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Joined: Sep 2009
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Many of you know that I've resisted the notion that the AG and NV pianos are hybrids. Nice pianos, yes. But no strings? Not a hybrid. The Danes seem to agree. At https://www.digitalpiano.dk you can click on Hybrid Pianos, which takes you to https://www.digitalpiano.dk/hybrid.htmlThere they list all their hybrids ... all of them with strings.
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I think semantic loyalty needs to translate to customer loyalty.
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Oh Mac....
Acoustic action + digital sound generation = hybrid.
Yamaha Avant Grands are Hybrids. Kawai Novuses (Novi?) are hybrids. NOTHING else currently available is a hybrid.
Why would a piano with strings be a hybrid? A piano with strings is an acoustic piano. Yes, there are products with strings and digital sound generation but they are also other things which place them in the market differently, and allow them to be differentiated from acoustics, hybrids and digitals with other recognised nomenclature, such as 'silent pianos' or 'Transacoustics/Aures' etc.
In the real world, i.e., the piano market place, the ONLY definition which makes sense (and which most people now seem to accept) is...
Acoustic action + digital sound generation = hybrid.
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Didn’t Yamaha coin the term “hybrid†when they invented the AvantGrand series a decade ago? If that’s the case by definition AG’s and Novi are hybrids.
I agree with EssBrace, if a piano has strings it’s an acoustic.
Yamaha N1X, P-515. Genelec 8331 monitors and 7350 sub. VI’s: Garritan CFX, VSL Bösendorfer Upright, and VSL Blüthner 1895. Pianoteq.
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I think there is no official defintion of a hybrid piano. To me a digital piano with a real acoustic action is a hybrid, but you could also say that's just a digital with an action from an acoustic, and consider a silent or "transacoustic" (as Yamaha calls it) piano to be a true hybrid, since it's a combination of a digital and acoustic piano. I think it's whatever you want to call it actually, it doesn't really matter to me.
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So ... you think I should buy one of those ATX or Aures models, instead of an AG or Novus? Is that what you're telling me? I think semantic loyalty needs to translate to customer loyalty.
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This is surely true ... If a piano has strings it’s an acoustic. And ... If a piano with strings is an acoustic, then a piano with only digital sound is a digital piano. If a piano has both then it's a hybrid ... as with all of the ATX/Aures pianos on that Danish site. You choose the sound. Strings when you want them. Digits when you don't. This is my motivation ... ... consider a silent or "transacoustic" (as Yamaha calls it) piano to be a true hybrid, since it's a combination of a digital and acoustic piano. These Yamahas predate all of the newbie hybrid imposters.
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Oh Mac....
Acoustic action + digital sound generation = hybrid.
Yamaha Avant Grands are Hybrids. Kawai Novuses (Novi?) are hybrids. NOTHING else currently available is a hybrid.
Why would a piano with strings be a hybrid? A piano with strings is an acoustic piano. Yes, there are products with strings and digital sound generation but they are also other things which place them in the market differently, and allow them to be differentiated from acoustics, hybrids and digitals with other recognised nomenclature, such as 'silent pianos' or 'Transacoustics/Aures' etc.
In the real world, i.e., the piano market place, the ONLY definition which makes sense (and which most people now seem to accept) is...
Acoustic action + digital sound generation = hybrid. +1 Mac, with all all due respect, I think you've been set on a subjectively rigid definition of hybrid, one that isn't even accepted in your domains of expertise. Duplication/redundancy of function (digital sound generation + acoustic sound generation from strings in a single instrument) isn't a necessary condition for a hybrid. In fact, technically *function* (acoustic sound generation) shouldn't come into the definition at all--a hybrid simply needs to be a mix or cross between two species/varieties. An acoustic action mated to digital sound generation is plainly a hybrid. As would a Yamaha NWX action glued to plectrums strumming a harpsichord. As a marketing term, Yamaha's definition for the AGs seems pure enough (real acoustic action, digital sound generation), but it does open the door for others to make the same claim for a number of other things (does the acoustic upright cabinet that houses a CS-11 make it a hybrid).
