Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Hybrid Speakers in home environment (NV10, N3X, N1X, NU1XN2)

I've owned a Kawai CA-95 since 2012. It's been great, but I'm thinking now might be a good time to upgrade to a hybrid. I'm leaning towards the N1X.

Most hybrids I've only been able to play in showrooms, which is completely different from home use. In showrooms, I'd rank them: N2, N3X, NV10, N1X, NU1X. That is the only thing giving me significant pause.

But, I have played an NU1X in a smaller room some time back, and it blew me away. Perhaps I'm just thrown off by the large showrooms?

For those that have played hybrids (especially the N1X) in a home environment, how are the speakers?

I do mostly play with headphones, but when I use the speakers I want them to be decent. Especially after spending so many years with the CA-95.

I think the NU1X may have been more impressive to you because it has forward-facing speakers (tweeters at the top, 16cm drivers closer to the legs).

The N1X has top and bottom-firing speakers I believe, as does the N3X (which as I understand it is to simulate the fact that the soundboard on a grand piano resonates in an up-down direction).

The N2 and the NV-10 have a combination of the two, forward firing subwoofers (and on the NV-10, also forward-firing tweeters), and upwards-firing main drivers (the N2 has a lid that can be opened and positioned to reflect the sound towards the pianist.

Between the N1X and the NV-10, the common reports we see here are that the N1X speakers sound just fine, whereas the NV-10 can get louder (louder than a real grand).

[facepalm] I had read about the speaker placements, but hadn't even considered that I might just be used to one arrangement over another. That's a really great point.

Now that I think more about volume, now that I live in an apartment, I don't play at full volume anymore. But I do still get decent bass response on my CA95. I suppose it is safe to assume that the N1X would be comparable (aside from my ear adjusting and plus or minus impact of the room size, etc). I mean, the bass shouldn't feel completely underpowered like it did in the showroom, right?

If you're used to soundboard speakers, you might want to try the NV5 instead.

For me, since I used CA98, the DP I choose in the future must be the model with soundboard spks. no matter they are CA/NV or AURES/TA2.
I agree with Nordomus on this point.

My N1X has good bass.
Globally the sound is not very good for the price.
The real interest is the binaural sample
The two octaves before the last one are piercing, really unpleasant.

I wonder if some tweaking of the “two octaves before the last” could help. It seems like the app offers some note-by-note editing, but perhaps not enough?

It would be great if Yamaha further updated the app to support more note-by-note edits: including eq, resonances, and other important parameters.

What stops anyone from taking a speaker, and face it against a board. or putting speakers in a box approximating the dimensions/volume of the kawai internals.

fully agree with Robinlb.
I have just got my new CA99 EP last week (with soundboard) in my large living room with super high ceiling and the sound is just outstanding.

Some VST's sound too muddy (lacking brightness and clarity) through the internal N1X speakers. Using external monitors in combination with the N1X speaker system works great.

Overall I think the N1X native piano sounds are unrealistic (as all digital native piano sounds are). VST's help some. I would rather have seen Yamaha release an N2X rather than the N1X. The N2 is more compact and has better sound/speakers.

God Bless,
David

I still see some hope here An updated N2X would be excellent!

I would highly prefer to see a N0X for $5K - a minimalist MIDI controller with compact stand, real grand action and pedals, and no speakers. May be, headphone amp and Bluetooth for configuration.
Or with cabinet with built-in housing for computer, audio interface, keyboard and monitor for $6K.

This is weird and I seem to change my opinion by the hour, but when I first finished the Cybrid and started playing on it controlling Garritan CFX, I wrote how great the sound was and how it was definitely better than the N1X sound. In the first days that's how I felt. Going from Garritan CFX back to the binaural was a rather meh experience, the binaural was a bit too dry and somehow unrealistic. With the time though, and I play them both every day since they are in different rooms (the N1X is in the living room and the Cybrid is in the bedroom), I came to realize that moving from Garritan CFX to the Yamaha CFX binaural is lately a revelation of sort I can't explain it. Garritan CFX is fooling your ears with the awesome sound and reverberation but it tends to smear things a little. Honestly, I'm not sure that's how it feels to be playing the actual CFX in Abbey Road... In some way I think it's the more unrealistic experience, it's a sound that's beautiful but maybe unrealistically beautiful. And the binaural CFX is a honest sound, yeah dry, but in a realistic way. And it feels like a real piano I play. And you'd never have a piano in your room (even if it's the world's best prepped CFX) that will sound as flattering as a VST when you sit and play it.

(Who knows what I will say again in a week from now though LOL)

Could't agree more. Especially E6 and above really need new samples. My hope is that Yamaha will fix this in a future firmware update.

Do you mean the sound through speakers or the binaural one? I haven't played a lot with the speakers, however I haven't noticed any piercing quality with these octaves through headphones (binaural).

This is the first (second) I’ve heard about “The two octaves before the last”. I wonder, and stay with me, if it’s not ‘The two octaves before the last’, but rather, ‘The last octave after the two’ that offends the ear.

Also, how come CG never noticed this? Could it be that it’s more ‘The ear before the piano’ that needs some work done?

I simply ask, yet never do I determine; for that I leave to the Gods!

Mind you, I'm 40 and while I believe my hearing is good for my age and the last time I measured my upper frequency limit at 18kHz, that might have been years ago and I might have already developed hearing decline in the upper range :'( I'll have to check my ears but I definitely don't hear piercing upper octaves through headphones (Senneheiser HD595) and with the binaural CFX. Actually the octaves there are even kind of soft and velvety, rather than piercing. I remember when I tested a CA78 before I ordered the N1X and through speakers it had piercing upper octaves. And then I tested the N1X through speakers when it arrived and luckily it wasn't piercing, quite on the contrary.

Both through the speakers and the headphones. Worst of them all is B5 together with sound #1 through headphones when binaural=ON. When binaural=OFF, the B5 with sound #1 through the headphones becomes good.

OK, I just tested it. I can't hear anything piercing through speakers. However on headphones with binaural I notice that the E6 is indeed a bit brighter than the rest when played loud. Not something I could've noticed unless told but it's there. But I can't hear anything wrong with B5 at all. On the other hand, with the E6 I also have some ringing in my ears which I fix after I swallow like in an airplane to release the pressure And it makes me wonder whether that's a natural resonance of our ears, probably in combination with individual anatomy, individual frequency sensitivity, particular headphones, etc.

ag_jazz_piano: It's actually the CA-99 that caused me to contemplate getting a new piano.

I convinced myself quite quickly to upgrade to the CA-99, but I had a nagging feeling... the CA-95 wasn't my top choice back in 2012. It was the N2 that I really wanted. While I've loved my CA-95, I've always wished I had stretched the budget and bought the N2. So that got me looking at all the hybrids.

Long story short I guess, like so many others, I have my heart set on an N2X and am trying to find a reasonable compromise :-)

I didn't know Cybrid got a name And a nice one, by the way!