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Hi everyone,

Here is the first recording at the newly acquired Clavinova CLP-990M:

https://www.box.com/s/p0atemqhcvcduwlelxpm

Initial review:

1) Action:

This piano has a very responsive action which feels fairly weighted and it takes a fair amount of work to play it well. It may have the closest action to an acoustic grand as compared with any of the other console digitals in the same price range.

2) Sounds:

The "Grand Piano 1" sound has a very clear and bell-like sound in the middle and upper treble registers and doesn't appear to have that slightly fuzzy/raspy metallic twang that the CA95 does, although this is a subjective comparison. The bass is really solid and with the default reverb setting the sound is quite realistic. The piano samples are very long as they are easily equal to the CA95 and are fairly close to the decay of the V-Piano.

3) Escapement simulation:

There is also a very subtle escapement simulation in the action which feels far more realistic to me as compared with the firmer resistance of the Kawai CA95. The CLP-990M's escapement appears to be closer to the V-Piano. You can also trigger a soft sound from the escapement point whereas you cannot do that with the Kawai CA95.

4) Speakers:

The real benefit to having the CLP-990M are the speakers as they are in the upper portion of the front cabinet which directly face the player and the ambience of the sound projection is excellent. One only needs half to three-quarters volume level when playing. Some of the other presets like EP's and strings are very good, also.

5) Age of model:

All in all, I am quite impressed with this older model. Not too many digitals that I have played up to now have been given a review with a high "wow" factor. The CLP-990M that I bought happens to be 11 years old as it was originally purchased in 2002.

6) Negatives:

The only thing I found to be a minor annoyance is the height of the pedals from the floor which seem to be a little higher than usual. One can easily remedy this by putting something like a thin book under the foot to raise the heel just a bit when pedaling.

7) Final note:

I would consider the CLP-990 a good buy if you can locate one for sale as it is becoming increasingly difficult to find as time goes on.

They also do a CLP970 which sold on ebay recently, for a cheap price (considering the instrument). Most o` the features of the 990 will be in that too by the looks of things.

Sounds nice, Richard.

I'm wondering whether the absence of the raspy twang you get on your CA95 is to do with the fact that the Yamaha doesn't have all that string resonance stuff built into it? At least I'm assuming it doesn't, being such an old model (I don't know that for a fact). Perhaps what you are enjoying the sound of pure sampling with no add-ons, aside from reverb?

It's great that you got your happy ending after all the trouble you went to to get this thing.

Andy,

I think that you may be right regarding the older samples in the CLP-990M which to my ears are about as realistic as you are going to get in replicating an authentic acoustic Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand. The clear bell-like tones with the "Grand Piano 1" preset are excellent and I prefer this sound when comparing it to the more metallic sound in the CA95 although I still like the Kawai, too.

And, good luck to anyone else who might be searching for the CLP-990 as it is now quite difficult to locate one.

Having three flagship digitals gives me a wider variety of piano sounds and some variance in actions, also.

But the actions are different as night and day: the CLP970 has not the outstanding spruce Natural Keyboard of the CLP990 but the old GH, which is by now probably sub-standard without a 3. sensor in this segment.

The CLP990 HAD string resonance already!
Shame on YAMAHA: it not only that they postponed development and held back some new features, but they deprived the customer of this already achieved high technical standard in this price segment.

What I found more outrageous recently was only that two global pharmaceutical cooperations stopped to develop end test a combination therapy just weeks ago, after showing that a previously hard to treat and in many cases incurable disease could be cured by it in 100% of the cases in a very short course. Reason: cooperation between the two cooperations was ended.

Ok, I am aware that the discontinued better DP models, actions, quality and their replacement by in many ways inferior products impose no life threatening conditions...

IMO blame the product tiering guys in marketing. They're the reason the engineers who likely can and want to give us nice things for our money can't.

Blame the market. Yamaha makes what people buy. If people don't demand more they won't get more.

Wow, it sounds really good for an 11-year old digital piano, and for not so old as well.

Hmm, seems pure sampling can sound better than sound modelling...

As long as the sustain pedal continues to hold up I suppose I'll be okay since the other two don't work at all even though I have tried a factory reset and turning other pedal settings on and off. Pedals must have been damaged during the 6 week shipping ordeal.

Can't you have some service technician have a look at the piano? I'm quite sure such an issue can still be solved.

but what would be the point in getting a technician? Really, if 'Destiny has told [pv88]that [he] will never own a completely working piano', then there's 'nothing to be done', as Estragon said.....you can't fight fate.

Yes, as I did find someone that does work on Clavinovas who is a certified Yamaha repair technician. He seems to think that the pedal board was damaged during the shipping as movers are not always aware of the exposed pedal plug and circuits in the underside section of the pedal assembly.

A new circuit board has been ordered for the pedal assembly which should take a week to 10 days to arrive.

You should then file a complaint with the company who did the moving and make a note to self to use a company that specializes in the moving of pianos and not just moving in general.

Still good to hear you're getting it fixed.

Here is the 2nd recording using the default "Grand Piano 1" preset:

https://www.box.com/s/1kt9o43rx6a38tkihd5a

What I really like about the CLP-990M is the clear bell-like quality of the piano tones which are nice and full with sufficient sustain and decay.

What tuning options does this have? I noticed that the high notes seem flat to me, so you may want to fiddle around with different tunings. I'm not sure what it would be called, but I'm sure if you check the manual it has an option to change tuning formats. With acoustic pianos, tuners don't just tune the instrument equally across - they have the high notes a bit higher than equal temperament and the low notes a bit lower than equal, if that makes sense. This will help it with that realistic piano sound, I think. Sounds great other than that!

@Morodiene,

Glad to hear that you like the recording and as for tuning I do believe you can change a few things although I would have to consult the manual for those specific changes.

I am aware that there are already a few notes (in the treble register including a high "G") that have a slightly off-tune quality to them although I happen to like this slight inflection as compared to the ordinary perfectly tuned digital. As it gives the piano a little bit of acoustic-like realism and authenticity as most acoustics are the same way. I don't mind (or, want to change) this attribute in the least.

The clear and solid piano tones are what makes the CLP-990M shine and the projection of the sounds from the front facing speakers is excellent. You also have the vibrations in the keys and pedals from notes which are struck louder in the bass, at "f" or "ff," just like on an acoustic piano.

The feel and response of the all spruce wooden key action is very good as well. It is still a very nice instrument even with 11 years on it, from date of original purchase. Has 192 notes of polyphony along with an 8 (not 4) step graded hammer action. All 88 keys have been individually sampled in stereo with 5 dynamic layers in the touch.

Hi pv88,

I'm glad to hear you are happy with your new piano!

I own the little sibling of it (a CLP-970) which is lacking the fantastic keyboard action, but is still good for a practice instrument in spite of its age.

In case you want to experiment with different tuning options (temperaments and stretch) you should be able to find them in the 'other settings' menu (IIRC there is a button for this menu near the rightmost part oft the control panel).

Enjoy!
Paolo

PV88, Your Pathetique is a very refreshing recording of the piece. You are a pianist among us enthusiasts. And the instrument sounds as in a true recording, at least much more so for me than the most DP (and SW instruments) sound. I did a search already for an offering, but there were from a music teacher, which I wouldn't prefer as a source to buy from....