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Some of you know that I had to replace my two-year-old Casio GP-500 due to a water leak spoiling the it. Today I realized that YouTube videos had a huge influence on my final decision (which is a NV5). Two years ago when I bought the Casio many people here were against it for the semantics of their hybrid claim. Now it seems that is settled down and more people are actually considering them in the higher-end market. My point is this.

Yamaha and Kawai are fortunate that they don't need to spend money on much promotion since online dealers are more than happy to make a video of someone playing, while. hoping to make a sale since they can send a DP to you with you putting it together. Casio spent heaps of money having professional players demonstrating their hybrid line and most of their demos were playing real classical repertoire, which is mainly what I play. There are SO very few store demonstrations doing that. I can understand it since the great majority. of people wanting a DP are younger and can accept playing on a DP more easily and not interested in playing classical piano.

My issue (finally here) is most of those online players are quite mediocre and play more cocktail style of music. Even Stu Harris, with Marion Pianos, does this. I'd say he's the most talented player and best reviewer on YouTube. But still his playing doesn't show the real chops of what these instruments can do. Most everything he plays is within the same dynamic range. But there is SO much more that a player needs to consider. I'm NOT criticizing him since he admits to not being a classical pianist and always says you need to try this piano out for yourself.

There is my delema, it's almost impossible to have a few different models in the showroom to compare. Bonner's Music in the UK always says they have all the brands under one roof. People there are so fortunate.

All the while Yamaha and Kawai get free promotion and Casio keeps finding new professionals to show off the abilities of their newish line. Due to the pandemic there are virtually no DP's for me to audition. It's been QUITE frustrating and I feel lucky to have found a NV5 available, which I purchased. I had to drive 50-80 miles to a shop that was full of acoustic pianos and lucky to have one DP that I would be interested one. That's my vent for the day. It's a changing world.

I just wonder in a few years if the market is going to be flooded with Digital Pianos. All the Pandemic lock down purchases and those buyers realize that playing the piano is not easy.

Kawai did have a classical trained lady playing when the NV10 was introduced.

I think Yamaha is such a known quantity that they don't have to advertise like Casio being the new kid on the block.

Talking about dynamic range and classical repertoire (which is my thing actually), have you seen this video of the NV5?



Keep in mind that the sound was recorded, it still sounds good though IMHO.

That said, Youtube shouldn't be the main shopping source for anyone but it's nice to get a quick overview of most of the available DPs on today's market.
I was lucky that my dealer has most DPs (and APs) in the shop but I also had to drive quite a distance to visit them, many dealers have only a limited amount of pianos available or are connected to one of the major brands.
I think you did great with trying them out for yourself, I wonder how many people are buying these high-end DPs without actually seeing them in person...

Hello,

Yes, @Pianico, that is a very nice video. It has been posted before in some other thread, maybe by me, I'm not sure.

Glad to see it appear again, for it is quite skillful and passionate playing she does, and a good impression of that Kawai piano. Because it is mic'ed instead of using the line-outs, it gives an extra good impression of how nice the amplification/soundboard/speaker setup works on this piano. Even though this microphone recording obviously isn't stellar.

It definitely is one of the best and most honest YouTube presentations of the NV5 that I am aware of.

Cheers and happy dynamics,

HZ

That NV5 sounds very good. Even better than that acoustic upright in the background. (That one is a descendant of my old Kawai US-50.)

Greene Music in San Diego typically has several Yamaha hybrids in stock. That might be worth the 2 hour drive if you can make an afternoon of the trip.

This is my first viewing of this video and thank you for sharing it with me. If I heard this I probably would NOT have bought a Novus-5 yesterday. The player played the notes with only brief periods of playing them musically, IMO. This is a piece I learned in my teens and I haven't played it for a few decades. I don't know where to begin, but lets start with the piano itself. It needed to be closer to a wall to create the best tone from an upright. The player isn't hearing the tone being produced with the placement in the center of the room. Them moving on to the player herself. Most of the tone we hear is coming from her elbow and wrist action. That's fine for some parts of the piece, but the majority of the tone needs to generate from her shoulders. Even while playing quietly, the tone is different from the shoulder rather than the wrist. Her histrionics make her "look' like she producing a loud tone, but it's the wrong tone. She definitely has the skill level to play the piece, but did not have adequate teachers to teach her how to play the piece to the musical level it deserves. I sorry to sound so harsh on her.

Good thing I was able to play a NV-5 in person because I certainly would not have after listening to this video. The players Casio hired are so much better musically and really gave the instrument the tone I prefer. But I will say that I didn't really care for the default piano sound on the NV-5, but there are many sounds and I fell in love with some of the others. There was a Shigeru grand at the shop and the NV-5 sounded almost identical to it and that greatly impressed me and I made the purchase. There is no substitute to playing the instrument in person.

The instrument sounds so much better in person than the video shared above.

I purchased a NV5 yesterday. So I saved a lot of gas, lol.

You're welcome. I think this video is just a sound demo of the NV5 and not a performance to show off the skills of the pianist, the title says it all. We do not agree here, most demos use the lineout of the instruments which results in a very clean almost artificial sound and makes almost all Kawai instruments interchangable, this one definitely comes closer to the real experience IMHO. Kawai also has promotional videos which are fine (and professional) but nothing like the real thing.
And, what I don't understand is why you wouldn't have bought the NV5 when you would have watched this video beforehand, you've played the NV5 for yourself didn't you? That's all I would need...

+1

I agree, but this demo gives a good impression if that's even possible with a video. You should try it one day MMM

I'd love to try the NV5S. But the nearest shop is 100 miles away ... and who knows whether he has stock?I was fortunate to try an NV10 a couple of years back when I lived in Raleigh. The mostly-Kawai shop there had nearly all the Kawai digitals on the floor. That NV10 was a dream!