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Did you contact Yamaha? I got my manual (for an older Clav) from their California parts location.

I think that I will try directly contacting Yamaha here in Canada. I am surprised they sold you a service manual!

They sell most anything for Yamaha pianos.Besides the manual I've ordered parts from them several times. Great service, too.

I'm not sure whether to buy a n1x or not reading all this lol, gonna try one Friday though in a shop just in case.

I can often play approx 4 hours a day piano and mostly now it's advanced classical requiring pretty heavy playing constantly, sounds like I'll need to regulate the N1X every 2 or 3 years costing hundreds and hundreds, it's about £350 a day I think approx to regulate in UK.

I may be better off with a clp785 or sticking with my ca99 as they don't need any maintenance. And if i was to get an N1X and it's regulated poorly the optic sensors or something else could go wrong, piano technicians are used to working on acoustic pianos not these hybrids that have other parts to mess up...

I like the thought of a hybrid but not if its just an expensive investment over time and can't hold up to heavy playing. What's the point.

I don't get it. The hybrid action doesn't require any more extensive service than the acoustic piano. Whatever you need to do to regulate a heavily played acoustic, you'd only have to do the same with a hybrid action. So if you want the authentic acoustic action, that's the price to pay. If you're perfectly happy with non-authentic action on a non-hybrid digital, why bother with a hybrid? But I thought that advanced classical players generally just can't be happy with non-authentic action in the first place...

Sure, you probably can't use just any tech who only has experience regulating acoustic pianos only, and should probably use a tech who's trained on servicing the hybrid. But at least in my area, the tech who is trained to service the hybrid is the same tech who has been doing acoustic action regulation business in the area all along. I just can't imagine that he would charge more to regulate a hybrid as opposed to regulating an acoustic piano. Any extra work he'd have to do to make sure his regulation doesn't put the sensor calibration out-of-whack should be minimal compared to the actual regulation work itself, I would think.

Hi there, I think if you're an advanced pianist, go for the N1X. The CLP785 is annoyingly and unnaturally heavy. It gives you misery when playing fast phrase to frequently found in Chopin music for exemple, and the sound is miles far from the AG line. I can't talk about the CA99 since I've never tried it but I guess is closer to the Clavinova than the AG.

Yes it will need service every 3 to 5 years at a level of 4 hours study a day. But hey, if I had the space for an acoustic, I'd have it no matter the price for service, since nothing compares the acoustic keyboard. Because I don't, I went for the N1X. The amount of control and dynamics the N1X allows can't be compared with any digital piano for classical training pianists

I'd tell you to try the N2, I've come to realize I didn't give it enough playing time and maybe I would have go for that on instead of the N1X for its power. Although the Binaural of the N1X is a winner and somehow the way the sound travels from the speakers is more natural than the N2.

I really don't think it's wise to consider the CLP-785 when you already have the CA99.

Don't believe it when someone suggests you'll need regulation every two or three years. That's silly.

How close is the N1X to an acoustic grand action? I hear its the exact same action minus the hammers and some other minor things... Don't know how it feel the same as an. Acoustic if it don't have hammers to push up or move, where does the resistance/weight come from?

What is the exact difference between an avantgrand piano and an acoustic grand? What's missing and what's not? Does anyone know the exact details of the N1X mechanism/action? Yamaha don't seem to want to describe it on their websites in any fraction of detail which bemuses me greatly, they just say 'specialised grand action'. Is it a grand action or not lol, what's missing... You spend that much money on something and you're none the wiser... Are you left with an exact copy of an acoustic action or just something that replicates it as best as it can.

I thought I would jump in here and give my .02.

I bought my N1X a little over a year ago. I’m an enthusiastic beginner who practices 2 hours a day to prepare for my hour long weekly lesson.

I actually just finished a practice session and logged on to the forum for the first time in a while because I specifically wanted to post in this thread just how much I like and enjoy the N1X. It may be the best purchase I’ve ever made.

