Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Yamaha Disklavier - what am I gettin myself into?

I know I want one and can afford it.

- price range (I'm in Seattle, WA, USA)
- much difference in sound quality between the models?
- is it a real acoustic? does it sound AS GOOD as other Yamaha acoustics in similar price range?
- All I need is a midi in and a midi out, but can they all play silently?
- any other tips for me?

thank you

- is it a real acoustic?

Yes.

- does it sound AS GOOD as other Yamaha acoustics in similar price range?

No. For the price of a Disklavier based on a C3, you could buy a C6 ordinary acoustic, which sounds much better.

- All I need is a midi in and a midi out, but can they all play silently?

I don't think so. In the past, some Disklaviers did not have silent function. Maybe that's changed. Disklavier's main claim to fame is that it is a player piano, either through local or Internet program. If all you need is silent/MIDI, you could save a lot going with a Silent only model.

Thank you!

I guess the silent thing isn't that big a deal.
I can just use my digital for practice without bugging my wife.
Then once I have the notes down for a song, polish expression on the Disklavier.

And I guess that makes sense about being able to buy a better acoustic for the same price. 88 servos and 88 sensors probably don't come cheap.

Do you know about tuning it?
Will most tuners know how to mess with this sort of a piano?

Ok, thanks again for the explanations!
I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get one.

There's a cord that plugs into the keyboard action that the tuner needs to disconnect before taking the action out for service and maintenance. Otherwise, a Disklavier tunes as a normal acoustic. Somebody at this forum said the let-off in the action is adjusted differently from a normal acoustic, but you shouldn't need to worry about regulating a new action for years if you play on your digital mainly.

Most of the new Disklavier have silent feature and control using an iPhone app. Pretty cool stuff.

Stephen, since you asked if a Disklavier is a real piano, I can't assume to know how much research you've done.

Have you ruled out the possibility of a hybrid model from Yamaha? They offer a real grand (and in one case, a real upright) action as well as the ability to record yourself (stored in internal memory or a USB stick) ... though playback would not be using solenoids. The footprint in your living room or studio would also be smaller ... and it wouldn't have to be tuned.

I think it's safe to say that all electric keyboards offer MIDI connections, and many now also offer a USB port.

(I apologize for all the edits I made to this. I initially posted without having had my coffee. I'm still coffeeless. )

Coffeeless?? Yikes!!

I haven't done much research yet.
But I know I'd like a (true) acoustic that can record and play via midi.

I've got a computer programming and robotics bent, so I'm pretty
sure I'm willing to shell out the extra cash for the servos.
Playing an acoustic duet with a recording of myself sounds pretty slick.

The local shop said that new ones start at 20K.
So looks like I'll be waiting for a nice used one.

The hybrid models (AvantGrand, right?) seem to be just super fancy digitals.
The keyboard may be almost an acoustic's. But no strings means it's
just not going to have an acoustic level sound, I'd think.

I may end up not going crazy and just getting a high quality acoustic.
But my personality tells me to get a robotic acoustic.

Thanks for the tips!

I had wanted a Disklavier also, but after much consideration passed over it. There are the obvious benefits, but one in particular I would just use it day and night - the ability to connect it to the Yamaha Disklavier channel over the Internet and have live acoustic piano music at home played by concert pianists 24x7 or as much as I want. I know if I had it I would use it 6 hours a day or more.

Considering the cost of maintaining an acoustic piano, I decided I really didn't want to spend the money to maintain a grand piano that was being played 6-8 hours every single day. I didn't have to use it that much, but if I had it, I can't imagine being able to resist. My budget for tuning and voicing right now for a normal acoustic is between $500 to $800 per year for normal practicing, so I think that's about all I want to spend. I imagine the hammers and action would wear out much faster too if I went from 2 hours a day to 8 hours a day.

That's a pretty interesting conundrum

I have a C7 disklavier, about 10 years old (the original Mark I, with floppies). The piano is superb, I love it (not bright, dark for a Yamaha but just right for the classical music I play). The key sensing is optical and the solenoids are normally retracted, so there is no impact to just playing the piano. The Disklavier part doesn't work any more--really annoying. When it worked, it was terrific for performance practice. My tuner/Yamaha tech will be out and I'll have him see what is wrong, but I'm stuck with ancient technology in what would otherwise be a great piano. There's no upgrade path for my piano. Do I regret it--no--regardless of what anybody says about Yamaha, that piano is a beautiful piece of art and engineering. I get a lot of practice time on the piano. But I wish the disklavier part worked.

Bob

By "disklavier part", you mean the built in sequencer box for recording/playback?

You could use a laptop plugged into it's midi ports plus PC software sequencer to do the same, right?

Anyways, it's nice to know somebody is completely happy with one.

yes, the part that plays back music from a floppy or from the MIDI part. The solenoids no longer strike the keys but just make a thumping sound, so whether by laptop or floppy, now my music sounds a little like a bad drummer joke...

Bob

ratsss. so that means you can't play a duet with yourself.
hopefully it's not too bad to fix.

I bought a six-year-old, barely used DC2A (Mark III) last year for $11,500, and love it. At 5-foot-7, it's got great volume and a nice tone throughout, including the bass.

It's a wonderful treat, and very inspirational, to have jazz artists like George Shearing, Chick Corea and Teddy Wilson in my living room playing my piano. There also are disks that include bass, drums and vocals.

It's also educational, because you can add a foot pedal that slows down the playing, which you can also loop sections of, to learn the tricky part of a piece.

I highly recommend picking one up if you can get a decent price on a used one.

Although I'm =extremely= tempted to just spend the money and get one.
I think I'll end up buying a nicer used acoustic grand.
I'll go try a couple (disklaviers) out and see if they put me over the edge of temptation.
But I'm probably sticking with a nice used acoustic that'll keep me at $10,000.