Kawai CN29 vs CN39 Digital Piano Comparison, Review & Demo | Outstanding Value!

Introduction:

In this article, we'll be doing an in-depth comparison of Kawai’s CN29 and CN39 digital home pianos. These instruments are the latest in a long line of CN Series digital pianos from Kawai; they’ve been durable favorites of buyers looking for an affordable instrument that still delivers an outstanding piano experience.

They've consistently set a new standard of what it means to be high-value for people focused on action and piano tone without spending on extra features that won’t receive that much use such as sequencers, arranger functions, or hundreds of sounds.

 

Tone Engines & Sound:

Let's start by looking at the sound system in these two instruments. Both instruments use Kawai's Progressive Harmonic Imaging, which is one of the latest versions of Kawai's sound technology. This engine features 88-note individual samples, plus additional synthesis happening on top with details like damper noise, damper resonance, string resonance, decay time, hammer delay, and fall-back noise, among other parameters. Differences start popping up when it comes to the polyphony.

The CN29 comes with a polyphony of 192, while the CN39 is equipped with slightly more at 256 note polyphony. 192 should be fine for most people, but if you're getting into lots of layering and arranging, the extra polyphony you get with the CN39 might be useful.

The default piano tone on each instrument is the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX sample set (the SKEX is one of the most popular choices at international piano competitions. There are some other grand piano sounds, such as the SK-5 as well their EX Concert grand piano which was the previous generation's default sample.

The SK-EX sample has a brighter sound than the SK-EX, which has a nice mix of warm mid-tones, with clear bright tones along with a Steinway-esque bass register.

When it comes to the speakers, there are two mains and two tweeters on the CN39 being driven by 40 watts worth of amplification. Interestingly, the CN29 also has 40 watts worth of amplification, but that's coming through just two full-range speakers.

You can definitely tell a difference when you're playing both instruments with more treble, and more tonal clarity in the sound out of the CN39. The speaker systems on both instruments were developed produced by Onkyo, which is a Japanese audio company that produces really great gear for home stereos and commercial installations.

This collaboration with Kawai is starting to show up in all sorts of instruments that they're coming out with, including in Kawai's flagship Novus series, and is also reflected in the Spatial Headphone Sound feature.

In terms of the other sounds, there is a huge difference in the number of tones that these instruments are loaded up with. The CN29 comes with 19 voices, all of which I would describe as pretty high quality, particularly the acoustic piano sounds and the electric piano sounds. The CN39 has all of the sounds that you'll find on the 29, plus the entire general midi 2 sound-bank, which brings the number of tones up to a robust 355.

 

Piano Action:

When it comes to the action, both the CN29 and the CN39 use exactly the same action - Kawai's Responsive Hammer III Keyboard Action (RHIII). You can also find this action in the top Nord stage pianos as part of a recent collaboration.

The RHIII action has a reputation within the industry for being super accurate, but also really comfortable and authentic with a realistic movement pattern. Now, this is not Kawai's wood key action as you need to get into the CA series for that.

That being said, the RH III plastic action is probably the most advanced plastic action currently on the market. It uses counterweights, a triple sensor, so the midi output on this is super accurate but it also uses an escapement or let-off simulation which makes it feel that much closer to an acoustic grand piano action, along with the ivory touch key surfaces.

 

Other Features:

When it comes to the features, one of the first things you'll notice is that the interface between these two pianos is completely different. If you didn't know that they were part of the same series, just looking at the control panel itself, you'd think it was a completely different line of the piano.

The CN39 is using a control interface with a high-resolution display that's very easy to navigate. The CN29 digital piano uses a simpler design but does feature a new Pixel OLED display as well. The design is sleek and very intuitive and even though there is a couple of layers to the menu. It's easy to access the virtual technician, transpose, metronome, four hands mode, and concert magic functions.

Kawai has also updated the lesson function with the number of books that they have preloaded into both pianos that are designed to work directly with different book series, with the 39 featuring twice as many books as the 29. Books featured include Beyer, Burgmuller, Chopin Waltzes, Czerny 30, and Alfred's Basic Piano Library Lesson Book Level 1a.

