Hi!

I'm living in the apartment and play a lot in the evenings due to my work and studies (I'm an adult beginner, hence amateur). As I shouldn't and can't disturb my neighbours, as for now I play and practice almost exclusively on my digital piano (apart from the time spent with my teacher at her place). There is no way I could fit another, second, piano in the apartment. I have grown to conclude that playing digital piano only, with almost no contact with acoustic piano, hinders my progress and technique. I clearly lack control, especially with pianissimo.

I really wish I could own an acoustic. When I thought it's totally hopeless I found there are silent pianos offered by Yamaha and Kawai.

Have you ever heard of them and have any experience with these instruments? I'm particularly interested in the difference in action between silent model and normal model. Does the action differ, when playing it like an acoustic? I presume there is a difference when the silent mode is turned on - but even then the action would perhaps be better than a mere digital. What interests me most is the action in "acoustic mode", the one I hope to play most of the time.

I have happily noticed that the additional cost of silent systems over acoustic-only pianos in Yamaha offerings is not dramatic and I could - perhaps - afford the extra cost, having the advantage of one instrument at home, and a true acoustic piano instead of a digital.

I wonder whether there is something "bad" about these pianos, because the difference in price because acoustic and silent acoustic is more or less the same as a separate digital piano, which takes space. Yet, people most often choose acoustic + digital combo instead of a silent piano.

I would be very grateful for any opinions on these silent units!


p.s. reading other threads about silent pianos I have found many recommended looking through already posted threads and discussions about these pianos. I have read all of them (or at least - I think I did!), the point is, main question remains unanswered. I mean, how does the silent mechanism affect the action on an upright. Many people stated that on grand silent pianos the difference is not noticable - nothing solid was said about uprights though.

If silent mechanism heavily compromises action, paying for NEW piano three times as much as for well maintained used pure acoustic one would be pure absurd.

Thank you very much in advance,
Mateusz

Mati,

In my odyssey of piano examination, I visited a Yamaha store and played and inspected the silent practice mode.

The piano was an upright, low-range Yamaha.

A middle pedal, once depressed and locked by sliding slightly to the left into a recess, brings down a felt panel within the piano interior, covering the strings.

The felt panel is as wide as the strings are wide; all the strings are covered by it. Sort of like a curtain falling except this felt panel is controlled by a slim wooden frame which in turn responds to the middle pedal.

The hammers strike, the action functions, as usual. Nothing there changes. The only difference is that the strings are muted to pppp.

My opinion is that you would be able to elicit a dynamic range with this set-up, but can you find a model to try out first before deciding?

Tranquillo, the Silent feature Mati is referring to is not the same as the practice mute feature you are describing. Mati's interest is in a line of products that feature a digital piano built into an acoustic piano.

Mati, the action design in the Silent Yamaha uprights stops the hammer just before it strikes the strings and activates the digital voice feature. Most players detect very little difference between the two modes. It is a great product and, IMO, vastly superior to retro-fit kits to try and achieve the same function.

Thanks for your valuable input. I've been able to contact dealers of both Yamaha and Kawai. None of them is in my city, but I will be able to visit both of them before any decision making.

From what I've heard of many, and on recordings, I would be leaning towards Kawai K-5 AT-X in terms of sound. I prefer it to Yamaha's. I couldn't find much on their newest Anytime silencing system (AT-X as opposed to AT II that was featured on their pianos not that long ago). If Yamaha's silencing system is vastly superior (which will make a noticable difference for my fingers and ears, I do not demand absolutely top-notch digital performance, as I hope to play mostly the acoustic one), it will win over Kawai. If the difference is neglectable, Kawai will perhaps be the winner.

Either way, I will certainly go and play these pianos myself. I'm happy I was able to find that possibility after all.


Best regards,
Mateusz

Great information, thank you.

Has anyone actually gotten one of these? I've read that the mechanical noises coming out of the Silent Piano (Yamaha's trade name for these contraptions) while in the digital/headphones mode can be objectionable for people in the same room, if not the story below. (In the acoustic mode, the sound of the music overrides the mechanical noises made by moving action parts, just as it does in any acoustic piano.)

