Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Yamaha NU1 Loud Note Fix (sort of)

I think they actually did a better job. Which is not surprising given their resources and the fact this is their business. The implementation I had was kind of an on/off thing, such that if the timing didn’t fit the predefined parameters the fix wouldn’t do anything and a loud note could still sound (like with Gombessa’s example). Now the thing just works. And like you said, a note still sounds, instead of being completely silent.
I’m very satisfied both with Yamaha in general and with their technical support. The piano services supervisor handling my case was very professional and direct to the point.
I was also about to get back in the market because this issue was driving me nuts. I’m now a happy owner, I’ll stay with the NU1 for a few more years and will likely not hesitate in purchasing another Yamaha. And hopefully, with this problem fixed, the NU1 will no longer lose too much of its value when it’s time to move on.

I have no idea if the action of the NU1X "feels" any different to any of the other N#X pianos. I don't currently have access to any of the Hybrids for trial.

It's just a guess on my part since it is a verticle upright action versus a grand action. Inertia may help the feel of the action since it isn't working against gravity. <scratch_chin>Hmmm...</scratch_chin>

Long-time user of an NU1 here (since 2013). The "loud note issue" has always bothered me (everything else about the NU1 being great, especially for the price I paid back then).

Maybe I am missing something - I have not been able to find a downloadable firmware update on Yamaha's website, and I haven't seen a link in this or other similar message trails either. So I am wondering whether the firmware update is real. Also, the NU1 is listed as discontinued on the Yamaha website, which makes sense given the launch of the NU1X, and I am wondering whether that means they no longer support the NU1 line.

I just contacted Yamaha technical support, keeping fingers crossed they will respond with a solution.

FWIW --

I just checked --

In the NU1x owner's manual, under "Troubleshooting", you'll find the same "loud note" warning that appears for the NU1:

. . . "This is normal, but only very seldom occurs."

Good luck getting a solution from Yamaha!

PS -- when I asked a local salesman about this, he said that the problem _always_ relates to dust or dirt in the action. And that a cleaning (by a tech) solves it. Take that FWIW.

I'm also waiting for the vaunted (but somewhat vaporware) NU1 version of the fix. I'm not entirely convinced there is one (but would love to be proven wrong).



The NU1X firmware was released well after the NU1X itself (and its manual) was available, so the manual understandably doesn't forecast the fix.

And when it comes to "normal" DPs with rubber dome sensors, the salesman's claim is pretty accurate. It really doesn't apply to the contactless optical sensors on the NU1X though, and we already know the root cause of the loud notes from Yamaha's patents and the existence of the NU1X firmware fix.

This is the post from Herq back on the first page of this thread. It may be they have a fix but are not in a rush to put it out there to the public. Those NU1 owners are potential upgrades to the X series, can't give them a reason not to upgrade. It seems that if you ask the right people directly for the update you may be able to get it.

Good Luck

oneilt130 probably has it right, Yamaha may be holding it to give people a reason to upgrade, who knows...
Anyway, I did receive a firmware update from their tech support and it’s been working great.
If anyone would like to try it, leave me a private message and I’ll email it to you.

Thanks to everyone who has commented so far. I'll provide an update if and when I hear back from Yamaha customer support... Not counting my chickens quite yet!

Brief update.

I received a reply last week from Yamaha customer support with a link to a firmware update file. Finally got around to installing it today.

Just like Herq had stated, it works great - no more loud notes. This makes a huge difference to me, and I would even go as far as saying the fix transforms the entire experience of playing the NU1. While I am not sure why it took the engineers several years to address this broadly known (and widely lamented) problem, I nevertheless want to express a sincere thanks to Yamaha here and to their responsive and friendly tech support.

After dealing with this issue for more than 6 years, I was pleased to see this thread.

At first when I contacted Yamaha support , they tried to have me apply the NU1X update. But once I referred them to this thread, they sent me a link to download file NU1SETUPLOUD.PRG (5,954,772 bytes, MD5 7288bb3745fe05e748fc2790193a77ab). They didn't say, but it had to be renamed NU1SETUP.PRG before it would program.

I am happy to report that the problem is essentially resolved on my unit, as well. With great effort I can still get the note to be a bit louder, but not the maximum volume like it was before. I can finally play Chopin's preludes without a very loud repeated note ruining the experience.

Thanks to everyone on this thread, which seems to have gotten some attention. I hope the update will be available for everyone to download from Yamaha's site soon.

Is that a beer she is drinking? I'd leave a comment letting her know the loud "burp" issue can be fixed, but comments are turned off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQSsu4G9ZR4

I was testing out Cybergene's comments on "aftertouch for note-on" last week on the NU1, and one interesting side effect is that you can reliably and repeatedly trigger a loud note every time if you press a key down halfway (to the point where sympathetic resonance is triggered but a note no longer sounds on full keypress), and repeatedly press the key from that point. This NU1 doesn't have the firmware applied yet, I might reach out to Yamaha to get it and see if it addresses that behavior.

So, I finally got around to asking Yamaha for the NU1 firmware update (they just sent it without any hassles), and applied it to the NU1.

The thing is, I can't tell that it has changed anything. The process I note above to detect the loud note, as well as CyberGene's method of raising the key to ~0.5mm from rest and pressing down, still triggers a hammer-less note, and that note can be quite loud due to the increased velocity of the strike.

Yamaha didn't provide any instructions on how to tell if the firmware is correct/updated, so I was wondering if someone who has applied the update can check their firmware version against what I'm seeing (hold metronome, record, and play/stop buttons while powering on the NU1, and select test 1 (t01): Mine cycles between nU1, E.0F, r-E, 03.5, 1.00, 1.30.

Gombessa...yes, your firmware is updated. In my NU1:

Before update:

Name: NU1
Main Program: 1.21
Wave Rom: 1
Keyboard Program: 03.1

After update:

Name: NU1
Main Program: 1.30
Wave Rom: 1
Keyboard Program: 03.5

Starting up the Test Program:

Turn on the power switch while holding down the [RECORD] button, [PLAY/STOP] button and [METRONOME] button on the
control panel simultaneously.

When the test program is started, the model name “nU1” will be displayed on the 7-segment LED followed by “tst”.
Release the [RECORD] button, [PLAY/STOP] button and [METRONOME] button when the “tst” is displayed.

Go to the item selection mode with the [+]/[-] buttons---t.0.1 test

Press the [PLAY/STOP] button to execute the test, and +/- to see firmware

Can someone please tell me how I can get the firmware 1.30 for NU1? My firmware version is currently 1.10 and I am having issues with these loud notes

Thanks

You can email Yamaha support directly. If you can't get it from them, feel free to PM me.

I'm looking at purchasing an NU1 second-hand, but I have been told the "loud-note" issue hasn't been dealt with. I have contacted Yamaha directly to ask for the firmware, but for that they need a serial number, which I currently don't have.

Does anyone know how I can get a hold of the firmware update?

1. If you get the NU1, I can send you the firmware that Yamaha sent me, feel free to PM.

2. The firmware did NOT resolve the loud note issue for me, I could still trigger it at will. But some people with the NU1 and NU1X claimed that the new firmware reduced or eliminated the issue. Yamaha themselves say it may or may not, and regulation of the action may be needed for additional improvement.

3. The issue really *cannot* be resolved fully by firmware; it's simply impossible. However, the new NU1XA should fully resolve it, because Yamaha has added a set of hammer sensors to the new model.