Yamaha CP4 - first impressions

[I-missRichardTee]

So.... where are all these demo CP-5's at blowout prices?

 

At this point I would have to look at what the advantages of the CP-4 over the CP-5 would be besides the weight. I really don't schlep a DP all that much these days. I do most of my stuff on a 22 lb. Numa organ, though I might want to add some EP sounds to that via Motif rack or something similar.

 

I would like to have the best DP out there for the money right now. Unfortunately, it's not going to be a Casio.

 

So if there are really some ridiculous deals on CP-5's out there I would like to hear about it. I guess I could sacrifice this newest CFX sample, because I really like the action on the CP-5.

 

I bought a demo CP5 about two months ago, it is scratched on the side panels ( not the top ) from being in a not too busy Guitar Center for well over a YEAR. But the price was hard to beat $1300. I may be selling it.

[Keybass]

So.... where are all these demo CP-5's at blowout prices?

 

At this point I would have to look at what the advantages of the CP-4 over the CP-5 would be besides the weight. I really don't schlep a DP all that much these days. I do most of my stuff on a 22 lb. Numa organ, though I might want to add some EP sounds to that via Motif rack or something similar.

 

I would like to have the best DP out there for the money right now. Unfortunately, it's not going to be a Casio.

 

So if there are really some ridiculous deals on CP-5's out there I would like to hear about it. I guess I could sacrifice this newest CFX sample, because I really like the action on the CP-5.

 

Check Guitar Center. I saw a very fresh looking unit at the Hollywood store recently for $1,199.00. I consider that a blowout price.

 

[LX88]

Getting a CP-5 in good condition at that price is a blowout.I would strongly consider a deal like that if I saw it.

 

I haven't seen anything offered online at that price though. Guitar Center might be the kind of place that has to make room for new Yamaha gear.

 

That is a heck of an instrument for that money. Sometimes it's best to buy behind the curve.

[dazzjazz]

Here's a short improvisation on the CP4 Stage, using the default CFX sample. Recorded on the unit itself. No other processing.

 

https://soundcloud.com/darren-heinrich/improvisation-1-yamaha-cp4

[Manolios]

Thanks! Excellent sound... I like it more than the CFIIIS in the CP5.

[Josh Paxton]

I tried one out in a store today. After not being terribly excited by the initial announcement, I have to say I was impressed. I agree with those who said the action was like the CP5 but a little heavier, which is just perfect for me. I love the finger-ear connection on the CP5, but have always wished for a little more resistance. The CP4 nails it. The new CFX is big and spacious, and a nice compliment to the CFIII and S6. And to my surprise, I found I actually like the look of the fake Tolex. (Faux-lex?)

 

There was also a CP40 in the store. It wasn't plugged in and the power supply wasn't obviously laying around, so I didn't get to do a real comparison. However, a few seconds of playing it silently was enough to convince me that the difference in action alone was worth the extra cost of the CP4, to say nothing of the additional sounds and features. The 40 felt plasticky and mushy by comparison.

 

So I've gone from "not interested" to "somewhat tempted." I'm still not sure if I'm willing to drag around an extra 15 pounds after having been spoiled by Privias. And I'm definitely not making a move until NAMM rolls around, on the infinitesimally slim chance that Korg surprises us with an SV-2 that combines the best of the SV-1 and Kronos, and will be shipping by late January. (Hey, a guy can dream can't he?) But the CP4 is a real contender for my next upgrade.

 

[Manolios]

Oh man, 1199 $ is just ridiculous, I paid 2369 for my CP5 2 years ago!

[Manolios]

...and very nice playing BTW! I enjoyed Midnight Creeper a lot too !

[JFN]

Ive had my CP4 for about a week now and have a few initial impressions. I am former CP5 owner, having sold my CP5 to a friend just before getting the CP4.

 

I can basically confirm the nice things people have been commenting on (i.e. action feel great, connection to sound is very good, pianos sound nice, etc.).

 

CFX Grand sounds like Nord Bosendorfer. I was comparing the Piano sounds in my Nord Electro 4HP, one of which was the Bosendorfer XL, and it sure sounds like the same piano as the CFX Grand in the CP4, at least to me.

