Kawai Novus NV-5S

I ordered my Kawai Novus NV5S and after almost a month of waiting it was finally here. At first I was very impressed with the quality of the instrument that seemed of high standards. Sadly, after a couple of hours of playing, I started noticing a very annoying thumbing/creaking noise when releasing the sustain pedal. The noise was so loud that actually killed all enjoyment of playing. After further investigation, I noticed that it was coming inside the upper left part of the instrument (above the lower octaves). It didn't appear to be the result of the pedal contact with the instrument (a common problem I've been reading in other reviews). In hope of a resolution, I immediately contacted Thomann and sent them multiple videos in order to help them figure out the problem. It wasn’t until after 10 days of waiting that I received their final reply. To my surprise, both Thomann and Kawai technical teams had concluded that the noise is normal (?!) They further suggested that perhaps I could try lubricating the wood (???) at the point where it touches the pedal in order to minimize the friction (????) This of course came to my huge disappointment. Not even they didn’t consider my feedback concerning the noise source, but they even suggested I try correcting the problem myself, potentially creating more damage by using lubricants in general. We are talking of multiple thousands of euros state-of-the-art brand new instrument, not a cheap toy. I would sincerely expect a more responsible level of support, to say the least. Unfortunately, I had to return the instrument for a full refund.

After having tried so many different digital pianos from Roland and Yamaha, I can say without a doubt that this is as close it gets to an acoustic piano. It's such a joy to play and the sounds are all excellent. I had a couple of issues with the instrument (a few keys that would get stuck sometimes, the sustain effect not being switched off after releasing the pedal) but they were quickly addressed by Thomann's customer care, so all in all a very good experience

Als das Klavier eintraf war ich zunächst begeistert von der Haptik und dem Spielgefühl. Nach 8 Monaten trat ein knarrendes Geräusch im links oben im Gehäuse bei Druck auf das Sustain-Pedal auf. Nach Internet-Recherche ein häufiges Problem. Dort oben links ist die Umlenkung der Pedal-Mechanik. Es wurde ein Filz getauscht. Nach der Reparatur war der Deckel nicht korrekt montiert und stand ab, so dass der Techniker erneut kommen musste. Zwei Monate später (bzw. 10 Monate nach Kauf) ein ähnliches Geräusch, wieder links oben im Gehäuse, bei Druck auf das Sustain-Pedal, wieder war der Techniker da. 13 Monate nach Kauf ließ sich eine weiße Taste nicht mehr herunterdrücken (federnder Widerstand). Ich versuche nun seit 1 Monat erfolglos, den KAWAI-Support zu erreichen. In der Musikschule hörte ich, dass aufgrund der früheren guten Erfahrungen bisher zu KAWAI geraten wurde, jetzt aber auch mehrere andere Schüler Probleme mit ihren neueren KAWAI-Instrumenten haben.