The Millennium III Hybrid action represents the latest milestone in Kawai’s rich legacy of piano innovation, and serves as the centrepiece of the Novus NV6. It comprises over 6,000 individual parts, each playing a crucial role in allowing the performer’s fingertips to express feeling and emotion through music.
The Novus NV6’s 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 NV6’s 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 NV6’s beautiful chrome plated pedals are sourced from the same ‘K’ series instruments as the premium Millennium III keyboard action. Moreover, in addition to featuring a full acoustic piano action, the NV6 also incorporates a real acoustic 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 an acoustic piano, the NV6 retains the damper mechanism behind the keyboard action, replicating the extra 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 NV6’s objective of delivering a true acoustic piano playing experience that is indistinguishable from the real thing.
The spirit of the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano is at the heart of the Novus NV6. Each world-class instrument is hand-crafted by experienced piano artisans, utilising the finest available materials to ensure optimum touch, tone, and artistic expression.
Widely regarded as ‘the premier piano of Japan,’ the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX graces the stages of concert halls and musical institutions around the globe, receiving universal acclaim for its magnificent tonal clarity and exceptional dynamic range.
Shigeru Kawai is also frequently provided for official selection at some of the world’s most prestigious music competitions, including the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan.
At the 10th edition held in November 2018, three of the six grand finalists selected the SK-EX throughout the competition, including 1st prize winner Can Cakmur.
In order to reproduce the stunning tonal qualities of the Shigeru Kawai concert grand piano digitally, the Novus NV6 incorporates Kawai’s latest SK-EX Rendering technology.
This advanced piano sound engine combines the well-established process of sampling with the modern approach of physical modelling, to produce a piano sound that is both rich in natural acoustic character, and dynamically responsive to the player’s musical desires.
Developed by Kawai R&D’s highly experienced audio engineering team, the Novus NV6 utilises specialist components designed for high-end audio reproduction.
A high performance dual DAC system combines with the Novus’ high specification power amplifiers to reproduce the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX sounds with stunning richness and clarity.
This high-fidelity sound is delivered through the NV6’s powerful speaker system, which combines six premium quality speaker drivers with Kawai’s exclusive wooden soundboard technology. The result is a remarkably authentic playing experience that immerses the performer, and faithfully reproduces the tonal ambience of an acoustic piano.
The Novus NV6’s stunning ebony polish cabinet is crafted in the same piano production facility as Kawai’s ‘K’ series upright instruments, ensuring exceptional build quality and an immaculate mirror-like finish.
Its exterior appearance is undoubtedly inspired by classic piano design, thanks in part to the handsome fallboard and wide music rest, providing a sense of stability and reassurance when sitting at the instrument.
However, this traditional character is refined and refreshed by the NV6’s gently curved edge lines, elegantly tapered legs – free of the customary, weighty toe-blocks – and various other details that lift and modernise the instrument’s presence.
Indeed, despite housing an acoustic piano keyboard action and damper mechanism, the NV6 is a remarkably compact instrument, occupying a depth of just 46 cm – far smaller than a conventional upright.
This slim profile allows pianists to enjoy an authentic, acoustic piano playing experience, in confined spaces previously limited to a standard digital piano.
The Novus NV6’s upward facing topboard speakers project mid-range frequencies outward, closely reproducing the sound field of an acoustic piano. These speakers are protected from dust and other foreign objects by fabric created by esteemed Danish textile house, Kvadrat.
Established in 1968, with deep roots in Scandinavia’s design tradition, Kvadrat is Europe’s leading supplier of high-quality contemporary textiles, crafting beautiful and inspiring fabrics for some of the world’s foremost architects, designers, and premium consumer brands.
The NV6’s topboard speaker cover features an original Kvadrat material, customised to meet Kawai’s specifications, with a woven mesh composition optimised for musical clarity and tonal projection.
Its soft, dark-grey yarn with pearl-like highlights, contrasts with the lustrous sheen of the NV6’s ebony polish cabinet, elevating this musical instrument to the level of a piece of fine furniture, destined to become the centrepiece of any room it occupies.
While the Novus NV6’s core features are unquestionably derived from an acoustic piano, the instrument neatly incorporates various additional technologies that provide the modern conveniences of a premium digital piano.
These features are primarily controlled through the NV6’s touchscreen LCD, which is discretely embedded within the instrument’s left cheekblock. This high resolution touchscreen allows sounds and settings to be adjusted from an attractive user interface simply by tapping or swiping the display with a finger.
For piano purists, the screen can be set to fade out and turn off automatically while playing, thus preserving the Novus’ classic appearance, and minimising any visual distraction to the performer.
Unlike an acoustic piano, the Novus NV6 provides a variety of options for connecting to other devices. Headphone and audio jacks allow the instrument to be played in silence, or for the sound to be amplified for halls and other large settings.
USB ports allow audio and MIDI data to be saved to a USB stick, or transferred to and from a computer directly using the Novus’ built-in audio interface. The NV6 also supports the latest Bluetooth® functionality, providing an effortless way to connect and enjoy smart devices wirelessly.
The NV6 allows the user-friendly touchscreen interface to also be accessed via the dedicated PianoRemote app for iOS and supported Android devices. The app connects to the piano wirelessly via the Novus’ integrated Bluetooth, providing an effortless way to change sounds, or enjoy the vast array of built-in music content from the comfort of an armchair.
