NV12 officially announced on 22/08/2025

Pete14

David Lai

Pete14 The action is really silent, none of that rumbling thump! And I've noticed they treat the piano like an acoustic one -- nobody ever connects the thing digitally.

Pete14

David Lai

He mentioned the low notes sound “thin,” and I’ve heard others say the same; which makes me wonder if they should’ve gone with a bigger board……🤔

iternabe

Pete14 If only bass is thin, would it be possible to just add an external subwoofer (and carefully tuned with DSP) to make the bass fuller?

CyberGene

David Lai The action is really silent, none of that rumbling thump!

The video doesn’t show a pianist playing. Maybe he recorded himself using the internal recorder first, and then replayed it to record only the audio with an external recorder which eliminated the keyboard noises.

HZPiano

Pete14 He mentioned the low notes sound “thin,”

All of us clever laddies over here already expec(t)ulated this of course…

🙂

HZPiano

CyberGene <-- Another clever laddie…

🙂

David Lai

CyberGene interesting, thank you! No wonder there is no external keyboard or finger noise.

Pete14

iternabe

That’s the thing, but why didn’t they just add a subwoofer?

This piano is meant to stand alone; hence, the beautiful design, and I’m not about to ruin that with ugly cables and fat speaker sitting on my floor; however, Kawai could’ve figured out a way to elegantly add speakers (unseen to the naked eye), yet for some reason decided not to……..

QuasiUnaFantasia

The problem is of course this: neither Kawai nor Yamaha care much about this type of product. They don't sell many of them, so financially they are completely pointless. Maybe their only reason for being is to tell customers that there exists something even better than what they already have (and can afford), so that same customers are kept hoping for more in the future (technology trickling down to instruments priced lower).

My guess is that the hybrids are not actually intended to be sold, bought, and played on. They are intended as advertising.

EDIT: Let me add this assumption: hybrids are the digital piano equivalent of a concept car.

CyberGene

Hybrids are not too much R&D. They integrate an already existing keyboard action to an already existing silent system to an already existing sound engine and speakers. Even if there was some big initial effort in the first such instruments, it’s been only tiny increments since then. So, pretty much possible that these are just advertising instruments to demonstrate strengths rather than generate profits.

David Lai

it’s a rather grim assessment, I must say. That said, I wonder if my dream of a hybrid piano experience will be a realistic one in the future if prices continue to be like this.

Pete14

QuasiUnaFantasia My guess is that the hybrids are not actually intended to be sold, bought, and played on. They are intended as advertising.

Could this explain why they only intend on selling 500 of these?

And, I wonder, is this the same approach Apple takes with the Mac Pro?

But then, there’s the N1X, and that’s no concept, but, on the other hand, there’s also the P-515, and that gives you so much punch for so little money that it makes me wonder……it just makes me wonder……

P.S.

Consider me conflicted, for sometimes a swear for an acoustic action shoved into a digital, yet sometimes I have my doubts, and wonder aloud, could this be overkill? after all, folded actions go up-and-down just like acoustic actions; only the folded action hides the hammer underneath whilst the acoustic lets it out for all to see……

johanibraaten

David Lai That said, I wonder if my dream of a hybrid piano experience will be a realistic one in the future if prices continue to be like this.

Try to see it from the bright side, the release of the NV12 should make way for good deals on the NV10 and NV10s. After all, they have the same action. I bought my N1 a while after the release of the N1X and it wasn't more expensive than an average DP.

Pete14 could this be overkill? after all, folded actions go up-and-down just like acoustic actions; only the folded action hides the hammer underneath whilst the acoustic lets it out for all to see……

Seems like a reasonable assumption for someone coming from a proud family of action folders.😊

HZPiano

johanibraaten a proud family of action folders.😊

😄

David Lai

johanibraaten "Try to see it from the bright side, the release of the NV12 should make way for good deals on the NV10 and NV10s. After all, they have the same action. I bought my N1 a while after the release of the N1X and it wasn't more expensive than an average DP."

Good point, but I want the audio interface in the hybrid. I'm buying for the action and the audio interface features, so I can send my favorite VST sounds to where I'm playing, instead of off to one side.

Pete14

ccrobopid

At €14,000, no way! I think for a pianist it would only make sense at around €7,000 at most.. and that’s already stretching it. You also have to consider the unknown long term reliability of the electronics inside it and probably you will need a kawai trained technician that will increase the cost of regulation if you need it.

When I try to understand the logic behind this kind of product I really don't get it.

It has to be a tool for a pianist, so you really have to be rational about it:

Is it going to make you a better pianist than a CA901, or CLP745 or even a P525 with a 300€ pair of active speakers? Add to that a real acoustic K200 or K300 if you want and you will have better tools for drilling exercises and for the real piano sound experience and big savings vs a NV12.
Is it going to be used at concerts? I won't ever bother with an opinion on this.
Is it a better MIDI controller than the alternatives.. maybe this could be the strongest point if the MIDI implementation turns out good enough, but at this price?!

Also I heard the video of the NV12 vs the GX1 and the sound is worlds apart even if the GX1 was badly out of tune. In person the difference will be even more apparent.

I tried the NV10S some time ago and, although the action was better than any other digital or hybrid piano I’ve played, the overall experience with the sound from its internal speakers was very disappointing. The CA99 at the time sounded better to me… and that's saying something as the CA99 is not exactly top quality sound. I really coldn't justify 10k €. If anything it only made the CA99 seem less expensive.. and maybe that's the point of these instruments, to shift our cost perception.

I haven’t had the chance to try the NV12 yet, but all the live miked demos I’ve seen seem to have that “sweet,” guitar-like bass tone. A bit like an old speaker driven by a valve amplifier if you know what I mean. And I don't like that at all for piano music.

Carlos

RIP

ccrobopid And I don't like that at all for piano music.

Totally agreed. My speculation is that Kawai was losing money on the NV10(s) so it wanted to discontinue it. But in typical Japanese culture that would have been seen as a failure and failure is not acceptable there (unlike the "acknowledge and move on" approach of the US culture). So they made marginal improvements, slapped the already-developed soundboard-instead-of-speakers (which was already existing in the NV5s and upper CA models), marketed that as "massive improvement" and put a price which would reduce their losses. The rumors apparently say that they don't care if they will only sell a handful of hundreds of these instruments, which reinforce my speculation above.
As a hybrid-piano lover (and DIY'er) I find this sad, but on the other hand it reinforces the point for DIY yours and heck, for even a small company to fill the gaps. Heck WNG could do that, make an instrument at half that price and be successful and profitable (if only in the US market to avoid expensive international shipping and international customer support)

CeDur

NV12 is supposed to be NV10S succesor or new, 'higher' model? I remember trying NV5 vs NV10 quickly in a shop and somehow I liked smaller NV5 much more.

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