I've ordered a Silent Piano but I'm now worried about the mechanical noise for neighbors below or for my wife in the same room. One tech claimed these mechanical noises are less objectionable in silent grands (vs. silent verticals). He claims that in Yamaha's silent grands, the hammers never slam into a bar that prevents the hammers from hitting strings. Instead, in the grand version, a different design results in the hammers never hitting anything when in digital mode.

I asked for feedback about these background mechanical noises of silent pianos on pianoworld recently. Many read the question. No one answered. Thanks in advance for a reply from anyone who has purchased a Silent Piano or has ever heard one from a few feet away while the player was using headphones.

I owned a Yamaha Silent Piano for a few years and loved it. When in silent mode, the piano does "thump" as you play the piano - and the loudness depends upon the amount of notes your are playing - but it is never LOUD. Playing the Aolian Harp Etude of Chopin produced a lot of thumping. OTH, it is not loud. As to WAF - (Wife Accepance Factor), that is probably difficult to determine. I could see someone being annoyed by lots of thumping if one was determined to be annoyed. I cannot conceive of this causing a problem in an apartment for people either below or above or in an adjoining apartment. Play a digital piano without your headphones and you have some thumping as well. A Silent Piano's thumping is louder - but if the spouse is tolerating that sound, I would imagine the Silent Piano's would be acceptable as well.

Ah, thank you, kluurs. You are the 1st person to provide feedback regarding my vexing concern. With the dollar's endless decent, Yamaha has had to raise U.S. prices yet again. As a result, I've been given the horrible price of $18,800 for a YUS5SG and, should I go that route, would have to do so sight unseen (viz., sound unheard) as it's a special order item.

QUESTION:
Was your Silent Piano vertical or grand? (The level of thumping is purportedly quieter in the grands, so one tech told me.)

I bought one of the early Yamaha Silents which was a vertical based on the U1. I shared a home with a non-music person who was not bothered by the thumping sound. I thought the piano played well. I sold the piano to a friend - who loves it and has been playing it for the past dozen years. I wouldn't hestitate to buy another if I were in a situation where I had to practice and not disturb others.

Thank you! I also heard similar feedback from a kind Singaporean. All in all, it sounds like Silent Piano thumping noise won't be a problem for neighbors but might be an annoyance for someone (read: my wife's sensitive ears) in the same room, though many would be OK with it.

Given the choice between that minor aural disturbance and the visual disturbance of an N3 AvantGrant ("No WAY is that piano from Mars going in our livingroom," she says in reference to the AG), I'm guessing, she'll opt to deal with the Silent Piano thump while playing background CDs to drown out the noise. Hopefully my noise-cancelling headphones will, in turn, drown out the CDs. (You wouldn't know it from this paragraph but we really have a terrific marriage!)

If this scheme doesn't work (either with her or with the neighbors), I'll be in some serious ka-ka . . . Ya know what I'm sayin'?

Understood. If she can live with your digital piano's thumping, I suspect she'll abide with the somewhat more dramatic - but still tolerable - thumping from the upright. As I noted, I was an earlier adopter of the Silent Piano. I believed then that everyone would want one of these pianos - to preserve "harmony" within households. Who wants to listen to someone play Hanon for an hour? Or who would want to listen to me play virtually anything? Digital pianos have caught on - but the hybrid pianos have represented only a small part of the market - so much for my predictive abilities.

Silent Pianos don't sell much in the U.S. because most people have room for both a real piano and a digital. For them, it makes more sense to by a little P-95 Yamaha for pocket change and throw it away when something better comes out.

We're downsizing to 700 square feet. There's only room for one piano.

Regarding your comment about how if my wife can live with the digital thumping . . . she barely could. It bothered her. To complicate the picture further, she somehow tolerates my endlessly working on the same 32-bars of a McCoy Tyner solo without complaint.

Were it not for the neighbors below and to the sides in this apartment-like building, acoustic would therfore be the answer. However, the neighbors count too.

We're moving from Texas to Portland, OR. At least in Portland the neighbors probably wouldn't shoot us if the noise is problematic but they might well ride their bicycles over us!