Bosendorfer D214VC ENPro Past: Yamaha P-85, P-105, CP50, Kawai MP11, Kawai NV10
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Yamaha had a different idea decades ago. I'm especially annoyed by advertisers who pervert traditional meaning to cajole and deceive. The AG and NV pianos are only hybrid by this johnny-come-lately definition.
But, U3 says it doesn't matter to him. And in a limited sense it doesn't matter to me, either. That's because I'm likely to buy one of those imposter hybrids in a year or so. I just won't be fooled into thinking it's a hybrid. Rather I'll be convinced that I'm getting a top-notch digital.
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Rather I'll be convinced that I'm getting a top-notch digital.
Well, you'd be right there. It would certainly be a digital piano. But according to the definition, that doesn't make it also *not* a hybrid
Bosendorfer D214VC ENPro Past: Yamaha P-85, P-105, CP50, Kawai MP11, Kawai NV10
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Duplication/redundancy of function (digital sound generation + acoustic sound generation from strings in a single instrument) isn't a necessary condition for a hybrid. In fact, technically *function* (acoustic sound generation) shouldn't come into the definition at all--a hybrid simply needs to be a mix or cross between two species/varieties. It's the same concept with my Prius. It's a mix/cross between an internal combustion engine and a battery powered electric motor. The two work together to form the Toyota Prius Hybrid. The car won't run without both working together. Same with the N1X/NV-10. Acoustic action working with electric/digital sound generation produces a hybrid piano. Hybrid is a blending of two different things to produce a third (hybrid) result. From what I understand the acoustic pianos that actually have sound generators in them work independently of each another. You either have an acoustic sound or a digital sound. However, the two don't seem to be designed to work together to produce a third (hybrid) result. God Bless, David
Last edited by David B; 10/22/19 07:48 PM.
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So ... you think I should buy one of those ATX or Aures models, instead of an AG or Novus? Is that what you're telling me? I think semantic loyalty needs to translate to customer loyalty. Oh, no! I meant that in a world where salesmen would tell you lies, these particular ones might be worth it a customer respect for their honesty, despite being far away from you (Although it can be argued that they simply tell you only what you wanna hear )
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As a marketing term, Yamaha's definition for the AGs seems pure enough (real acoustic action, digital sound generation), but it does open the door for others to make the same claim for a number of other things (does the acoustic upright cabinet that houses a CS-11 make it a hybrid). Still trying to understand what two things are being married together in the case of a Casio GP which makes it a "hybrid" though....
across the stone, deathless piano performances "Discipline is more reliable than motivation." -by a contributor on Reddit r/piano "Success is 10% inspiration, and 90% perspiration." -by some other wise person "Pianoteq manages to keep it all together yet simultaneously also go in all directions; like a quantum particle entangled with an unknown and spooky parallel universe simply waiting to be discovered." -by Pete14
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It's the same concept with my Prius. It's a mix/cross between an internal combustion engine and a battery powered electric motor. The two work together to form the Toyota Prius Hybrid. The car won't run without both working together.
I've actually thought about the analogy to hybrid cars. Some Priuses qualify (but as I understand it, technically speaking a traditional Prius can drive the wheels from either gas engine or the electric motor, which meets Mac's minimum definition). A better example might be the Chevy Volt, which is undeniably also a hybrid. But the gas engine (strings) can only charge the electric battery (digital sound generation), and isn't part of the drivetrain--only the electric motor is--so it doesn't drive the car (produce sound). Both Prius and Volt qualify as hybrids, but you cannot say the Volt *isn't* a hybrid. Yeah, I get this may be overthinking things Still trying to understand what two things are being married together in the case of a Casio GP which makes it a "hybrid" though.... Practically: Nothing more than any other "non-hybrid" digital piano like a CLP or LX. Pure digital-only action (not used in an acoustic), per digital only sound generation, pure digital-only cabinet and sound reproduction. Reducto ad absurdum: It has wooden keys (is that enough?). Maybe it has the same keytop material as a C. Bechstein? It uses wood in its cabinet construction? Again, nothing different from any other high-end digital piano, but should the line be drawn somewhere? I kind of think in this case the "marketing" definition Yamaha came up with is fair to define the category. That's up to debate of course, but I don't think it's quite as debatable as whether an AG is a hybrid or not.
