Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai Novus NV10 vs. Yamaha Avantgrand

I can't compare side-by-side because I only have mine, but I can tell that the Yamaha NU1 makes quite a bit of noise too. I suspect the differences you would see among models are minor because their action is very close to the corresponding acoustic one, and hence noisy (so much so that simulated pianos such as PianoTeq include that noise for more realism)

They make the same noise as your acoustic piano keys make.

The hammer shank hitting the stop rail on mine is what makes the most action noise. An acoustic piano doesn't make this sound. My N1X is in the basement and I live on 30+ acres, so I rarely play with headphones on, but I can hear the action thumping if I don't have the volume loud enough on the piano.

The N1X has the loudest action out of the 6 digital pianos I've owned.

God Bless,
David

It seems like it is the key hitting the key bed that makes that sound?

That makes some noise, too, but it's the shank/stop-rail thumping (on mine) that is the loudest. If you want to test it out, just put your finger against the front of the key to prevent it from bottoming out and strike that key with the other hand pushing the shank into the stop-rail. You can also do the opposite, push the key slowly past the let-off (so the shank won't be pushed up) and then press the key to the bottom and compare the sound.

God Bless,
David

Wow David you live on 30+ acres. You can really think about getting an acoustic piano!

One cannot hear any action noise from a decent acoustic because it's totally covered by the sound the notes being played.

Were any of the others hybrids?

Ha,ha, I wish.

A new mid-level 6' grand = 20-30 thousand.

My N1X = 8 thousand and it took me year to pay it off after selling a bunch of guns (my previous hobby for the past 20+ years).

God bless,
David

No. Just slabs. Yamaha and Kawai.

God Bless,
David

Tthe NV-10 action is pretty loud, too.

I think this is the deal: If you set a hybrid piano to the same volume as an acoustic grand, you don't hear the action, because it really is an acoustic action. In an acoustic, the action is regulated only to be as quiet as as it needs to be, since you can't adjust the volume or play only through headphones. Hybrids merely inherit this property, as their #1 criteria for success is replicating the feel/behavior of an acoustic action as closely as possible. Action noise is a distant second priority.

With a regular DP, low volume or headphone play is pressuposed in the design, so the action noise must somehow be mitigated for the product to work as described. Since DPs have very "simple" actions compared to acoustics, it's easier to damp the sound, too. So the end result is going to be that normal digital piano actions are going to be much quieter than hybrids.

Checking with my decibel meter, the two sounds are very close in volume (shank/stop rail and key/bed). They both produce a different pitch and both combined create the overall thumbing I hear in the N1X action. Of course, I don't hear it when playing at a normal volume (or with headphones on).

God Bless,
David

My N2 used to be against a shared wall in our condo. I would practice on that early morning with headphones before starting work. I never heard a complaint from the neighbor. The shared wall was between our living rooms. If it was against the shared bedroom wall, that might have been a different story.

The probably placement for my hybrid will be in the living room adjacent to my neighbor's studio but not against the wall separating those two rooms. It would be on the opposite wall about 12' away. Hoping that will be OK when it's played using headphones.

I doubt they would hear anything in that case.

Is the music desk on the N1x much higher than it would be on an acoustic grand or acoustic vertical? From the pictures it looks positioned on what would be the top of an acoustic vertical. And since the piano is around 46" that would mean the lowest part of the music desk is 46" above the floor which seems incredibly high. Am I missing something here?

It's been a while since I could compare, but I would say IMO the N1X music desk sits either at the same level or lower than that of an acoustic grand.

It's more or less the same as on an acoustic grand. When you look at the pictures, recall that the fallboard is pretty much a standard height (it has to be tall enough to backstop the keys when open, and cover the keys to the keyslip when closed. As with an acoustic grand, the music desk is just a bit higher than the fallboard when open.

That's good to know because in the picture on this page

https://asia-latinamerica-mea.yamah...ruments/pianos/avantgrand/n1x/specs.html

it looks like the music desk is sitting on the top the case, no?