Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Numa Compact 2 "Natural sounds"?

Hi everybody,

I recently bought a Studiologic Numa compact 2.
The piano has some nice features for this price range and the keyboard plays very nice.
I bought this piano based on the Namm video's on youtube, witch all sound very good to me.

While playing the main piano (Concert grand, based on a Steinway model D) i noticed some
distortions / clicking sounds on the E1 an E2 and, less noticeable, on some other keys.

I sent a email to Studiologic with some recording and they reply d there was nothing strange on the recordings.
So i discussed with them what i heard and sent more recordings.
Finaly they reply'd that "it seems a subtle sound that (I believe) is withing the acceptable small noises of natural recordings."

To me it sounds like a clipping sample... I can here it in some (1?) velocity layers, but if i play harder, the noise disappears.

I wonder if somebody can please tell me what i hear and or this is a "natural" piano sound.

Here are some quick chords (EM - D - C) the distortion is in the EM chord. Piano distortion

It seems like the same distortion is in the original numa compact too. It's audible from 1:40 in this video:
https://youtu.be/oKcXfX5cmJE

Any owners of the first Numa compact who can tell me what that noise is?

I imported your sample into Audacity and I don't see clipping.

When I listened to some of the demos on YouTube I got a hunch at least some are through amp cabinets or maybe modeled amps, which are common in recording and performance nowadays. Those might be giving it some extra character that's not present in the original. While some amp models seem to do that by adding overtones, others can mellow out a sound.

At least in the US there is no restriction on what an advertiser can call "natural", whether food or piano patches. Plus there are people on this forum who like modeled pianos (algorithms) more than they like samples from real pianos.

Thank you for listening to my recording!
You might point me in the right direction with your theory about the amps.

I've been playing around with the sound settings and using speakers or headphones...
I keep hearing this noise using headphones, using the headphone out or line-out and a mixer.
But if I connect speakers and adjust my eq settings to my personal taste, the noise is reduced to a background noise
that is in fact acceptable and the piano sound is very decent. I really like the hammer noise when i have my speakers connected.
It gives a realistic sound.

So now i wonder or you happen to know what kind of amp / cabinet could produce the sound that you hear on the youtube video's?
I don't think it's just a keyboard amp.

(Work is heck so I blew this off for a few weeks)
I was just speculating about the amp modeling software or hardware, in search of a reason why I did hear some subjective differences between your file and some demos I listened to on YouTube. Amp modeling is mostly used by guitar players and often it's to produce analog overdrive effects that are completely different from clipping. But amp modls can be toned down to just provide some character, not add distortion. I'm fairly sure the most common one is the Line6 module, maybe it's called Pod or something. If you want to experiment, there are also software amp modelers, including some free ones listed here http://masters-of-music.com/list-of-best-free-and-paid-guitar-amp-sims/

If I had to write my post again I'd probably just point to...those samples, which are OK but aren't exactly top of the line I don't think, could probably benefit quite a bit from modest amounts of EQ and reverb. Iknow there's effects processors in the Numa 2 Compact, maybe there's a graphic or parametric EQ effect, there must be some reverbs. For recording, I also like companders (one of the various names people use for tweaking the dynamics curve).

For the price, Numa 2 Compact looks like a steal just for the semi-weighted controller. And don't forget some people do amazing things with junk instruments, which I don't think you have.

I have exactly the same problem with my Numa Compact 2 - short distortion/clipping sounds when playing loud. It appears on all sounds, not just the piano.

The problem is definitely not related to anything outside the instruments as it appears also when listening with a headphone connected directly to the keyboard (I've tried with 3 different headphones).

No matter what Studiologic says, this is not acceptable. It's an error, and it needs to be fixed. I hoped it could be fixed with a firmware upgrade, but it turns out that my keyboard cannot we upgraded due to what seems to be a hardware error. The shop where I bought it has now ordered a replacement board.

I'd be very interested it hearing from other users who are experiencing the same problem.

I hear it. You said it did not happen when you play louder. Ive had that happen when I’ve cranked the internal gain in dp’s too loud.

