Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai Novus NV10 - Hands On

The NV-10 also has a digital headphone volume "switch." I can't recall if it goes between "low" and normal or "high" and normal, but I suspect it's a way to boost or attenuate just the headphone volume so that it can be more in line with how the master volume knob is set (e.g., so you don't pull out the headphone cable and suddenly blow out the speakers at 200db.

Remind me not to come over to your place ...At my age I couldn't survive a 200 dB blast!

It will be interesting to see what your impressions will be, I too am interested in the 880, 32 ohm. I can recommend one another Beyer model to try out, the DT250. It's a closed design with a more neutral sound signature than the DT770- Very good for piano.

I only tried it for a little while when I first got the NV-10, but it sounds amazing through the NV-10. My MBP had a ground loop issue so I never kept it hooked up to the speakers; however its character really carried over with the NV-10's speakers, rich, full-bodied, and resonant.

The Garritan CFX has a bit of a "noise floor" so if you turn it up, you'll hear a bit more hiss when notes are sounding than you will with the built-in sounds, which are crystalline in comparison, but I've never heard any distortion at volume.

Ordered mine last month in UK and have been told delivery has been pushed back to February 2021 due to various wuflu lockdowns.

I have a USB audio interface that's semi-permanently affixed to the Novus. 5-PIN MIDI cables go from the Novus to the audio interface and the audio output of the USB audio interface goes back to the Novus.

For the sake of science, I plugged in my MBP to power and hooked it up to the audio interface. Happy to say that the sound is glorious and there is absolutely no ground loop with this setup.

Previously, I had resorted to using a MIDI to USB cable, though I avoided plugging in the MBP to power. That worked much better than straight USB to USB which could exhibit terrible ground loop issues.

This is great news Navindra. My USB interface does have midi-ports. I will try this.
I tried the iFi filter, and it does a poor job.

Thanks,

+1, thanks Navindra. If I go the route of setting up a PC/mixer to the NV-10 again, I think I'd do something similar, it'd be nice to get rid of the MBP's ground loop. I also want to be able to mix a headset/mic signal in with the DP's output for more clear Zoom lessons.

I velcroed mine underneath the Novus to the right side of the steel crossbar:



It's well-tucked away there and I don't see it most of the time... otherwise I would have been more tempted to Sharpie the blue sides black.

It's connected to and powered by the Raspberry Pi 400 in the shot.

Another GREAT idea.

Thanks Navindra

After finally solving the noise from the pedal box, thanks to the Kawai tech, I am getting this now. Can one of you guys recommend a fine teflon, and must I remove the front panel and apply it inside? If so, is there only the two screws I see in the top RH and LH sides of that small panel?

Sounds like the rod squeaks inside of the felt bushings, right?

First, try rotating the rod a bit. If that doesn't help:

If it is at the top, try pushing the rod back a bit, so that it doesn't touch the front. If that doesn't help, or if it returns, or if it is at the bottom:

Try applying a bit of graphite dust. Scrape if off of a pencil or use a sharp knive to expose a bit of the "lead" from a wooden pencil and use that directly as an "applicator".
Like this:
Normal pencil: =====>
Whittled down pencil with "lead" exposed: ===>--

Might require a few repeat applications, if it starts again after a while.

Worked for me

Thanks, Jobert. I can't turn the rod at all. I know I used to? But the effort seems to have helped. I have been using the pencil lead since I got the piano on the bottom of the rod. I tried it twice on the top and didn't get a good result.

Tom

Hey Tom,

+1 to everything JoBert says, as usual!

The damper pedal rod does spin freely. It's not threaded or bolted into anything. Chances are if yours is not spinning, it's just pressed strongly against the leather pad/cap that it rests against (the tan colored disc labeled #3 here):


You should be able to just firmly grasp and turn the rod to get it moving.

I recall that I set up my pedal rod a couple of mm "off center" on the pad, so that I could minimize the rubbing of the rod against the felt liner; along with lubricating using powered graphite, that helped eliminate squeaks coming from the rod.

OK, Now I understand. The reason, perhaps, that mine will not rotate freely, is because the tech placed a piece of hard (not wood) material he cut to size under the pedal box. We removed the stabilizing screw on the bottom of the pedal box and placed the board instead. That is what finally stopped the creaking from the bottom. And may be pushing the rod up causing it to rub on something. I tried turning it with pliers (wrapped in a towel) but still couldn't turn it. I pushed hard on the top and it stopped for a minute and started back. Same result when pulling on it. Then I had an epiphany. Looking at Gom's picture I decided to pull it to the right. And that worked. It moved, I even heard it move inside. Great help, you guys. Thanks. Tom

This reminds me of an underrated comment from a thread yesterday:

Hi all. This is my first post here after reading through just under half of this massive thread over the past few days.

I’ve ordered an NV10 with delivery not expected until (hopefully) mid January ‘21 due to the short supply and long waiting lists for this instrument. My choice was between the N1X and the NV10 and when trying both these DP’s the NV10 conjured up (for me) a much more complete and three dimensional sonic picture.

I didn’t check the demo model for speaker noise and am now quite concerned about the not insignificant number of users who have hiss or noise on the internal speakers. As a former recording engineer, this would drive me completely mad. Can I ask if this problem has been solved yet?

Thanks so much for any help

I didn’t notice it on the early-production unit I got to test in a completely silent room. (and I’m fairly sensitive to that, as my desktop studio monitors at idle are fairly annoying this way until they’re playing music.)

Granted I was seated at a piano bench, a normal distance away, and not seeking it out by cranking up the gain and putting my ears right against the grilles...

Kawai James may have a better answer but I remember it was fixed in a software update.