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I agree that is is absurd to have to buy a separate adapter and the way it sticks out is not at all keeping with the elegance of the Avante Grand DP's design. The conspiracy side of me thinks that the engineers probably wanted to include WiFi and Bluetooth in the X versions of the AG saying "look it costs less than 5 bucks and everything has wireless built in these days". (They also don't have to deal with determining if a wireless adapter is pluged in or not.) Then the folk from the accessories group say "Whoa, wait a minute. We charge $150 list for WiFi and $100 for Bluetooth. You can't take away that revenue stream". The engineers were then severely reprimanded for their lack of financial vision and the accessories folk get to keep on milking the overpriced external wireless adapter market.

I believe including Bluetooth (and possibly also WiFi) functionality in a product requires certification from regional authorities. This can be an expensive and complicated process, and is perhaps one of the reasons why some instruments that feature Bluetooth functionality have the feature disabled when sold in certain markets.

Kind regards,
James
x

I wonder what's fuss (tell me what's a-happening) about the lack of wifi? Should I be web-surfing on my piano?

Since the app is the best way to control the piano settings it would be nice to be able to wirelessly connect to a device as a built feature. No web surfing involved more IOT.

No, but you should be able to easily connect the N1X to the Yamaha app that simplifies using the DP. The connection options are either a USB cable or wi-fi. If you don't want cables dangling around you need to use wi-fi. But the wi-fi adapter is not built-in, so you need to buy an adapter that costs an additional 90 EUR and will stick out of the USB port. Then, the external device must be connected to the N1X's network access point, meaning it will be disconnected from your local network. So, dangling cables are definitely the way to go with the N1X...

Is this the case? My P-515 is able to join an existing network according to the owners manual.

That all sounds shocking short sighted.

Might have been okay for a DP designed in the 20th Century but very poor for a device that has just been released.

I haven't tested it but after reading the manual that's also my understanding. The N1X will present itself as an Access Point only the first time, so that the mobile app will be able to connect to it and set configuration details such as your home wireless AP details and credentials. From there on, the Yamaha will connect itself to your AP and the mobile app will use your home network so that it can discover and communicate with the N1X. That's a pretty standard procedure for connecting smart devices to your home network and controlling them with mobile applications. I have a robot cleaner and a baby camera that were configured the same way.

It seems to me that if you can't control the N1X from the N1X ... and you must use some other device to do so ...
Then the problem is not the lack of wifi in the N1X. It's poor UI. Poor usability. There's no excuse for that.
Where's Don Norman to weigh in on this?

So just what things must you do to the N1X that you cannot do without wifi?

Although I agree it could have had a better interface, let's not forget it's an acoustic piano replacement. It's not a workstation or a synth. How many people would buy real grand piano and will need to tweak setting all the time? I only switch it on and play. All is great by default. Even if it's not, I can tweak it through some key combinations and that's it, it's a one-off thing. I am not here to defend the outdated interface, actually I gave 4 stars out of 5 for "features" in my review in Thomann exactly because of this fact and the lack of embedded Wi-Fi, but I would personally love to even have the entire panel hidden like in the N3X. I really see no point in them providing touch screen or any fancy UI, so that only you can put your wi-fi password in an easier way. What's the huge problem in a one-off procedure to connect your phone to the piano so that you can configure wi-fi and from there on you won't need to do that anymore unless you change your home network? Everything on the N1X can be configured through key combinations, no need for the app. I know that you can do note by note volume adjustments through the app only but that's absolutely unnecessary since the note volume is even and well chosen by Yamaha and I can't see how one would need to improve it at all. I mean, what's the fuss about the outdated UI? Honestly, I haven't even used the other voices lately. I just switch on and play with the CFX, either though speakers or headphones. I would be perfectly OK if the piano had only one CFX voice, a volume knob and a power button But that's me.

Careful about wishing for WiFi in your digital pianos ... What if hackers got in and made it play "Für Elise", badly, no matter what you did, unless you paid them a ransom?

arc7urus, are you being sarcastic when you say, “...dangling cables are definitely the way to go...,” or are you into dangling cables?

Personally, I pass on dangling cables; If I see a dangling cable when I’m playing, I have to stop, conceal the offending cable (OCD), and only then can I proceed.

You mean like an acoustic piano which has only one voice, no volume knob and no power button?

