Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai announces new Novus NV10S & NV5S hybrid pianos

This does not shift any burden of proof. None at all.I'm simply hoping to pick the best fruit.
If I'm successful then I avoid a post-sale warranty claim.
But if the unit is defective despite my best effort to select a good one, the manufacturer is still on the hook to make good.

Skill is not required for any of that ...Anyone who can put fingers on keys can test a piano.

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding here. I was referring to the big picture in my remarks regarding this discussion. Of course, it is not my place to criticise the approach you suggest. As long as we stick to the big picture on this topic, you are of course not right, and I reserve the right to attest to this from my point of view and with my knowledge background.

Back to the subject of NV5S.

Apart from the quality shortcomings, this instrument is a truly outstanding product. One can indeed attest a liveliness to this instrument that is close, even unmistakable, to an analogue upright. In the bass, the whole body shakes, the mids are very well pronounced and the treble has a clear definition. The keyboard allows very fine nuances. And actually feels similar to a K200 keyboard.

I also had an MP11SE with good Adam monitors. This system is easily surpassed in every aspect by the NV5S.

Well done KAWAI

(Of course unfortunately also in price and lack of product quality).

Many thanks at this point for the advice before testing the NV5S to the members of this forum which I received via PM.

Kind regards, MBiG

MBiG,

I'm sorry to read that about the grievances you're experiencing with your NV5S.

Am I correct in thinking that the instrument was purchased from Thomann.de?

If so, have you already reported your concerns directly to the retailer?

Kind regards,
James
x

Hello James,

Thank you for your query. Yes, you have guessed correctly.

We, "T", and I are already in contact about this and will find a solution.

Therefore, you do not need to worry about anything else.

"T", is doing a very good job regarding DTCC, this must be explicitly mentioned again at this point.

Once again, many thanks to you,

Kind regards, MBiG

I don't think that option has been taken away, I still see it mentioned on the NV10s product page in the "Virtual Technician Adjustments" section https://kawaius.com/product/novus-nv10s/ - relevant sentence:

Furthermore, I think the NV10s has similar firmware as the CA79. On the CA79 product page, individual key voicing is explicitly mentioned, so I'm fairly confident the NV10s has that ability, do we have a lucky owner who can check?

https://kawaius.com/product/ca79/

First Kawai needs to admit it has a pedal stiffness problem. It doesn't. Also, there doesn't seem to be a known measure of pedal weight so we can't compare, which helps Kawai get away with avoiding the issue. The comparison I did was by comparing all the Kawai acoustics in my dealer's showroom and none of them were as stiff as the NV10 (and presumably NV10S since no change to spring mechanism has been made so far). You can do the same comparison - it does not match acoustic pedal weight and it's obvious. The remedy is simple for Kawai to provide but because we have not made Kawai acknowledge the problem, there is nothing to rectify. Rectification involves having a more correct spring and having a tech replace it. Probably less than 15 minutes and material cost less than $10.

So now the burden lies fully with consumer to rectify or live with it.

My guess is that Kawai uses one spring across its grands (and it's a beauty, chromed/polished, with a red felt strip wrapped around each coil for damping) that they also use in the NV-10, but because the damper lever arm is shorter in the NV-10 (it has to fit in the very shallow bottom unit) there's less mechanical advantage and thus the pedal ends up requiring more force to press.

Does Kawai need to admit anything about the pedal? Why? And how would they admit it? Need they send you a communique?

There is no need for a technician. I replaced it by myself, and I am not an expert at all. It is very simple.

I believe this customer has already been in touch with Kawai Japan, and one of my colleagues has responded to their queries.

If this customer is still not satisfied, they should consult with the dealer to find a suitable solution.

Kind regards,
James
x

I just called to Kawai distributor in Poland (Silesia music center) and they told me they don’t know when NV10s will be available (I ordered one in may via another dealer but they handle shipment from Kawai). Also they still don’t know what the price will be. Seemingly there is such material shortage that it’s not possible to predict anything. So I still don’t know if I get NV10S this year…

Is it global Kawai shortage or Poland is a low priority market?

It is global every brand shortage.

Any way these improvements will be available to owners of the NV5...especially the updated sound engine?

I wish they would send an update for the NV10 also. I have said before, the Pianist mode sounds good through speakers, but less so with headphones. So I have to use a VST to practice. (IMO, of course) So if the new sound engine is better, I would like to have it.

Not likely.

I know.

I took the plunge and bought an NV10s. It arrived in 1 week, nice and easy and to be honest it’s a thing of beauty to play. I legitimately can obtain much better musical results than I did with my old FP90 or a Feurich Upright I rented a while ago - without even touching any setting. The action truly is a joy

But… there are 2 things I’d like to hear you people’s opinions on:
1. The sustain pedal is super stiff, which I noticed trying NV10, too, and it’s ok. It’s quite thumpy, though, in the sense that when I release it, even softly, it makes a noise perceivably louder than the other pedals - as the top of the pedal touches the body of the piano. It ain’t a big deal as I can adapt my pedal press, but I wonder if there’s a DIY fix to it.

2. Much line EVERY freaking DP I owned, there’s a note that sounds super distorted and loud: in this case C#3 and C#4. NV10s sound is SO clean, but playing arpeggios with that c# (say, Nuvole Bianche) makes for very unpleasant, unnaturally loud, echo-y notes. It obviously doesn’t happen when wearing headphones.

The dealer says it’s a known sampling issue and Kawai is aware of it, also other customers have complained - though about different notes. In my mind if it was a sampling issue, people should be complaining about the same note, no? Is it actually a known issue that will soon be solved by a FW update?

I always had the impression that these unnaturally distorted notes are the result of bumps during transport that make the sensor / speakers screw up. But dealers never recognise that as an issue. Does anyone have any idea what this problem can be caused by?

Congrats on the NV-10s!

If you hear a loud note over the speakers, and NOT through the headphones, then it's VERY likely that the problem is acoustic resonance with the environment (the room you're in), rather than something with the DP. These can be notoriously hard to eliminate, but you could try moving the DP to a different part of the room, a different room, and try putting up some rugs on the wall or on the floor under the DP, if anything just to see if it attenuates that loud note.

The dealer's statement that a sampling issue that affects different notes on different units doesn't make sense to me, as you've stated. I've never heard anything like that discussed here. Don't expect an FW update for it.

As for the pedal, now that IS something that's been discussed frequently here, and brought up to Kawai, but it seems they haven't done much about it. A few of us have sourced a similarly sized spring with a lower elastic rate, and just replaced the spring in the NV-10 that's attached to the pedal/damper assembly. It's an easy mod and 100% solves the issue. But it's unfortunate that it's left to the end user to do this.

How come? I am waiting months now and there is no even an estimate when it will arrive in Poland. I am truly jealous! May I ask what the price was? The dealer is telling me they don't know the price yet, but probably it will be 10-30% more expensive than NV10.