From a connectivity standpoint, they're both equipped with Bluetooth MIDI ( Ver. 4.1; GATT compatible), while the CN39 also has Bluetooth Audio for wireless connection to smart devices.

This makes both instruments compatible with the Kawai's Virtual Technician app, which allows for editing of all types of parameters including the key-off effect, minimum touch, reverb, soft-pedal depth, stretch tuning, temperament key, top board, and user key volume among others.

There's also a Virtual Technician Smart Mode with 10 presets.

Both pianos also have audio and USB ports. The CN39 has discrete ¼” stereo outputs that are separate from the headphone jacks. It also has USB audio recording as well as USB to host so that you can run wired midi to a computer. The CN29 also has the USB to host connection but lacks separate audio outputs.

Both instruments have the Grand Feel Pedal system, with full sostenuto and half-pedal adjust feature.

In terms of finishes, both instruments are available in both Premium Rosewood and Satin black, while the CN39 is also available in a Snow White with matching, built-in music rest.

 

Conclusions:

The Kawai CN29 and CN39 digital piano deliver an outstanding value with some of the best action and piano samples for between $2000 - 3000 that the industry has to offer.

The construction is solid, and the authenticity of the piano playing experience will make this an appropriate choice for intermediate students, a practice or second instrument for pro-players, or even a teaching instrument.

If you're looking at a Yamaha CLP series and aren't familiar with Kawai, definitely give the CN series a try. Shop More Digital Pianos Here.

The post Kawai CN29 vs CN39 Digital Piano Comparison, Review & Demo | Outstanding Value! first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Kawai CA99 Digital Piano Review & Demo - LCD Touchscreen, Grand Feel III, Concert Artist Series

Welcome to another digital piano review over here at Merriam Pianos. Today, we'll look at the flagship model of Kawai's Famous Concert Artist series (CA series) as we check out the Kawai CA99 Hybrid Piano.

The Kawai CA99 has 100% wooden keys, a real solid spruce soundboard, and the SK-EX Rendering sound modeling engine. In other words, some very advanced modern digital and acoustic piano technology.

We'll cover everything and more in this review, and also look at who might benefit from making the jump from a good Digital Piano to a true Hybrid instrument.

Kawai CA99 Piano Sounds

One of the main reasons to consider a CA99 is the sound. The Kawai CA79 actually has the same sound engines, but the way the sound is ultimately presented to the player is very different.

Twin Drive Soundboard Speaker System

 The fundamental difference here is the CA99's advanced multi-speaker array, which also includes a real solid spruce soundboard functioning as the main speaker, referred to as the TwinDrive Soundboard Speaker System. Magnets act as transducers to capture the soundboard energy and turn that into sound.

The CA79 certainly sounds great too, but it simply lacks the depth and realism of sound that we're getting from the CA99 courtesy of the soundboard.

In addition to the soundboard, there are 6 other speakers, including 4 top speakers with diffuser panels and 2 dome tweeters, strategically placed around the instrument, all of which are being driven by 135 watts of Onkyo amplifiers.

You can also tweak the speaker settings depending on how close you have the CA99 to a wall or what type of flooring it's resting on, as well as Kawai's Spatial Headphone Sound feature, and new Headphone Type feature, which allows you to adjust the sound according to what type of headphones you're using.

 

Two Sound Engines: SK-EX Rendering Engine and Kawai's Harmonic Imaging XL engine (HIXL)

 Now let's look at the sound engine itself, or in this, engines, as the CA99 actually has two. The first engine activates while in Pianist Mode (the default mode when you power the instrument on), and Kawai calls this engine the SK-EX Rendering sound engine with Resonance Modelling. This engine combines a multi-channel sampling of the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand combined with cutting-edge algorithmic modeling.

The SK-EX Rendering engine consists of 10 piano voices and gives us unlimited polyphony. This means, we could play hundreds and hundreds of notes and the instrument is going to continue to be able to render and sustain those tones without ever running out of memory.

