Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Yamaha AvantGrand NU1 in the NY Times

Breaking news. New York Times columnist David Pogue just discovered the Yamaha NU1.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/t...-yamaha-even-van-cliburn-could-love.html

It is a very good digital although I think I will stick with my CLP-990M / CLP-480R combo in which both of them already have great actions and sound. And, the NU1 doesn't have the overall harmonic resonance and sustain/decay as compared with the V-Piano. That is why I now own all of the above.

Yes. I like my Roland more than my Yamaha -- more nuanced/expressive. This is after a 3-day weekend revisiting Pianoteq and Ivory 2, in addition to the AG N2. I've lately eschewed my audiophile Sennheiser HD-600s in favor of a set of Bose QC 15s. I'm turning Into a real philistine with my downmarket tastes. But the SN studio grand thru QC 15s is the second best piano in my house, after the real deal NY Steinway B.

Kippesc, I have read your post, here:

subject: Yamaha AvantGrand NU1 in the NY Times

Breaking news. New York Times columnist David Pogue just discovered the Yamaha NU1.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/techno...could-love.html

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Steinway B
Yamaha AvantGrand N2
Roland RD-700NX

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as I understand your post, Kippesc, the New York Times published an artcile on the AvantGrand digital piano.

I am a beginner piano player and when I read posts, in this forum that mentioned the AvantGrand, I went to my large piano store and asked the sales person if I could play their AvantGrand. The sales person said that one over there. So I dug out my music and play the AvantGrand. It was very nice, but I think all digital pianos are nice. If I didn't have an acoustic, I wouldn't spend $12,000 and taxes on a digital piano but save that to put towards an acoustic. But I have a digital and a second hand 3 legged acoustic piano, so I am humbly grateful to play both and enjoy them both.

3S05VTG

Not all digital pianos are nice. Some are good. Some really suck.

Good press coverage for a very nice instrument.

On a completely separate topic:



Michael, is this a secret code?

James
x

Ham radio call sign?

Blasphemy!

Is this because of the noise cancellation or do you like the sound reproduction in the Bose better?

I believe that it's (i) lower impedance, (ii) noise cancellation, and maybe (iii) EQ. For some reason, I can hear subtle effects like "loom of strings" and hammer noise with the Bose that I NEVER noticed with the Sennheiser. This isn't just a volume thing, though. I'm playing the instrument at the same loudness level. The Bose require far less power to drive. I've not tried a headphone amp on the Roland with the Sennheisers. I had thought the amp unnecessary (Roland volume slider had what looked like plenty of headroom), but maybe I've been wrong.

I used the QC15's predecessor, the QC2 (which has the same impedance and almost identical tonal characteristics), when I went around several stores to audition DPs three years ago. The noise cancellation feature was useful in noisy stores, and the sound quality was good enough to determine the inherent sound of each DP - and of course, I was familiar with the headphones' coloration from having used it for many years during air travel etc.

However, it cannot be denied that when I used the AKG K271 MkII (which the store threw in free when I bought my DP) with my new V-Piano at home, it was obvious that its sound is rather less colored and more neutral (and has better extreme bass and treble) than the Bose's. And when I upgraded to the Grado SR325is a year later, the gain in realism with the latter is even more striking.

The important factor is that all the three headphones have very similar impedance, so comparing their sound using a DP (or indeed a hi-fi set-up) is straightforward. I think it's very likely that if one is using headphones with high impedance that requires the volume control to be pushed high up, the sound you get won't be optimal. Maybe a bit like listening to high-fi speakers at low volume, when the sound often seems dull - which is the reason for the 'loudness' button on amplifiers, which boosts both low bass and high treble, for listening at low volumes.

I went back and forth today, Sennheisers vs Bose QC15s -- it's the noise cancellation that makes these a better choice for me. I'm not in a noisy environment. The air conditioner is modern and centralized, two years old, with new ductwork and low static pressure and new vents. But it's noisy enough on a 100 degree summer day to mask Roland's "string loom" unless I'm using the noise cancellation phones.

Bottom line, if I get the noise out of the system, the piano feels more expressive.