Feature request: Polyphonic Aftertouch for damper release realism (N1X

My understanding is that it already does, you just have to select the "Disklavier" dialect in the MIDI panel. I am not so fortunate to own one of these instruments, so I can't test if it works as I think it does, but you might be.

Thanks for clarifying the way that if functions in the N1X (which is about what my understanding was -- without having ever touched such an instrument myself).

What you describe as Pianoteq behavior is strange and was not my understanding of selecting that dialect. Have you tried contacting support for either/both bug report, feature request or help setting it up correctly?

Could you not just map channel pressure to Damping Duration?

I'm a user who would be very interested in seeing this feature, though I don't have an N1X. I have a Kawai NV5, which unfortunately has neither polyphonic aftertouch nor note-off velocity sensing. But I consider this a crucial missing feature in my instrument which I will keep in mind when I go shopping for a new instrument someday, maybe two or three years down the road, and I hope Pianoteq by then will have the best state-of-the-art support for simulating damper release.

The P-525 in my experience does not actually transmit that data via MIDI. I am loathe to say I am certain, but from my own personal testing, and from reading the actual midi reference guide, it does seem that these data exist internally but are not broadcast. Though of course as you point out Pianoteq can't yet use that data anyway, but for the future, there are edge cases like the P-525 that don't even send the data. I actually sold mine for this reason - no hope of creating a converter or for future Pianoteq support with this model.

+1 for the feature request though. However, if they are going to bother, they may as well do it properly, in other words, not by a conversion to a note-off velocity. Damper position is a superior measurement and should therefore be added to the model if a meaningful improvement were to be made.

imho, it is not very accurate as
1) In absence of optical sensors measuring the real key position the poly AT message is just  an estimation of position based on speed (considered as constant) between the bottom and middle sensor , which in itself is not really accurate.
2) The conversion of an already estimated value of  a note off  value will be also an approximation as you are using timestamps on the receiving host and not using real delta time between the original midi events ( poly AT and fixed Note   off messages) . It would work better with Midi 2.0 and proper time stamps but in Midi 1.0 with such close events , it is far from perfection. 
3) No poly AT for a given threshold seems like an approximation as well, as  in a modal representation if you represent all the model each string partial modes as damped harmonic oscillators, the various modes will stop resonating at different times and thresholds.

So it seems to me like a lot of effort to try to reproduce variable let-off with such a protocol. Why not put pressure on Yamaha to provide note-off velocity in the midi output ? It is easy to do , they have the data ( speed between the middle and top sensor measured internally)  with no jitter and comply with midi standards. Imho , even if note -off is not  perfect to model accurately key release it is nevertheless better than what they propose here  and closer to reflect pianist's intention but  it was probably easier for them to use  the smooth release internal protocol that they had developed with the DiskKlavier.

I own both a Yamaha P-525 and an N1X, and honestly, you are completely misunderstanding how Smart Release works. It is far more advanced than Roland’s or other brands’ simple Note-Off velocity systems. Yamaha’s algorithm doesn’t just estimate based on release speed — it actually detects the real damper position in combination with velocity, and only recreates the aftertouch effect if necessary, because it knows exactly how long the damper stayed in an intermediate position between two states.

When I play on the P-525 or the N1X, this effect is reproduced incredibly faithfully compared to my real grand piano. Your explanation is full of assumptions without actually studying the real response of these keyboards. Smart Release is much more sophisticated than a crude Note-Off velocity approach, which only looks at release speed without knowing whether the pianist released the key fully or only halfway.

So in short: you’re completely wrong — Yamaha’s Smart Release is a far more evolved system, and your points 1–3 show that you don’t really understand how it works in practice.