Bosendorfer D214VC ENPro Past: Yamaha P-85, P-105, CP50, Kawai MP11, Kawai NV10
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It's the same concept with my Prius. It's a mix/cross between an internal combustion engine and a battery powered electric motor. The two work together to form the Toyota Prius Hybrid. The car won't run without both working together.
I've actually thought about the analogy to hybrid cars. Some Priuses qualify (but as I understand it, technically speaking a traditional Prius can drive the wheels from either gas engine or the electric motor, which meets Mac's minimum definition). That's true, but the gas engine and electric motor must work together. Even when the gas engine is running the battery is charging to run the electric motor. The transition between the two is almost constant and if one fails the car will not run. It's a symbiotic relationship just like in the N1X/NV10. If either the acoustic action or digital sound fails the piano will not play. The two dependent on each other is also what makes it a hybrid. God Bless, David
Last edited by David B; 10/22/19 08:34 PM.
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Hybrid is a blending of two different things to produce a third (hybrid) result. From what I understand the acoustic pianos that actually have sound generators in them work independently of each another. You either have an acoustic sound or a digital sound. However, the two don't seem to be designed to work together to produce a third (hybrid) result.
God Bless, David
Not the case for the Yamaha Transacoustic. They will allow the digital piano sound to lift the dampers and activate the acoustic strings for the purposes of resonance. So that's a hybrid for sure.
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Still trying to understand what two things are being married together in the case of a Casio GP which makes it a "hybrid" though....
Casio are lying. Many people seem to think that the Casio GPs have real piano actions.
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Hybrid is a blending of two different things to produce a third (hybrid) result. From what I understand the acoustic pianos that actually have sound generators in them work independently of each another. You either have an acoustic sound or a digital sound. However, the two don't seem to be designed to work together to produce a third (hybrid) result.
God Bless, David
Not the case for the Yamaha Transacoustic. They will allow the digital piano sound to lift the dampers and activate the acoustic strings for the purposes of resonance. So that's a hybrid for sure. That's pretty cool. Although, they still can work independently from each other (at least acoustic can) where hybrid in piano nomenclature seems to include a collaboration of the two (acoustic and digital) in order to function at all. God Bless, David
Last edited by David B; 10/22/19 10:16 PM.
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Still trying to understand what two things are being married together in the case of a Casio GP which makes it a "hybrid" though.... Casio are lying. Many people seem to think that the Casio GPs have real piano actions. You'd think that these days, when there often are legal repercussions for outright lying in marketing literature, that Casio's lawyers would have had them come up with some reason. I can almost picture in my mind's eye, one of their in-house lawyers asking the marketing department, "What will we say if we are asked why the GP is a hybrid?" LOL
across the stone, deathless piano performances "Discipline is more reliable than motivation." -by a contributor on Reddit r/piano "Success is 10% inspiration, and 90% perspiration." -by some other wise person "Pianoteq manages to keep it all together yet simultaneously also go in all directions; like a quantum particle entangled with an unknown and spooky parallel universe simply waiting to be discovered." -by Pete14
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You'd think that these days, when there often are legal repercussions for outright lying in marketing literature, that Casio's lawyers would have had them come up with some reason. I can almost picture in my mind's eye, one of their in-house lawyers asking the marketing department, "What will we say if we are asked why the GP is a hybrid?" LOL
There's nothing technically inaccurate about the name. As Mac suggests in the OP, "hybrid" isn't defined, it's not an accepted term of art, and they can also fall back to "the keytops use the same material as on an acoustic." This is why there's no foul when Roland calls their actions "Hybrid Grand Keyboard" or Kawai US calls the CA-97/CS-11 hybrids. If anything, it's a muddy, meaningless term. Casio is just way more successful capitalizing off of it than other makers.
Bosendorfer D214VC ENPro Past: Yamaha P-85, P-105, CP50, Kawai MP11, Kawai NV10
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