 

Effects. It seems there are fewer Effect choices than on the CP5. For example, there are limited Phaser options and it does not have the very nice VCM Phaser from the Motif line. There is no 816Chorus effect either. The tremolo/pan effect which is included in the Rhodes Pre-Amp effect cannot be turned on and off from a controller, unless you want to bypass the entire Pre-amp effect. The Power Amp block with the Rhodes power amp simulators also seems to be missing.

 

Performance mode. As some else had mentioned, the relationship between Voice mode and Performance mode is a bit unclear. The ability to quickly select a voice is nice with the Voice Category buttons. This is a big improvement on the CP5. This doesnt seem to work so well in Performance mode. There are 128 user storable Performances arranged in the typical Yamaha A01 H16 layout. They do not line up with the Category buttons though. For example, Performance #2 (A02) which can be selected by pressing the second category button (CF Grand) brings up a Rhodes performance. I could re-shuffle the performances but that would be a huge pain without librarian software.

 

Also, the manner in which you go between Performance and Voice mode is not that clear. When you change the voice of the current performance, from say the CFX Grand to a Rhodes w/ Phaser, some of the effects come over with the new voice but it is not clear what parameters from the original Performance remain intact.

 

Overall Im happy with it and feel that improvements over the CP5 make up for the few minor issues I found thus far. I would say the acoustic pianos are improved but I think the Rhodes sounds are not as strong as the CP1/CP5. This is especially the case if you want to load in the excellent Rhodes presets that Burningbusch published for the CP1. I had a hard time trying to duplicate those wonderful sounds due to effects limitations. Ill keep experimenting though.

 

John

 

 

[Aidan]

Nice, Darren! The CFX sounds more 'organic' to me than the CFIIIS in the CP5, which while very beautiful, I always thought sounded a little too perfect and a bit sterile. This thing is beginning to wear me down...!

 

I know they probably don't play much part in what you plan to do with the board but how are the non-keys sounds? Are they comparable with their Motif namesakes?

[Aidan]

Another good demo, for those who've not yet seen it. Some well-known tunelets in here....!

 

[video:youtube]

[16251]

Nice, Darren! The CFX sounds more 'organic' to me than the CFIIIS in the CP5, which while very beautiful, I always thought sounded a little too perfect and a bit sterile. This thing is beginning to wear me down...!

 

I know they probably don't play much part in what you plan to do with the board but how are the non-keys sounds? Are they comparable with their Motif namesakes?

would the sterile-ness be as a result of not sampling every note. I owned a p-80 and p90 and that was the reason why I got tired of those instruments.

[Aidan]

16251, I don't think so, really. I had a CP33 which preceded the CP5 (with a Roland RD in between) and never observed the same phenomenon. The CP5 just wasn't visceral enough for me, in the end. More pertinently, it sounded like crap in mono and was damn heavy.

[Al Coda]

Here's a short improvisation on the CP4 Stage, using the default CFX sample. Recorded on the unit itself. No other processing.

 

https://soundcloud.com/darren-heinrich/improvisation-1-yamaha-cp4

 

Thx, great playing and sounds good !

I´d be interested to hear some more electric piano examples on Soundcloud because Youtube isn´t a reference anyway.

 

A.C.

 

[AnotherScott]

CFX Grand sounds like Nord Bosendorfer. I was comparing the Piano sounds in my Nord Electro 4HP, one of which was the Bosendorfer XL, and it sure sounds like the same piano as the CFX Grand in the CP4, at least to me.

That's interesting, since the actual CFX grand was introduced after Yamaha's purchase of Bosendorfer. I wonder if that model has some Bosendorfer heritage in it.

 

BTW, for those looking for a bargain on the previous generation, about a week ago I saw a CP1 in the Manhattan GC for a very low price, somewhere in the teens. Not sure if it was a demo/closeout or a used trade-in.

[Al Coda]

Another good demo, for those who've not yet seen it. Some well-known tunelets in here....!

 

Hmm, for me it´s hard to comment on soundquality w/ Youtube vids.

In addition, the master EQ in this demo isn´t flat.

 

A.C.

[ProfD]

I saw a Yamaha CP40 in the music store last week and didn't even bother to play it i.e. aesthetically disconnected.

 

Seriously, I'll take the new CP4 for a spin eventually. But, if I were buying a DP, I'd grab a CP5 epecially if the price was right.

 

In the meantime, my Motif ES8 is still safe from eBay.

[dje31]

Okay, I'm having a case of mental flatulence...what's the first tunelet ( 0:00-0:23 ) on the CP4 demo?

