Yamaha CP88 and 73 - Deserve their own thread

[stoken6]

On 4/30/2024 at 9:38 AM, Dockeys said:

Or a Casio PX as I liked the action on those but don’t like the touchscreen interface. We’ll see. 

Casio PX5 doesn't have a touchscreen, also 6 knobs and 4 sliders that "reduces" the need for a nanokontrol, perhaps?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[CHarrell]

28 minutes ago, stoken6 said:

Casio PX5 doesn't have a touchscreen, also 6 knobs and 4 sliders that "reduces" the need for a nanokontrol, perhaps?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

That's what I'm currently experimenting with, depending on your needs and software host, you might be able to get clever and take care of everything with those controls alone.

[Dave Ferris]

CP88 is not my favorite but it works better for what I do and need then anything else out there currently. Plus I will say with the CP88 and RCF TT-08A mk2s, I've yet to have a gig where the sound was off a bit.

 

With the CP4 and original RCF TT-08As, there were quite a few times, depending on room acoustics, where  the CP4 sounded kinda dead and lifeless. That problem with the C6-C7 octave dropping off didn't help matters.

 

The CP88 while being more digital sounding, is more consistent sonically, in addition to being even across the entire range of the keyboard to my ears. The TT-08A mk2s have better dispersion and overall a more hi-fi sound then the originals, so that plays a big part in the equation too.

 

Overall, until Yamaha releases a flagship successor to the CP88, that's my tool for the gigs I am doing these days.

 

 

[Dockeys]

4 hours ago, stoken6 said:

Casio PX5 doesn't have a touchscreen, also 6 knobs and 4 sliders that "reduces" the need for a nanokontrol, perhaps?

 

Cheers, Mike.

Sorry meant the pxs series rather than the px5. I prefer the action in the newer pxs1100/3100 or apparently the 5000/6000 have even nicer action. It’s the capacitive touch buttons I don’t like. I prefer a couple of real buttons/knobs. 

[Stefan011]

Because I dont need the sheet music stand I have decided to use the holes in another way. So far I love it. 

 

 

[CHarrell]

35 minutes ago, Stefan011 said:

Because I dont need the sheet music stand I have decided to use the holes in another way. So far I love it. 

 

 

 

Nice! What's that thing to the right of the Typhon?

[Stefan011]

39 minutes ago, CHarrell said:

 

Nice! What's that thing to the right of the Typhon?

Thanks! That's a power bank because Typhon is USB powered 🙂 

[Sergievsky]

Speaking of USB, I just got my CP88 back from the shop because they had to replace the connector. Took forever to get that one stupid little usb part. So be careful connecting & disconnecting your cables! There‘s no reinforcement (is that the right word?), it’s just soldered to the board I think, no help from the chassis. 

[dickiefunk]

If find the CP88 works better for the work I’m doing than any other board I’ve tried ( Nord, Korg, Roland ). The overall tone of the pianos is well voiced and I particularly like the Hamburg Grand. I also, think many of the other tones are amongst the best I’ve heard on any board. 
I have used the CP88 for a mixture of live events from solo piano classical/jazz to trios, and bands in large theatres. I have also used it for a national radio session as well as various studio sessions. One piece of feedback I’ve consistently had from both other musicians and f.o.h. engineers is how great and balanced the sounds from this board are. 
I love the layout and workflow and find the various toggle and rocker switches really satisfying to use and the buttons all work great aswell. The appearance is great as it isn’t too flashy and looks quite understated which works well for classical and high end corporate jobs in posh hotels where you want the piano to blend into the background and not draw attention to itself.

The keybed also feels great to play and I personally find it really connects with the samples very smoothly and better than any other board I’ve played. 
My only real complaints are the lack of true sympathetic resonance and the missing clavinet pickups. I would also really like to have adjustable mechanical noises for the pianos and e.pianos for really intimate acoustic gigs. Their CP515 already has sympathetic resonance and the CP is Yamahas current flagship stage “piano” so I’m surprised it doesn’t have this! Other competing brands have this. It would be great to have a few more user live set banks but at least there is a workaround using a USB drive.
One final feature that I would love to have is to be able to route the audio inputs purely to the headphone output and not the main outputs. This would allow iem monitoring from the CP headphone output without needed a separate headphone amp. You would be able to either send a monitor mix from a mixer or plug in a click track. It would be even handier to have a click track/metronome feature built into the piano that has the ability to either send to just the headphone output, f.o.h. or both.

 

I’m aware Yamaha made some new clavinet samples but they haven’t said which boards these will be added to. 
 

I am wondering if there will be any more further firmware updates that may address any of these highly requested features over at Yamahas ideascale or whether we’ll have to wait for the next CP range!?

