Yamaha CP1 first impressions

[Mogut]

One thing that troubles me is that the comparison chart tells me that only the CP1 features speaker sims. The Nords have been a great example for me in how a speaker sim can drastically improve the coolness of the sound. It ought to be in the CP5 aswell...

 

Thats bugging me as well. Thats why I keep whining about the CP1 price

Instead of getting caught up in specs and looking for things these boards don't have, why not wait until you play them to evaluate details such as this?

 

I'm not sure any of my keyboards have speaker simulation....

 

dB

 

Gee guys, I thought this is a discussion, all we have to go by is specs at this point.

 

 

[snazzyplayer]

Other than polyphony, weight, keyboard construction and number of voices, specs still leave a lot out.

 

In some instances "specs" is just short for "speculations".

 

Just go have lunch, and give me an uninterrupted hour with the instrument...that's all I ask.

 

Snazzy

 

 

[David Loving]

I am just waiting to play them. Frankly, I do not care about specs, except weight, but I love reading about the impressions fo those who have played the new Yamahas. When I drank, in my past life, I did not drink bevereges with fruit, soft drinks, umbrellas and other additives, just scotch neat or rocks, and of course, beer. I like the idea that Yamaha has come out with a dedicated piano/ep. That's refreshing. I try very hard never to have to use strings, horns and other synth sounds besides pianos and ep's and organs. I would not know a "speaker simulation" if it held a gun on me and asked me who it was. I doubt I'd ever use one - heck it already has to go through a speaker as it is. I like using one board for pianos and ep and another for B3 sim. That's enough for me. I'd love something as close to the real thing that I can get to the gig as possible, that's all. I realize that lots of folks like an all in one board, orchestra-wide, and there are lots of good ones on the market. I like that Yamaha is making this CP1 a specialized instrument. I can't wait to play one.

[Dave Bryce]

Gee guys, I thought this is a discussion, all we have to go by is specs at this point.

...and videos, and sound clips and the opinions of the people who've played on them...

 

Also, I didn't suggest we shouldn't be paying attention to specs - I'd never do that - I was commenting on "getting caught up in specs and looking for things these boards don't have", and minor ones (IMO) at that. You and Niels both said the lack of speaker sim on the CP5 bugs you - why? Do any of your boards have this? If not, how can you be bugged that you'll miss it?

 

I'm not attacking at all - just seeking to understand the thought process.

 

dB

[Mogut]

You and Niels both said the lack of speaker sim on the CP5 bugs you - why? Do any of your boards have this? If not, how can you be bugged that you'll miss it?

 

I'm not attacking at all - just seeking to understand the thought process.

 

dB

 

I think you missed my point. The CP5 does not have certain specs which the CP1 has, therefore I will be looking at getting the CP1 which is alot more bucks, which is what bugs me. LOL

[burningbusch]

According to the CP-1 manual the speaker sim is ONE setting on the Power Amp/Compressor parameter pages. It appears that the CP-5 does have the Power Amp/Compressor sims which allows you to choose the amp and adjust the drive. With the CP-1 you would be able to choose one of the speaker sims but are no adjustments possible, from what I can tell.

 

If you're Rhodes emulation needs speaker sim to be effective it's a weak emulation. I use Scarbee and Velvet and never use speaker sims. Amp sims yes, but not speaker.

 

I'll have to wait for the manuals, I suppose, to fully understand the signal flow through the CP-5/CP-50. Remember they DO include the Motif FXs which the CP-1 does not.

 

From what I can tell Yamaha (and this is a superficial view admittedly) of putting the best sounds they could in each model.

 

Busch.

 

[Tonysounds]

Instead of getting caught up in specs and looking for things these boards don't have, why not wait until you play them to evaluate details such as this?

 

I'm not sure any of my keyboards have speaker simulation....

 

dB

 

Thats never stopped this bunch before!

 

What I find funny is that theyre using specs from a board lots of folks here crap on, and/or from boards they dont even currently own: it doesnt have the doohickey from the XYZ, or the thingamabob from the Z2.0.

 

[oxfordman]

Does anyone know what 305 sounds (besides the piano) from the motif are included in the cp5? Perhaps a viewable sound set?

[Aidan]

Out of interest, I did a search for manuals on the usual Yamaha site but they don't seem to have been posted yet. My guess is we won't know until they are.

[Andy Seattle]

This seems like a good time to delurk. Mine just arrived!

 

I'll be spending the night getting to know it properly, but if anyone has any queries or MIDI test files you want to hear through the CP1, I'd be happy to post up some sample recordings.

 

http://www.virtuosopacific.com/images/CP1.jpg

 

[Bobadohshe]

Nice RIG.

 

 

Except that I would have the Motif on top. But yeah.

[Andy Seattle]

It will be - I got it out of the box and just dumped it on the top row. The reorg will come tomorrow.

[Mogut]

http://www.virtuosopacific.com/images/CP1.jpg

 

That was fast

[Andy Seattle]

I got an SV-1 in December and returned it due to some deal breaking issues, so there was a hole ready to be filled. When the CP1 was announced I pounced on it - the spec read like a list of everything I've been asking for for years.

 

First impression after a couple of hours - I love the action and the pianos - the CFIIIS is fabulous. I need to dig deeper with the Rhodes sounds - they are very tweakable but just going through the presets, the amp sims are much more subtle than the SV-1 and the bark is less accentuated. I do miss the UniVibe though...

