Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Question about Yamaha NU1 hybrid and the like

I'll send you a PM with more info. I'm sensitive to exposing dealers with competitive prices to criticism/sabotage within the industry, but very much respect this dealer's fair, up-front pricing on the AvantGrands.

As for moving, don't underestimate the costs of shipping. This dealer discounted $1000 on my N3, for not having to deliver it a few hundred miles. I ended up going to pick it up myself, then paid a local piano mover $300 to help me unload. From my last piano moving experience ($600 to move about 40 miles, plus a ferry ride) their price seemed not out of the ordinary.

Hi Notice, when you was looking at the N3 and CA93 and so on, did you actually try an NU1? If you did I wonder how you thought it comared to the CA93?

I wasn't able to try the NU1, because it wasn't in-store yet. I liked the CA93, but found the action noticeably different from the "real" actions I tried. I played the CA93 back to back with the Kawai RX3, Shigeru Kawai III and V, and then drove over to a different dealer to play the N3, N2, and N1. Ultimately, I went AvantGrand because I enjoyed the action so much.

I think the NU1 could be really great and look forward to playing one.

Update:

I pulled the trigger on a new Yamaha NU1! It should probably arrive in 1-2 weeks. I'm excited I got some lessons for myself lined up too!

Congrats!

Great! Make sure you come back and give us a full report on it. There's been lots of curiosity about the NU1 but most of us have never seen one. Congratulations!

Yes congrats. As ando says please come back and tell us what you like and dislike.

They are shipping in the UK, and I've seen and touched one, but not enough to give a review, other than seems very nice at first brief sight, touch and sound, but oh so expensive (for just two piano sounds with little customisation).

Yeah, I realized it was limited in regards to producing other types of non-piano sounds and features compared to many other similarly priced digital pianos but I was initially even just considering a "plain old" acoustic piano that doesn't even have a metronome so...

I think the main draws for me that finally led me to choose the NU1 were the usual DP advantages (i.e. no maintenance cost, volume control and silent operation with headphones, and small size and weight). I really was on the edge whether being able to turn down the volume or using headphones was an advantage or not until my two sons started pounding away at an enormous volume in the showroom floor on some other acoustic pianos.

Beyond that, I felt the cosmetic cabinet design with the slow fall keyboard were superior to all other DPs such as the Kurzweil CUP2, or Kawai CS3 or CS6. The Roland LX15 is nice but substantially more pricey). The mechanical action was the final clincher.

At $3999 I didn't think it was so expensive compared to other contenders.

That's a great price!

I have now spent more time on an NU1.

I would say that it's an excellent alternative to an acoustic upright. The action is of course much more 'piano like' than any DP I've tried and by recollection very similar to the N1.

I have to say I struggled a bit with the action, just like I do when I first sit at an acoustic, but you do get that different tactile response and feedback from the key that gives you more control of the tone and loudness dynamics. The action is not heavy as such, but has a feeling, to me, of some resistance, certainly not as loose or easy to play at first as on my CN33 to which I am accustomed. I think someone mentioned this on one of the N1 threads and even had an engineer remove some friction. Don't misunderstand, it's a pleasant piano action, just not a DP action, and there is a difference even with PHAIII and RM and RH (not tried the latest GF action). It felt just like adjusting from a DP to an acoustic, and for me that takes time.

On 3/4 volume the sound and resonance is also similar to an upright acoustic. Some of the cabinet and maybe hammer noises captured during the sampling recording process are evident but not adjustable. What I really like is the balance between the bass and treble. It's really quite easy for a beginner (of two years) like me to bring out the melody in the RH (more than on a FP-7F). Of course 'I' can still swamp with the LH bass. It is to my elderly and non-musical ears more piano-like in sound than my CN33 and also a FP-7F. It's actually quite a nice piano sound with different tone variations accessed through the dynamics.

So, it's an acoustic piano alternative (only) because it lacks all the voices, features available on most medium to high end DP's. The cabinet is very nice, compares as well to a CS9 and LX15, this is a matter of personal taste. I didn't know about the slow fall fallboard, that's a nice add on.

I have now compared a LX15, CS9 and NU1. I preferred the CS9 to the LX15. If I wanted just a piano, or mainly a piano and no 'bells and whistles' I would go for the NU1. The price and features of the CS9 make it competitive though but indirectly.

Thanks for your thoughts spanishbuddha. I too had the chance to try the NU1 earlier this week. The NU1 was located next to the Avant Grand range, so it was easy to make direct comparisons (although a bit unfair given the different price point).

Action -- Very expressive and pleasant to play, but not as smooth and refined as the AG. I felt the action required a bit more effort, although I wouldn't say it is distinctly heavier than the AG, just different. The pivot point of the keys is very close to the far end of the playing surface, so this will undoubtedly affect the feel.

Overall, playability (for me at least) is quite a lot better than most DPs, probably because velocity is sensed from full-size freely moving hammers, not just key velocity at the end of the key's travel. On these hybrid DPs you can in fact trigger sound without pressing the keys fully down, a feature that adds immensely to expressiveness and authenticity.

Sound -- Listening through headphones, the new CFX sample is very clear and detailed. The tone I would describe as extremely netural, perhaps even on the verge of being a bit too generic. This is all personal preference, of course, and although I myself prefer a more characterful piano sound, I believe the CFX tone will be liked by many people. I think most will agree that the CFX sounds less 'boxed-in' than the CFIIIS sample, which is good.

