Silly. Large multi-nationals don't distribute jackets to people who are merely nice. You have to work harder at being more subservient to their agenda. And be obvious yet cool about it to attract the anti-technorati.

OMG, what have I done? Lawrence, is it too late to stop you? For the the sake of all that is holy, whatever you do, don't click on the Donald Duck in MathMagic Land Link!!!

Heh. Heh. You think you'd get my dry humour, by now!

I received several e-mails from Robert Heller, the National Sales Director for Yamaha's Keyboard Division. Regarding this specific situation he wrote:

Her situation was somewhat unique. In short, the local dealer where she lived refused to order an Avant Grand for [her] unless she paid up front. (We’re reviewing our relationship with that particular dealer) She wanted to try it out. The picture on her website is actually one of the events that Yamaha often attends. Since she had such a difficult time getting an Avant Grand, I wanted to give her a small token of our appreciation, directly from Yamaha.

Dave, may I ask if you sought permission from Mr Heller before pasting the contents of his private email on a public forum?

If you already did, and he was in agreement, then my apologies.
However, I believe we need to exercise a little caution before openly quoting the contents of private emails.

Kind regards,
James
x

I guess I'm confused because in her blog she said her dad went to the dealer to measure the N3 3 separate times to make sure it fits in the minivan. So that means there's a floor model. So why does Robert Heller's email say that the local dealer refused to order one for her to try out unless she paid up front?

No, I did not. I wrote him initially to confirm that he actually wrote at that blog. While I may have committed a faux pas, I felt it answered the issue at hand.

When someone signs their e-mail as a representative of a company, I look at that as being less than personal e-mail - he's representing a company.

For what it's worth, I left out his comments on the 256 note polyphony issue.

Could you give us the gist of his comments re. polyphony?

He and I are in agreement.

So does that mean it's actually 256/4=68 note only due to the 4 channels? Or is it still full 256 note polyphony for real even with the 4 channels included?

Uh, OK - could you give us the gist of your comments re. polyphony?

dewster, I'll tell you what, why don't you get your hands on a N2 or N3, play a bunch of notes and then report back if you can hear anything that sounds less than 256 note polyphony.

I couldn't hear any notes dropping on my GT1 and that piano only had 32 note polyphony.

Wait a minute, are you the one who had an N2 and then returned it to the dealer? Who was that?

How about you just tell us what he said about the polyphony issue?

Cheers,

Steve

I wasn't dissing your mad polyphony detecting skilz.

I just wanted to know what the Yamaha guy said about it. Your initial response was so cryptic I had to ask again. Sorry to have upset you, it wasn't intentional.


Snazzyplayer had an AG and sold it. There may be others here but I'm not really tracking any AG issues myself.

Snazzy had a N3.

No, I'm not upset. What was stated to me was slightly personal in nature. I made a comment regarding the polyphony in the GT (32) and my views on one aspect of that blog and he agreed with me.

Oh. You said this earlier:


So I thought perhaps the Yamaha guy made some technical clarification regarding polyphony in the AG. But I guess that's not the case.

I'm not trying to pry into a personal conversation or anything, I'm just wondering if it is possible to exhaust the polyphony on the AG as Helen seems to be reporting in her blog.

Yes, I see your point. However, I still believe it would have been courteous to contact Mr. Heller prior to posting the contents of his private email in a public forum.

Cheers,
James
x

I only contacted him because I felt I deserved a jacket; I've spend a small fortune on Yamaha products over the years. If Yamaha is giving out jackets ... and the blog was less than accurate, well, I think I should qualify for a freebie. I know I've persuaded a few folks to buy a GranTouch over the years. Now that he explained to me exactly why she was offered a jacket, I didn't feel this was a breach of confidentiality.

I did not quote him regarding the polyphony issue since that comment was slightly more personal.

But the bottom line is this, I don't have to read a spec sheet to make a decision on a piano; I use my ears ... and since the issue in question is note polyphony and the spec sheet would seem to be a vast improvement over the GranTouch ... and since the GranTouch never gave me the feeling of being shortchanged, .... I find this entire .... sentence just a tad too long.

Now that much time has elapsed...

Hello. I am the Helen whose (personal) blog you discovered and so lovingly covered. I thought I'd come here myself and respond to a few points.

First and foremost, I see that you have varying opinions about who you think I might be and my mental acuity, but rest assured that I am easily accessible on the web and you can find out quite a bit about who I am and what I do. I'll even give you a start: http://www.helenhousandi.com

Regarding the jacket and the contact from Mr. Heller: I am not a Yamaha shill, and I would apologize for coming across as one, but I don't think apologies are needed here. I certainly don't expect any.

Regarding the tone: it sounds like a (recorded) Yamaha concert grand. Seeing as that's exactly what it is, I think that should explain itself. I don't look for a unique sound in a mass produced piano and thus took no notes on it.

Regarding the local dealer vs. the one near my father: I live nowhere near him and have not for some years. I'm not sure what transpired between Yamaha and the dealer located in the state I was living in at the time, but I suppose that explains why I got the offer of a jacket (which came and was about what you'd expect for digital piano related swag, by the way). Thank you for providing details on something I had not put much thought into.

In the end, I suppose I should just be glad that somebody finds me "fairly attractive", no? I hope that in the future, some of you might think to contact a person individually first, especially if your inclination is to go for ad hominem attacks.

Hi hhsandi,

I'm looking for an AP replacement due to my living situation and your review was helpful for me. Helpful pros and cons too, thank you.

As for your nice reaction here to the critics in this forum: I wouldn't worry much about them, it's generally speaking a mix of envy, misogynistic tendencies...and too much free time!

Best,
Manolios

Beautifully put.