Wow. Now Yamaha is coming to what I expected many days ago: it has released a new line that resemble more than before a real acoustic upright - the CLPS308 and the CLPS306. They only come in polished ebony finish and they thoroughly look like acoustic ones. I had suspicions about YAMAHA doing this since I saw the radical change in design of the recent CLP-300 series. Those look more like provincial-console style uprights than digital. Now, with the new CLPS series my ideas are confirmed.
The thing that captivates me is that they did not include a so much improved piano sound on them; they bundled them with 3-Step DSS, Pure CF Sampling, 40W, but neither Key-off nor Stereo Sustain Samples. Nevertheless the CLPS's include an Internet educational function for beginners and NW and GH3. So this sparks one new question: where are they heading on exactly?
Are they launching this series for a beginner market that does not require a full acoustic piano experience? So why the new cabinetry?. YAMAHA has the MODUS series... so why spending on the CLPS's with poorer sound? I mean, this sounds contradictory to me. The least they could do if they are releasing this new models is launching a model with 5 level DSS and all the extra samples including String Resonance, BUT not necessarily bells and whistles: a DP for pro's who want an acoustic. What is YAMAHA thinking?
.. this is much more palatable..
