Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai MP11 - 2 faulty notes - speakers only for 1 of them

This is a new MP11, only had it a couple weeks. Can't say for sure whether these sounds have always been present or just noticed it.

G4 or G above middle C has a break in it, sometimes raspy. Not present when key pressed hard, and only present when using speakers, not through headphones or from a recording taken with the MP11 internal USB recorder.

Also A5 has a strange wavering but not a break. This does come across through headphones as well.

I recorded the notes with an external recorder and saved the file here:

http://1drv.ms/1l5LJzQ

The raspy sound in G4 is sometimes stronger than other times; for some reason it wasn't captured well in this recording or another I tried.

Any other MP11 owners have these issues? Perhaps with different keys?

Thanks,
Mark

No issues on mine so far.

Thanks Abby.

Definitely not a universal problem, then. Time to check out that wonderful Kawai service I've been hearing about!

I haven't had those problems either. Contact the place you purchased it from too.

Good idea. I'll contact Musician's Friend first.

This statement would seem to indicate that the problem is either intermittent or the fault lies in the speakers.

Wouldn't you agree ?

markmarz…

You mentioned that your MP11 was brand new. I recall that when I first received my Kawai that I had a couple of sour notes which sounded strongly metallic and which would occur randomly.

I fixed my problem by downloading the current update from the Kawai website. You may have already done this, and if so, I certainly would follow through with a contact to customer service. Just wanted to make sure you have downloaded the latest updates for your board. Hope your problem is resolved quickly!

Play On!

You could also try installing the firmware updates, if you haven't done so already.

Just to see if it makes any difference.
You never know.

You could then confirm to your dealer that you have tried
everything, including the updates.

He/She will probably ask you if you've tried that first.

Good luck.

Abby.

Not really intermittent in that there's always a fault - though sometimes its characteristics change. There's no way it could be the speakers for A5 (wavering). For G4, I find it hard to imagine a speaker defect that would result in a break in a single note and yet go away when the key is pressed harder. Also would expect more than 1 key to sound bad if it were the speakers.

Thanks for the suggestion. In fact I'm reporting this after I installed the update. The update did make the fault less apparent, but still well out there and has to be fixed.

Just got off the phone with Musician's Friend. They'll either process an exchange at no cost to me .. but I'll be back in backorder land .. or I can call Kawai Customer Service (1-800-421-2177) and try to get an estimate from them on a fix, then depending on the cost MF may reimburse. I'll call Kawai and see.

Interesting. I had an issue with the same note, G4, that would fit the description you've given it. This was when I first got my MP11 and was playing it through my Adam A7 monitors. I did not hear the problem through headphones. It was just this one key -- G4.

For a variety of reasons, including the bad G4, I moved my Adams to my synth station, where they sound great, and moved my Mackie HR824's to the piano station, the MP11. The bad G4 sound seemed to mostly, but perhaps not entirely, disappear by making this change.

Since I mostly play through my Sony 7506 headphones, where I don't notice any problem on the G4 or any other note, I had forgotten about the issue until you mentioned it. I have also done a few OS updates since getting the MP11, and maybe that has also contributed to not noticing any problem.

I was just on the phone today with Alan at Kawai support (very helpful guy!!). He couldn't replicate problem on his setup and in fact my problem mysteriously went away after we tried transposing +5 (so tried D). Turned transposing off (so G) and still no more break. Very, very strange.

Then a couple hours later the problem resurfaced and this time the transposing magic didn't work.

I will be trying powered monitors (JBL LSR 305s) to narrow down the variables. Though we both agreed it was very hard to understand how only 2 keys could be affected in this strange way no matter what the external sound system. On the other hand he ruled out the sample as it sounds fine through headphones.

I was shocked to hear you had the same problem! I don't think it's the speakers but we'll see after the switch. But the same key same symptoms on another MP11? Wow.

It seems a reach, but there might be a component or connection, maybe a diode or a solder joint on the keyboard module, that is intermittent and resonates at particular frequencies. That would explain why it doesn't show up in earphones. If that's the case, the problem should also recede as volume is decreased.

Good morning Mark,

I listened to your recording and can hear a change in tonal character on the sustained note approximately 1 second after it is played. I don't understand why your MP11 should be doing this, especially when there are no such problems through headphones, or when recording to WAV/MP3.

Perhaps you could try making a WAV/MP3 recording to USB, then playing the file back first through the MP11, and then a different output device such as an iPod or phone etc. to see if the issue can be replicated.

Is it possible that something is resonating in your room at that specific frequency?

As you have found, Alan at Kawai America is very helpful when it comes to diagnosing and resolving issues, so I'm confident that you'll have the matter resolved soon.

Cheers,
James
x

Things that resonate or room modes or standing waves by echos, with diminutive effects
at the listening position, (Jesus !)
could be easily excluded by moving it to another room an test it there.

Given that it would not be an intermediate hardware fault, as joflah described it,
what I am very puzzled about is Savante's experience, that those disturbing artefacts,
he was noticing, have mostly disappeared by changing from Adam A7 monitors
to Mackie HR824 (for approx twice the price)?
What would the HR824 do different to the Adam A7?

With emphasis on mostly disappeared, not entirely. There is still something not quite right about G4. The OP's characterization as "has a break in it, sometimes raspy" is a pretty good description. I was thinking of it as "distorted" or "fragmented". And it's not completely absent in headphones either, though much less noticeable. I might not have noticed it at all with headphones-only listening, but having been made aware of the issue through speakers, I can also detect it through headphones, but only very subtly.

I can't explain why the difference in the prominence of the bad sound between one set of speakers and another. Altogether, the instrument sounds better through the headphones, and for that reason, as well as convenience in not bothering or being bothered by others, I usually play with headphones.

Hi James,

Thanks for the suggestions.

The thing is, how could room resonance or any sort of sympathetic vibration make the note break? The sound is definitely coming from the speakers, not another reflecting surface.

Alan is equally puzzled but we're eliminating variables at this point. My gut feeling is there's a fault in my MP11. Was really taken aback when someone else reported the same problem!

I will be hooking up some JBLs this weekend; that will take my current sound system out of the picture. Will definitely report back.

Mark

Hi joflah,

I'm leaning toward the idea that it's some sort of electronic fault in my MP11. Just a gut feeling.

The fault is noticeable at lower volumes and disappears at higher volumes. Or more correctly - it's not the volume setting of the sound system or the MP11, it's the velocity of the key strike.

The MP11 volume setting is set to maximum always.

Strange.

You could try to hit the MP11 hard with the flat hand, and then see if it changes anything.
In my old car, hitting the dashboard is helping to convince the radio to work again.
OR
You could leave the MP11 in the cool basement over night (if it would not fit in the freezer)
and after it has cooled through thoroughly, you could quickly try to reproduce the odd sound output.
(instead of an electronics ice spray)

Maybe one of those methods would make the problem more prominent.

That makes it sound like a fault in the stored information for some of the intermediate velocity layers.