They are capable of very good acoustic recreation, excellent unique synth sounds, or at times completely noisy walls of complex sound.

The new and improved K1ii added on-board reverb effects and better drum sounds to the original K1. The multitimbrality is up to 8 parts, which is great for sequencing in the studio since you can have (up to 8) multiple patches playing simultaneously. The K1ii is also available in a rackmount module, known as the K1iir. The rack version is identical to the keyboard version except for the effects. The K1iir has no effects processor built-in as does the keyboard version.