Hi all,
Your friendly neighborhood Tony here reporting from the NAMM Show in Anaheim California. As promised today I spent time getting acquainted with the latest (and not so latest) offerings from many of the major instrument makers today. The show is massive so I wasn’t able to get to everything today but I will keep this thread updated at the end of each day. Without further ado here are my experiences from day one:
Today I was able to spend time with a variety of digital, acoustic, and hybrid instruments from the likes of Kawai, Bechstein, Mason and Hamlin/PianoDisc, Casio, Studiologic, and some less well known outfits like Pianoid.
Let’s start with the products which did not materialize: alas there was no successor to the Kawai VPC1 or the Yamaha AvantGrand series.
Let’s talk actions first of all. The hybrid instruments from Kawai, Mason and Hamlin, and Bechstein were, in my estimation, significantly better than any of any of the digital actions, including the much venerated VPC1 (RM3 Grand II), and the Grandfeel 1 and 3 in the MP11SE and CA901/701. Even the Casio GP-510’s simplified hybrid action, though a bit better, didn’t have the same level of authenticity as anything with a full hybrid action. The full hybrids felt quite a bit more responsive for faster passages and also for trills, ornamentation etc. Repetition speed was definitely better also, but not on the level of a well regulated 7 foot/200cm or larger grand.
As far as the internal tone generators go anything I say here will have to be taken with a grain of salt as the convention was quite loud and critical listening was essentially impossible. But I will say that, at least on headphones, I didn’t find any of them on the same level as a great DAW/VST setup in terms of realism. Though I will say that the best ones were extremely tight and responsive, as is to be expected.
Now for some more specifics on the Kawai’s:
NV12 - Great action, but I didn’t find the sound generated either through the headphones or through the soundboard particularly enveloping. Again, perhaps in a quiet environment with some tweaking of settings it would come alive.
NV6 - Also a very good action, and for some reason the sound generated by this one’s soundboard felt much more present and real than the NV12.
GX-2 Aures - I preferred this to the NV12, for whatever reason the action was a tad more responsive and the sound I was able to get from the internal tone generator was fuller. That may come down to the fact that I chose the older SK-EX samples as opposed to the newer competition grand.
I’ll try to test these out again tomorrow in Kawai’s private space on the second floor to see if my impression changes. But as of now these would be a pass for me given their high price point and their less than ideal midi output (no note off velocity.) I know I’m being picky but at these prices I don’t think that’s unreasonable.
Stay tuned for more tomorrow….
