Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Possible Yamaha CP4 in the future?

how can you sign this "cheers" you curmudgeon.. doesn't matter that you already own the technology, at the moment we are all out here cruising on the high of bloated expectations.....

Sorry both!

Yes the SCM (at least as installed on CP1/5) is nearly there. For example, the tonality is very nice. Even, responsive, ballsy and above all, musical - typically Yamaha. I don't find the pianos too bright either and there is no shrillness to them. So in this respect I am happier with the CP1 than any other slab type piano I've owned and I prefer the piano sounds to those on the AvantGrand as well (they are quite different). But the looping is certainly there and yes, the sustain needs to be just a little longer in my opinion.

The newer CFX sample is not on CP1 - I assume it will be the same sample as used on NU-1. That has been generally well received and it may feature longer attack samples, don't know.

The CP1/5's crowning glory is the "NW Stage" action and they've ditched it! Although I understand the original criticism that it was/is ungraded. That isn't an issue for me though and I love this action.

i think you made your point in the first post. and its valid. its still a digital and therefore a facsimile- but apparently a very usable one - of real life.

But i need a new board and this sounds really impressive, particularly with what sounds to be a professional action, a lot of piano samples, and less than 40 lbs of lugging. at low 2000's that sounds like a value-added proposition.

On the CP1, SCM provides adjustments for decay and release times. (Also hammer hardness.)

It might be that the new version will feel like the NW Stage in the center, but feel lighter toward the top and heavier toward the bottom, which I think would still be good. Or maybe it will feel like the NW Stage at the top, and a bit heavier in the middle, and still heavier at the bottom, which would not be quite as good (for people who liked the NW Stage as it was). Hopefully it doesn't just feel like a GH CP50 with wooden aesthetics! The CP5 felt so much better than the CP50. I guess we'll know next month, as people get their hands on them... or maybe Athan can chime in with a little more detail here in the mean time.

anotherscott - completely agree with you. If it has the general feel of NW Stage in terms of weighting and behaviour (but just happens to be subtly graded) then it will be very nice.

It's been a few months since I played the NU1. However from memory, I think it is the same sample.

The new action is definitely heavier then the CP5. Whether I like it more or less--I'd have to spend more time with it, particularly in a gigging situation .

Just the fact that it's 17 lbs. lighter then the CP5 and on first listen, appeared to sound as good as my Nord in mono, plus has a new sample, with refinement on the old CF & S6--well again , what's not to like ?

I like the NW action on my CP5, but if I could change anything it would be to increase the throw just a little, the action is just a little bit shallow. The action is on the light side but I love it. Yes it is a little lighter than my acoustic piano but on a gig it's no problem.

I had almost pulled the trigger on a Nord Stage 2 but I am hopeful that the CP4 will cover the bases at substanially less money and perhaps a better feeling keybed, which seems to be the only criticism players have of the Nord.

Pretty different boards... The CP4 would be a closer match to the Nord Piano 2 (lacking the NS2's organ section and VA synth section). Of course, for the price difference between an NS2 and a CP4, there are a number of nice organ or synth boards you could stack on your CP!

not trying to hijack thread but I was at GC last week and once again I was playing latest Nord Stage. The AP's were the Lady D and Imperial. I hear them as passable in a group context. The EP's I played were authentic but they weren't spank-able like Neo-soul VST.

I couldn't agree with you more about the action of the CP1/5's. I could care less that it's ungraded which has no meaning to me anyway. It's the general feel of the overall action that counts and I loved it from the start. To consider the CP4 over my CP5, the sounds for the Grands would have to be way considerably better to consider it as an upgrade from my CP5.

The CP5 is a great board too. I don't think Yamaha is coming out with the CP4 so much to convince CP5 owners to buy something new... I think they are more concerned with all the people who looked at but didn't buy a CP5, and I think there were more of them than Yamaha had anticipated. People who have CP5s may love them, but lots of people couldn't get past the bulk or the interface. But if some CP5 owners want to go to a CP4 for the lighter weight or new CFX piano samples, I'm sure Yamaha won't mind one bit!

