Kawai Novus NV10S Hybrid Digital Piano

What they say

The Novus NV10S is the perfect blend of tradition and innovation. A stunning hybrid instrument that combines a full grand piano keyboard action and damper mechanism, with the latest digital sound and amplification technologies. 

Designed for and tested by professional pianists, the NV10 provides the unmistakable feeling of playing a premium quality acoustic instrument, with all the practicality and convenience of a modern digital.

Introducing the Novus NV10S – a hybrid instrument that delivers the true grand piano experience.

Koichi Kawai designed and built the first complete acoustic piano action in Japan in the early 1900s. In the decades that have followed, Kawai engineers continue to pursue the company founder’s quest for perfection, pioneering the use of state-of-the-art materials and designs that advance the piano art form.

The Millennium III grand piano action found in today’s Kawai GX series instruments exemplifies Koichi’s philosophy.

This highly-coveted action incorporates components produced using ABS Carbon, an extremely sturdy and rigid composite material that allows these action parts to be stronger, lighter, and faster than their conventional wooden counterparts.

In addition, Kawai GX series grand pianos also utilise extended-length key sticks, providing greater control and a more even response from the front to the back of the playing surface.

The Millennium III Hybrid action represents the latest milestone in Kawai’s rich legacy of piano innovation, and serves as the centre-piece of the Novus NV10S. It comprises almost 10,000 individual parts, each playing a crucial role in allowing the performer’s fingertips to express feeling and emotion through music.

Based on the GX series’ proven action design, Millennium III Hybrid retains the composite parts and extended key sticks of its acoustic cousin, while replacing the traditional felt hammers with individually-weighted ABS equivalents. As a hybrid piano, there are no metal strings inside the Novus for these hammers to physically strike when the keys are played, therefore their precise movements are instead captured using high-resolution optical sensors mounted above the action.

Millennium III Hybrid delivers all of the benefits of a premium Kawai grand piano action within a digital instrument. This feat of modern engineering allows pianists of every level to enjoy the unmatched feeling of playing an acoustic grand piano, regardless of the time of day, or the size of their home.

The Novus NV10S’ precision-engineered ABS hammers have been designed for structural stability and optimum keyboard touch-response.

Each individual hammer is grade-weighted to mirror the heavier bass and lighter treble hammers of an acoustic piano, ensuring that the NV10S’ key touch-weight feels the same as a well-regulated acoustic instrument.

The precise movements of each hammer are measured using high-resolution optical sensors, providing greater accuracy than conventional key-based sensor systems.

This more advanced approach closely reproduces the mechanical flow of an acoustic piano, and allows rapid pianissimo passages with mordents or trills to be performed with greater fluency.

The Novus NV10S’ beautiful chrome plated pedals and exposed pedal rods are sourced from the same GX series instruments as the premium Millennium III keyboard action. Moreover, in addition to featuring a full grand piano action, the Novus NV10S is the first hybrid instrument to also incorporate a real grand piano damper mechanism.

There are no metal strings inside the Novus to require physical damping, as the instrument’s sound is produced digitally.

However, in order to reproduce every aspect of playing a grand piano, the NV10S retains the damper mechanism behind the keyboard action, with graded weights attached to each damper lever replicating the load of traditional wood and felt parts, as the keys and pedal are pressed.

This innovation allows pianists to not only hear how the damper pedal affects the Novus’ generated sound, but also feel the various mechanical interactions through their hands and feet.

Such attention to detail is unprecedented in a digital instrument, and further reinforces the NV10S’ objective of delivering a true grand piano playing experience that is indistinguishable from the real thing.

