Hello Everyone...

I am sorry for the long post...

I need your help please.

I want to buy a digital piano with the best action keys I can get. I am choosing between the NV 10, NV 5, and NU1X.

INTRODUCTION:
- I live in Kuwait, the options here are very limited. None of the pianos I am considering is on display. I tried every piano available on display in Kuwait to try to judge and make a decision.

- We have very strict travel restrictions, and it is totally unknown when I may be traveling to a city where I can try the models in mind. Either I want 6-12 months, or I buy based on the information I have.

- I talked to the dealers in Kuwait, and they have no intention to bring these models anytime soon.

- I will buy it from a store in Europe and have it shipped to Kuwait. That’s why I am sticking to a digital piano.

- I am fond of Pianoteq, and I intend to connect the DP to my mac via USB, then the line out of my audio interface to the DP’s line it. I don’t think I will use the DP’s internal sounds, unless I liked them more than Pianoteq’s Steinway Model D and the Steingraeber.


PIANOS THAT I TRIED:
- I tried the K200 and K300, and I liked the feel and the touch. It felt solid, and I enjoyed the time I spent on it.

- I tried the Kawai CS7 (Grand Feel) and the Casio GP500 (Bechstein action) and both felt too soft and closer and not as solid build like the K200.

Forgive my poor ability to describe this: The CS7 action key felt like it has a low and single resistance until it is pressed all the way down. Unlike the K200 and a typical acoustic action, that has a certain resistance until the mid-way, and then another resistance until the end of the travel distance. I like this feeling, and I didn’t find it in the CS7’s Grand Feel action. Is there a proper term to describe this mid-way clickiness or resistance?

- I tried Yamaha 645, 665, 685, and 695... They all felt terrible. As if the key travel distance was too short, there was a awkward clicky feeling when they are fully pressed. They felt far from a real acoustic piano action. Most importantly, I did not enjoy the time I spent playing them. I don’t think I would be happy playing these pianos.

- I tried the Yamaha U1 and JU109, and they felt OK, but not nearly as good as the K200. I tried the Yamaha C7X, and it felt really good.

PIANOS THAT I AM CONSIDERING:

NV 10:
- It has the Milennium III action that I am fond of (but the grand version), so I assume I will like it.
- I like it’s look, sound system, connectivity.
- I like it’s form factor. I can have my computer’s monitor above the piano at a decent viewing angle. It is easier to move when detached from the leg base.
- While I can afford it, I still believe it is very expensive.
- I don’t know how it’s action will compare to the K200/K300. If it is the same but a very little bit lighter/less resistance, that would be a dream come true.

NV 5:
- It has most of the benefits of the NV10 except the form factor.
- Do you think the action is identical to the K200/K300?
- Is it right to think of it as something that has 95% of the values of the NV 10, but for 60% of the price?
- If yes, I will be happy to save some cash, and I can live with the form factor of a typical upright.
- If the action of the NV 10 is superior to that of the NV 5, I will make the investment in the NV 10.
- Can you help me understand the difference between the actions? Since I am totally unable to try them out?


NU1X:
- While I was not happy with any digital piano from Yamaha, I am wondering if the NU1X’s real upright action would feel good.
- The only benefit of the NU1X is that it is 75% of the price of the NV 5.
- Saving money is not my priority, the best action is my priority. But if the NU1X and NV 5 are similar in the action quality, I am happy to save money.


Aures:
- Since I liked the K300, it maybe normal to go for the K300 Aures. But since I will ship it from Europe, it will cost a fortune, and it will not be covered by warranty, and I will have difficulty tuning and maintaining it on my own.
- Also when it’s time to go back to my home country, it was way much more difficult to ship an acoustic piano than a digital piano.

MY KIND REQUEST TO YOU
- Anyone of you who might have tried the models I mentioned, maybe able to help me decide.
- Should I go all the way up to the NV 10? Or save a little bit and get the NV 5? Is the difference in action worth an additional $3000, almost 50% extra?
- Again, saving money is a nice to have thing for me. But the priority is to get a great piano action.

Thank you so much in advance.

I don't know that you will be able to successfully ship pianos of these sizes to Kuwait. It sounds risky. Assembly may also be required.

