Tear down video S88 Mk2? Noisy Keys

i think a digital Yamaha piano will be more solid, with Midi i/o, I will put the maschine mk3 on the top to use transport and the others functions.
I'm too afraid of the s88 quality, and I think the Digital Yamaha will have a better feeling than the Fatar.

 

Yeah I can sympathise with your view, but it is rare sellers will offer direct service parts and advice to users for several reasons.

Main reason is they kind of want you to purchase a new model when it breaks since some people will want to still get support after 15 years of use which even tho it is a $1k keyboard, it is also just a $1k keyboard and things like a Television for instance can easily be $1k but if it dies in 3 years people don't assume they can just fix it themselves (or even have it fixed by a professional) it is disposed of and a new one is purchased, often without too much complaint.

Second will be liability. While some of us are more than capable of doing simple maintenance and repairs not everyone is, some people fail to be able to boil an egg so offering parts and advice for DIY repair opens up not just liability but support demands in training people which way is lefty loosie.

Just like working on your car. A manufacturer will not directly sell you replacement parts or offer a service manual however through 3rd parties you can get these things and do it yourself but even so, there are some things you simply cannot do without the proper training and qualifications.

I have pulled apart my MK1 and MK2 keyboards (and pretty much everything I own) and they are not that complicated to get into or dismantle (to me) and I would cautiously say that for someone who has the experience to actually even attempt any fix already, they will be able to already figure out what to look for and how to fix what needs fixing but I have a workbench with all the right tools and training in servicing not to mention several decades of pulling apart my world and rebuilding it. I would never expect someone without all that experience to do the same using a kitchen knife and a pointy stick and I have seen first hand what happens when people have just a little too much information for their own good.

Pretty sure if your keyboard is out of warranty and you feel more than capable of using a screwdriver you could open it up, see the problem and figure out a solution if there is one. The lack of any teardown videos suggests to me that it's certainly not a common enough problem for someone to have made one yet, whereas with Ableton Push it was pulled apart within a few weeks.

 

I totally agree with all your points. But I am hoping native instrument will maybe read some of these posts and maybe release the service manual eventually.

maybe a disgruntled ex employee could leak it. Ha ha. Jk.

 

Well if someone has an old S88 in need of some TLC and wants to post it to Australia I can always crack it open and make a video of how to get in and pull things apart and put some guides together. I've watched videos of peoples issues and in some cases seems like either some plastic neeeds a little shave or some simple felt tape needs to be replaced/fitted to some areas. If there is an issue with dirt it could be as simple as a blast of compressed air or as a preventative measure, a cover on the keyboard when not in use

 

Just be aware that for the Yamahas, apart form having no actual parameter control for adjustment of instruments, I have also found the following issues reported by users:

Noisy/Sticky key issue (similar to the S88)


Key hammer issue


Keys not playing notes
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/576043/Yamaha+Digital+Piano+P45+-+C+and+F#+don't+play

Keys stopped working after 2 months
https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-88-Key-Weighted-Digital-P45B/product-reviews/B00UJ9LNDK?pageNumber=2

Could dig up 100 more issues with Yamaha keyboards but also know they are mostly a decent brand and I was looking at a Yamaha years ago as I loved the weighted feel at the time. Point is no matter what you look at, you can find people that have had issues man. Take it all with a grain of salt and look more at if it fits your needs

 

great idea, but I can’t give u mine. Lol.
I wish I kept my MK1 now.

 

you talk about the P45, at 345€, a cheap keyboard, I have talked about the Yamaha CSP-150 B, 2200€, x2 compared to s88 mk2, but the quality is x100, without major issue, with 5 years warranty.
NI should really improve the quality. My first Yamaha Clavinova bought in 1993 (for 1500€, but not euros at this time) still works, without any maintenance, and heavy use. Yamaha quality. I'm pretty sure, at 99.99%, the s88 mk2 after 8 months of my use will have an issue.

 

And you are not comparing apples with apples. The CSP-150 is 2x the price of the S88 and is designed for a completely different market... Piano players specifically. It will not be suitable for most PC based synth work, but if you want to emulate a grand piano then that's all good.

If that is what you would prefer and are not really interested in browsing sounds, controlling parameters or recording/producing music then that would be a good option. What you loose in flexibility and cost saving you will gain in reliability I am sure. But also just consider at that cost, the number of people buying them would be far less and hence, issues would be less common.

But hey, buy whatever you feel confident with and can spare to afford for your needs. All I am doing is putting your concerns into logical perspective.

 

they are both apples, they are keyboard/piano, it's music.
And I will use the CSP 150 with Cubase 11 pro, with Midi in/out... and with Maschine and m32 I can control easily everything, and I have monitors, mouse, keyboard that I will place on the top, ok I need more space, but have more faith in Digital Yamaha than in the s88 mk2, after all I have read, I'm happy to not have bought it.