The second engine is Kawai's Harmonic Imaging XL engine (HIXL), and this is a stereo sampling-based engine built around 88-key stereo samples of the SK-EX, SK-5, and EX grand pianos.

If we go back and forth between the default tones of each engine, you can really hear that the Rendering engine produces a more detailed sound, especially around the edges of the tone.

 

Personalized Piano Adjustments by Virtual Technician Function

In addition to the greater detail, the other advantage of the Rendering engine is that the user is given direct access to edit the various parameters of the algorithm courtesy of the Virtual Technician function.

Inside the Virtual Technician, you can edit things like the Touch Curve, Voicing, Damper Resonance, Damper Noise, String Resonance, Undamped String Resonance, Cabinet Resonance, Key-Off Effect, Fallback Noise, Hammer Noise, Hammer Delay, Top Board, Decay Time, Release Time, Minimum Touch, and more. You can even get into Key Volume, Half Pedal Adjust, and Temperament. Really, you're given the keys to go in and customize a piano experience to your unique preferences.

You can also control effects like Reverb and Ambience across a variety of settings as well.

 

Harpsichord

The harpsichord patches are very nice as well, and this will be especially appealing to musicians who play a lot of Baroque music.

 

Wrap Up

To circle back on the soundboard - the presence and the warmth that the soundboard brings to the lower half of the EQ range of the piano is something that we've never heard a speaker do on a digital piano. Simply extraordinary.

Navigating the other tones offered by the HIXL engine (90 in total) is much improved on the CA99 from the CA98, and the e pianos are particularly nice. The organs are great too, with a super-rich low-frequency response courtesy of the soundboard that imitates a real air-driven pipe organ.

That about does it for the sound, which as we've said, is seriously impressive. If you primarily play with headphones you won't be missing anything by going with the CA79 since the soundboard only activates when the instrument is played acoustically, but if you do usually play acoustically, the CA99 is definitely delivering a superior musical experience.

 

Kawai CA99 Piano Action

Grand Feel III 88 Wooden Key Keyboard Action

Both the Kawai CA99 and CA79 have incorporated the brand new Grand Feel III 88 Wooden key keyboard action. We can say right away this the GFIII is a wonderful upgrade to the already great GFII. The update between Grand Feel I and Grand Feel II was relatively minor, but the Grand Feel III has totally changed the back of the key stick and how it connects to the hammer and the capstan.

We found that under very heavy use, such as in an institutional setting, the slip tape on the back of the key was wearing out on the GFII actions, and some warranty work was required.

The new Grand Feel III has totally and completely up the engineering on that key to the point where the action is now virtually indestructible. The repetition speed has improved, and with the improved durability, we don't anticipate any issues through 10, or 15 years of ownership on these instruments moving forward.

 

Additional Features

Other features you can expect on the Grand Feel III are let-off simulation (escapement) which replicates the feel of a grand piano action, triple sensor key detection, 88 graded counterweights, and ivory touch and ebony touch key surfaces, which absorb moisture from your fingers.

The repetition speed has improved from what we were getting out of the CA98, and this is likely due to better individual weighting on the keys, as well as the improvement at the back of the key.

The bottom of the key bed is also spongier than the CA98, which is exactly how their acoustic grand pianos feel as well. This will be a huge plus for folks tackling demanding classical repertoire on this action.

We can safely say this is easily one of the very best digital piano actions available, and really, the only thing better is jumping up to the Kawai Novus series and their 100% acoustic piano actions.

 

Features/Connectivity

Display

 As mentioned above, Kawai has really improved the touchscreen display interface here with the CA99. The CA98's screen had some issues in terms of how it responded to commands, but fortunately, that has been totally rectified here.

Many of the most commonly used features rather than being buried in menus or alternate screens now have shortcut keys so they can be reached must faster, such as the Metronome function example.

 

USB Audio

There's a built-in USB Audio recorder that allows you to record and playback MP3, WAV, and SMF files.

 

Music Books

There's also an offer of 200 pre-loaded pieces of music which can be looked up by the Composer. Feel like checking out some Bach? Simply look up his name and you'll find hours of music.