[Dave Ferris]

A fwiw comparing the P515 & CP88.

 

Imho the P515 has an action closer to a grand. It feels more natural, sounds less digital and I can dig in on it a lot more then on my CP88.

 

However after quite a few gigs going back and forth between the two, I hear the CP88 being better live, sonically, with bass & drums, as well as comping behind a horn in a Jazz trio context. Its frequencies seem to sit better in the mix, and I hear more overall clarity and my lines seem to pop more then with the P515. And that's with my RCF TT-08A mk2s and JMK Audio JM-110 pre amp/di.

 

Basically they're both great digital pianos but it's obvious the CP88 is more intended for live playing and the P515 for home.

 

This past week I experimented and made my first USB test recordings of both the P515 & CP88. Needless to say I'm a bit behind in adapting to new tech...lol

 

 A couple choruses of Bouncin' with Bud.

 

 

And the CP88 on a short Jitterbug Waltz, the great Fats Waller tune. Perhaps I had the record level set a bit low on my iPhone on this one. However listening back on my phone, iMac and FB, the volume was fine but on YT it's way softer. I've heard they compress the audio.

 

 

[Dave Ferris]

I've been integrating this Drum Genius loop app into my solo piano videos. It works perfectly with the USB on my P515. But today when trying to use it on the CP88, I wasn't getting the drums on playback.

 

I double checked all the connections. I have my iPhone 14 with the drum loop going into the inputs on the CP88. I have the input level at around 75% I'm guessing. I went into the Menu and only found one setting pertaining to the USB, the volume. It was set at around 64, so I raised to 100. Didn't work, went up 115, maxes out at 127. Still no dice.

 

I didn't open the camera app with the lightning adapter until the cable was plugged in. I'm recording the video on my wife's iPhone 13. I didn't touch the settings from one keyboard to the next. The iPhone is picking up the CP88 piano but I can't get the drums on the playback. Like the P515, the drums sounds great in the phones.

 

Here it is on the P515, works fine. Dizzy's "Con Alma" with Peter Erskine.

 

 

Here's a short test on the CP88, no drums on playback. What's up with the CP88 that I'm missing? Thanks in advance.

 

 

[Stefan011]

First thing first: Great playing!

 

I am using Drum Genius on iphone connected via (original Apple) adapter with no problems. The iphone instantly recognised Yamaha and all went super smooth. 

 

What about the volume of the app or iphone? 

[Dave Ferris]

1 hour ago, Stefan011 said:

First thing first: Great playing!

 

I am using Drum Genius on iphone connected via (original Apple) adapter with no problems. The iphone instantly recognised Yamaha and all went super smooth. 

 

What about the volume of the app or iphone? 

 

Thanks. Well the volume on the app I believe is dependent to the volume on the phone? I've never seen any parameters within the DG for changing the volume.

 

Plus again, as you can hear, it worked perfectly well on the P515 and sounded fine/normal in the headphones while recording on the CP88. I had no reason to believe the drums wouldn't track. I did one take that I thought was  pretty good on the CP and when I went back to listen...no drums...wtf!

 

I  kept checking the phone connections, input level, and yes I always check the volume on the phone. When I first started I had it too low a few times. I put it at around 50-60% volume.

 

This is a mystery for sure.

[Stefan011]

46 minutes ago, Dave Ferris said:

 

Thanks. Well the volume on the app I believe is dependent to the volume on the phone? I've never seen any parameters within the DG for changing the volume.

 

Plus again, as you can hear, it worked perfectly well on the P515 and sounded fine/normal in the headphones while recording on the CP88. I had no reason to believe the drums wouldn't track. I did one take that I thought was  pretty good on the CP and when I went back to listen...no drums...wtf!

 

I  kept checking the phone connections, input level, and yes I always check the volume on the phone. When I first started I had it too low a few times. I put it at around 50-60% volume.

 

This is a mystery for sure.

Interesting...

 

What if headphone input disables line out for audio interface? I will try it tonight.

[Dave Ferris]

4 hours ago, Stefan011 said:

Interesting...

 

What if headphone input disables line out for audio interface? I will try it tonight.

 

 But if that were the case, wouldn't the piano not be tracking as well?  Maybe it has something to do with the stereo input on the CP88 transferring USB. But I don't know, just guessing.

[Stefan011]

2 hours ago, Stefan011 said:

Interesting...

 

What if headphone input disables line out for audio interface? I will try it tonight.

 

Theory disproved. I was unable to turn audio interface off no matter what.

[Theo Verelst]

Recording via usb or analog in is't the same as recording the instrument itself. The more keyboard-like instrument might simply have more Usb protocols built in.

 

T