Kawai Novus NV5S - A Customer Review

[@jaeshin8766]

Very unbiased review, I had similar issues.

[@france4me117]

I am so super happy with this review for lots of reasons. 1. Being direct from an unbiased customer which genuinely described Kawai NV5s to the experiance facing such problems with the piano. 2. Being the fact that I believe maybe more attention to detail should have been taken prior to leaving Kawai’s quality control section. 3. Being it gave me a genuine insight of the Kawai NV5s in the most honest and may I add, detailed events as they happened. Thank you so very much for your honest and genuine review of this beautiful Kawai and I think I will go for the Yamaha AvantGrand N1x with the hope that I will not have such problems ….

[@DeckardWill]

I hope you enjoy your instrument, and do let me know how you get on. The NU1X looks lovely and we spent a lot of time considering it. I should say though that the NU1X does have its own problems ('loud note' flaw for example). Though I do not know about Yamaha's quality control, I should emphasise that to Kawai's credit they have really looked after us and tried to help. People have mentioned to me that Yamaha may be trickier if you do come across problems. The main take away is that, at the moment, these hybrid instruments are impressive and can be very worthwhile, but are not without their flaws. The crossover where you can say that hybrids and acoustics are interchangeable is still some way off.

[@france4me117]

@@DeckardWill Thank you for your kind reply and well wishes. The AvantGrand that I’ll be getting is to the NU1x but rather the N1x which has the Grand Piano acoustic key-bed and not the upright version.

[@DeckardWill]

@@france4me117 Oh I see! Yes that has no such loud keypress issue - hope you have a great experience with it 🙂

[@adreanfarrugia7414]

What a wonderfully articulate and balanced review. Thank you

[@FingersKungfu]

Just ordered one yesterday for my piano study. The teacher recommended the same advice given to your son - an acoustic or as close as possible to it. Dealers in my country don't stock Yamaha NU1X, so I chose the NV5S. It costs around USD $8,000 locally, so a bit more expensive than in the UK. But they were able to ship right away so I don't have to wait very long.

[@DeckardWill]

Good luck with your purchase, and hope you enjoy it 🙂

[@benjaminpeternorris]

Nice to hear an unbiased review from someone who has actually bought one of these pianos and can live to tell the tale. Most reviews are gushing with praise for this instrument, because they want you to purchase one! Don't get me wrong, I think this is one of the best (if not THE best) hybrid upright pianos available on the market. There are many things it does exceptionally well, and certainly fills a gap in the market where an acoustic piano is an impossibility and a fully digital piano is a compromise too far. Many people (including myself) find ourselves in a similar predicament where we don't have space for an acoustic piano and/or we would have to limit our practice time playing one, due to the additional noise. I really hope Kawai's remedy for these problems fixes it long term - and more importantly, it doesn't dampen your son's enthusiasm for playing the piano! (I'm with you on the display on the cheek block turning off after a couple of minutes - it would be a real distraction in my opinion). Would be good to have an update in 6-12 months to see how it's performed over that time!

[@DeckardWill]

That's right about KZbin reviews on digital pianos. The distributors who make them appear to be affiliated with either Yamaha, Kawai or Roland (etc.) and their weight of bias seems dictated somewhat by that. Moreso though they are shops and therefore naturally want viewers to decide on a purchase. The NV5S certainly has its merits, but I'd draw the line far short of some claims that this now successfully bridges the gap between electric and acoustic. There's still some way to go. I also wish manufacturers (not just Kawai and not just piano manufacturers) didn't skimp on basic construction materials like felt. For goodness sake, just spend a few more pounds per unit and pass the additional cost to the consumer! I'm already spending over £5,000. I don't care about £3 more!