Out of all the pianos you have listed, the NV10 incontestably has the best action -- it's one of Kawai's best grand actions. If you want the best action and you can afford it, you should buy it.

However, if you want to pay less, then you should consider the Yamaha N1X (not NU1X) which also has a grand action.

Regarding your plan to pipe VST audio back to the piano, several of us do this happily with the NV10. You may have to solve ground loops which might mean not using the USB-B interface.

N1X has an audio interface built-in, however, I don't know of many N1X owners who pipe audio back in as they appear to prefer using external speakers or headphones.

I am looking at the K300 and K500 acoustics at the minute but also along the way played the CA79 and CA99 as well as the NV10 and NV5. In my naive and amateurish opinion, the NV5 action was the best of the digitals. The NV10 felt sloppy to me, whereas the NV5 was precise and confidence inspiring. I would compare it to the difference in feel I had between the GL20 and GX3 - e.g. significantly and noticeably better.

IIRC, the NV5 has the transducer-through-soundboard tech of the AURUS, whereas the NV10 has no such soundboard, so I don't think the NV5 is "settling" for less - the sound it produces will be far better than the speakers of the NV10. Whether the action is better is up to you, but I highly recommend that you try them if you are able to.

Steve.

Thank you Polacharm,

I would attribute the improvement in action of the NV5 that you found to two things. 1) Maybe subjectively, your personal taste is more towards uprights. 2) Objectively, the NV5 being newer... you see the hammer of the NV5 looks newer and nicer on photos...


In my opinion, and according to my humble knowledge about sound systems, you can generate the sound energy using a woofer driver or a transducer attached to a soundboard. The quality depends on the and quality of the components you use. Maybe the sound board helps in producing low frequencies in a very slim profile cabinet.

I asked a few shipping companies and I asked Bonners Music, and it seems possible to ship it.

You feedback it encouraging me to disregard the Yamaha AG altogether... The difference in price between the NV 10 and N1X, is not worth sacrificing the my assumed better quality of Kawai Novus.

I like the audio interface feature on the N1X but it is not a priority at all, since I can use any audio interface with the Novus including my existing wonderful Motu M4.

For whatever it's worth, most reviewers I've seen (on this forum and elsewhere) have agreed that the NV5 sounds noticeably better than the NV10. I suspect the next version of the NV10 will incorporate a soundboard, because it really does add a degree of realism.

As for grand vs. upright action, it's such a personal choice that it's hard for anyone to help. I will say that the NV5 has a very, very good upright action, and IMO felt identical to the K200/300. If you enjoyed them, I think you'll enjoy the NV5. You mentioned the CS7. I wasn't able to test the GFI, but I did demo the GFII and GFIII. The NV5 action is a tier above either of those, IMO, despite being transplanted from an upright.

So I got the chance to try a Kawai RX1, that has a Grand Millennium III action, and without any hesitation I like it more than the K200/300’s Upright Millennium III action.

Case closed.

Thanks to you all for the valuable advice...

Then you certainly need to buy an NV10!

Sure thing.

That’s the plan now. I just need to arrange the logistics of shipping it from Europe using a forwarding agent.

Sounds like a great decision! I simply lack the ability to "appreciate" a grand action over an upright, that's where I'm at in my own piano journey.

Hope the shipping goes well, and don't forget to post pics!

Thanks Polarcharm,

In my case, I never had regular access to a grand piano before. I grew up playing on upright pianos. And only 2 years ago I decided to buy a digital piano, because I no longer had access to any acoustic piano. I bought a Casio AP-470 which is meant to be like a grand piano action.

Comparing it to my grandmother’s not well maintained 70+ years old upright piano, it felt overall much better. All keys are properly weighted, no keys have friction or get stuck, and such things...

Recently I started practicing much more seriously than before, and I started feeling the limitations of the AP-470. It was a good entry level choice, but it’s now much less than what I aspire for.

I believe the two years I spent on the Casio changed my taste towards the grand piano action.

I am even optimistic and wishfully assuming that the NV10’s action will be even better than the Kawai RX1 that I tried, just because that RX1 was an old showroom unit that is not well maintained.

Comparison video of the NV5 & NV10

By Stu at Merriam Pianos



~Lucubrate

What a great review.