I use external monitors and a VST I particularly like and am equally happy with those.

Playing the piano is such a satisfying way to spend time as well as to learn about the history of the great composers for the instrument.

I’m glad I stumbled onto this thread last year and followed the recommendations of CyberGene, David B, and others.

Thanks, JJHLH 🍻

Thank you CyberGene!

I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for your wonderful advice and informative posts.

Amen!

Gene's contributions are invaluable.

Thank you JJHLH for the update. I'm still enjoying my N1X as well.

God Bless,
David

It's exactly the same as any piano. If you've seen the photos online, that's what is inside go find them o line. There are hammers, just not hammer felp heads. Main difference will be there is no weight lifted when pressing the pedal as with a real piano where the dampers are left therefore decreasing the weight, so you have a set weight either you play with out without pedal. The Kawai NV10 has a real damper mechanism. But I've heard the Kawai comes with a world of issues, so...

I believe you get a entry range piano mechanism with the N1X , I've heard is a GB Series keyboard. Not the fastest, not the slowest, is just right. And again, miles ahead of any existing digital piano. Unless you are a Juilliard, Curtis, etc pianist level already, is more than enough for you. Heads-up, Juilliard have N2s available for their students to play. And is the same keyboard as in the N1X, just with more speakers and not headphones Binaural experience.

You will miss on the resonance area, and the rawness of a piano. But I don't get the question, ate you consider a piano over an AG or a clavinova over an AG. Cause that leads to two very different comparisons.

Go and try it, is the only way you to really know what is it about.

It does have hammers, but not made of felt, there are photos on the web example here. Other obvious differences are the addition of light sensors, and in the case of the Yamaha's no physical dampers, so that difference may be noticeable if you are used to playing acoustics; but then the NV10 does have physical dampers.

The previous claim that the AvantGrands use a GB series action feels spot-on to me. I played a GBK1 and older GBA and they feel remarkably similar to the all the AGs I've tried. I felt a C3/C3X/C5/SX felt very very different (which is not a bad thing, but at the time a bit of a disappointment because I was shopping for a hybrid and expecting/hoping for the AG to feel the same as the C-series). It's a really good action regardless, you could do a LOT worse than a Yamaha grand!

To add to this, I think the lines are getting fuzzier:

I believe with the N1X/N3X, Yamaha moved from a wooden to a plastic repetition lever, which again is not a bad thing (Kawai and other makers also use plastic/ABS-carbon parts in their actions too) but starts to muddy the waters with the "same action as in an acoustic, minus the hammer felts" refrain, because I'm not sure that any Yamaha acoustic grand uses the plastic repetition lever. In the end the key is that the AvantGrand action still uses all the same parts as found on an acoustic, even if they're not the exact same part off the same factory line (maybe the plastic part is better, but acoustic buyers are so snobby they wouldn't accept it?).

The optical sensors involve extremely lightweight metal "shutter" inserts into the hammer shanks, they are REALLY tiny and can't conceivably affect the feel of the action. They also allow for the non-contact optical sensors to determine the hammer position. It's also worth noting that the sensor system is the same as you'd get in a factory-installed Yamaha silent piano, so I wouldn't even call that a real difference.

The AG is a really good action, not some budget money-saver. I'd say Yamaha's approach to the AvantGrand is really admirably no-holds barred, there are scant shortcuts anywhere to be found, it's really something they make to be proud of.

The N1X also has a plastic jack as well.



Just for the fun of it here is the repetition lever also.



God Bless,
David

Eventually (maybe 5 years, maybe 50) I suspect the entire action will be composite. And we may be better off for it, too.

I agree. These plastics aren't negatively impacted by temperature/humidly and since they are not exposed to the sun, they should last until Jesus comes.

God Bless,
David

My old Kawai upright had plastic jacks and plastic stickers. The right plastics give good results.