From the sweetwater forum that is? Have you had any news on the NP-30 problem? I'm about to order one but I wanted to check with you about this.
Is it really that bad (the squeal)? I remember there was a recall of a batch of s90's for a
potentially ear-damaging noise. Could this be the same problem?

I have had an NP-30 for about three months and have no strange noises. Apart from my playing that is.

Trevor

I had one for about 3 months on my sample account...Squeak contacted me to inquire if I was getting any noise...I wasn't...everything was nice and quiet.

Ian

There IS a problem with the NP-30 line, and this problem WAS confirmed by Yamaha USA. It's clearly another quality control issue with Yamaha. Some units have not been affected, but MANY have. I've had countless emails from other NP-30 owners here in the USA, and the UK who are having the same problem. One owner in the UK got confirmation from Yamaha UK that Yamaha Japan has known about the problem and are currently shipping parts to fix it, again showing it's a hardware problem.

A few lucky ones out there don't have this issue, but those of us who DO have the problem can tell you it's very annoying. Nothing more frustrating than a high pitch frequency noise coming from the internal speakers and output jacks. It's bad enough on the internal speakers, but when you run it through a 30W stereo amp system it's pretty much slapping you in the face.

Squeak, are they going to fix yours under warranty?

Ian

They better.., I reported the problem in less than 2 months of owning the unit. I was told my complaint was the first one called in. It wasn't long after mine that other owners came forward.

Yeah, I remember when you told me about it...that was a while ago.

You mean they haven't fixed it yet? What is the problem? Why are they taking so long?

Ian

Strange how Yamaha keyboard products (at least the lower to middle range ones) are experiencing so many of these quality control issues of late. Is Yamaha slipping?? Are they losing their footing and unable to lasso in these type of things from occurring in the first place and on what seems to be a widening scale? I understand that up until recently Yamaha Music Division was having trouble on the financial front and very possibly that is the main reason why things have gone down hill to such a degree in the quality control arena. But what I am hoping is that the recent hundreds of millions of dollars of cash infusion from their parent Company will start to turn things around for the better. Not only in the future production of the PSR S series but all of their other keyboard lines that need attention as well.

One thing I know for sure is the Motif XS line is rock solid in my opinion, having owned one myself recently and therefore can attest to its exceptional structural, electronic, and OS quality. Therein lies the quandry. TOTL boards seem to be rock solid and have been for many years. Middle and lower end is the area where things are slipping through the cracks it seems and only fairly recently from what I've observed. I hope Yamaha gets a handle on it soon. It just doesn't look good from a Company perspective when the eyes of the world are beholding these anomalies of quality control in the products that you (they) make. Maybe the $500,000,000 plus+ cash infusion will help to eliminate further issues soon and on yet to be released products in the future as well.

Best,
Mike

Thanks everyone for the info. I guess I'll have to wait until the solve the problem.