[@koyaanisqatsi78]

@@DeckardWill I want to hear one of these.. of course it doesn't truly bridge the gap, but It seems they are spending time in the right area...on the reviews I always try to listen to the microphone sounds either from the camera or from a recording setup at the soundboard and I'd say there's a few where I'd go hmm still quite digital in sound and a few where I'd go hmm this actually seems very nice and useable.. as one of the main complaints for me is a digital piano usually sounds like the speakers and I can clearly hear this is sound coming from speakers.. so I'm very interested to hear what they are trying to do... as I think that's the right way, natural sound is missing and resonance.. ss you can build a chord and fill the room with sound... the thing with acoustic instruments is you can search for room resonance and instrument resonance.. I can feel in the keys of my upright Schimmel if it's placed close or far from the wall, as I can feel the keys relax when pressed and the strings ring out in harmony versus if it's up against the wall it' sounds compressed and there's nervous interactions and vibrations with the soundboard reacting to the feedback it's getting from the wall. So I feel they should even go a step further with receiving input again from the soundboard through transducers and maybe with measuring the impulse of the room you're in and coming up with a behaviour algorithm in how they respond to truly create resonance.. As for real resonance what the instrument outputs influences the strings again.. so if you take the damper off you can build sound till the piano starts shaking.

[@DeckardWill]

@@koyaanisqatsi78 The NV5S does feel like a step towards realising the potential of hybrids, but it isn't there yet. There are improvements needed in sample quality, speaker quality and general build quality. But what we have allows my son to progress by practicing on a proper action so in that respect it works for us.

[@andreasoberg2021]

Thanks for investing in your son. It means a lot! I have a real grand finally but I actually olan on getting this piano too because I like to play at night plus I compose so I really can use midi. That high pitch sound is something I hear in both keyboards and even my grand piano.

[@DeckardWill]

Thanks for the feedback. We swapped our NV5S for a K500 in January. Honestly we do not hear such anomalies from the K500. I suspect that there are aspects of the sound that resonate and come to the front due to the fact that the output is via speakers (and very small ones at that). We'd strongly recommend trying the NV5S before deciding on a purchase, and making sure that the compromises are something you're ok with. Good luck with your decision 🙂❤️

[@andreasoberg2021]

@@DeckardWill Thanks for the reply. The K500 that is a proper "analog" right? I'm mostly after the midi and the keyboard since I compose music and need a very good keyboard. I already have a Yamaha G3 grand piano downstairs, which of course does not have midi so you better record when you come up with something interesting (and I rarely do record!)

[@andreasoberg2021]

In general for anyone learning piano I would recommend an acoustic one. They are just more fun to play. The ideal case is to have both. One can record and practice loud annoying things on the hybrid piano, but play property on the acoustic. Sadly of course requires more space and finances. I'm putting the hybrid in my bedroom so I can play there in the night while the grand is in our large main room.

[@TiagoPiano]

"the high frequency ringing" is exaaaaxctly what drives me nuts about my CLP775. it comes out the most around E above middle. I might go acoustic at the end of this year. However, on the 775 I turned all "modeling" settings to zero and analised what they do 1by1 and having the piano lid as "closed" dampened the bright ringing the best way. It's more mellow but I prefer.

[@lirio00]

Hi , many thanks for your honest review , really helpful . I own a Yamaha C3 semi grand , and looking for a second piano for a temporary residence. I need to record and play MIDI sounds but mostly to have a good piano sound to practice . Also due to weather conditions maintenance and tuning can be a headache ..specially because will be long periods without playing . I hope NV5S will not be a mistake .

[@MrSouzy]

we have just tried a number of digital pianos at the local dealer. The NV5S is probably the best we tried there and the only one which sounded and felt comparable to an acoustic upright. Much better than even the clp901. We tried the acoustic k200 ATX4 as well for comparison. This is still a better piano tonally and not that much bigger. But it is 2000 euro more expensive. On a lighter note (no pun intended) in our music school there is a real Shigeru grand in the room where we practice with our orchestra. At the moment we a playing the "forest gump suite" and my 15 year old son is playing the piano part with us. The conductor made him play alone and went over to him and was tapping out the ryhthm with his wedding ring on the lid (yes on the black piano finish)... so therefore you dont need to worry about any small scratches :)

[@DeckardWill]

Yes after almost a year and a half in a house with 2 kids, we're no longer so protective of the paint!

