dkc-900

Upgrades for your Yamaha Disklavier! Where to Start?

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This list is designed to help you understand the options for upgrades for your Yamaha Disklavier. It can be confusing, so start here!

No matter what model of Disklavier you have, it’s worth looking into some good sources of music! I also have a list of free MIDI sources to recommend. See my Disklavier compatibility table for an idea of what file formats your Disklavier can play.

Early Disklaviers (Mark I—III)

PianoStream App

One of my favorite simple upgrades for early Disklaviers is connecting them to PianoStream! PianoStream is a piano radio app designed to work with nearly every player piano, including the Yamaha Disklavier.

The app offers its own version of piano radio, providing you with a very large repertoire of high-quality music. It also allows you to stream MIDI files from your phone to your Disklavier, altogether bypassing the floppy drive.

Richie Hayes, the developer of PianoStream, also has an active PianoStream Facebook group where people can make requests.

Nalbantov Floppy Disk Emulator

Many customers choose to upgrade their old floppy disk drives with a Nalbantov floppy disk emulator. These devices altogether replace the original floppy disk drives. You can then store your entire inventory of floppy disks on a single USB stick!

See my article on backing up your floppy disks so you can play them on the Nalbantov. Additionally, you can order my floppy disk backup service if you’d prefer not to do it yourself! I can prepare them for your particular Disklavier, and for the Nalbantov. See also my favorite USB stick for the Nalbantov. I also have an interesting article on backing up your floppy disks using a Greaseweazle, if you have either an exceptionally large number of disks, or if they’re difficult to read using other tools.

If you’re installing a Nalbantov in the Yamaha MX100II, you’ll need a bracket. You can also order the bracket directly from me.

At this time, if you want to record with your Disklavier, the Nalbantov is a necessary upgrade. The PianoStream App does not currently support recording.

Replacement Power Supplies

Power supplies on this generation of Disklavier almost invariably fail. Fortunately, TAP Electronics rebuilds Disklavier power supplies. Simply ship them your power supply, and they’ll rebuild it and ship it back. They remain the only provider endorsed by Yamaha for this service. Last I checked, this was a flat rate of $750. The rebuilt power supplies do not have the defect the original did, and will last much longer.

Replacement LCD Screens

Is your LCD screen blank? It’s quite likely that the screen has died. You can attempt to repair it yourself by replacing the capacitors on the old screen; however, replacement screens are still available! They are Yamaha #VN635201. They can be purchased on Yamaha 24×7, and are available for less from SynthParts. The new LCD screens do not use the electrolytic capacitors prone to failure, and will last much longer.

DKC-850 Upgrade

The Yamaha DKC-850 can be installed as a “piggybacked” device on the earlier Disklaviers. This means that the DKC-850 is installed in addition to the original Disklavier, and connected through its MIDI jacks. This adds most features of modern Disklaviers, including Yamaha Piano Radio and conventional USB ports.

Other Articles

If you have an HQ100 Disklavier free this era, see my article on installing a Dampp-Chaser on the back of the HQ100.

Mark IV

Wi-Fi, Internet, and Firmware

The most common question I get about Mark IV Disklaviers is how to connect them to the internet. Oftentimes, the owner is struggling to connect, even though they know their device is plugged directly in to a live internet connection. In that case, you need to update your Mark IV firmware. Out-of-date firmware will not talk properly to Yamaha servers! If you have any trouble updating on your own, you can order my firmware update kit.

DKC-900 Upgrade

The Mark IV can be upgraded with the Yamaha DKC-900. This enables you to use your phone or tablet to control the piano, and is aesthetically much subtler than the Mark IV.

Nalbantov Floppy Disk Emulator

Has your floppy disk drive stopped working? If you want to gain back that functionality, you can install a Nalbantov. On the Mark IV, this is much less useful than on previous Disklaviers, as most of your disks are already saved on the hard disk.

PianoStream

The PianoStream App does also work on the Mark IV. This is an alternative to Yamaha piano radio, and is less expensive. It also allows you to broadcast MIDI files to the piano from your phone or another device. Of course, with the Mark IV, you can already use USB sticks, so this isn’t as large an upgrade as it is on previous Disklaviers.

Solid State Hard Drives

Sometimes hard drives fail on the Mark IV. The Mark IV uses old spinning disk hard disks. If you notice them chattering or exceptionally slow performance, consider upgrading your Mark IV to use an SSD.

E3 / DKC-850

Wi-Fi, Internet, and Firmware

The most common question I get about E3 series Disklaviers is how to connect them to the internet. If you know you have your Disklavier plugged into a healthy internet connection, and it still won’t connect, it might be time to update your E3 / DKC-850 firmware.

DKC-900 Upgrade

The E3 can be upgraded with the Yamaha DKC-900. This enables you to use your phone or tablet to control the piano, and is aesthetically subtler.

PianoStream

The PianoStream App does also work on the E3, and you might be interested in this as an alternative to Yamaha Piano Radio.

Enspire / DKC-900

Wi-Fi and Internet

The Enspire and the DKC-900 represent major upgrades over previous generations of Disklavier; however, they are still surprisingly challenging to connect to the internet. See my article on a straightforward and effective way to connect your Disklavier to the internet.

PianoStream

The PianoStream App does also work on the Enspire, and you might be interested in this as an alternative to Yamaha Piano Radio.

