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Yamaha CP88 and 73 - Deserve their own thread


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IMO, the Wurlies on the Yamaha are top notch. Having played live and recorded with140s,145s, 112s and 200s, I can authoritatively say Yamaha KILLS Nord. And I"ve toured and backlined EVERY Nord Electro and Stage since the first iterations of both.

Nord has a 'hard stop' on ALL their EP samples that make for a less organic experience than Yamaha.

I"ve also backlined all the Motifs, S90, Montage and just about every Korg too.

Korgs are next best EPs after Yamaha.

 

Being more than 30 days in on a CP88, I still find it to be the most satisfying emulator I have played thus far.

I haven't ever had a less than inspirational or 'want to keep playing' feeling on this board, and isn't that what we all strive for??

My only issue is that I have to have hernia surgery in 2 weeks and wont be able to schlep the CP out for a good long while so Im considering a VC 73 as a backup gigging keyboard for EPs in the meantime!

 

"I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.�

Robert Bosch, 1919

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It's subjective and varies with the model, but I tend to like Korg, Kurzweil, Kawai, and Casio Wurlis better than Yamaha, Nord, or Roland.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Man I love this board. I had to learn how to navigate it a little but it feels great. The build quality is nice and tight. The unit feels secure. It's even better then when I played it at GC in Buffalo. I love the action. This will be great for piano centered gigs. I will still keep the Forte of course.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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Got the CP88 & very impressed with the APs & EPs, paired it with my FA-06 and it's great! Light weight, solid sounds (except the organ on both boards fall flat) that can cover any cover band needs. Hopefully the September OS update will bring game.
You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light.
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  • 2 weeks later...
The download is over 1.2Gb - so must be overwriting the last update and then adding the sounds from V1.1 plus the new sounds. So it probably includes about 100Mb of new stuff - clunky way of doing things. Another couple of OB Brass sounds (why?) but at least they have now added 1 (One) Brass sound - let's hope it's a good 'un!
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Here's the complete list of new sounds:

 

CP_OS12_New_Voice.png

 

Good to see staples harmonica, flute, brass. Mellotrons ia a nice surprise. Still missing for my ideal "bread and butter" set: accordion, sax, violin, trumpet, choir voices. I'm also surprised that this kind of piano-centric board still has just two clav sounds, I would have expected at least all 4 basic pickup settings.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Haven't downloaded yet (seeing this just as I'm leaving for work). On paper it's clearly an improvement -- just having a few more lead synth sounds is great -- but not a game changer. The CP is still a piano-centered board lacking enough additional sounds to get you through most gigs. They don't list any "new" organ sounds, but I'm curious whether they've improved the existing ones at all. To me, that's where the CP is a non-starter as an all-in-one board, because the organs are not gig-useable.

 

Anyway, I wasn't expecting a miracle. This is about what I expected. I never planned on using the CP as an all-in-one.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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Unless they added a mono mode and portamento, it may still be too limited to pull off a lot of lead synth stuff. I haven't actually heard the CP's organs, but assuming they're at least comparable to the MotifXS/MOX/MX, I think they can get you by for a lot of typical gigs where you just need an occasional organ sound, and are in line with most rompler organs people without clonewheels have been gigging with for many years. I guess I put organ and synth in the same category for this kind of board... don't expect much, but sometimes you don't need much. All I'd expect out of a board like this are strong "piano type" sounds (where I still find the dearth of clav sounds surprising), with basic "get you by" sounds for everything else (where there are still a few gaps, IMO).

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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CP organs are not as good as those on MODX.

 

The question is not why would you buy the CP for organ. The question is, are the CP organs good enough to get you through even a very low priority gig where you'd prefer to bring only the CP to minimize shlep. For me, the answer is no.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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Yes, there is some organ improvement on the MODX/Montage compared to the earlier Motif series, largely by virtue of the introduction of "multi part single instruments" which allow you to create an organ sound with more than 8 elements (necessary if you want the equivalent of 9 separate drawbars plus things like key click and leakage). But while obviously not good enough for everyone, lots of people have managed to get by with those previous generation Motif organ sounds as well (which is why I said "assuming they're at least comparable to the MotifXS/MOX/MX"). It's the wrong board for an organ-centric gig, obviously. But for organ, lots of players just need something passable for a few songs. I've used those organ sounds on plenty of gigs myself. I think even that level of organ makes the CP88/73 more useful for a lot of players than if it had no organ at all.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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It's just weird. I never thought of using a Yamaha for organ centered stuff? It never occurred to me, and I had every one of the S80 and S90 units except the ES model. I mean there are so many clones out there can do the job better so I take it in the context it was designed for. I am sure Yamaha does it as a courtesy but that can't be the focus of this board to provide Hammond emulation?

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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In my Chicago tribute situation, I use Mojo61 over CP4. The CP4 has a polyphonic synth sound that is serviceable, especially since I can edit the filter. (think of the huge crescendo near the end of Hard Habit to Break).

 

When you owners of CP88 try out the new sounds, can you comment on any new analog polyphonic synth patches? Are there big ole polyphonic (brass?) patches ? Is there anything approaching filter editing?

 

I guess I can wait for Guitar Center to download 1.2 before I try it out. I"ll search for YouTube videos.

 

The idea of having 3 layers is appealing. A number of our tunes have AP, dx7, and analog poly mixed at various levels. I like to have only some of them respond to expression pedal.

 

Barry

 

Home: Steinway L, Montage 8

 

Gigs: Yamaha CP88, Crumar Mojo 61, A&H SQ5 mixer, ME1 IEM, MiPro 909 IEMs

 

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I found the new sounds somewhat disappointing -- but some of the pads do sound ok. I agree on the comments on the bread and butter stuff. I really need accordion, violin, etc. And there's got to be an opportunity to improve those organs. I don't need clone quality, just something useble.

 

Compared to the Roland RD2000 -- there's just a scarcity of what I would call essential sounds in the additional sound category.

 

 

Yamaha Montage M6, Nord Stage 4 - 88, Hammond SK-Pro 73, Yamaha YC-73, Mainstage, Yamaha U1 Upright

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