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NU1X joins the growing family of instruments bearing the moniker of AvantGrand, the company’s flagship line of hybrid pianos that combine the tuning stability and maintenance-free operation of a digital piano with the musicality and realism of an acoustic grand. BUENA PARK, Calif. (SEPTEMBER 01, 2017) —Yamaha today announced the AvantGrand NU1X, the successor to its highly successful NU1 upright hybrid piano. Major upgrades over the NU1, which Keyboard magazine described in June 2013 as “the new gold standard in a self-contained but compact acoustic piano replacement,” elevate the playing experience to a level of quality unprecedented in an instrument of this form factor.
The very pinnacle of Yamaha's Clavinova CLP range, the CLP685 brings together the very best digital piano technology from the World's leading piano.
Like the NU1 before it, the NU1X is built upon the legacy of the U1, the most widely used acoustic upright piano in the world (In fact, Yamaha has built more U1 units than most other piano manufacturers have built across their entire product lines). The NU1X joins the growing family of instruments bearing the moniker of AvantGrand, the company’s flagship line of hybrid pianos that combine the tuning stability and maintenance-free operation of a digital piano with the musicality and realism of an acoustic grand. Great sound demands great feel, and the NU1X delivers with a real acoustic upright hammer action that is far more grand-like in its response than that of the NU1, or indeed, of any digital piano on the market today. Dynamic sensitivity in response to softly played passages is improved, as is smoothness of key return for fast or repeating runs and trills. Via the NU1X’s continuous grayscale sensor technology, careful study of the interaction between the optical key sensors and the physical action has allowed Yamaha to eliminate the “flat spots” in the total dynamic range that are often a shortcoming of upright pianos.
Beyond this, there is more “information” and therefore more resolution in the sound, especially when playing at very low velocities. Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM) ups the realism ante still more. In an acoustic piano, strings that are not directly struck by the hammers vibrate in sympathy with those that are — an effect which can be more pronounced if dampers are disengaged from the strings due to previously held keys or, most noticeably, if the damper pedal is pressed.
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This adds additional overtones (harmonics) to the player’s intended notes, with further coloration imparted by the natural resonances of the wooden soundboard. Yamaha VRM painstakingly models these acoustic properties, capturing a visceral and psychoacoustic aspect of the grand piano experience that, while subtle, is quite conspicuous in its absence to discerning pianists.