Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards MP11 sustain pedal (F30) release: possible issue?

I have now had my shiny new MP11 for almost 3 weeks and I just love it, as I still am exploring some of its features since this is a first foray for me in the DP world.

However a possible issue seems to have appeared only in the last few days with respect to sustain pedal release; I did a quick search on this forum to see if someone else might have remarked on this but it does not appear to be the case. (apologies if I missed it)

When I initially power on the DP, select a sound and then start playing, when I press the sustain pedal the notes are correctly sustained but upon releasing the pedal, the "off" function does not seem to behave correctly as it it can take several seconds before things come back to normal (damped). Meanwhile whatever I am playing becomes an audio "blur". This happens with partial as well as full pedaling, and only started recently.

At first I suspected perhaps a weak spring (mechanical), but I actually have enough time to physically verify that the pedal is indeed fully up while the blurred sounds are still present. Interestingly, this issue developed gradually: at first this would occur for the first one or two times I would depress the pedal and then the issue would totally disappear, but with each passing day it seems to be getting worse. This morning it persisted for at least 5-10 minutes after initial power on. Once things are back to normal, so far everything is then fine for the rest of the playing session.

A note which may or may not be related: I did notice on occasion (but not always) a very faint clicking sound as I just start to depress the sustain pedal, and before hearing the damper resonance. This comes through in presence of played notes. It may be normal and does not bother me as it is in the background, but the fact that I do not always perceive it makes me wonder whether it could also be related, so I thought I would mention it.

I did notice that there seems to be adjustments for the sustain pedal in the Virtual Technician menus but have not looked into great details yet. Perhaps there is something I could verify? Any other new MP11 owners noticed anything similar? Indeed at first, I thought it was just a glitch that corrected itself after self adjustment/calibration, but now I am starting to wonder as this behavior is now more persistent.

I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts.

This seems to be similar to the problem I had:
http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2330269.html

I had the same problem crop up after this became my main practice instrument. Contact your dealer that you purchased it from, or Kawai tech support and they will send you a replacement unit.

Wow, thanks for these quick responses!!!!

PianoRoll, I cannot believe I missed your earlier posting during my initial search. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. It does look as if yours was possibly a similar problem to what I am experiencing. I am not equipped to have a peek at the control/MIDI messages, unfortunately. There is a reference about a pedal calibration procedure in your post; this is news to me but I will have a look at the manual and attempt this procedure this evening when I get back home. Fingers crossed!

Morodiene, thank you for chiming in. I believe I purchased my unit from the same dealer as you (Kraft). If I am unsuccessful with the calibration procedure, I will contact them to see about a replacement unit. I did suspect the F30 unit rather than the MP11 board itself, but nonetheless feel somewhat relieved I likely will not have to return the board. I have grown to really like it and am on it every single day!

kanadajin, the damper pedal calibration feature was introduced with v1.06 of the system software a few months ago. This new function is documented on page 101 of the MP11 owner's manual.

If calibrating the pedal does not rectify this issue, I expect the potentiometer controlled by the damper pedal has shifted from its original position. This can be usually easily corrected by opening-up the pedal unit, however it's probably best to simply request a replacement F-30 pedal from the retailer.

Kind regards,
James
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Thank you so much once again, James.

I just tried following the procedure on page 101 of the manual. I think I must be doing something wrong because after i get to the "please operate max/min" display, and after pressing up/down several times, I do not get the exec button appearing at all (F4). I've tried a few times but only the "back" tab is present. There is probably something obvious which I am not doing right ...

In any case, the sustain issue is most certainly still present this evening. I'll probably contact my vendor tomorrow and see what he says.

There are two pedal calibration options: one for the expression pedal, and one for the damper (right) pedal. Please double-check that you're using the correct function.

If you are using the correct function, but the screen does not progress to the 'Press F4 when finished' stage, it suggests that either the pedal is not corrected properly (double check that the plugs are in the correct jacks), or that the pedal itself is not working as it should. If this is the case, please contact the vendor and/or Kawai America to seek assistance.

Kind regards,
James
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Aarrghh!!! That's it - I was on the EXP pedal page, silly me. Sorry about that James- now the procedure worked. That is what I get for being a DP newbie, I guess. I have to admire your patience with some of us:)

I'll see if this cures the problem - right this moment the sustain is now working fine, but I did find the issue to be intermittent in nature. With a bit of luck all will be fine, if not I'll contact the vendor.

Best regards
Mata ne

No problem, happy to help. Fingers crossed it resolves the issue for you.

Thinking about your post a little more, are you certain that you're releasing the damper pedal fully when 'lifting' your foot?

I know some players who have a tendency to rest their foot on the damper pedal, depressing it slightly even if they don't intend to. It's possible to adjust the sensitivity of the damper pedal using the 'Half Pedal Adjust' setting in the same Pedal SYSTEM menu.

Yoroshiku,
James
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