 

I guess same applies to cars then, they are all the same as they do the same thing. Anyway good luck with whatever you personally choose.

 

yes, some are better than others, my old clavinova from 1993 still 100% works without any maintenance, quality from Yamaha.

 

Then off you trot….

 

I have my s88 mk2 friday, I think I will be happy, I will report when I have issue. I have to sell my s49.

 

I will post all the videos about the noise :






is it exception or common issue ?

here the fix :



I make the conclusion that NI has released a product with a low quality (04:24)....if only they had glued more and better tape....this guy should be hired as the Engineer Director for the quality control.

 

So 3 people there you can find with the same issue (posted 1 video twice there)? From maybe 10,000 globally? Seems statistically common from a sarcastic standpoint. If they sold 20 keyboards and had 4 with same issue, that’s a problem. But your focusing purely on the 1 out of 1000 scenario and assuming that constitutes a problem. How about wait till you have your S88 and make your point then.

 

it's not 3 people, but probably all, but most of them accept the noise I think ( and if you look at the comments, there are many people who have reported the issue)

the fix :


Why didn't NI think to this with high quality material and build ? this guys should hired as en Engineer, he's very good, and it will make a mk3 with a very high quality.
When I've praised theYamaha quality, it's exactly what I've pointed and the kind of issue we don't want for the top of the serie....

 

Have you stopped to think maybe they have already addressed this and it just happens the ones with issues are older stock models? It's very common to have an issue crop up in a model over time and then have to address it, hence possibly why it is not a wider reported issue. The S88 MK2 has been out 3 years already so would you not think in all that time if it was a bigger and more common issue there would be more than a few videos and a handful of users complaining?

Anyway, i'm kind of past trying to argue logic as it is a known problem with some keyboards but FAR from what you profess to be a common/big/wide spread issue.

 

it's not handful, it's thousand of complainers I think....but you can be right, maybe it has been fixed, but I doubt I have seen users complaining from s88 mk2 from this year....

 

You "think" it may be thousands, just can't find the numbers to backup your thoughts and only a few have bothered to come and post their voice on the companies official forum? Have to say when I have major issues with products I always take straight to the official forums first.

There are users that have this issue and it is an actual issue, sure, but in some cases we cannot even be certain on how the user is playing their keyboard. Some people are pretty heavy fisted when playing or could be using it to hammer out drums which it really isn't intended for and could cause this issue much faster than just using it "normally"

I have worked in manufacture, design, support and across the whole board when it comes to products so have a pretty good understanding when something is really a problem and also that for a company like NI, if it WAS a big common issue they would work to address it behind the scenes and wouldn't just keep selling the same issue. Problem is if it was a run of units the stock could be sitting round in some warehouses for years if it isn't cycled through. Fact is there are actual big name professionals out there using it without issue so not "all" users are affected. Even a number of highly professional users on these forums have also not had these issues.

Main point I have been trying to make is there will always be problems with any product, one needs to keep numbers in perspective and unlike your holy grail Yamaha, this is not a $4000 keyboard. Yamaha manufactured actual physical instruments for decades to refine their knowledge. NI don't even make the keybed and the NI keyboard is not designed as a realistic digital piano, it has a piano "feel" but is designed more as an integrated "smart" keyboard, Yamahas cannot do anything in that area so lack a lot of extra functionality in exchange for solid reliability.

If you really just need a good quality reliable piano that will unlikely suffer issues in 10 years (physical or compatible) then I would really suggest shelling out that extra $2k for the Rolls Royce, but if you need the more flexible DAW integration and sound browser features of the KK then that's your option.

 

If I’m reading correct. You have just bought your S88 mk2. And by reading my post and others it appears you are getting buyers remorse, before even receiving your product.

I would wait and see, if your from the UK then the warranty is 2 years. NI are very good about replacing faults. I can attest to this.

it’s obvious, in a perfect world, I wish I didn’t have these issues with my original, and now my replacement, after 8 months.

wether it’s bad luck, I am not sure, wether it’s the fact my replacement was from a re-furbished model, which it was. Yes they irks me, that you do not have control over getting a new model. But this was stated quite clearly before I sent it back to them. So no surprise.

the fact it’s not Native instruments who do the refurbishments. It’s out sourced to a totally different service centre who repair and refurbish a lot of different electrical goods for different companies.

so what’s the quality control like there, I wonder, a bunch of teens trained to put things together on a production line after a weeks training. I’m not sure. It’s how I imagine it to be. Lol.

it’s why I won’t bother sending this one back. And will do the repair my self once it gets bad enough.

but I have to agree with jester, I would have thought there would have been a lot more visible complaints on these forums. But there is only a couple. Including mine.

I’m thinking its just my bad luck, as I always seem to get the runt of the litter when it comes to things. Lol.