Using External Speakers with the Disklavier

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I’ve recently installed some external speakers for various Yamaha Disklaviers. Hopefully my experience with this helps somebody else!

The Yamaha Disklavier Mark IV is a well-loved, sophisticated instrument. However, upgrading its control unit to the DKC-900 offers several benefits—most notably, access to Yamaha’s Enspire radio stations and On-Demand radio. This is one of my recommend upgrades to consider. Below is a recent project where I helped a customer enhance both functionality and audio output.

I have a customer who recently upgraded his Mark IV to a DKC-900, and he wanted to add larger Bluetooth enabled speakers. Although the built-in speakers are powered, and amplify signal quite well, we nonetheless found the audio output from the Disklavier was a bit low for his purposes!

The Alternative Speakers

We used Rockville TM150B 10″ Speakers. After I connected the Rockville speakers, I find that it was difficult for the Disklavier to drive the speakers with as much volume as he’d been hoping for. When I initially connected the speakers, they worked excellently when connected over Bluetooth to my cellphone, but the volume from the piano still wasn’t impressive enough! Any alternative external speakers should work, but they should, at the very least, be better than the originals!

The piano alongside its powered Rockville speakers, overlooking the ocean.
The piano alongside its powered Rockville speakers, overlooking the ocean.

Adding an RCA Preamp

I added an RCA preamp to amplify the signal going into the speakers. The RCA preamp amplifies the audio considerably before it reaches the speakers. The speakers then do their own amplification! The RCA preamp is zip tied in place using 24″ zip ties. These work wonderfully for strapping components to the beams. This worked beautifully, and the speakers can now deliver very loud and full musical accompaniment to the piano.

The speakers underneath the piano are present, but are no longer powered or connected.

An RCA preamp installed between the control center RCA output and the speaker.
An RCA preamp installed between the control center RCA output and the speaker.
This piano connects to his network using a Powerline adapter, as discussed in my Connecting Yamaha Disklaviers to a Network article.
This piano connects to his network using a Powerline adapter, as discussed in my Connecting Yamaha Disklaviers to a Network article.

What About Connecting an ENSPIRE Disklavier to a Sonos Speaker System?

I recently put together an interesting project: A local IT person was attempting to pipe the RCA outputs from the control center into a Sonos speaker system, and was frustrated that he couldn’t hear any piano! The Disklavier’s RCA output does not include any of the acoustic piano sounds, since it has no way to pick them up. The Sonos system definitely qualifies as “external speakers”!

Below is the system I came up with to mic the piano, mix it with the audio output, and send it through the Sonos system.

Please note that the Sonos speaker system has a noticeable lag. You do not want to have the Sonos speakers set up where you can easily hear the piano. It works wonderfully for buildings that want their piano piped to the outdoors, or to other buildings, but is not the preferred choice for speakers nearby the piano.

Networking the Piano using a Bridge

This particular Disklavier is not connected using Powerline adapters as I recommend in my Connecting Yamaha Disklaviers to a Network. The Powerline adapters do not work in this facility, as the part of the building with the piano and the part of the building with the router are supplied by separate panels. In this case, a wireless bridge has been installed.

But both the Disklavier and the Sonos Connect have to be connected to the Local Area Network. The simplest way to accomplish this is to mount a Netgear hub. The hub is connected to the wireless bridge, and then to both the Sonos and the Disklavier’s control center.

This is a complicated setup! The hub sends internet to both the Sonos connect and to the Disklavier itself, connected the the neighboring wireless bridge.
This is a complicated setup! The hub sends internet to both the Sonos connect and to the Disklavier itself, connected the the neighboring wireless bridge.

The Microphones

To start, I mounted two microphones above the piano using the Mirizio Microphone Mount. This device allows you to mount microphones directly above the soundboard of the piano, and it’s quite adjustable.

The Mackie microphones come with shock mounts. These are excellent, except they won’t fit under the lid when it’s shut. However, these little microphone clips do work.

The Mirizio Pianomount with two Mackie microphones. As pictured, these microphones are probably a touch too far toward the back of the case. The ideal position is a topic of much discussion, and requires some trial and error. It's also important the mount not impede either the rubber bumpers on the lid or the closing guide pin.
The Mirizio Pianomount with two Mackie microphones. As pictured, these microphones are probably a touch too far toward the back of the case. The ideal position is a topic of much discussion, and requires some trial and error. It’s also important the mount not impede either the rubber bumpers on the lid or the closing guide pin.

For the piano and audio signals to mix nicely, you need… well… a mixer! This inputs on this mixer are the two microphones, and the audio output from the control center. I’ve used as little gain as possible on the microphones to reduce noise from the room. Even the mixer mounts up nicely underneath the piano with the use of a couple of zip ties. Of course, it’s mandatory it not come in contact with the soundboard — this mixer sits about an eighth of an inch away from the ribs as it’s pictured.

A mixer installed underneath the Piano Disklavier!
A mixer installed underneath the Piano Disklavier!

Sonos Connect

The RCA input to the Sonos Connect is the Tape Out of the Mackie mixer. If properly balanced, this contains clear audio of the actual acoustic piano, balanced nicely with any PianoSoft audio.

The Sonos Connect, similarly mounted underneath the piano.
The Sonos Connect, similarly mounted underneath the piano.