My take on Stu’s perspective: his favorite child is hands-down the NV-5, but as any decent parent would do, he has to say he loves them both equally; only in different ways.

He mentioned something about the upright key-bed (NV-5?) being shallower, and the first thing that came to mind was whether this aspect could aid in faster repetition simply because the key needs less travel back to its resting position.

So yes, the NV-5’s keys have to come fully up to allow for repetition, but I ask, if the keys need less time to travel to their resting place as compared to keys housed in a deeper key-bed (NV-10?), could this not ‘shorten’ the actual difference in key repetition rate between the two instruments?

I’d love to see someone comparing ‘key repetition rate’ between these two instruments under ‘normal’ playing circumstances; in others word, playing musical yet demanding repertoire that is not based on robotic, machine-gun, mindless, and unmusical repetition.

I just feel that repetition is not all it’s cranked up to be (same goes for long pivots)

On an acoustic piano action, key dip is adjustable. I assume it is no different here.

If that’s the case, I’ll take my key dip on the shallow end; thank you, very much!

If anything, I wouldn’t mind a key dip so shallow that the keys barely, if at all, move (touch-sensitive).

Unlike some ‘round here, my hands have been involved in lots of intensive manual labor outside of the piano.

They’ve been beaten down, my hands; they’ve been cuffed, my hands; they’ve seen better days, my hands. So now I want to spare them, my hands, from further pain and suffering!

Bring it on, Yamaha; touch-sensitive keys!

“They don’t move, our touch-sensitive keys, but they will move you in ways unimagined. Simply touch them and they will react to your most inner-emotions in ways no moving key/action can do”.

He definitely prefers the NV5. Have you watched his NV5(-only) review? Quite emotional, to be honest. :-)

Yes, I saw that review, and he seems to genuinely be in love with the NV-5. Granted, he does mention -on this new video- that he owns an upright, and I assume he probably grew up on uprights, so that might be the reason why he prefers the NV-5 (I speculate).

IMO, for people who don't prefer one action to the other and play very often on speakers may be inclined to get the NV5 or NU1X over the NV10 or N1X. Having the sound projecting right towards the player makes it sound significantly less muffled than listening from a more distant perspective.

Are you saying the N1X is muffled? Surely, I must’ve misinterpreted that.
I apologize in advance if this is not what you meant.

When I listen to the comparison review above of the NV5/NV10 with the sound coming through my N1X and studio monitors, and then compare it with my N1X, I think the N1X projects a muffled tone compared to the Kawai internal piano sounds.

I actually prefer the Kawai internal sounds (SK-EX Pianist Mode) to the N1X CFX/Bösendorfer. However, once I plugin a VST, either VSL Bösendorfer Imperial or VI Labs Modern U, fudgeddaboudit.

God Bless,
David

Thanks, David; this confirms that I’m not crazy:
the N1X is muffled!

Yes, that's what I meant, and I'm not the first person around here to say it sounds muffled. I never tried the NV10 but I did try the CA98 which has the same sample as the NV10, so I'm going to assume it's less muffled than Yamaha's samples. However, the speaker placement between the NV10 and N1X are quite similar, and that creates a rather distant sound from the player's perspective.

It’s official: the N1X is muffled. Period! End of Sentence!

Now, the question is: why is the N3X so grossly overpriced?

Generally, I've always found that acoustic grands sound a bit more distant that uprights, since you're not 1ft from the soundboard and directly facing it. Does the N1X have any player-facing speakers? The NV-10 has three, which may help it sound more direct. But whether that directness is more realistic, that's not really mattered to me since I feel a number of other elements about sound reproduction are more important.

I hate you guys. You make it so difficult!

Why? I fell in love with the NV10. But the N1X has a much nicer price, and I've been leaning toward that one (despite the Flintstone-era control panel).

I've not yet tried one. I've been hampered by the lockdown.
But if it's really muffled (or muzzled) then I might need to add monitors.
I already have a set, so no expense there ... but I was hoping to do without them.

It's never easy, is it?

Depends on what sound comes out in the first place. I placed my speakers facing into the wall so 'er indoors (next room, watching tele) wouldn't be distracted from her obviously more intellectual activities.

It worked. But I had to tweak up the treble/middle.
Who on earth wants 2 speakers facing you? It's like being given a verbal for a first transgression of company rules . . . .