It's also loaded up with well over a dozen different lesson books, which will be quite helpful for beginners.

 

Bluetooth MIDI

The connectivity list is certainly quite extensive as well. For starters, the CA99 has both Bluetooth MIDI and Bluetooth Audio with APTX support, which essentially turns your CA99 into a powerful Bluetooth speaker. Odds are, the CA99's speaker/soundboard system will outperform your stereo unless you have a high-end audiophile setup going on.

From there we've got dual headphone jacks, MIDI In and Out (if you still want a wired connection when accessing apps for iOS and Android), 1/4" L/MONO, R line outputs, an 1/8" stereo line-in, as well as USB to Host and USB to the device.

 

Pedal System

The Kawai CA99 also includes Kawai's Grand Feel Pedal System, which offers damper, sostenuto, and soft pedals, while replicating the weighting of an acoustic grand piano's 3 pedal system.

 

Cabinet and Key Cover

The cabinet design has also been improved with some more substantial carpentry and a contemporary upright piano slow-close fallboard.

 

Finish

 In terms of finishes, the CA99 is available in Premium Rosewood, Satin Black, Satin White, and Ebony Polish.

 

Closing Thoughts

Kawai has done a masterful job once again with the CA99. And despite the fact that the CA98 was already a great instrument, the improvements here are very meaningful, and we're not just talking about the new and improved GFIII action.

The touchscreen issues were actually one of the most frustrating things about the CA98, so the fact that Kawai addressed and cleaned that up is huge.

So, we're left with one of the top hybrid pianos available for under $10,000 CAD. It's an absolute home run in terms of sound, touch, and features.

With a competitive field that also includes Roland's LX models, it's a good time to be shopping for a hybrid Digital Piano.

The post Kawai CA99 Digital Piano Review & Demo - LCD Touchscreen, Grand Feel III, Concert Artist Series first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Kawai Novus NV10 vs NV5 | Hybrid Digital Piano Comparison

Digital pianos have been around since the 1970s, and while they’ve been very popular for a long time among beginners, hobbyists and students, they’ve never really been considered a viable option for a discerning pianist.

Thanks to recent innovations in Hybrid digital piano technology, that’s no longer the case. In today’s video and article, we’ll be looking at two of the most advanced hybrid digital pianos currently available as we compare Kawai’s flagship models - the Kawai Novus NV10 vs NV5.

We’ve already done individual reviews for each piano, so if you’d like to see a hyper-specific deep dive into each piano, be sure to check those out. This article is instead designed to answer one question - which one should you choose?

We’ll be covering the exact differences between these two industry-leading instruments in the event that you’re in the market for a top-flight hybrid digital piano, whether as a replacement for an acoustic piano or simply due to the inherent perks of a digital piano, you’ll be able to determine which instrument will be a better fit for you.

 

Background Information: Kawai NV10 vs NV5

Our individual reviews of the Kawai Novus NV10 vs NV5 are among the most commented-on videos on our YouTube channel - there's no doubt that these pianos have elicited a ton of interest and excitement from prospective piano owners and enthusiasts. A detailed comparison between the two then should not only be useful but is probably necessary.

First, let's get into a general overview of the Novus series in the event that this is your first time coming across these pianos.

The Kawai Novus NV10 hit the market first and the whole idea here was this would be the first time Kawai would be incorporating a full acoustic piano action - the Millennium III Hybrid Grand piano action no less - into a digital piano, officially earning the designation of being a hybrid instrument.

This is the same acoustic grand piano action you’ll find in Kawai’s GL, GX and even Shigeru Kawai series instruments (the Shigeru’s of course receive a much higher level of refinement.) The only difference is that this version of the action has a synthetic felt hammer that passes through an IHSS optical sensor as opposed to a wooden hammer that strikes strings.

This action features ABS carbon fiber and extended-length wooden key sticks for maximum control.

It was around this time that their partnership with Onkyo began, which elevated their sound processing, amplifiers and speaker configurations to new levels of sophistication.

