Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Should I replace my grand piano with Yamaha N1X?

Hi All,

I have a Karl Muller G185 (6FT) grand piano since I was a young child. It was the main piano I extensively practiced and performed on. It served its purpose, but I do not particularly love the action/touch and the type of sound it produces.

I came across the Yamaha N1X recently and it is the perfect size for the apartment I currently live in (the grand piano is at my parent's house) and based on the specs described it seems ideal. I still need to try playing it in person though.

Do you guys think it is worth it to replace the Karl Muller grand with the Yamaha N1X?

Thank you!

if you have the money it doesn’t hurt to have both. But always try it before purchasing.

It would be nice to keep both, but I can only keep one. Yes, will definitely try before purchasing.

Only if you need digital for reasons of noise/neighbors or low maintenance. Otherwise there're lovely new uprights at the prize level of n1x

There are many unanswered questions;
The acoustic is not in your apartment but at your parents. I assume that You go to your parents to practice. does that create a problem for you?

You do t provide any information about the age and possible value of the acoustic. If you are planning on selling it to buy the digital, you should factor in the possible sales price.

You need to go play a number of digital pianos before you can even consider what you want to do. You can’t tell what you would like from a video or a description on the Internet

Hi diabloa109,

So the N1x is a hybrid that has the full piano action of a grand and some very special digital sound. It is exciting technology and it is the right choice for people who 1) Have a space issue 2) Have a money issue (much cheaper than a fine grand) 3) Would like to take advantage of easily recording with great sound and/or communicating online.

It could be the right solution, but we don't know enough to make a recommendation with any real confidence. Have you played the N1x? What do you think?

So a Karl Muller G185 is a Young Chang G185. I'm not particularly sympathetic to Young Chang pianos but let's leave that aside for now.

Seems you don't like the Karl Muller all that much. If I have to guess you probably find the action quite heavy and uneven, and you find the sound a bit nasal. At least that's my experience with every single Young Chang I've ever played.

You want the piano in your apartment. Are you worried about neighbours? There are definitely advantages to having a digital piano at home and these days the technology is so good that there really isn't that much of an adjustment between practising on a top of the range digital and a good grand piano, although a good grand piano will certainly reveal more in your playing.

I haven't played the N1X but I like the Yamaha sound, the CFX samples are very musical, very expressive, and are very lifelike. The action of the N1X is at least a grand piano action, modified for insertion to the N1X (weights instead of hammers, and the repetition lever is different), and with even top soloists practising on AvantGrands, I don't think you'll have a problem with it.

You'll have to play the instrument to decide if it meets your needs. For comparison you might want to also try the Kawai Novus NV10, and the Casio Celviano Grand Hybrid.

You might also want to try the Clavinovas, the Kawai CA99 (and the rest of that range), and the Roland GP609 or LX706 I think it's called, because some players find that the inclusion of a real grand piano action is actually not an advantage. I won't go into the reasons for it, but the bottom line is it comes down to your preference for touch, sound, and how the two interact with each other.

Interesting, I didn't know that. Do you know how it is different, why it is different, and does that difference make a difference?

The top part of the repetition lever is made of some kind of plastic (I don't know if it's ABS, carbon, or whatever). What difference it makes in practice I don't actually know.

After almost half a year with my N1X, I would say :

- a lot of time is needed to appreciate it...
- the sound (without headphone) is not exceptional.... but it is somehow much more like a real piano than a simple digital one. For example my ES8 has sort of perfect sound but poor one; On the other hand there are little flaws (depending on the pianist ears...). theses flaws exist also with the real CFX grand (I tried too).
- the sound quality is sufficient to give a lot of pleasure (despite the flaws)
- there are very few possibilities to modify the sound (my ES8 can do a lot much here...)
- the basses are very good (piano number 2 is better than number 1)
- the keyboard is better and very precise than all I played, better and heavier than a lot of acoustics in particular uprights.
- with headphones and CFX sound (number 1) binaural sound, you forget having an headphone. Very good, and better than many other DP and "silent" pianos. I didn't like the real grand CFX. Best piano for my taste is the Steinway B211 (a little bit expensive ... )
- now I dislike playing an upright because I like heavy keyboards.
- I think the bottleneck of the N1X is the amplification and loudspeakers ; probably solved with the N3X.

Yes, for noise/neighbors and lower maintenance. The uprights I was researching were all $15,000 or more to have action/sound similar to grands, while the n1x is only $10,000 CAD after tax.


You are right. I haven't been practicing as much for the last couple of years cause of the distance and full-time job. I will have less of a excuse to not practice if I have a suitable piano with me at all times.

The Piano is most likely 15 to 20 years old and second hand resell value is $8,000 to $9,000 CAD. I will for sure go try out all possible hybrid grand options in person, including the N1X.


Yes! I feel the exact same about the G185. The action on mine is not heavy but definitely uneven and the sound produced is too sharp and not as robust. Thank you for all the possible hybrid options, I will try them all.


These are great insights about the N1X! Thank you. I am considering getting a good pair of headset or external speakers for the N1X.

@diabola109

I don't think that external speakers is a good idea. With a VST ok, but the internal sounds are multi-channel recorded, specifically for the N1X speakers.
So a two way speakers won't be better than the N1X multi-channel amplification with the internal samples.

And it is totally subjectif and ear dependant ; perhaps you will find the sound good.
After 6 months I appreciate more the sound because I realize than even acoustic paino aren't perfect for my ears.
I don't particularly like the acoustic Yamaha grand sound, and I ear the same flaws in acoustics and N1X. (not with Yamaha upright)

I just think it needs time to appreciate really the sound. It is not what I was waiting for, but it is a rich sound ; you can work with that. You can work on your sound with the N1X.
Not flawless but finally realistic and interesting, usable, playable.
On the contrary I would say that my ES8 is perfect but poor.

After all these months I realize that my teacher's piano (two uprights Schimmel, and one Samick "Imperial German scale") sound not better.

Do it

The OP has yet to play it..,, seems a little premature to just buy it?

Nah, go for it. He already knows an acoustic grand won’t work for him. The N1X is a highly regarded instrument. Possibly the best digital piano available. Why keep the grand around, a far distance away, holding good value, when it does him no good?

Keeping the acoustic or buying the N1X are not the only options..., go audition digitals and make a decision based on trying them out

It's possible that you'd be perfectly happy with the N1X. It's amazing. OTOH there are things you might miss about your grand, even if it's not ideal.

The N1X certainly does seem like a practical solution for you that's worth considering, but it will be a difficult choice to make.

+1. This is common sense.

The samples and amplification and speakers on the N1X have been designed as an integrated system. "Improving" it with external speakers might be pointless. Adding a subwoofer _might_ improve the lowest octave.

Don't forget to compare the Novus NV10 or the new NV5.

+1