Because they can and some people are willing to pay for it. I can't understand why but that's another story.

Mac, why ruin the illusion with ‘monitors’. At that price point I don’t want to see any cables, monitors, or ‘puters nearby!

I suggest you wait for the next generation of Yamaha hybrids; surely, these will not be muzzled!



P.S.

The next AvantGrands will have a touch-sensitive interface (so I’ve heard).

Are you saying the N3X is an N1X dressed up in a tuxedo?

N1X has no speakers pointing towards the player. On the contrary, there are two speakers at the back facing the other direction. As a former owner of a Yamaha U1 upright, I think my ears are too accustomed to listening to a closer sound. But, I think I'm getting used to how my N1X sounds after some time

Beo, why should you adjust to the N1X? You paid big bucks; you’re the boss; the N1X either gets its act together or you simply send it back and get an NV-5!

I got tricked by the touch!

Come to the Novus side. Here is cake!

Who trades an grand action for an upright action?

If I have the place, I would have the choice between the N3X (17000€) and the GB1 SC2 (14000€)... or would prefer the GB1 SC2 (cheaper and true acoustic grand piano with a Silent feature).

Then, the pricing of the N3X is curious... perhaps it participates to a price framing (read https://scottfenstermaker.com/marketing-psychology-price-framing/ ) of the N1X which appears quite cheap compared to it.

An point of view, is that people who want a digital piano for a show would be glad to have grand digital piano (Kawai DG30, Yamaha CLPxxxGP). The N3X outputs which can be useful with amplified speakers and the real grand action can be prefered.

In the US the list price of N3X is slightly lower than GB1K-SC2 as there are very few units with silent system. Most likely you have to order it sight unseen. However there are many more TA units compared to the normal silent units. If you really negotiate hard I think you may get a good price on those TAs. The GC1TA2 is a good option.

I wouldn’t mind me a GC1TA2, if only it could tune itself. Piano tuners have done me, or my ex-wife for that matter, bad!

In this day and age why can’t they build a self-tuning piano, I ask?

One thing that really bugs me on these digital pianos, especially on the Upright cabinet model, it's that they don't have a REALLY nice sound upright sample, its always towards to the grand sound.
Sometimes they invest in 2 nice grand samples but no GOOD upright samples.
Since you are paying this much for the visual, felling and sound, like NV5/NU1X it's hard to believe that they still don't have a high-quality upright piano sample for these upright hybrids.

Agreed. That's one of the reasons I finally adopted Pianoteq -- the U4 is very versatile.

Gotta say I agree with this as well. I'm not sure how much I would use it, but I think it would really be a notch in the realism department to be able to sit down at the NU1 and hear an actual upright, and from the player position, rather than some odd mic'd from the back at the sounboard where nobody ever sits because it's an upright and it's going to be against a wall no matter what.

Hi,

Does anyone know what is coming?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEm6319A2tW/?igshid=f132xo9gbozq

Is it a hybrid model?

Thanks,

A hybrid can't possibly look like that. Or can it?

Look at the 3rd image, it looks like an upright action. Right?

The 3 screenshots are of 3 different models. It may not even be new releases but simply frame captures of a shooting comercial of current models (they surely look like kdp110, ca79, nv5...)

You're close.

They show the KDP70, DG30, and NV5.

Kind regards,
James
x

Not bad... I did not have time to check pictures and just guessed from memory...

This was a leap of faith, to order the NV10 from a different country without trying any Novus pianos before.

I knew that I liked the Millennium III action I tried the the RX1 and the K300.
I also knew that I liked the sound of the CS7.

So I assumed that the NV10 will be a good choice.



Here are my first impressions from Day 1 and after 2 hours of playing.

1. The action. The action is spectacular. I love it. I like it better than the K200/K300 action.

I never had a piano/DP with such a high quality action. It does not only feel better and more enjoyable to play, it made some difficult pieces feel easier to play. I felt it right away when I tried some Hanon finger exercises, I was able to play at faster speeds easily. Normally, I am can comfortably play Hanon 21-30 at 90 bmp. Yesterday, I started at 100 bpm, and it felt easy. I raised it to 108 bpm, and I was able to play most of Hanon 21-30 no problem.