The NV5 followed more than a year later, and the reception seemed to eclipse the already highly regarded NV10 - our President and resident piano reviewer here at Merriam Pianos, Stu Harrison, actually has one at his home.

The NV5 uses a full-scale upright version of the Millennium III action - the same one you’ll find in acoustic upright pianos such as the Kawai K Series uprights like the K300 and K500.

 

Kawai Novus NV10 vs NV5 - Similarities & Differences

In both cases, we have modern acoustic piano actions interacting with advanced optical sensors which then send information, such as how hard or fast the key has been played, to a tone engine. In both cases we also have an Onkyo designed amplification technologies (including headphone amplifier) and speaker system delivering superbly clear tone and a room-filling 135 watts of speaker power.

The speaker systems themselves however are far from the same. On the NV10, Kawai has gone with a multi-speaker system consisting of four top speakers two dome tweeters on the top of the instrument, and two large woofers underneath the keyboard.

The NV5 has 4 top speakers and 2 dome tweeters as well, but instead of the woofers, it has the Kawai TwinDrive Soundboard Speaker System - this is a real solid spruce soundboard on the back of the piano with two Onkyo magnets driving it!

Due to these speaker differences, even though the power rating on these two instruments is the same as the tone engines, the playing experience is very different - excellent in both cases, but different.

Before we get too far into that, we need to devote some time to a discussion of the sound engine that both instruments share.

Kawai Digital Piano Sound - Speaker System & Sound Engine

Both the NV10 and NV5 are actually equipped with dual sound engines, the more intriguing of the two being Kawai’s new Pianist Mode SK-EX Rendering engine. This rendering piano sound engine combines multi-channel sampling (88 key individual) of the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX Concert Grand Piano with cutting-edge resonance modelling technology.

What this means is that Kawai has meticulously recorded their SKEX via multiple channels at a variety of dynamic ranges in every single note to generate a sample, which is then combined with acoustic rendering to recreate other sonic artifacts such as cabinet resonance and damper resonance.

With this sound engine engaged, the polyphony is unlimited courtesy of the modelling technology, which adds credence to the fact that this is Kawai’s most advanced sound engine yet. There are also 10 different Rendering Characters to choose from with different presets.

Kawai also makes their Virtual Technician feature available which allows the player to go in and edit adjustable parameters related to the tone, from minor tweaking of things like reverb to large-scale changes of hyper-specific parameters including things like aliquot resonance, key volume and undamped string resonance.

The secondary sound engine Kawai makes available here is the Harmonic Imaging XL engine, and this playing mode is referred to as Sound Mode. This engine offers you a large selection of tones such as ePianos, strings, organs, some very nice harpsichords and various other instruments.

This engine also offers 88 individually sampled notes but with 256-note max polyphony. While that may sound like quite the drop-off from the unlimited polyphony of the Rendering engine, in practice, 256 notes of polyphony are going to be enough for virtually all applications.

 

Convenient Features & USB and Bluetooth MIDI Connectivity

As we’ve mentioned, the brains on these two pianos are the same. Both pianos have a host of built-in piano music, as well as a large array of lesson songs. The cheekblock LCD touchscreen display is exactly the same and very easy to navigate.

In terms of connectivity, both pianos are USB to device as well as USB to host which lets you record locally (SMF and WAV files). There’s also Bluetooth audio as well as Bluetooth MIDI. Bluetooth Audio lets you stream and playback music from your smartphone or tablet directly through the piano’s high-end speaker system, dwarfing the sonic capabilities of anything outside of a legit audiophile home stereo setup.

Dual headphone jacks along with a 1/4” line in and a 1/4” line out round out the connectivity.

Both pianos have all of your expected functions such as dual, split, four hands mode and transpose as well as a metronome and a host of built-in drum rhythms.

 

Which Hybrid Digital Piano Should You Choose?

Why would somebody choose an NV10 over an NV5 or vice versa? Although, this question can probably be further distilled to be; why spring for the NV10? There is a significant price difference between these two despite many features being the same.

