niacin Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 http://www.yamaha.com/namm/w2007/PressReleaseDetail.html?CTID=5041570&CNTID=545029 At £199 I'm not expecting it to blow me away, but at least they're thinking about the lightweight 76-note piano action board we've been dreaming about for the past few years. "The new NP30 Contemporary Digital Piano, which will debut at Winter NAMM 2007, represents an entirely new class of Yamaha digital pianos. Designed to offer quality, value and portability with a lighter touch, the NP30 includes 76 Graded Touch piano-style keys and stereo-sampled piano voices. Additional features include 10 quality voices like Pianos, Organs, and Strings plus 32 notes of polyphony and ten recordings of standard piano repertoire. The NP30 offers Yamaha's first-ever Graded Touch semi-weighed key action. While the touch is lighter than the Graded Hammer Standard and Graded Hammer Effect actions of the more robust digital piano models, Graded Touch provides medium resistance in the left hand that gets lighter as you move up the keyboard allowing faster passages with your right hand. For lower-impact playing, this semi-weighted action is also ideal for aspiring pianists who suffer from arthritis or repetitive stress disorders. What's more, the physical aspects of the Graded Touch action help bring the overall weight of the NP30 to 28 pounds, even lower than the P70, previously Yamaha's lightest digital piano." Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niacin Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share Posted May 7, 2007 And here's a picture: http://www.andyou.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=NP30 So much for saving space - they put the speakers where the rest of the keys were. Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordude Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 If they put in some zone functionality, a controller pedal input and some sliders and wheels, while maintaining the on board piano sounds and hopefully good other sounds, then this might be a killer product. Hope it has the regular 1/4" outputs (TS/TRS-format) and not the smaller ("tulip"/RCA) outputs... I didn't like the P60/P70 for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordude Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 I posted before seeing niacin's 2nd post... So much for the desired master keyboard functions. Interesting product nonetheless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niacin Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share Posted May 7, 2007 Yeh, it's £199 so not much more than a midi out and we're probably lucky to see that. But it would be interesting if they'd put the keyboard on an S90es. S76es anyone? I know Eric 'll be at the front of that queue but I may not be far behind him. Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3_john Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Hope it has the regular 1/4" outputs (TS/TRS-format) and not the smaller ("tulip"/RCA) outputs... I didn't like the P60/P70 for that. That's been a problem for a *lot* of the Yammy pianos I've looked at. Noisy 1/8" headphone outputs don't inspire confidence, are 1/4" lineouts that hard to add? John GP sacred cow of the year: Jimmy Vaughan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 So much for saving space - they put the speakers where the rest of the keys were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niacin Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share Posted May 7, 2007 Yes ok, I suspect this will be the summary conclusion when we see it. Due in stores in July. Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Yeah that design defeats the only reason to "go 76". I'll bet the thing might be even longer than my 88 key SL-880 which is 51". Even if they kept the wheels to the side, Yamaha could have shaved around 4" off the length of the S90ES had they not put those thick end cheeks on it. They're design team isn't talking to working musicians obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 You know Roland has had a 76-note out for years. Roland EP-77 EP-77 Owner's Manual PDF It weighs 23 lbs. The keys are supposedly weighted but I suspect they are, like the Yamaha, very light. Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resigned Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 The title of this thread is inaccurate: the NP30 is not "graded hammer", it's semi-weighted Graded-Touch which is something new and should be welcome for some of the people here who complain about the stiffer graded-hammer action on Yammy pianos like the CP33. Also, not surprisingly the NP30 will be 32 note polyphony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briand Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Hi there, I've got a Yamaha S90. Great sounds etc but to be honest I don't use the lowest or highest notes much. Can anyone tell me why there are not 76 note versions of top quality keyboards like the S90, RD700? Surely this is a gap in the market waiting to be filled? I don't want speakers built in but the reduced length and weight would be very appealing. Thanks for your response Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 But Yamaha already makes light "weighted actions" as can be found in the P70 and some of the arranger pianos. So this looks to be even lighter than the P70. Never liked the P70 action at all. Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miracle Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 You know Roland has had a 76-note out for years. Roland EP-77 I have owned this model and the touch is indeed very light. Not similar at all to an acoustic piano. The piano voice though is in my opinion really good when using headphones or connected to PA. The supplied speakers are not great. The rest of the voices are very basic. Best regards, Richard Yamaha CLP-230 Mackie TT24 Ovanåker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3_john Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 So much for saving space - they put the speakers where the rest of the keys were. They couldn't be that stupid, could they? Well, could they? John GP sacred cow of the year: Jimmy Vaughan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobadohshe Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 And here's a picture: http://www.andyou.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=NP30 So much for saving space - they put the speakers where the rest of the keys were. Didn't Winter NAMM '07 come and go 4 months ago? I don't remember seeing this there, although I was probably too distracted by the MOTIF XS to notice anything else. Those speakers look pretty small. It's kind of like having a barebones slab piano but with speakers built in at no additional area. This is a product that will appeal to folks who want super lightweight portable digital piano functionality I suppose. Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37 My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fortner Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Actually, I think Ernie Rideout saw these when he went to Franfurt Musikmesse. I don't recall us seeing them at Winter NAMM, though, and we spent a bit of time at the Yamaha exhibit. Stephen Fortner Principal, Fortner Media Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Hope it has the regular 1/4" outputs (TS/TRS-format) and not the smaller ("tulip"/RCA) outputs... I didn't like the P60/P70 for that. That's been a problem for a *lot* of the Yammy pianos I've looked at. Noisy 1/8" headphone outputs don't inspire confidence, are 1/4" lineouts that hard to add? John I just found out, it's a quarter inch headphone out. JH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3_john Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Hope it has the regular 1/4" outputs (TS/TRS-format) and not the smaller ("tulip"/RCA) outputs... I didn't like the P60/P70 for that. That's been a problem for a *lot* of the Yammy pianos I've looked at. Noisy 1/8" headphone outputs don't inspire confidence, are 1/4" lineouts that hard to add? I just found out, it's a quarter inch headphone out. Some days I really think Yamaha hates musicians. John GP sacred cow of the year: Jimmy Vaughan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 No, they're making sure the real musicians keep buying the high end stuff, while they slowly improve their cheap line to justify charging higher prices for toy keyboards... A bunch of loud, obnoxious music I USED to make with friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeNZ Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Dumb and Dumber speaker placement! Yamaha has long had a policy of not encroaching on their stage piano market with their home orientated pianos. They have done this by not having line outs, limited MIDI capabilities, horrible interfaces for anything but basic sound selection, and refusing to include meat and potatoes sounds like decent organs, strings, and synth patches. The p60 or p70 could have been a killer stage piano for casual gig use or a piano board to complement a synth, but they deliberately knee-capped it! The Casio Privia (basic model), M-Audio semi-weighted (17 pounds), and the Kurzweil SP-76 (a real stage piano) will give it stiff competition, with the M-Audio competing in the same price band. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niacin Posted May 8, 2007 Author Share Posted May 8, 2007 The title of this thread is inaccurate: the NP30 is not "graded hammer", it's semi-weighted Graded-Touch which is something new and should be welcome for some of the people here who complain about the stiffer graded-hammer action on Yammy pianos like the CP33. good point. done. Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawback Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 No, they're making sure the real musicians keep buying the high end stuff, while they slowly improve their cheap line to justify charging higher prices for toy keyboards... Exactly. Similar to Japanese auto makers ie: notice the flurry of entry level vehicles that come & go every couple of years... and that the Altimas/Camrys/Corollas/Civics keep getting bigger and more luxurious? ____________________________________ Rod Here for the gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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