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Whelp I called my shop today.
I've ordered the 785 in December. The employee offered to reimburse my deposit. Told me that the Yamaha Canada distribution was all but halted and that they ceased all communications with the dealers. The situation is so completely busted that the distributors aren't answering their dealers anymore.
He said to not expect the piano anytime soon.
I'm just so bummed. But hey, c'est la vie.

You may want to call around. I couldn't find any online in Ontario at all, and started reaching out directly. Most places were telling me several months at least (one told me 6-9 months), but I did manage to find a black one in stock today of the larger retailers and was able to order it over the phone. They also have a white one available.

Hi Everynone,

I have a question about recording.
I actually have a CLP-745 and when i listen to the reviews of the Clavinova serie, the CFX sound through speakers or headphones is totally awesome.
But when i do record mine using the MP3 to USB option, i find it to sound somehow pretty muddy (needs lot of EQ tweaking to get something "alive" while it's mentionned in the reviews that the record sound is not mixed and directly recorded), not much volume (have to increase the gain almost to max on the mixing app to get it on proper level) and the playing is not really "touch sensitive" (going from pianissimo to fortissimo isn't really felt on the recording).

Is there any proper way to record the CLP ?
Any advice will be great

There is a whole thread on the subject. I can't find it right now. But the jist of it is that the volume is recorded very low to avoid distortion on the track.

My usual pattern with Audio to USB is to take the WAV track to Audacity and apply the Normalize effect. I keep the default Normalize parameters. It doesn't sound exactly how I hear it while playing but it is closer than any other EQ I can manage to apply to the recording. Manually applying gain is not a good idea for reasons I'm not qualified to explain. But generally it is regarded as a destructive change.
I believe Normalize will apply gain but in a safe way. Try it, the results are very satisfying.

Got my 785 today and had a quick go on it.

My review: good sound, sampling is actually better than i thought it would be, key action is good but there is a little too much resistance at the end of the key stroke which makes me actually not play the key at all because it's overly resistant. This may take some getting used to, overall the action is certainly lighter than the 685 and not as heavy as i was worried it would be.

Probably should have bought the N1X, but too late now.

Great news mwf.
Since that guy posted about some problems with the speakers on mutliple 785s, I've been having bad dreams that perhaps there is an issue at the assembly line. And my mind goes in a rabbit hole about parts shortage and perhaps Yamaha putting different components. Or quality control taking a hit due to pandemic.

No audible issues with mine, sounds perfect.

Congrats! It sounds like you didn't try it ahead of purchase/delivery? Anyway, I look forward to seeing or hearing you use it on your YT channel.

Unfortunately on more playing of the 785 I've decided it's definitely not for me, this is a warning to anyone buying blind without trying it out first... I blame the lockdown in this instance, and the fact I'm a complete idiot on top of that, which never helps.

The main issue i have with this piano is its action, which at this price range is disappointing to say the least, its quite tragic in fact, to the point where my playing experience is completely ruined by it. The CA79/99 action from Kawai is vastly superior and the sound is delivery on the CA99 is probably better also and even maybe the sound quality itself.

I think for an advanced level pianist this piano is simply unsuitable, the downweight of the keys is too high and the bass is hilariously heavy that i almost gasped with awe how much effort it took to depress a key.

I will say the samples are marvellous though, a definite step up from previous models, they are very rich and detailed.

I ran garritan cfx through the 785 speakers via a usb cable, which was amazingly easy and quick to set up, literally no setting up required in fact, just plug and play. Garritan sounds great through the speakers.

The action is prohibiting me from enjoying the instrument, I'm kind of loving the sound and sampling but the choice of mechanical action to accompany such a great device is baffling.... Absolutely baffling! I'll never understand yamaha taking the absurd grand touch action route after the clp 500 series.

As it stands, I can't recommend the yamaha clp785 to anyone, maybe only students who are practicing grades 1-8 (UK), diploma level playing you can forget about.

My opinion is just that though, but I've owned about 10-15 different dps over the last 20 years and played on hundreds of grands and uprights in my time.

The actions on the Yamaha CLP (and CVP too?) have always been heavy. It's been debated here ... but I have no doubt.

Being heavy-handed it doesn't bother me as much as it does others. But still I relish a lighter action on my (someday soon?) Avant Grand.

So... you spent weeks criticising the action of the N1X here only to realise that

I did mention these three points a few times earlier in the thread:
1. High downweight in the 785.
2. CA79/CA99 have lower key weighting.
3. CA79/CA99 also have better (less) weight gradation across the keys.

It just comes down to whether you're happy playing a heavier action or instead you prefer closer to the weighting of an acoustic grand. Some adults don't mind a heavier action - but I wouldn't inflict a GrandTouch action on any child under 10.

Hmmm, I was under the impression they had made the grand touch action lighter compared to the 600 series.
It must have already been answered, but is the grand touch with counterweights in the 785 actually heavier than the NWX in the P515 ?

I hated the actions of 675, 685 and 775 exactly because of the unnaturally heavy actions that push against your fingers and have this weird resistance and have posted my opinion more than once. No wonder 785, which I haven't tried yet, is no exception.

Let’s assume this is the case; then why on earth would Yamaha claim they’ve ‘improved’ the action if in reality all they’ve done is make it lighter?

I’m baffled by this because the previous action (NWX) is so good, and one would assume that if Yamaha ventured into redesigning it from the ground up (original GT), it would be because they felt they could indeed make it better.

Based on opp (other people’s perspectives) it seems like the new action is simply a little lighter but the ‘unnatural feeling of resistance’ (pushing back against fingers) is still there.

I’m not saying the 7xx series are not changed from 6xx series. Maybe the newer actions are lighter. But 775 felt too heavy to me. Compared to 745 which felt lighter and better and especially 735 that was easiest to play and straight from N1X I would go for 735 if I was only judging actions.

The 785 action is lighter than the 685 action - to me that was a jump from unplayable to playable (but not necessarily the most enjoyable). To me it feels like a heavy acoustic upright compared to a grand.

The 785 action has about 40% heavier downweight than the 745, and about 50% heavier downweight than the CA79/CA99.

Definitely play them before you purchase (as all of the forum regulars correctly point out).

The P-515 is a model I haven't yet precisely measured, so I'll do that tomorrow if I can make it 2 mins down the road to my friendly Yamaha dealer

It is currently impossible to try anything. Every shop in a 100miles is backordered on any Yamaha's digital. There is no stock anywhere.

You guys are giving me anxiety. I'm currently considering just giving up on upgrading my DP in the current climate and just keep my current one for the next few years until things get back to normal.

Sorry

mwf pointed out that they'd played on hundreds of acoustic grand pianos. That explains why they find it too heavy. Perfectly understandable.

If you yourself are more used to acoustic uprights then I don't think you will hate it.

My main gripe with the 785 is pricing: they're charging around 80% extra over the price of the 745, yet not really giving you anything much extra in the action for that large wad of cash. You're only getting improved sound and cabinet.

Are we saying that at the price-point the 785 goes for it would be better to simply buy the NU1X?

At least the NU1X’s action isn’t so controversial. It’s an upright acoustic action. Period. End of sentence! (No more loud notes; it seems).