The first reason would be the action - while both are authentic acoustic piano actions, the NV5 has an upright piano action, while the NV10 has a grand piano keyboard action.

The geometry of an upright versus a grand piano action is of course quite different, and as such, these two actions do behave and feel different. If you’re looking for a true grand piano experience and substitute, the NV10 is going to be the better option for you. Dovetailing with this is the true grand piano damper mechanism you get with the NV10 with authentically weighted soft, sostenuto and damper pedals.

If on the other hand you really enjoy playing on a great upright action, you’re probably going to prefer the NV5 as your digital instrument hybrid.

The second big difference is how the sound is actually reaching your ear. These differences may not be pronounced in the video, but in person, they’re quite significant. That’s not necessarily to say that one sounds ‘better’, just different.

The sound on the NV10, as with a real grand piano, sounds more distant in a sense and there’s a large sense of room ambience as well. The treble also seems a little bit more dispersed.

Over on the NV5, the sound is much more direct, likely due to a set of tone ports located on top of the piano. This more immediate sound is really going to appeal to some players.

Of course, another reason they sound different is the presence of a solid spruce soundboard on the NV5 versus woofers on the NV10. The NV10 has a punchier bass, but the soundboard delivers a warmer bass on the NV5, and at a lower dynamic range, the bass response sounds much wider on the NV5.

So ultimately, this question really comes down to whether you prefer the immediate and more intimate tonal response of the NV5, versus a more distant sound with more ambient room tone (like a 6-foot grand piano) that the NV10 provides.

The upright versus grand action and the big tonal differences are probably the biggest reasons anyone would choose one over the other, but there’s another interesting consideration as well; the touch curve.

In our opinion, the NV10 requires a little bit more tweaking inside of the Virtual Technician function versus the NV5, which right out of the box has a more authentic touch response. This is likely due to differences in the factory settings.

 

Final Thoughts

Without question, these are two of the most advanced hybrid instruments available on the market today. Despite similar-looking specs sheets, however, they really do offer divergent musical experiences.

The Kawai Novus NV10 hybrid digital piano is really tough to beat if you’re looking for a true grand piano replacement without the maintenance requirements of an acoustic piano, while the NV5 is going to hit the nail on the head for people who love a great upright piano experience.

Both available in a striking ebony polish finish with slow-fall fallboard and large music rest, along with great warranty coverage, the piano shoppers of today are truly fortunate to have such incredible options to choose from.

The post Kawai Novus NV5 Hybrid Digital Piano Review first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Kawai Novus NV5 Hybrid Digital Piano Review

 

With the release of Kawai’s NOVUS NV10 hybrid digital piano, Kawai completely raised the bar in terms of what was possible as far as touch is concerned with a fully acoustic action in an otherwise digital piano. The main drawback of the NV10? The price.

When the Kawai Novus NV5 hybrid digital was announced, the hype and anticipation absolutely exploded. The NV5 being the upright piano entry in the NOVUS series that was set to cost several thousand dollars less than the NV10.

In today’s video and article, we’re finally taking a look at this new instrument that has been instantly met with rave reviews upon its release.

We’ll of course be covering the state-of-the-art action, sound engine and advanced speaker system, as well as the additional features and connectivity. Thanks for joining us - let’s get right into it.

 

Background

The NV5 hit the market in some other jurisdictions several months before arriving in North America, such as Japan and Europe. Needless to say, everyone over here at Merriam Music was keeping a close eye on new review videos and articles as they came out with extreme jealousy.

The first few shipments to finally arrive were all presold so it took us even longer to get one on the floor to try out. But when we finally did - wow!

But before we get into that, let’s cover some reasons why we were so excited about this piano in the first place. For starters, the level of hype and fanfare the NV5 immediately received, including many proclamations that it happens to be the finest digital piano ever produced, was really pronounced. Any successful new release garners a lot of hype, but the NV5 took this to a whole new level.