Does it happen on the same velocity layer when you set all the gain stages in the DP back to 12 o’clock?

I had the Numa Compact 1 and I do not recall any distortion. I did not run it through any amps, just powered speaker. I sold it because I did not like the small keys. Piano Man Chuck’s reviews of these instruments put them more at the level of a keyboard vs. a piano. Tend to agree, mainly because of the small keys.

Wonder if the newer model has a normal key size?

The keys are shorter than real piano keys. Personally I prefer them that way, mainly for design reasons. It also helps keeping the instrument dimensions as small as possible which means a lot it my case.

I just bought the Numa Compact 2 and found this forum post...because I had to search for "Numa Compact 2 distorting sounds"!! There's no debate, yes they distort 100% and it seems unusable for live work. Does anyone know if this has been fixed by firmware?

I find these noises quite mysterious. They don't behave like normal clipping noises that occurs when the volume reaches a certain level. The noises I hear don't seem very level dependent at all. They occur sporadically and shortly, typically when more notes close to each other are played at the same time. I never hear them in speakers, only in headphones, but they appear in all headphones (tried 3 different), and no matter if I use the headphone jack in the instrument or plug the headphone into my sound card.

I am going o play a live job in a couple of weeks and I don't know if I should run the risk of getting distorted sound out into the PA - but as I mentioned, I have never heard these sounds through speakers. Have anyone heard these noises in speakers?

I think I've finally solved the puzzle! It's the 'Mastering' function that causes it. Turn it all the way down, and the crackling noises disappear!

Just to bump this old topic...Somehow I never received a notification that there are new replies.

I still use the Numa compact 2, but I don't use the internal pianos.
Tha added feature of USB audio saved the day. I have a Ipod with Ravenscroft 275 and many other synths and pianos.
I connected it to the Numa and play the Ipod sound trough the USB audio output.
It works very well and I enjoy the Numa this way. I can stil use the internal sounds, so my setup is very versatile now. I cannot recall that turning off the mastering feature fixed the problem for me, but I'll give it a try.

Studiologic finally fixed it. A new German grand, Model d
Is released and you can upload it to your Numa compact 2 after a firmware update.
The sound is way better then the factory piano sounds and the nuances off the Model D seem to
accurate. Only thing is that the higher notes fade away a bit quickly with the sustain pressed pedal down. I send it to them as feedback.

But I really love it. Using a software piano now became optional in stead of mandatory.

Hello, i have similar Problem with “distortion” on tones D1 and E1 on Numa Compact2 with firmware 1.2.0 and concert grand piano
I recorded some samples per NC2 input and sent to Studiologic company.
There is record:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqSfJUweZRgUj07MG4M3BghOPVnh


And there is Answer by Studiologic
“ I have analized your recoding, either listening (I made all NC2 sounds) and using a software analysis Tool: no clipping are hearable or detected.

The sound is exactly the same as many other thousands NC2 shipped worldwide and what we can hear is simply those two keys, probably brighter and less clean than the others in the original Steinway.

That said I will make other analysis, but so far I don't find anything wrong.

You can also see the images below. one of the the two more loud notes and the complete recording.

Let me know, thaks and regards !”

I don't want to settle for their answer. Can someone please try how your keyboard is doing especially with D1 and E1 tones?
Thank you.

I don't have an issue on those notes but I do have a clear issue in the C6 note, and to a lesser degree on A3. I'm really glad they have the GerGrand downloadable because that one's clean and sounds nice.

Here's a recording of C6 and also playing neighbouring notes so highlight the issue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1scp3CJrOwiHi3QYx232TeDUdUTdjKrzp/view?usp=sharing

I e-mailed Studiologic for support and sent them the recording, and this is what I got:


"Hello,

if you refer to the UsaGrand that's a particularly bright and rich Steinway D and what I hear is normal.

There are other Steinways within the Factory Bank and more are published so I hope you can use the UsaGrand with its character, that most players prefer to others.

Let me know, thanks and regards."


The noise in my recording doesn't sound normal, but oh well, again I'll just use GerGrand. Studiologic support doesn't seem that great. Still a great keyboard though especially for the price and weight