Athan Billias

Sorry, although we are happy to provide information on current products we typically don't speculate on future products because things change so often with product plans. What we can say is that we have put in the same request to the planning people because an upright piano has a very different vibe to it than a 9' grand !

Can´t find anything about MIDI except I/O ports. Does the CP4 at least have one external MIDI zone, ideally on/off switchable on the fly and w/ some user selectable/adjustable controller assignments ? 5-Pin DIN MIDI and USB transmit the same MIDI data (mirrored) or are independent ? Any MIDI implementation chart available ? A.C. The internal three Parts ( Main,Layer and Split) are fixed to MIDI channels 1,2 and 3. Completely separate from that the CP4 and 40 have 4 zone MIDI controller functionality with key/ velocity layers, bank and program assignment and controller routing. Basically it is similar to the external zones would find on a Motif in Master Mode if you are familiar with that. So for example you could be playing on MIDI channels 1,2,3 internally and transmit on MIDI channels 4,5,6 and 7 externally.

There are some details that are harder to glean from the spec page. There are no MIDI drum loops, but you can record and playback audio directly from a USB drive. You could put the mic into an analog mixer and send that output to the aux input, but the CP4 was not designed to have an integrated mic input with effects like the CP5. The CP4 is three Parts ( Main, Layer and Split), The CP5 is actually five ( LH 1&2 , RH1 &2 and a Mic Input Part which is also stored with each Performance). Again we just want to make people have the information to make informed decisions.

Go here and then click on the tabs for features, specs and audio/video demos. CP4 Features page

Err, you mean like a Motif XF with two GB Flash boards which is still about the same price as the Nord. We are offering the CP1 and S700 piano sample as well as Chick Corea's Rhodes in Motif Premium Collection which is made free to customers who buy a Motif XF. On another note, there are certain things that software does really well which is why we have close relationships with a lot of third party software and content developers. For example, the sound developers for Ivory often work on sound content projects for Yamaha. Many developers use Yamaha hardware keyboards when developing their software so when you play the software from a Yamaha it tends to feel natural. At Yamaha, we don't think it's hardware vs software , but both working together to provide customers what they need in different situations.

We posted that picture awhile back on our Facebook page and no one noticed the CP4 behind Chuck and Matt Clifford who came to check out both the CP4 , but also the CFX acoustic as well. Nice detective work, the cat is almost all of of the tube and there is no getting the toothpaste back in the bag.

Although entertaining, this not really the way we make decisions. The basic reason that there are three faders is that there are three internal parts so there is a fader for the Main, Layer and Split sounds. The CP5 had four internal parts. And four knobs to control them. When interviewing CP5 users, there were several main comments. People preferred faders to knobs for controlling volume. Also very, very few people actually layered anything on their left hand, using the LH exclusively for bass. Our market research also said that the vast majority of people do not connect their stage pianos to anything and actually use the CP series on stage by itself as their main and only keyboard. If we put a fourth fader on the unit for a majority of people it would not be a useful feature and be confusing because three of the faders controlled internal sounds and one did not do anything for most users. We try to be diligent in listening to end users when designing products and provide the most reasonable solution for the largest target user group. By the way, you can set the three Faders to control three zones and use a foot controller to control the other.

I don't recall hearing any obvious velocity switching when I've played the CP1/CP5's Rhodes sounds, and I've played them many times. Perhaps Busch can confirm; I'm sure he did more critical listening when he had the CP1. We don't think you will be disappointed, the SCM on the EP sounds does eliminate any velocity switches.

Do the acoustic pianos on the CP4 employ SCM (as on the CP1/5/50), or only the electric pianos? Yes, the basic technology is the same, but of course the sounds are either completely new (CFX) or tweaked for the new GH3 action.

Yes, it's a switching power supply so as long as you have the right AC cable it will work with 220/240.

The CP4 is a switching power supply so all you need is the right AC cable and you are good for 220 and 240 volt usage.

Sorry, must have been really jet lagged, it's this Friday, September 12 that the website for the CP4 will be opened. A week later on Sept. 19 for the MOXF.

What does 'based on' mean in his context? Does this mean that the CP4 no longer utilises the SCM sound engine from the CP1 (and CP5?)? Of course, I'll understand if you'd prefer not to disclose this information. Cheers, James x Sorry if we were unclear. The CP 4 and 40 uses the same SCM technology that was in the previous models. "Based on" in this case means that all the sounds were redone to match the new Graded NW so they weren't simply ported , but improved from the previous models,but use the same technology. The user interface is slightly different, but you can still control the preamp modeling, mic modeling , tine position , key off volume, etc.

There are four zones each with MIDI Channel, key windows , bank and program select and volume settings.

Not precisely as there are different shipping windows for different countries and we only have information on what is headed to the US. However it usually is not that far apart from US ship dates.