[Aidan]

Firth of Fifth, Genesis.

[dje31]

Thanks, Aidan. That was driving me nuts...was thinking it was part of a Keith Emerson invention.

[Jazz+]

Are they sampling every note in the CP4 Piano?

[dazzjazz]

I'm not sure. I can't figure out from all I've read wether it's sampling or modelling or a bit of both.

[Michael Wright]

Firth of Fifth, Genesis.

[dazzjazz]

 

Performance mode. As some else had mentioned, the relationship between Voice mode and Performance mode is a bit unclear. The ability to quickly select a voice is nice with the Voice Category buttons. This is a big improvement on the CP5. This doesnt seem to work so well in Performance mode. There are 128 user storable Performances arranged in the typical Yamaha A01 H16 layout. They do not line up with the Category buttons though. For example, Performance #2 (A02) which can be selected by pressing the second category button (CF Grand) brings up a Rhodes performance. I could re-shuffle the performances but that would be a huge pain without librarian software.

 

Also, the manner in which you go between Performance and Voice mode is not that clear. When you change the voice of the current performance, from say the CFX Grand to a Rhodes w/ Phaser, some of the effects come over with the new voice but it is not clear what parameters from the original Performance remain intact.

 

Yes it's very confusing. Yesterday I got stuck and couldn't get back to voice mode. I had to power cycle to do so. The manual infers that the unit is always in Performance mode, but in practice it seems this is not the case. From what I can tell, voice mode are like presets or templates, and Performance mode is where you can save your own patches. I figured this out from the headache I had trying to rename what I thought was a performance, but it turned out to just be a voice.

 

I'm still getting my head around the architecture. Yamaha UIs have never be really straight forward but I think I will be able to work with this. They should check out Nord for lessons on how to write a user manual!

[Manolios]

New CP4 videos!

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIX4ADn5C08

 

 

[Doc Tonewheel]

I'll add my 2 cents to mix as well. I have previously owned a P250 and CP300 (which I loved!) and just upgraded to the CP4. The action and feel of the CP4 is fantastic, period. Really a vast improvement over the CP300, which I thought was really good. This alone was worth the upgrade. The weight of the board is incredible. Easily moved, but I think it feels sturdy enough. I listened through a Yamaha DXR10 and headphones. The acoustic pianos sound wonderful, warm, and full. Very expressive and the touch to sound connection is very realistic. They sound great in both stereo and mono. The electric pianos are much, much better than the CP300 which had a weird touch response (hard to play at medium volume, it was either very soft or very load with little in between). I completely agree that the clavinet sounds are weird and a weak point (more like a synthesized clav), but I use Scarbee for my clav sounds, so I can get by, but for a keyboard of this grade, I expected better clav's. Perhaps some editing will make them usable. Organs can get you by in a pinch. Strings and pads are really nice and full sounding, and there are a nice variety of them. Percussive sounds (vibraphone, xylo, marimba) were always a strenght for Yamaha, and sound great.

My current rig for playing out is the CP4 and a Hammond XK-1c with the DXR10 as a monitor, and I couldn't be happier. Like many of the others my age who have been playing from the late 70's on, I never thought I could ever have a rig this lightweight that sounded so incredible.

[J Graul]

My CP4 arrived Saturday. I am loving the touch and response. I'll need to hook up some headphones or studio monitors and get a better feel of the sound as my very old Rhodes amp really sounds like crap. Also need to figure out what case to get for it. And maybe RTFM...

[keyguy]

Mine just arrived today. Still in the box at my office until I can figure out how to slip it by my wife into my setup... Looking at it in the box, the sliders and knobs don't seem to be as substantial as the ones on my CP33 and the top is very plastic and hollow feeling. The keys look and feel great. If that's the way it is in the name of weight, I'm in. I'll post more after I've had a chance to give it a go.

[16251]

Mine just arrived today. Still in the box at my office until I can figure out how to slip it by my wife into my setup... Looking at it in the box, the sliders and knobs don't seem to be as substantial as the ones on my CP33 and the top is very plastic and hollow feeling. The keys look and feel great. If that's the way it is in the name of weight, I'm in. I'll post more after I've had a chance to give it a go.

So, no new equipment if wife knows about it? Ah, the give and take of marriage.

[Moon Zero Two]

Mrs called me at work to let me know that there is a package waiting for me...will I be able to dope it out enought to use on a gig Friday...