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That 1999 price seems high. Here in Italy I can buy it for 1735€ with free shipping from two separate huge and reputable online stores. They also ship internationally within the EU for less than 50€ extra. Unless you prefer buying it at a local shop to make it easier with warranty in case there are issues, I would really look into buying internationally and having it shipped if you can’t find it at a price lower than that. I would basically pay almost 300 euros less than you for the same instrument.

You are right- this is the funcionality that I want to use myself and my daughter would have lots of fun with it as well, but it seems that a Midi adpater MD-BT01 for ca. 50 USD will let me do that as well

Yeah, you are probably right - there is some Belgian shop as well that sells the thing for less than 1800. That sounds reasonable.
On the other hand, I know that one might need to make use of the 5yr warranty, so having a local seller is convenient.

Hi everyone! I'm new here

So after I looked on some of the threads on this forum and some YouTube videos, in regards of the tone and action of Kawai and Yamaha digital pianos, I've concluded several things :

Tone :
- I think Kawai has a warmer sound, but a little bit "flatter" or less dynamic?
- Yamaha is sharp and bright, but have more dynamics

Action :
- Kawai is lighter
- Yamaha is heavier

Now, I have some questions :
1. It seems like many people here prefer Kawai's lighter actions. However, I personally want to prepare for the keys at the grand piano, and since I played on one for once, I think I gravitate towards Yamaha. My question is that are Yamaha actions that bad? I would prefer heavier actions to better prepare myself for the grand piano, but I also don't want to injure myself

2. I have a hard time deciding which brand I'll choose in regards to piano tone, I like Kawai's warmer sound but in terms of dynamics, I think Yamaha wins??? After seeing YouTube videos???

3. Regarding YouTube videos, by the way I can only rely on YouTube videos and forums to decide between ca99 and clp 785, and based on the videos the Yamaha is clearly brighter. However if any of you have played the Yamaha CLPs in real life, compared to the videos, what are the difference in the tone? I mean, is the tone of Yamaha pianos sound brighter in videos than in real life? Or is it just as bright?

4. Also, regarding the reliability of the build quality of the piano, I heard that ca99 have issues regarding the sound production, like the hissing or rattling speakers. I rarely hear complaints from people regarding Yamaha's speakers in this forum. Also, somehow I tend to trust Yamaha's brand more (maybe because it's so popular in my country? And currently I have Yamaha DGX 620 and I don't hate the sound at all). My question is, is it true that Yamaha is more stable in quality? However, some people said that Kawai is better in this regard, which one is the truth?

Best Regards,
Yuri

1) Apparently everything changed with the CLP700s and now many people report yamaha action to be lighter, even too light for some. I wouldn’t worry about that. I was taught on harder pianos so I could play any piano with ease. I promise you that you will adapt to any of these actions just fine, nothing will be so heavy that will injure you or you can’t play it. If anything you could find it too light in my experience. Yamaha action isn’t bad at all, nor is Kawai.
2) The way I see it is Yamaha has a sound that comes more alive than Kawai, which is a more classical piano sound. If you want to play anything but classical music I much prefer Yamaha’s, and you can always use the bosendorfer if you want a warmer tone.
3) Yeah the yamaha is definitely brighter. I haven’t played the new series so I can’t tell you how it is in real life. All I know is that it’s a very pleasing dynamic sound and depending on the microphones used it’s hard to appreciate that.
4) In my country too Yamaha is the gold standard, while Kawai is considered cheap and lower quality products. My personal experience tends to confirm that, yamaha are a quality brand and I never had an issue. On the other hand there are many issues with Kawai keys on this forum, something Yamaha users don’t report as often. If I had to choose based on quality and reliability I’d choose Yamaha.

This probably just adds to the "marketing speak" we've been talking about, but I received the link to these two articles from The Piano Guys when I sent them question regarding the action
Article 1
Article 2
Article 2 has some more technical details regarding the sound system and sampling.

Whose "marketing speak" are you talking about? Is it Raekon's? If that's true, then it's a shame

What I mean by "marketing speak" is that it's just repeating the promotional language of Yamaha instead of the reviews that we've seen from others in this thread.

Ah! I see

Hello all,

I want to ask, are the yamaha clp 775 and 785 released later than clp 735 and 745? Or is it not available in some countries? I've checked online stores in my country (Indonesia) and it seems like there are little to no online stores that sell the 645 675 and 685 but I often encounter 625s... I know a big online store that pre-orders 735 and 745 tho. Does this mean that the whole 600 series is no longer being sold and being replaced with the whole 700 series, thus making the 775 and 785 guaranteed to be on the shelf? Or does that mean the -75 and -85 Clavinovas are indeed not available in some countries? In the Indonesian site of Yamaha the 775 and 785 are listed, though. What do you guys think?

Best regards,
Yuri

Well it’s probably normal for stores to have more stock of the lower end models as they are probably sold more often. I can still find some old CLP600s models in my country too, but they are definitely gonna get replaced by new CLP700s shippings once the local stock is sold out. The CLP-775 is already available here in europe, while the CLP-785 still isn’t listed anywhere.

Slightly off topic, but I just noticed a CLP-585 @ PianoMart (asking price $2,700).

If in good condition, this would be a good buy at a lower -negotiated- price for anyone liking the NWH action. This model has the CFX with VRM, key-off samples, etc....It also has a good three-way speaker system and looks similar in design to current models (medium-tall upright cabinet). It doesn’t have an audio card but the audio-in can do for running a VST.

The 585 does still hold up very well. NWX gets lots of love and it comes with counterweights. Speakers are awesome too. The only issue people seem to have with it is the Bösendorfer sample. Although, there is also a lack of binaural samples but who cares if you use VSTs

P515 has counterweights?

Yes!

I don't believe so...
On Clavinovas, only X85 and X95GP

I double checked the specs/features for the CLP-585; it has counterweights. They even have a picture showing the weights.


From the Yamaha site for the CLP-585:

“Key counterweights
Counterweights are embedded in the keys of a grand piano to balance the weight of the hammers and offer more precise control when playing delicately at low volumes. The Clavinova features carefully-adjusted counterweights for improved playability when playing pianissimo and better key return in rapid passages. The keyboard of the Clavinova has been fine-tuned to offer optimal balance, emphasizing its superb playability and grand piano response”.

Yes, 585 has counterweights.
P515, no...

I thought that you answered PlayerKan

They both share NWX, this maybe leads to this confusion

My bad, Otavio, the question was referring specifically to the P-515.
I somehow missed that part and mistakenly thought it was referring to the CLP-585, and answered ‘yes’.

You are correct, the P-515 does not have counterweights; the CLP-585 does.

OK thank you for answering