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Hello dear pianoworld forum,

After a short disappointing intermezzo with a Kawai MP11SE I'm about to pull the trigger and buy a Yamaha NU1X. I tried the Yamaha several times in a store and like the action very much. A good, solid and reactive upright action. I also like the sound of the binaural CFX samples through headphones. But I might still continue using Pianoteq 7, which I like very much (esp. the new Petrof Mistral). In the future I might try Garritan CFX and the VSL Pianos too (my current MacBook Air 2013 4GB RAM wouldn't handle them).

Here are my question:

How does the NU1X work as a midi controller? Is there some strange behavior in particular?
(The Kawai MP11SE for example did not send MIDI-Values below 25-30 no matter how soft you played. With single played soft keynotes sometimes, yes, but in this terms both the Roland FP-30 I currently have and and a Kawai K-500 ATX3 I sometimes have the opportunity to play don't show this behavior and are very reliable through the whole spectrum of velocities).

And: Did anyone tried to play Pianoteq or any other VSTs through the speakers of the N1X? How did it sound, at least ok (esp. compared to the internal CFX sample)?

I hope someone can answer my questions and it may be helpful for some others who also consider a Yamaha NU1X.

Thanks!
Eddie

Just plugin the USB to Host cable, install the Steinberg USB driver and start playing. The Speaker Quality is good enough to playback VSTs, at least miles ahead from Novus Series from Kawai.

Thanks! That sounds great.

VSTs sound better through the NU1X speaker than with the NV-5, really? I had the impression that the speaker of the NV-5 (in combination with the soundboard transducers of course) sounded a bit better then the NU1X (but both with the internal samples). But the NV-5 is out of my price range.

Both have imho the best speaker setups on the market right now but for me the NU1X is better for that case. The NU1X can output your VST Playback without a separate line-in cable which eliminates the usual problems about line-in jacks. Also when you plug in headphones it routes the VST playback directly through them without quality loss. I tried that with the NV10 a few years ago and it ended up in a terrible experience with mono sound.

Excellent! Thanks for your answer! I have to wait until I get my money back from the Kawai MP11SE and then I will pull the trigger on the NU1X. And hope that my unit doesn't have a prominent loud note bug...

I can second what Tyr said about the ease of use. Just install the driver from the Yamaha site, plug in the USB Host cable and it just works. I also use it to play backing tracks through the NU1X speakers while playing the internal Binaural CFX sound.

I just bought an NU1X yesterday...
My other options were CA-99 and CA-79. I played all of them multiple times and liked the NU1X the most!
I was curious about the VST playback via speakers since on my previous CA-79 Pianoteq or Ivory didn't sound that good honestly...
Happy to read this comments.
I'll have it in 4 weeks
Super excited!

Hi lovelovemale!
I am thinking of buying the NU1X. Can you say something about it after all this time? Do you still like it? How does it work as a master keyboard, especially with Pianoteq?
I would love to hear from you (and others who have experience)!
Thanks a lot!

I have an N1X, not an NU1X, so this may not be fully applicable, but I use it as a controller for Pianoteq 8 (Steinway B) and love it, both through the speakers and headphones. Sound is great, setup simple (after getting the right driver), and action is wonderful.

I have a NU1X that is about 4 years old and do use it with Pianoteq. It fits my needs perfectly and I would go that route again.

Edited to add I normally use the default sound but for blues I like the Honky Tonk version of the Steinway in Pianoteq. While the default binaural Yamaha CFX sounds great I prefer the Pianoteq Honky Tonk Steinway for blues or boogie woogie.

My bad, I see I already replied. In my haste I thought this was a new thread. 10 demerits for me.

I also use it to play backing tracks through the NU1X speakers while playing the internal Binaural CFX sound.?

Can you explain this more? Are you saying you get the internal binaural sound on the speakers? How? Sorry if I seem so silly.

Yes, I play backing tracks on the Windows Notebook I have hooked up for Pianoteq and play the internal Binaural CFX. Basically the NU1X becomes the speakers for the notebook.

Hi!

I´m using the NU1X as a midi controller for a vst (Keyspace). But the original sounds of the NU1X stays on. Meaning I play two voices at the same time.

Do you people know how to solve this issue?
I couldn't find anything online.

I´m playing the VST through Ableton.

Look for "Local control" in the User's Manual and in the piano's settings and turn it off.

Then the keyboard won't "control" the "local" sound generator in the piano.

It's a bit nerdy term, but it's standard MIDI terminology so that's what manufacturers call it. 🤓

Press the Function key and C6(one octave from the highest C) and it will turn off the local sound generator so you can just use the Midi.

Martin