Maybe it is the grand action's faster repetition that made it easier for me to play.

Compared to my previous Tri-sensor Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II, the millennium III is light years better. It was the main motive behind the upgrade, and I believe the objective is achieved 100%.

I have one complaint about the action though, that the black keys are not finished all the way. So when I press the white keys at it's upper range near the black keys, I feel the roughness of the un-finished part of the black keys. I don't know if all grand pianos are like this.

Note: I don't have any problems with the action at very fast repetition, as reported by some other users.

2. The sound: The sound is good. I do not consider it better than the CS7, that I demo'd before. However it is too early to judge. I have the NV10 in my living agains the wall, while the CS7 was in the middle of a very large showroom. By the time I found the wall EQ setting, I was already on headphones as it was getting late. I need to give it more time before judging.

Pianoteq is still a much better choice for me. I like the color and the tonality of their Steinway D. Every music note sounds better on Pianoteq . Better than any sampled Kawai, Yamaha, Native Instruments or Keyscape piano that I tried. I find all sampled pianos to have a hiss noise that does not exist at all in Pianoteq’s modeled piano. Maybe when I get the chance to tweak the settings of the NV10, I change my mind. I want to change my mind

I tried some organs, electric pianos, and choir sounds, they are for sure better than the standard stock samples on mid-range DP and DAWs.

3. Line-in sound quality: Maybe I still don’t have the right settings, but I did not like the sound quality of the line-in. I connected the line-out of my Motu M4 audio interface to the line-in of the NV10. Comparing the sound of the headphone output of the NV10 and the Motu M4, I find the Motu M4 far better and distortion free. I hope this can be fixed with some settings changes. Any tips on that would be greatly appreciated.

I can’t understand why Kawai did not integrate top quality Audio Interface in this unit? With very low noise/distortion, transparent frequency response, separate speakers and headphone volume knobs. I assume the cost of such a component is less than $100 for sure, so why not?

4. Speaker system: I did not have high expectations about Onkyo. Side note, over the past 10 years, I owned 1 midrange Pioneed AVR, and 2 top of the line AVRs from Onkyo and Denon. Pioneer and Denon are far better than Onkyo. The speaker system of the NV10 did not change my mind, I still consider Onkyo to be mediocre in the league of hi-fi sound systems.

5. The touch screen: I read and watched a lot of reviews about how it is glitchy, and needs development. My experience with it is perfect, it works well. Not as good as an iPhone, but good enough for me. No complains on this regards.

6. Piano Bench: It came with a Piano Bench, I didn’t know that it was included. Nice surprise. I wish it was one of those diamond tufted benches.


Bottom line:
I took a big risk, buying such a relatively expensive instrument based on reviews only. I am so happy with the NV10, and I hope after I spend some time tweaking the settings, I may be even happier. Since this is the second most expensive Digital Piano after the N3X, as far as I know, I think it is fair to wish and ask for everything to be PERFECT.

The rough part of the black keys, audio interface/quality of line-in sound, and the quality of the speakers is what separates the NV10 from being PERFECT in all domains. I bought it for the action, and the other aspects are secondary to me.

Thanks to the honest reviewers and all the help I got from this forum, I think I made the right choice.

Congratulations on your new instrument. It definitely looks nice, and as you said, given its price it must be very close to the best.

I am surprised you like PianoTeq better than the internal sound. I like PianoTeq, but only marginally more so than the internal sound of my NU1 (not "x"). And I consider both of them mediocre sounds, but admittedly there are so many parameters and options (including external audio interface) that I could not explore all that PianoTeq could offer.

Regarding the NV10 "defects"

- all the acoustic grand pianos that I have tried have some degree of roughness in that part of the black keys you describe (or white keys, FWIW)

- speakers: in my opinion Kawai has made the unfortunate choice of picking a "grand look", forgoing the wooden soundboard in this instrument. According to some, the NV-5 sounds better than the NV-10 for this reason (I haven't tried either yet).

- audio interface: it's a convenience feature which in a sense expresses an admission of "our internal sound is not the best it could be, use a computer for something better". So somebody must have thought: "we do not need that". Moreover, for somebody doing VST, an external DAC is not a big deal.

