Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards N1X test

Today I tried N1X Yamaha.
Sound is great. Only concern, touch is very heavy, you must have very strong fingers to play etudes or other technical pieces.

Is it only my opinion, or others had the same issue?
Is it useful to have such touch?

Thanks,
Dmitriy

You're definitely not the first to note the heaviness of the keys on a Yamaha digital piano.

I felt that way too when testing the Avant Grands (not the N1X but the N1-N3X), but honestly speaking, all your hybrid options will be on the slightly heavier side of the scale. Not anywhere outside of the range of normal, though.

Yes, those things are extremely heavy. My hands started hurting really badly from practicing some nasty Brahms Paganini Variations 6ths within a few minutes, I think I pulled some muscle or something. The CLP685 didn't do that, the Kawai Grand Feel keyboards didn't, and I've never had trouble on any real piano either.

If money were no object, theoretically the Avantgrand can be taken apart and then the weights could have some mass taken out of them but that's a lot of work to do.

Felt heavy on the first day only. Now I feel it’s rather light The heavy keys help me play with better control.

I tested the N1X recently and also felt it had a heavy touch. I´m used to an acoustic upright. I liked the N1X and am thinking of maybe buying it but am not sure I dare because of the heavy touch. It is a lot of money and more important, I don´t want to risk injuries.

The static downweight as recently demonstrated in the N1X Hands on-thread, is probably quite normal, 50-60 grams. I guess it is the inertia that makes it feel heavy, especially if one plays fast.

Maybe it is just a matter of adapting and developing strength and technique, I don´t know but would be very interested if that is so. Maybe others here have experiences of going from a lighter touch to a heavier.

It’s a grand action. What do you normally play on?

Great news. I always tried to practice on the heaviest grand pianos in the conservatory. Sometimes practicing took 8-10 hours. No problem.

I think some heavily overblown statements are being done here. N1X is an average weighted grand action and I don’t mean the static weight of 50g. I mean the dynamic weight, i.e. the inertia that creates the actual perception of how heavy an action is. I’ve certainly played heavier feeling grands and uprights and I’ve played lighter ones. It’s ridiculous to think N1X can cause injuries unless you have a wrist condition, tendinitis, etc.

Aye. The militant PTQ Denier is right. It's not as though Yamaha (or any DP maker) are capable of making design mistakes of the magnitude of releasing a product with characteristics outside those of an acoustic grand...
TF's blindingly obvious contrib for the week.

AP’s always should be regulated by the dealer when they have been received. This is a real grand action. Should we consider doing the same?

Compared to popping for an AP at 20K shouldn’t it be worth it to us that our pianos are regulated to be the best they can be? I did do a lot of reading and watching videos yesterday on how to take care of your action and many of the steps to a great action are simple to do.

Gene: your statement is a little bit off base. Playing scales once I over did it with my MP11 and it forced me to stop playing for a month to let it heal. Injuries can happen if we don’t listen to our hands enough.

Is it the MP11 to blame? If you can injure yourself on MP11, which is one of the lightest feeling digitals and most probably lighter than any acoustic piano, then you’d have injured yourself on any other piano, digital or acoustic.

My MP11 is the V1 action and it is heavy. Down weight and inertia. It did injure my hand. But while playing my AP if did not aggravate it. Playing scales on my Steinway does not hurt.

After reflecting on my post above and talking it “out of me” with my wife I am convinced we all need the N1X regulated.

When I purchased our M & H, I clearly remember Rich of Cunningham talking about how every piano should be regulated from the factory. Those pianos are received in creates and the dealers regulate them. Some dealers do the work more than others do. It’s all about profit.

We are receiving our pianos in a box and because it is light weight it is easier for the dealer to just ship it out than to regulate it. Is a very important step being missed by the dealers?

The reason we bought our Steinway was because it plays like butter. It was a one of a kind Steinway action. I went to all the dealers in the San Francisco area and tried everything out, All brands. Our Steinway played better than the Shigru Kawai that we almost bought.

I guess my next step is to contact our AP tech and ask if he is willing to regulate an Avant Grand. I will post my conversation I have with him. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say about it. I will call tomorrow.

Rich, if you are reading this then please jump in. You have the long term experience of selling thousands of pianos. Shoot us straight!

N1X has different regulation specification due to the sensing system. Make sure you hire a certified technician who has access to the service manual. But frankly, I wouldn’t bother. The piano comes smooth as butter. They can’t afford not regulating it since it won’t play if off the specs. It’s not a M&H, it’s a Yamaha With all due respect to both M&H and Steinway

I will for sure ask him if he is certified to work on the AG’s. He does great work on our pianos. Thanks for the heads up on getting access to the AG manuals.

Hello Dmitriy,



I don't believe the N1X has an overly heavy keyboard action, however our interpretation of key weight can be highly subjective.

If you have have not done so already, you may wish to also try the Kawai Novus NV10, which utilises an acoustic grand piano keyboard action. Some players prefer the feel of the NV10 keyboard action to the N1X.

Kind regards,
James
x

I loved the Novus instantly. It was a shocking moment. I felt that I was playing on a grand ... heavenly.

I said so out loud. The shopkeeper explained that it has a grand action. I guess he didn't know that I knew.

I don't know what pianos the OP is planning to play in the future, but the AG is no heavier than many pianos he/she will come across many times. The key is to play at a comfortable tempo on the new action while becoming accustomed to it. It doesn't really take long at all. Sometimes a couple of hours of very careful practise is all it, or maybe a few weeks to get really comfortable with it. Launching into difficult repertoire on an action that doesn't feel comfortable is a recipe for disaster.