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Since no one seems to have been able to compare the CLP-990 with Kawai's CA 1000 :p
Let's try this
Anyone here who owns a Yamaha GranTouch GT 20?
Why did you purchase it and why did you not buy a normal digital piano, or a completely acoustic piano?
Or maybe why didn't you buy the GT 20 and what did you buy instead?
How about the sound, is it good? Better than completely digital pianos?
Is it worth it's price?
Would €4100 be a good price?
Is the polyphony of 32 enough (seems you can switch it to 64 but if you would not lose sound quality, why bother including the possibility???)
And last but not least : is the keyboard as good as they say?

Rgds,
Michiel

I evaluated one when I was shopping (wound up with a CVP900). Primary reason was price, secondary reason was primitive electronics. Keyboard feels like an acoustic grand piano action (since it is one.) All sound is generated digitally, so in that sense it is a pure digital piano.

Polyphony is limited but you could add sound modules through midi. More polyphony means you can sustain more notes (play two four-note chords four times with the sustain pedal held down and you've exhausted the polyphony, I routinely use 90+ voices just for piano). Not sure about the 32 vs. 64, but could be 32 stereo voices or 64 monophonic voices, which would help (you're sacrificing the stereo effect for polyphony, which can be OK with piano sounds. When a digital instrument runs out of polyphony it cuts off some notes - how that affects sound depends on how clever the designers were in deciding which notes to cut off first. There's a long thread on the subject here somewhere.

And yes, the keyboard felt "as good as they say," at least relative to other digitals. But try the CLP990 or CVP900, which I think are second-best and much more sophisticated electronically. If you only care about a piano sound, want a digital, feel that an acoustic action is absolutely key, can get it for your price (€4100 would be a GREAT price, I was quoted $20,000 (probably could have gotten it down somewhat but not enough for me to afford it) and are willing to live with limited polyphony or an external module, it could be a good choice.

I just don't get the polyphony thing. I tried the polyphony of my old Roland (HP 1800e) and I believe it's only 24! I've not really encountered problems with that. The occasions on which I heard the "stealing of notes" are very rare. Maybe it's because the sustain pedal does not sustain the notes really long?

If you use an external module, do you need to use external speakers too? And if you want a polyphony of 128 stereo, what kind of module would you need (sorry, I really don't know anything about this stuff :rolleyes: )?

So you've been able to compare Yamaha's Natural Keyboard with that of a GT 20? My primary concern is that the Natural Keyboard's touch is not heavy enough. I really need a piano with a fine touch and one that is as heavy as that of the piano I get lessons on (a Kawai grand). Right now I have to warm up at least twenty minutes before I can play decently on that bloody Kawai grand (I just don't know how lucky I am ).

About the polyphony of the GT 20. The notes are recorded stereo. The manual says that if you switch to 64 it is still stereo. Could it be that if you switch to 64 you still hear it stereo but only based on where you're playing on the keyboard? That maybe the stereo recording is gone? (Sorry if this is complete gibberish, don't know a lot about this )

I could get a Yamaha CLP-990 for a little less than €3000, should I jump in my car and get it?

Thanks,
Michiel

Given your statement about the importance of the keyboard feel and the relative costs, you're probably best off with the GT20. I'd try the 990 just for comparison but it isn't as close to an acoustic piano.

Adding a sound module doesn't require external amplification, you can run its output through the piano's amplifier and speaker. I use a super-powerful (and super-complex and expensive) sound source called GigaStudio that does great piano sounds with 160 voices of polyphony, but that's probably overkill for you. Perhaps others will chime in on other choices.

I guess if you find the 24 voices of your Roland to be good enough, 32 or 64 should be too. I have no idea about the 32/64 thing, there must be some tradeoff but other than stereo/mono I don't know what it could be. Perhaps your friendly Yamaha sales person can elaborate

I thought the GT20 sounded pretty good despite its limitations. By the way, if piano is what really matters, why not get an acoustic upright?

That really sounds interesting. Makes me more confident about the possibilities of the GT 20.

Well, actually there's two of them
There's this one guy who's selling his CLP-990 for almost half the normal price because he wants to get rid of it. And the other guy doesn't have the CLP-990 but can order the GT 20 for only €4100
Anyway, I've only mailed them and they don't answer quickly...

Because my father wants me to be able to play with headphones and honestly I think that is important too. I practice a lot with headphones. My piano is in our living room where the radio is almost constantly playing, without headphones I would never be able to practice. Of course I considered a Silent piano, but the digital sound through the headphones is of very low quality. And plus, the GranTouch actually exceeds my student budget a little, so I would only be able to buy a lesser acoustic upright for the same money...

Anyway, thanks for your replies, they have been really helpful!
I'll let you know what I decided

Michiel