[@MrSouzy]

@@DeckardWill it gives character :)

[@AbongileViksVika]

Hi there :-) thanks for the review! I just got my own Nv-5s and can relate to your review. As we have the same flat size problems it's the best solution. Regarding turning off the display -> go to system (3 bars in the top right corner) -> third point :-) the function already exists.

[@DeckardWill]

Thanks for the message! We do know about that, thanks 🙂 Unfortunately though although the display goes 'black' it remains switched on so you still see the bright LCD backlight. It seems very odd this hasn't been implemented properly.

[@AbongileViksVika]

@@DeckardWill just checked it. You are right. It doesn't turn off, but just goes black/dark. But I do not see any backlight anymore. Does it really disturb you or did you just mention it as it gives of the digital piano flair? I will check this at night/in the dark again...

[@tomasz-piano-adventure]

Thank you for the review. It indeed takes up eternity to start up. I saw you eventually went for the acoustic. Is it placed in the same place or you arrange it somewhere else? There was almost no space for the nv5s ;) Would love to see how it looks like now. Good review, I am sad there are some quality issues with such a pricey piano. Cheers! EDIT: Oh, I see you have other videos with the K500 ;)

[@DeckardWill]

Thanks for the kind words :) Yes we ended up returning it for a K500. The K500 is on a different wall but only a few feet away from where the NV5S was located. We have even less space now than before - it's really quite a pain having such a big piano in such a small space! But honestly, we needed a decent acoustic because where the hybrids are currently.... they just aren't quite there for advanced playing in my opinion. Do you have an NV5S? How are you finding it?

[@tomasz-piano-adventure]

​@@DeckardWill Thanks for the answer! No, I don't have NV5S but I am looking on it after I watched the Merriam Music reviews on it and I know that Stu from that channel is using this privately (NV5). I am just fresh piano learner playing on Kawai CN201 digital piano and as I am finding it more fun every day and practicing 2-3 hours a day sometimes, I am looking what are the options so maybe in the future, 1-2 years ahead I'll invest in something more real. Honestly for now I am either looking for something like NV5s or the K300 Aures 2. The problem is I am playing a lot with headphones at late evening but also during the day with 40-50% of the volume, so digital functionality is a must for me. We'll see ;)

[@tomasz-piano-adventure]

@@DeckardWill Also, I have like 145 cm deep space between wall and the dining table that I'd need to fit the piano and I am concerned if the big upright piano will fit this place and will not add clutter-like feeling to this space.

[@tomasz-piano-adventure]

How much space do you have from the wall (back of the K500) to the side of the table with this K500? I have 145 cm and I am wondering if upright like this would fit in my space. I have no chair on this side of the table. Will have only piano chair on this side.

[@DeckardWill]

@@tomasz-piano-adventure Too little space! 😀 I'll send some measurements later on (working currently) but it's really tricky. The NV5S certainly fits better in our place (even that was occupying a lot of space). Having said that, if you intend to progress to difficult pieces the K300 sounds like a better option, with the Aures system.

[@jaeshin8766]

I was excited owning one because I saw the best reviews. Now I have had nearly 2 years. I don’t think it is that worth. I could have spend less money with other digital piano. 1. I realized that there are no Kawai special technicians. It took me over a year to have someone come to see my piano issues. He only solved one problem - pedal was not responsive . Still have squeaky noise . Also my piano has ringing sound issues , he had no clue. He said he was not Kawai tech? But general digital piano tech. I don’t feel much different from less priced kawai digital piano. If I could buy one , I’ll spend less money with other one.

[@DeckardWill]

Thanks for your feedback. We eventually moved to a Kawai K500. It's almost comical how little space we now have in our house but at least the piano itself is flawless. Really do think it takes a very specific person to see any benefit from the NV5S. For us ultimately the problems outweighed the benefits.