Our President and resident piano reviewer Stu Harrison was especially interested in trying the NV5 for personal reasons, namely that due to having a young baby at home, he’s been unable to spend much time playing his acoustic upright piano. This led him to ask - is the NV5 good enough to consider as a replacement for his beloved high-end German upright piano?

 

First Impressions

After his first couple hours on the NV5, Stu described his feelings as a mix of shock and surprise - the most musical experience that he’s ever had on a digital piano, bar none. He would ultimately end up trading in his German upright for an NV5 in the ensuing months.

Now, it’s important to note that we’re not saying that the NV5 is a superior instrument to a high-end German piano. But depending on your living situation, the flexibility the NV5 provides is ultimately more suited to a lifestyle with small children, and the NV5 delivers enough musical potential to be fulfilling.

Getting to play on a great acoustic piano action while being able to adjust the volume, and of course, playing with headphones can be a real motivator for certain people. And there’s a level of closeness and responsiveness that you wouldn’t normally expect to get out of an instrument that plugs into the wall.

At Merriam, we think this is the way of the future - eventually, we'll get to the point where most digital pianos are delivering a high-level experience like this because the world is heading towards a situation with increasingly smaller and smaller living quarters, thus necessitating a greater level of sound control and management that only a digital piano can provide.

Let’s move our discussion over to the sound engine.

 

Kawai Novus NV5 Sound

Pianist Mode: SK-EX Rendering Engine

The NV5 is outfitted with the same sound engines as the NV10 - SK-EX Rendering with multi-channel sampling while in Pianist Mode, and the Harmonic Imaging XL engine while in Sound Mode.

Multi-channel sampling with the SKEX engine means a Shigeru Kawai SK EX concert grand piano was recorded with more than just two channels as is the norm, meaning several microphones were used to capture the SKEX. After this, a variety of rendering characters and resonance modelling parameters are applied to the sample to simulate natural acoustic phenomena, such as damper resonance, cabinet resonance, aliquot resonance and even undamped string resonance.

 

Virtual Technician

There's so much colour and detail with this acoustic rendering sound engine, and you can actually go into the Virtual Technician mode and edit the parameters to further customize the sound to your own liking.

Parameters like the touch curve, soft pedal depth, key volume, stretch tuning, reverb, ambience and even the temperament key among many others.

 

Polyphony & Amplification

Polyphony is unlimited when playing in Pianist Mode, which means you’re going to play even the most complex classical works and never have a concern that notes will drop away.

There are 135 watts of amplification, which is a serious amount of power. 75% seems to be the optimal max volume you’ll want to play it, and that’s going to be plenty loud for home use.

 

Sound Mode: Harmonic Imaging XL

Over in Sound Mode with the Harmonic Imaging XL mode and we have a more conventional digital piano sound engine. There are a number of acoustic piano patches here including another SKEX recording, as well as all of the non-acoustic piano tones.

Despite a number of acoustic piano patches in the HIXL engine, it’s tough to see anyone spending a ton of time playing these patches instead of pianist mode unless you plan on doing a lot of layering.

Moving onto the electric piano tones, and many of these are very compelling, as are the nice selection of church organs.

Solid Spruce Soundboard System

Now, we need to address what’s happening with the speakers here, as this is a really big deal. We mentioned the amplifier wattage, but what’s really remarkable is that in addition to 6 traditional speakers (4 top speakers and 2 dome tweeters) is the presence of a real solid spruce soundboard speaker system driven by dual Onkyo transducers.

Because of this full soundboard on the back, the acoustic effect and sheer presence of sound, especially in a lower frequency register is just wild. Especially on organ patches, the power coming through the soundboard delivers a remarkable playing experience. We’re betting the NV5 will be hugely popular in the worship community due to how good the organ patches sound with this soundboard.

Sound Wrap Up

To summarize, the NV5 is delivering a truly singular sonic experience for a digital piano hybrid instrument. From the cabinet design to the sound engine, to the Twindrive soundboard speaker system, the NV5 will surprise even the most staunch purists when it comes to sound.

 

Piano Action

Millennium III Hybrid Upright Piano Action

Connecting you with all of that great sound is Kawai’s Millennium III Hybrid Upright Piano Action, and this is the first time a Kawai digital instrument has featured an acoustic piano keyboard action.