[Markyboard]

It will be - I got it out of the box and just dumped it on the top row. The reorg will come tomorrow.

 

You may find it self re-orged over night. The board looks a bit heavy for that stand. Congrats.

[Aidan]

Wow, congratulations - didn't expect one of those to turn up so quickly!

 

Andy, do you plan to gig with this rig? If so, I detect someone with very good upper body strength!

[Andy Seattle]

Can't sleep so I've reorganised. Now it looks worse! I suppose I'll have to get another stand.

 

http://www.virtuosopacific.com/images/CP2.jpg

 

Andy, do you plan to gig with this rig? If so, I detect someone with very good upper body strength!

No, I haven't gigged for 15 years and that's pretty much why - hauling the gear around just got too much. It's going to stay rooted in the home studio and used mainly for composition. I'll be doing a full comparison tomorrow with Ivory, Scarbee and FM8.

 

A quirk I've noticed - when you toggle the modulation or the compressor/power amp sections, the signal path gets interrupted briefly. The notes don't cut dead as they do when you change effects on the SV-1, but it's still annoying that you get a short cut out when, for example, you switch on a chorus.

[Aidan]

Can't sleep so I've reorganised. Now it looks worse! I suppose I'll have to get another stand.

 

I think boards of this size really demand the respect of a stand each Nice L-shaped setup would be good if you have the room for it.

 

A quirk I've noticed - when you toggle the modulation or the compressor/power amp sections, the signal path gets interrupted briefly. The notes don't cut dead as they do when you change effects on the SV-1, but it's still annoying that you get a short cut out when, for example, you switch on a chorus.

 

Unfortunately, the only boards I've come across when this is not an issue are Kurzweil's.

[Mogut]

Andy, why dont you get that fancy LG800 stand that is supposed to go with the CP1?

[Melodialworks]

Is the NW Stage action graded? Thanks.

[Athan Billias]

No, the NW stage is not graded. In developing this action, a number of different prototypes of the action ( some graded , some not) were developed and evaluated by a selection of pro players playing both the acoustic pianos and the electric pianos. They all felt that overall this action worked better for both the acoustics and the electrics.

 

The physics of the action in a reed or tine piano is very different than an acoustic piano. Of course , you really have to play it to decide for yourself, but the reaction to the keyboard action at NAMM was very, very positive.

[Melodialworks]

Thanks for the clarification, Athan. I've heard from several folks who have played it that the action is very, very good. I look forward to (hopefully soon) playing it myself.

[Aidan]

I'll reserve absolute judgement until I play one, but personally that little factoid will make it easier to keep faith with my GX.

[Mogut]

Anyone seen these in showrooms yet?

[Melodialworks]

I played the CP1 on Friday eve. and Sat. AM.

[Song80s]

I played the CP1 on Friday eve. and Sat. AM.

 

thank you for the insight

[Mogut]

I played the CP1 on Friday eve. and Sat. AM.

 

What... did you sleep with it?

[drpopper]

No but he wanted to ....

[Andy Seattle]

So I've had mine almost a week now - I didn't want to rush in with opinions until I'd had time to really dig into it.

 

First the positives:-

- The action is fantastic - it feels very comfortable and responsive and it suits both the acoustic and electric pianos very well.

- The acoustic pianos are very good indeed, each with a very distinctive character. The CFIII is bright and dynamic, the S6 woody and refined. The soundboard resonance is beautiful - very dense and lush.

- It's very easy to tweak the sounds to suit your preferences.

- The damper pedal is a continuous controller, rather than an on/off or half-pedal one.

- Very nice Dimension D effect.

 

And the negatives:-

- The factory presets don't show the CP1 in its best light. A lot of the sounds are very plain - they can be made to sound a lot better, in my opinion.

- There's not much granularity when it comes to tweaking sounds. When you're altering the Attack Timbre or Hammers for example, there are only 5 settings (Soft 1&2, Normal and Hard 1&2) so just a single turn of the control can make a big difference to the sound.

- The reverbs sound cheap and thin. (I may be biased as I've been trialling the Lexicon bundle for the past fortnight, but there you go...)

- No Delay or Univibe effects.

- The amp distortion effects are unconvincing. They sound like a kind of grainy fizz tacked on to the sounds rather than an organic and responsive part of the sounds.

- On the '78 and '73 Rhodes models, there are some weird inconsistencies across the keyboard. I haven't got a real '78 or '73 to compare, so it may be a deliberately modeled quirk from the originals, but to me it just sounds odd. Some notes feel like they have different velocity curves and there are sometimes marked differences in the bell sound between adjacent keys and across groups of notes. It makes my playing sound noticeably uneven when I'm playing either of these two sounds. Here's an example using the 78 Rhodes preset (I've deliberately fixed the velocity on this scale to rule out playing inconsistencies. Where there's a noticeable difference, I've repeated the notes a few times to make the point).

- As noted before, switching the modulation effect on or off during sustained notes cuts the sound off briefly. The M3 can do this without disturbing the signal path so it's disappointing that the CP1 can't.

- No 'Jump' preset. Just kidding.

[Jazz+]

Those "inconsistencies" make it sound realistic to me.