Regarding your notice of distortion, try putting the volume on the computer and DAC to the minimum and amplify via the NV-10. This should be the best setup. Yet, try all possible combinations to see where the distorsion is being created. Usually it happens during amplification, so for this you need to play "only" with the volumes (but there are many: PianoTeq, computer, audio interface, NV-10)

Have you tried both the Pianist and the regular mode? How do you like each, compared to PianoTeq?

Congratulations, it looks great! I'm sure it was a bit of a gamble to import, but it looks like everything turned out well

You know, many of us have asked this over the last couple of years. But with the NV-5, CA-79, CA-99, DG-30, and now ES-520 an ES-920 released and nary an audio interface in sight, I think we can see that if the feature is indeed on Kawai's roadmap, it hasn't been something they've been tackling with any immediate priority. Maybe for the next gen....

Thanks Del Vento, thanks Gombessa...


So what do you consider as high end piano VST then?


I agree. Merriam Pianos’ comparison video left me with the same impression. Maybe that’s why I liked the CS7’s sound, I believe it uses a soundboard. But at the same time, I am sure if Kawai used some really high quality speakers and amplifiers they may even out perform the soundboards. I imagine if they use Paradigm speakers with Anthem amplifiers, on an N3X form factor, that would be a killer sound. I know that this will cost a lot of money, but we mentioned that they already charge a lot for their pianos...



Makes sense. But it is not only about who makes the best sound. At such a level, you need to offer the customer some versatility as well. Maybe I want to play and record in my DAW, I would like to have the best connectivity option to my computer. The Connection of my Motu M4 audio interface was not a big deal at all. Hopefully I will find a way to mount it below the NV10 and hide the cables. I also hope I will get the Line-in connection to sound good... But I can imagine how convenient and awesome it would be if the NV10 included some top-notch audio interface.

Actually, I stretch my imagination, and I hope for an NV10(S) that you can load it with your own NKS VST, similar to Native Instrument’s Maschine Plus. Who knows...


You are right. I just tried connecting a high quality in-ear monitor directly to the NV10’s headphone jack. There was no noise or hiss at all. As I imagined, I need to speed a lot more time before judging.

I believe I read in the manual that I should set the audio interface to the maximum, and then control the volume from the NV10. However, it depends on the quality of the pre-amps of the audio interface, and so many other things. I agree with you, I will try different combinations to see what sounds best.

Not yet, but the sounds I like the most are the Pop, Warm, and EX Concert Grands.

You are most welcome.


Even the most cheaply made acoustic piano?
FWIW, I owned a cheap 70y old acoustic upright, and that had many defects, including not a great sound, but the sound was definitely better than any digital piano I've tried. Even more so with my current decent, but not stellar, Golden Era (about 100y old) grand.

Besides standalone digital pianos, I have not tried anything other than PianoTeq because nothing offers a demo (or accepts returns) on VI and I don't want to spend money on something that I would not like. And I know that I would not like the hassle of having to use a computer..... I may accept that hassle only if the quality of the sound was exceptional. You may say: check the demo recordings, but that's a moot point. If I check the demo recordings of PianoTeq they sound much better than it does when I play it. The recordings are good or even very good. When I play on my piano it sounds "plasticky, fake" not like a piano, but like an electronic instrument. As I wrote before, I get the same sensation from both NU1 onboard pianos, especially in the most important middle section (strangely, the deep bass and the highest trebles are fine, IMHO).

Many people here are fond of Garritan CFX, and I almost bought the Lite version when it was on Labor Day sale (just $52) but then I changed my mind because I told myself: you guys offer no trail version, you do not deserve to get my money.


One can dream, but I don't think that is going to happen. Kawai is mostly a self-sufficient company (it does build some acoustic piano for others to put their name on, but less so now than in the past) and its products are self sufficient. The other, if my understanding is correct, is mostly a software company, that provides hardware to boost its software sales..... The only exception is Kawai VPC-1, but that seems like a one-off product, without upgrades.... Kawai business model for digitals so far seems to be you buy a full product, and update it to a slightly improved sound and action after several years. Hard to improve the NV-10 action, I guess... yet they have improved the action on their acoustic grands through the years, so it's not impossible (see the history from all wooden action, to wood+plastic, to the fiberglass "Ultraresponsive" to current carbon fiber "Millenium III" (I don't think they ever released a I and II)

Bluetooth audio could also serve as a way to mix "play-along" music or accompaniment.