The only modification between this version of the action and what you would get with say a K200 is that instead of a hammer that has wool wrapped around it that strikes strings, this hammer crosses an IHSS optical sensor to determine the speed and how hard or soft you’re playing the keys.

Solid Spruce Extended Length Keys

When looking at the key sticks, these are solid spruce wooden keys that are also equal in length to what you’d find in a K200, offering an excellent level of control. The action is made of carbon fiber reinforced ABS so from a maintenance standpoint, this action is built to last.

The danger with the NV5, just as it is with the NV10, is setting the volume too low, which gives the perception that the action is quite heavy. Now, the NV5 manages this better than the NV10, but keep this in mind if you have the volume set to a low level.

The repetition speed behaves like a midsize upright, and there is a micro-texture on the keys for glide. As far as the regulation is concerned, there’s nothing to complain about as the action is clearly receiving a good amount of regulation at the factory.

 

Connectivity

On the left side of the NV5 just under the keyboard, you’ll find a panel with a whole bunch of connectivity options.

For starters, there’s a line out in the form of a stereo mini jack. If there’s one criticism here, it’s that Kawai went with a stereo mini jack as opposed to dual 1/4” line outs because odds are, lots of folks will want to use the NV5 on a stage, such as in a worship setting where discreet 1/4” outputs would come in handy.

After that, we've got a line-in which is also a stereo mini jack, so this input allows you run devices, such as an iPod, directly through the NV5. There’s also a headphone port with 1/4” and 1/8” inputs.

From there they’ve included old 5-pin in and out MIDI ports, as well as USB MIDI.

 

Bluetooth MIDI & Bluetooth Audio

The Kawai Novus NV5 is also equipped with both Bluetooth Audio and Bluetooth MIDI. Bluetooth Audio is especially nice here since it allows you to quickly and easily stream and playback music from a smart device through the NV5, taking advantage of its amazing speaker system and solid spruce soundboard.

In that sense, the NV5 can actually function like a super high-end Bluetooth speaker, and unless you have a serious audiophile set up at home, odds are the NV5’s speaker system will easily overpower your home stereo.

Bluetooth MIDI means you can transmit MIDI information wirelessly, or of course record MIDI and WAV files wirelessly as well.

 

Cabinet/Features

Gorgeous Ebony Polish Finish

The NV5 receives essentially the same cabinet as the Kawai K-200 acoustic upright piano, which means it looks the part of an upright piano with a beautiful ebony polish finish.

It’s also outfitted with a handy soft fall fallboard so there’s no concern about fingers getting pinched by the fallboard.

 

LCD Touchscreen

Navigating the NV5 is easy and intuitive thanks to the cheekblock LCD touchscreen. In fact, it essentially operates like the touchscreen on a smartphone so most users will already be familiar with this type of technology and will have no problem getting around the NV5.

 

Upright Piano Damper Mechanism

The Kawai NV5 has a pedal system built to mimic the exact nuances of a real upright piano damper mechanism. Real acoustic piano soft, sostenuto and damper pedals all weigh slightly differently, and Kawai has captured that exact weighting with the pedals here.

While this might seem like overkill, it’s actually going to be greatly appreciated by advanced pianists looking for a convenient practice instrument that offers the advantages of a digital piano while resembling an acoustic piano as closely as possible.

 

Final Thoughts

There you have it. Thanks for joining us for our rundown of the Kawai Novus NV5 hybrid upright piano.

Since the filming of the video, our company President and piano reviewer Stu Harrison has actually purchased an NV5 for his own home. He’s found that the flexibility to play whenever he wants in a home with young children has resulted in him playing much more piano than when he only had an acoustic upright piano, and he’s had no warranty issues whatsoever.

If you’re looking for the best possible recreation of an upright piano in a hybrid digital form, you owe it to yourself to seriously examine the Kawai Novus NV5.

The post Kawai Novus NV5 Hybrid Digital Piano Review first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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