Sorry I meant Piano and typed Stage - two very different boards. My bad.

As far as the music rack to paraphrase the old saw: better to include a music rack and not need it than need a music rack and not have it. Included. But I agree it's better that it is available as an option than not available at all. and I could say better to include a mod wheel...at first I dinged my CP5 for not having those though I have found I do not miss it at all.

do we know if the CP5 is discontinued? seems odd that the CP4 is priced less, has more. Though in the Yamaha paradigm the lower the model number the higher end it is.

Oh, I'm sure Yamaha won't mind, after all, it's business to them as well as trying to be the top dog. The user interface is tricky and I still refer to the manual at times when I want' to experiment with different sounds. There are a few presets which I've come to like and one in particular which I tweak with the 5 band equalizer and that's a great feature to have. I agree though; had the user interface been easier a lot more would be owned.



Lower number should mean higher end and more expensive. It is a curious thought! Why CP4? Why not CP6? It's lighter? Hmmmm! Good for travel but why again? I've always been concerned with weight vs the quality of construction. I like the weight of my CP5. It gives the feeling that it is made well, made to bang the heck out of it without worrying about it falling apart.

My first DP was the Casio PX30. Not bad for sound and the keyboard was a bit more weighted than the CP5 but the keys did not have a solid quality tight feel like that of my CP5 and it would make a knocking sound sometimes like some old car needing a valve job. I felt like it might break on me if I play too hard but then again, it was just $500 and weighed only 25 pounds. Compared to my CP5 it seemed like a toy.

I bought the CP5 because I wanted something far more professional along with the construction quality that would come with something far more professional and along with that quality there would be a higher weight expectation and of course there was. Huge difference. I'm glad now that I bought a heavy duty X stand for the Casio.

My feeling is this: Lesser weight may, not absolute, mean less quality in construction, possibly. I use to gig myself so I do know the desire for less weight.

CP4 is priced less, has more! More what? An improved Grand? I guess we'll find out when the reviews start rolling in. I hope the CP5 isn't discontinued, anytime soon. It's a shame that Yamaha won't come out with further voice upgrades to their current CP models, CP1/5. They had only one that I know of for the CP5 and I installed it with no problems. heck, I'd even pay for software upgrades. I want to keep my CP5.

I think the CP4 is going to sell like hotcakes if street price is less than $2K. Roland could fight back with a lighter weight RD-700NX without changing anything else, imho.

Yamaha is Japanese right? Curious they chose 4 for the model number.

Not 100% sure, but I think it's the Chinese who don't like the number 4, which rhymes with their word for "death" (in at least one of their major dialects).

Should we expect an upgrade for the CP1 soon? If so, will the CP4 keep the title of "The best stage piano" from YAMAHA. I believe the CP1 is also a stage piano; or is it a digital piano? I'm confused.

don't you think the CP1 is basically an orphan board that only a couple studios and Essbrace own? i never really see them out in public or at performances.. sort of a delorean one of a kind. Just like my vpiano. never to be improved. just eventually recycled into beer cans.

And to think that the volume knob on that board is so nice (aluminum); perhaps YAMAHA could produce a consumer version a la iphone 5C (the C stands for cheap). You know, with a plastic volume knob and plastic keys; Oh wait, the keys are already plastic with a touch of fake wood on the sides. Come to think of it, They're already half-way there; in terms of producing the CP1C!

CP1C as their cheap version of the CP1? You could say that the CP5 is already the cheap version of the CP1 but I wouldn't like to think of the CP5 that way and it's not cheap anyway. The CP1 may be a little over priced. I know someone here on PW who has the CP1 and wished they had the CP5 instead due to features the CP1 doesn't have. The two look almost identical except for the CP1 is a little heavier and about an inch wider. I've heard the electronics were a bit more refined and the CF voice runs through an additional processor. The action may be more refined. I don't really know enough about their differences to qualify it as being twice the price as the CP5. Something must be pretty good inside.