Perhaps, but it's more than just that. Aside from audio-IN, one of the biggest benefits of an audio interface is being able to send a real-time stream from the DP out to an external digital device; e.g., recording directly to a PC or through a digital workflow/mix to external speakers. DP manufacturers have long-neglected giving users a clean way to record digitally, presumably because there was some fear of proprietary samples being extracted with digital fidelity? In any case, once you allowed WAV recording to a USB device, that concern became moot.

I cannot argue with that 😊


I also installed the demo version of Pianoteq on an 2015 Macbook Pro. At the beginning I noticed that “Oh, that sounds like a typical Steinway”. Then I started playing the note G1, G2, G4 and G5... I felt in ❤️... I started playing some music, and I felt a shiver in my back, maybe if I that feeling was extended a little bit I would have had tears in my eyes. Since that day, I never played the internal Piano sound of my old Casio AP470 again.

One more thing to say about Pianoteq, you know when audio reviewers say a sound is in your face rather than being layed back? I feel that Pianoteq is so much in my face and all other VSTs/samples are layed back. And I like that about Pianoteq.

Yet, I saw so many people on the forum who do not like Pianoteq. I just believe there must be a difference in sound between the Pianoteq versions, or difference from one device to the other. Because I can’t imagine how can someone not fall in love with the sound of the Pianoteq that I hear on my device.

I bought the Pianoteq, not stage and not pro, version on sale. [/quote]

I heard the same about Garritan, I would like to try it one day.



Sounds like Music to my ears. The last thing I want is an updated version of the Piano I just received yesterday 😊

Thank you for this post Seif - it is very helpful.

I have been researching the hybrid piano market and was leaning towards the NV5(S) until I tested out the action on a K300 Aures. (Unfortunately, like you, there are no hybrids around for me to test drive directly.) I compared the K300 Aures action to a Kawai acoustic grand action with the Millennium III and much preferred the grand. So now I am pivoting to the NV10S. Like you, the action is my top priority.

Your impressions of the NV10 were very candid which I appreciate. Has your impression of the NV10 changed since your last post? Are you still happy with your acquisition?

Thanks.

Hello Seif, all.

Sorry, I don't have time to read this whole thread. I'm only a very infrequent visitor! But I do have a NU1X and I have tried it with Pianoteq!

Basically: Don't get an NU1X if you want to use it with PianoTeq. It's fantastic as a stand-alone piano though. You can search for my thread on the modifications I needed to use in order to get a decent PianoTeq response (real-time velocity filter using Python). It's not worth the hassle. And I'm still not happy with it!

Pete and Beowulf - interesting! I demoed the NU1X and N1X back-to-back and my main takeaway is also that the N1X is muffled compared to the NU1X Glad I wasn't going crazy!

Still love my NU1X but it's nasty as a master controller!!!

Cheers,
fraaly.

It looks like this thread is re opening. Good. I began the piano about 1 1/2 years ago as a total novice with a Yamaha P515, and although at my skill level the 515 (which has a pretty good action for a portable digital) will probably suffice for the rest of my life (I’m almost 70) I am yearning to try a Hybrid. As my experience is with Yamaha I tend to look at Avant Grands, but the Novus’ seem to have advantages (especially the soundboard) that the AGs don’t. I am reading this board in its entirety and hoping to get more info.

What makes you think the Novus soundboard is an advantage? (Other than the marketing). Bottom line as ever, have a listen and compare first.

What is a soundboard worth without the CFX?

Good point. I love the CFX and generally only use that or the Bosendorfer.

What makes you think the Novus soundboard is an advantage? (Other than the marketing). Bottom line as ever, have a listen and compare first.[/quote]

Of course that would be best. No dealers of either Kawai or Yamaha anywhere near me and the closest Yamaha to me (about 50 miles away) only has the NU-1X in stock and it isn’t set up to play. Of course it’s worth making a whole day expedition out of looking at these, but I was just wondering about others’ experiences before I travel a couple of hundred miles round trip to check them out.

Get hands on that in stock NU1X and if it works for you, take it with you!

No need to ponder on the Internet about fictional digital pianos, that might deliver next year if you're lucky.