Does anyone know when these came out. Are they due for a refresh? Are they comparable to the Yamaha cvp 300 or 400 series?

I thought I read here somewhere that Kawai was not going to do another CP series, but I cannot find the thread anymore.

Anyone know anything about these?

I am narrowing my search now between CVP 407/409 or 505/509 or Roland RM-700, but have not been able to find any CP series in my neighbourhood yet.

But surely they must be out? In another thread there is mentioned the Asia/U.S. vs EU difference. In Germany/UK there is two CPs only. When I read the manuals online they seem to be from 2006.

Have you thought of the fact that the CVP-505 is a poor choice as it lacks String Resonance?

Edit: I meant to say that there are six CPs in the U.S. (vs Germany).

I doubt that the Kawai CP sounds will come close to the Roland.

But once you get into keyboards with built-in rhythms and accompaniments there is another whole issue. And that is "musical taste and style". Things like how hard the drummer is playing the ride cymbal and if you like the bass lines. These things store a large amount of "musicianship" not just samples. So the style of the sounds depends a LOT on the brand. Some people think some brands are have more or less musically sophisticated styles.