Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Comparison between Kaway CA95 and Yamaha NU1

Thank you! ...and thank you for the information: I checked and the extended warranty is available also here, but I have to register the piano within the end of March (hope the shop will take not too long to get a new model). This is an electronic instruments, and you may never know... (my Yamaha Silent in Italy is working perfectly even after more than 15 years).

I can add that I played without volume for half an hour, closing the eyes, and yes... the feeling was there; never had the same impression with the CA95 (I know that I will miss its gorgeous sound, but this is not what I really need in such an instrument).

A couple a curious things:

- Ehm, what is the noise gate?
- Reading the manual in the troubleshooting section is mentioned the event of "one note sounding louder than expected during fast repetition or trills" as normal feature due to the mechanics of the keys, but just if it happens very rarely... uhm, very strage and subjectiv justification

It's a device that cuts the output of the signal (the piano sound in this case) when it is below a certain (usually very low) level. This can be used to cut out humming or hissing or to make certain dynamic effects.



Maybe so, but it sounds kind of reasonable. Isn't this an expected effect with normal AP mechanics when dealing with delicate techniques such as ornaments at pp?

Thank you very much the explanation: so is the noise gate an important feature in the recordings... or is it beeter to accept the sound as it is?

Ehm, if you play properly the AP mechanics will never react with loud sounds... just if you try to go faster/softer you may miss some repetitions or hear only the low or the high note of the trill, but not peaks in volume unless you cause them with the fingers.

The noise gate is only relevant if you are feeding an external sound source, such as for example piano generated by a software VST, into the NU1 line-in to use its built in speakers. This gate existed on other Yamaha AG's and caused a problem by cutting off some pppp sounds. Hardly desirable. On the NU1 it can be disabled. It does not affect recording from internally generated piano sounds.

The only time I heard strange peaks in volume was when I tried playing the Harpsichord sound. I don't use this much, hardly ever, but I think there may indeed be something odd there with the implementation.

Yes, quite. Of course, Kawai are writing for all their customers with all kinds of techniques: highly controlled and not so highly controlled (like mine, for example )

Sorry, maybe I am not so technically informed, or I wrongly understood... I just never realized such a problem during my modest pianistic career with a lot of different traditional pianos.

I wonder what kind of upright action is going into the NU1 (and where it is manufactured)?

The Yamaha Silents I most tend to come across are Japanese U1s and U3s but there are also, for example, Indonesian B1s which certainly play less satisfyingly...

Exactly, don't you think it is a pity that the mechanics cannot be seen by the user? It should be a reason to not let the cover be opened, maybe to preserve some delicate parts, I do not know...

Today I just tried my new Yamaha NU1, as soon as it has arrived at the shop.
I am happy to say that I did not find any problem: neither the repetition issues nor the ugly different response of a few keys I experienced on another available model.
Ok... the beginning of Beethoven op.53 is always a challenge for the NU1, something is not completely convincing, and it sounds perfectly just on the N3 I tried (and on all the acoustic nearby).

I have also to say that I am missing from the eletronics some "power" in the fff, which induced me to force a bit too much, and get my fingers tired in the search for "big sound mass"

But at the end, coming back to any other digital beside, it is pretty evident that, at least for me, there is not comparison.

So I am happy and I cannot wait to receive it at home on Tuesday.

ps: unfortunately then I tried a Bechstein Millenium upright, uhm... still schocked...

Congratulations with your new instrument!