Specs

Keyboard: Millennium III Hybrid grand piano action, 88 wooden keys, 88-key graded ABS hammers, IHSS contact-less optical sensors, Grand piano damper mechanism

Pedal: Damper (grand piano damper mechanism with half-pedal support), Soft (with half-pedal support), Sostenuto

Piano Sound: SK-EX Rendering, 88-key multi-channel sampling, SK-EX recording, Harmonic Imaging XL (HI-XL), 88-key stereo sampling, SK-EX, SK-5, EX recording, 256 note maximum polyphony

Piano Resonance: SK-EX Rendering: Resonance Modelling, Damper Resonance, String Resonance, Undamped String Resonance, Aliquot Resonance, Harmonic Imaging XL: Acoustic Rendering, Damper Resonance, String Resonance, Undamped String Resonance, Cabinet Resonance

Piano Adjustment: Virtual Technician (21 parameters): 
Touch Curve (incl. User Touch Curve)
Voicing (incl. 88-key User Voicing)
Damper Resonance
Damper Noise
String Resonance
Undamped String Resonance
Cabinet Resonance
Key-off Effect
Fall-back Noise
Hammer Noise
Hammer Delay
Topboard Simulation
Decay Time
Release Time
Minimum Touch
Stretch Tuning (incl. 88-key User Tuning)
Temperament (incl. User Temperament)
Temperament Key
Key Volume (incl. 88-key User Key Volume)
Half-Pedal Adjust
Soft Pedal Depth

Virtual Technician Smart Mode (10 presets)

No. of Sounds SK-EX Rendering: 10 rendering characters
Harmonic Imaging XL: 90 voices
Reverb SK-EX Rendering: Ambience (10 types)
Harmonic Imaging XL: Reverb (6 types)
Other Effects 24 types
Speakers: 10 cm x 4 (top speakers), 1.4 cm x 2 (dome tweeters), 20 cm x 1 (woofer)
Output Power 130 W
Headphone Enhancements Discrete SpectraModule™ headphone amplifier, Spatial Headphone Sound
Display 5" LCD touchscreen (480 x 800 pixels)
Key Cover Grand piano fallboard with Soft Fall system
Music Rest Collapsible type (6 angle adjustability)

Product

Width 148 cm (58 1/4")
Depth 65 cm (25 1/2")
Height 99.5 cm (39 1/4") [music rest flat], 121 cm (47 2/3") [music rest raised]
Net Weight 132 kg (291 lbs.)
Available Finishes Ebony Polish
Basic Functions Dual, Split, Four Hands, Transpose, Tuning, Low Volume Balance, Favorite
Internal Songs Sound Demo 39 songs
Piano Music 29/42 songs *
Concert Magic 176 songs
Lesson Songs Burgmüller 25 (25 Etudes Faciles, Opus 100), Czerny 30 (Etudes de Mécanisme, Opus 849), Czerny 100 (Hundert Übungsstücke, Opus 139), Beyer 106, Vorschule im Klavierspiel, Opus 101), J.S. Bach: Inventionen, Sonatinen Album 1, Chopin Walzer (Chopin waltzes series), Chopin Etudes (Opus 10), Alfred’s Premier Piano , Course Lesson 1A, Alfred’s Premier Piano Course Lesson 1B, Alfred’s Basic Piano Library Lesson Book Level 1A, Alfred’s Basic Piano Library Lesson Book Level 1B, Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course Lesson Book Level 1
Internal Recorder Total Memory approximately 90,000 notes
No. of Songs 10 songs
Parts 2 parts
Metronome Time Signatures 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 3/8, 6/8, 7/8, 9/8, 12/8
Drum Rhythms 100 patterns
Bluetooth (Ver. 4.1; GATT compatible)
Bluetooth Low Energy MIDI Specification compliant
Bluetooth Audio with aptX support, USB Audio Recorder Record/Playback MP3, WAV, SMF (Playback only)
Other Functions Overdubbing, Line In recording, App Functions PianoRemote (iOS/Android), PiaBookPlayer (iOS/Android)
Connector Jacks Headphone 1 x 1/4", 1 x 1/8" Stereo jacks
MIDI MIDI IN, MIDI OUT
Line Out 1/4" L/MONO, R [unbalanced]
Line In 1/8" Stereo (with volume adjust knob) [unbalanced]
USB to Host ✔
USB to Device ✔
Power Consumption 60 W
Power Power cable
Bench Fixed-height or height-adjustable bench *
Headphones Headphone hook