Sampling is typical high-end Yamaha -- longish attack samples with seamless transition into looped decay. Sample playback quality is very good, as one might expect, but comparisons with the AGs revealed some interesting differences. In fact, I found the AGs to have a substantially warmer and more multi-dimensional sound. Whether this is because of better DACs or a higher bit-depth playback engine I don't know, but I think it's clear one should not underestimate the importance of the AG's four-channel sampling (vs two on the NU1), even when listening through headphones.

Speakers -- I only played briefly through the built-in speakers, and to me they sounded fine, very similar to those on the N1.

User interface -- There's not a lot that can be tweaked on these instruments, so the control panel is accordingly sparse. There's a new power saving feature that automatically switches the instrument off if you don't play it for half an hour.

Appearance -- Again, this is subjective, but I thought the NU1 looked and felt great -- simple but stylish. I prefer the looks of this one to the N2 and N1, and the compact size means it will
fit easily in small apartments without taking up too much space.

Conclusively, the NU1 is just what you'd expect -- a home/practice piano with excellent playability and quality sound. Anyone who is looking to buy a Clavinova or similar MUST try the NU1 first, it just feels so much closer to a real piano.

My NU1 arrived yesterday!

I love it, it's the perfect size for my living room. Had my first lesson yesterday too

I'm not exactly a piano connaisseur, but my first impressions of it are that it has a very high build quality. Classic, yet modern esthetic design. I cannot (yet) distinguish the feel of the keys from my teacher's acoustic grand piano. I love the sound it produces especially at 3/4 volume (which I would say is actually louder than my teacher's grand for a given amount of force from my fingers).

I practiced for a couple of hours late at night after putting the kids to sleep on a lower volume setting. At that setting the sound of the mechanical keys is very present, but my understanding is acoustic pianos would be no different but their sound usually masks the sound of the keys. I have yet to invest in a pair of headphones, so that will rectify that.

The kids love it and are very excited about playing with it and learning on it. Nothing like a brand new shiny and "big" (in their eyes) piano to get them excited about learning!

Here are some pics:


NU1wall by I Shoot Kids, on Flickr


closed by I Shoot Kids, on Flickr



NU1 by I Shoot Kids, on Flickr


DSC_6431 by I Shoot Kids, on Flickr


DSC_6424 by I Shoot Kids, on Flickr

Congrats. It looks very nice. Better get a chamois ready for the kids fingerprints

Wow, it looks beautiful - great pics too!

Congrats on your new piano!

Yeah it does look and sound great. Congratulations. I am thinking about purchasing one for my parents home to replace the very old Yamaha upright that resides there.

What do you guys think, any chance Yamaha will update the other models in the avant grand line anytime soon? (haven't heard rumors or nothing, just wondering - I might buy the N1 in some months, and wonder when the next model will arrive)

I would be surprised if they did. The main feature of the AG line is the physical construction, action, and sensor technology, and piano manufacturers are loath to change those things frequently. Plus if they updated the line, the old versions would have to sell at a discount and they don't like that either.

I expect AG updates to be very infrequent.

Beautiful. I got a chance to try the NU1 last week and was very impressed. The action on the demo unit was a bit light compared to my 48" acoustic vertical at home, but way smoother, in a very Yamaha way. I noticed excellent controllability for dynamics that is not typical of an acoustic upright. At max volume the NU1 is loud, much louder than my 48" vertical. Maybe even louder than a 52" with its lid closed. I did detect a bit of distortion at max volume, which is not the case for the Avant-Grand N2 & N3 at max volume. Then again, max volume is seldom necessary at home, and I never go beyond 3 or 4 o'clock on the volume knob in a home setting.

The price is right. I certainly prefer it over the top end Clavinova CLP. Who needs 50 bizillion voices when all I need is one good one with authentic touch.

As usual, sympathetic vibrations of strings was non-existant as expect from a digital piano even with resonance setting at max. My Avant Grand N3 is also weak in this department, so no surprises here.

On the plus side, it has a very nice CFX tone, and I didn't notice any jumps in dynamics layers. Timbre sounded quite natural. Didn't try the other voices or recording, but I suspect it would be similar to my Avant Grand N3.

Yes and no. When you play an acoustic upright, you can feel the key vibrate. Each key vibrates differently as you play it. In the end, it's a small thing. It should not make any differnce to your performance.

Also, the NU1 action is not like a Yamaha CLP action. In an upright action, you can feel the hammer being thrown. You can feel when the hammer leave the key that split second before the tone sounds. But because the tone generation is digital, and Yamaha did not provide sloppy sounding samples when a key is being press sloppily, you don't get the feedback of bad tone even though the action is real. You can still hear some of it. (I've experienced it on my N3), but it's not in your face like a real piano. A Clavinova doesn't do it at all. Every note sounds perfect no matter how you pressed the keyboard.

I don't think this is quite accurate, if I'm being picky. There is sympathetic resonance on the NU1, just not as strong as on an acoustic. If you keep the pedal down on some pieces it really picks up (and this is not just the notes you hit sustaining).



I'm not sure about this on the NU1. I managed to get an ugly note a couple of times. I would have to go back and try and do it deliberately. Or just play as I normally do

You can see I'm convincing myself it's 'perfect' and so should buy one.