Maybe Yamaha had a similar UI like Kawai in development for the N1X, then saw how Kawai struggled with their first implementation and pulled it in the last second reverting to the tried and tested interface from the previous generation? Who knows.

Also keeping the radio separate is a very sensible choice for a long-life product, only the price for the option is debatable (a simple USB Wi-Fi interface doesn't have to cost 75 €). The P-515 doesn't need a special setup procedure, you can enter the network credentials directly into the menu.

The user interface of the P-515 provides the option to configure the UD-WL01 wireless adapter to be used as an access point or to join an existing network (this is how wireless connectivity is provided by several DPs). However, the N1X has a basic user interface and selecting a network and providing a password is not possible. So, unless the UD-WL01 + N1X can be setup using automated WPS and set to work in so-called "LAN infrastructure" mode, only access point mode will be available. I will check if the manuals have further info on this regarding the N1X.

Unfortunately it is a mix between being sarcastic and pragmatic I also obsess with dangling cables. However, hiding the offending USB cable might prove to be easier than having to deal with a protruding wireless adapter and setting up a network connection every time one wants to use the app. Moreover, the N1X does not seem to support Bluetooth MIDI (only BT Audio). The cabled connection would also enable MIDI connectivity. As a result, the cable indeed seems to be the better option if you want to connect this DP to an external device...

Though Yamaha provides Bluetooth MIDI option as well.

While I sit down and play most of the time too, having a usable interface makes a big difference in day to day operation,. Not only can I change settings and save than as new favorites that can be recalled at the touch of a button, I can also start a recording with one touch (and name it whatever I want). I can view a file system and select to playback any file from USB stick. I can start/stop the metronome, and easily adjust its volume and time signature and speed from the screen. I can select from banks of other instruments (and see what they actually are), easily make and test per-key or global adjustments, start/stop/see dozens of demo songs, etc. I don't do all of these every day, but every week I end up using some combination of advanced functions that benefit from a descriptive user interface. Some of these things my daughter really enjoys and it keeps her interested in the instrument, which is a bit of a plus for a parent, too.

If I couldn't easily do any of these things, I would just sit down and play without doing much else either. But I think you may not be appreciating the impact of friction on how you operate the device, and how your operation may change if that friction were removed?

When I play the NU1 (similar interface to the N1X), I also don't touch a thing, because I have no idea what any button does and what combinations of keypress are required, how to undo anything I might activate, or what the three-element LED is trying to say. But if the controls were more intuitive, I would likely use them more.

Just my $0.02

I can deal with the dangling cables. Mine are all hidden.
I might feel otherwise if I had a slab-on-a-stand. It would be hard to hide the clutter, eh?

@QuasiUnaFantasia: Regarding wifi, you ask "What if hackers got in and made it play Fur Elise badly ... unless you paid them a ransom?"
This is not a problem for me. That hacker doesn't need wifi to hack in. He already has direct keyboard access to the piano. That would be me.

For metronome and recordings it’s really pretty easy. Well, you need to know how to select the USB as a destination and audio as format (which is fine through song + selection button until U is displayed, then a particular track is selected with the full ones denoted by dots between the digits) I know it can be absurd but once you know that it’s ultra easy. I mean it’s a single click, then pressing the record button. The touch interface of Kawai also needs some prior knowledge such as you need to swipe left/right to change instruments.

As to saving registrations. What kind of registrations do you save and recall? Do you mean split and layers patches? There’s no such thing in the N1X and so there’s also no need for a dedicated interface. I’ve never ever used splits or layers on my previous Kawai ES7. Call me purist but I find almost anything different than acoustic piano, harpsichord or Rhodes cheesy

The first two weeks I played the menus of my P-515 more than the keys. But now I'm back to how I used the ES100 without any interface beside a few buttons: Turn on, start playing piano, stop playing piano, leave the piano to turn itself off. The rhythms were fun as well in the first weeks, as were the one button layering with strings/pads.

My only wishes left are: 1. faster boot time, 2. having a single front panel button to turn Binaural on or off independent of the headphones plug (maybe there is a hidden function + piano key combo for that?). I like to turn it off for serious practice sessions, so I can hear better what I'm doing on the keys. I still do not record myself, don't use accompaniment, rarely use the metronome and use only the two piano voices. So while I don't intend to defend to 1980s interface of the AvantGrand, I think could live with it, without missing the nested menu system too much.