[@andyballard1883]

Hi thank you so much for posting this real world Video, I've been wanting an NV5s for a good year now but availability of stock just made that impossible for me as I now live in the Algarve. The main reason I has settled on this is the large temperature variations here with building construction lacking any insulation rooms get very hot in summer and cold in winter so air con is used as well as heating. I didn't want to have an acoustic that needed maintenance several times a year due to the cost and availability of tuners in this part of the world. I currently have a KORG D1 (for the action) with a set of good quality studio monitors. I see that the NV5S seems to be heavily discounted now down to about 5k so I'm back looking to get this but the quality control issues you've had are a big concern for me as I don't think I would get anywhere near the after sales support you have received.

[@DeckardWill]

Hi Andy, I think on QC, other people's experiences can vary so it isn't necessarily the case that you will have any problems. I would also say that Kawai do have a reputation for trying to look after their customers, and are apparently easier to contact and get after sales support from than with some competitors. With regards to humidity - that's a big consideration for us as well. Our old house is similar, and humidity and temperature swing a lot. We use a dehumidifier a lot during the cooler months. The NV5/NV5S (and the Yamaha NU1X) do still to some extent respond to humidity, since the action has a lot of wood and felt that will expand and contract with changes to the environment. I wouldn't discount the NV5S - it is undoubtedly the only viable option for us currently and without it, and without digital pianos in general, our son James would never have had the opportunity to learn piano at all. Wishing you the very best.

[@andyballard1883]

@@DeckardWill thanks for the reply, I think I'll research the aftersales situation. If I didn't have to consider the humidity I'd get a Feurich 179 dynamic II as I can just about accommodate the size.

[@DeckardWill]

You're very lucky to have space to accommodate something like that, and it looks like a terrific piano! If humidity excludes that as an option, there are also hybrid grands (the grand action is also easier to learn on - wish we had one).

[@andyballard1883]

@@DeckardWill cheers sadly though I'd feel like a fraud every time I sat down at a 179 at the moment as my playing in no where near worthy 😂.

[@Jolleyrach]

Totally agree re the high pitched frequency, drives me mad.

[@adriankanis8107]

Hello 👋🏻 Can I ask how your son started learning? Which books? I’m also considering This Nv5s but now I’m a bit worried! This issue should not happen with price of this piano and Name like Kawai!

[@DeckardWill]

It probably shouldn't have arrived like that, but there are plenty of others who have had no problem. That said, we'd 100% have an acoustic and probably a grand if we had the space. The hybrid is a compromise we're forced into. Kawai to their credit are friendly and have been helpful. They also say they've changed their manufacturing process on the pedal felt since my feedback. James began on a little Casio - there's a video of him on my channel just starting out. We then bought him a Yamaha EZ220 with light up keys. It has a USB midi input, so we could plug in the laptop/tablet and run Flowkey. He used that almost exclusively for about 6 months, during which time we then upgraded to a Yamaha P515. The downside of that was he then had a lot of catching up to do on theory, sight reading a proper technique. But Flowkey is a useful tool and good fun!

[@adriankanis8107]

@@DeckardWill your son is very talented 👏 hope my daughter will be learning as well . It’s hard to get the kids to concentrate with all the distractions like iPad and games . I will try flowkey . Thank you 🙏

[@DeckardWill]

@@adriankanis8107 we try so hard to limit that, which makes us massive hypocrites since we love our tech. It's such a tricky path to navigate through. Good luck to you and to your daughter 🙂

[@adriankanis8107]

@@DeckardWill thank you 🙏 hope all goes well !

[@MrSouzy]

the best books for kids are the alfred method, jazz rags and blues. Alternatively something like John Thompson...

[@jiangpan2801]

how much do you buy the NV5S?

[@DeckardWill]

We bought it (UK) for about £5200 i think. Unfortunately the prices look like they are higher currently.