I haven't seen a thread dedicated to this subject, so thought I'd start one.

Has anyone discovered anything interesting from NAMM yet?

Post your news here!

I will be there tomorrow for opening day.. I will post as much pics and vids as i can..

Stay tuned....

Yeah.. the main stage is outside this year! (and it's supposed to rain tomorrow and Friday)...
- Gary

I think kawai are releasing a MIDI proper piano action keyboard. this is a dream come true, because this is exactly what i am looking for! Thank god i didn't buy a piano yet. check link below

Kawai MIDI Piano Namm 2013 http://www.kawaivpc.com/

There's a whole thread devoted to this VPC product. But I'm having trouble understanding the product. The web page shows a picture of what must be a new keyboard model (with little to distinguish from any other keyboard) and a laptop running what must be some piano software.

So what's the fuss all about? This is nothing new. Or am I missing something?

Gary, will there be any Physis Piano news at NAMM?

well i am looking for a midi control with proper piano action eg.graded hammer mechanism. I am having trouble finding any in the market right now that have a decent comparable to the nice action they have on the Kawai MP6 and MP10 models. if there is something, please tell me.

What you're missing is that tomorrow Kawai will release it's own virtual piano controller (VPC-1). The selling point will be the action you are looking for, though Kawai James has not confirmed if it will be RM3 or the newest GF action.
This piano controller will be compatible with Ivory II, Pianoteq, and Galaxy Vintage D. We don't know if the software comes in the box to be uploaded, is already preloaded, or is just compatible. There will also be a fourth virtual piano, and many posters believe that will be a sample or samples of Kawai's own piano(s) (perhaps the Grand EX). You can see the teaser at [url=http://facebook.com/kawaivpc]
All questions answered tomorrow. Definitely something you want to check out!

By the way the teaser reads, "Finally a virtual piano controller that plays out of the box." Therein lies the mystery!

@HisKidd,

You meant "GF" (i.e., Grand Feel action), not BF, right?

Yes, and thanks for the correction!

GF action...

"Plays out of the box" in a controller scenario is something you can say about most newer DPs that have MIDI over USB to-host connectivity.

Yes, you would want a "GF" action, not a "B" (Broken) "F" (Fulcrum) action.

I was hoping it was the new "Bloody Fantastic" action.

Still namthing
http://www.yamaha.com/namm/

Hopefully, it turns out to be GF which then becomes your BFFL. How's that? Amazing what a typo will do for you! Lol!

M-Audio Axiom Air 25:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGD7_P4cAhk

For those of you at the show, Joe Sample will be at our booth both tomorrow and Friday roughly between 3:00 and 6:00. The booth is closed off between 5:00 and 6:00 for press (Thursday) and dealers (Friday) between 5:00 and 6:00 but you should be able to see and hear him play.

Awesome. Wish I could be there...

By no means does this begin to tell the whole or even part of the story, but here is a taste of what we'll be showing.

https://soundcloud.com/casiomusicgear/privia-pro-px-5s-intro

Not a bad guess by me . Congratulations CASIO and Mike on this new release!

Yamaha is releasing a new app for the Apple iPad this Winter NAMM 2013:

Mobile Music Sequencer

http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/viewthread/457797/P30/

The only two digitals worth reporting about (from NAMM) are:

1) Physis Piano - http://www.physispiano.com/
2) Alpha Piano - http://www.alpha-piano.com/

The Physis uses modeled sounds and the Alpha has an action from a real 9-foot grand.

Actually, all digital piano makers have missed the mark if they don't incorporate a true 9-foot grand action into a purely modeled digital, which neither of the two above combine, into one instrument.

That Alpha Piano is plain ugly, unless you're living in a Startrek environment. Perhaps Porche Design isn't the right party to go to , for designing instruments. Or for TV's (Toshiba), harddrives (LaCie) or some other design failures for that matter. Perhaps they should try their skills on sports cars. Just a thought...

Second note;

if they had just sticked to classic black and skipped the fake silver/ chrome on the stand and several other parts , that would already make a difference. I don't have anything against modern / sleek design, but these chrome parts break it and as a whole I personally don't see this fit in within most interiors.

And wireless pedals. Nice gimmick, as long as it works - and keeps on working. Form follows functions, follows form...

But who cares - It's probably vaporware anyway ; would be very surprised if this really hit the marked any time soon , or at all.

Edit: uhm..."The ALPHA Studio is available starting at 29,000 euros, including 20% VAT. It is expected to be deliverable as of 2011. We would be happy to take reservations and orders immediately."

Here we are 2013 and counting. I DO however applaud some of the features they implemented , like adjustable height and new sensor mechanism.

€30.000 for what exactly?

An unproven action, an unproven modeling from an unproven manufacturer thats been vaporware so far.

I could buy a Kronos X, a Nord Stage 2, the new Kawai VPC, an PC, Ivory II, Pianoteq 4, Imperfect Samples, National Instruments Komplete and a V-Piano plus stands and accessories and still end up with enough money left over to buy a car. (My utilities bill would go through the roof though).

Or I could buy a real grand piano plus the cost of remodeling a room to put it in.

That Alpha Piano looks like one of the huge tank like things from the movie Tron.

I wasn't expecting anything beautiful though. Porsche design only does ugly.

Never mind Alpha - is Physis Piano ever going to appear?

From their web page:

Visit us at Musikmesse Frankfurt
5th - 9th of April 2001 hall 5.0

€30,000 including 20% sales tax/VAT would be €25,200 excluding tax or $33,600 at today's exchange rate.

From the website: "Physis piano is an idea."

And a good one!

Hoping NAMM 2013 is where it's revealed to be more than an idea...

Apogee Digital announced they will be shipping iOS-compatible versions of all their desktop audio interfaces: ONE, Duet, and Quartet. The two- and four-channel versions will now feature MIDI as well as audio I/O--some seriously high-end interfaces for all Apple's iOS devices:

http://www.apogeedigital.com

This may indeed be a real product. But given that the bulk of pianos sell for less than $2000, and that the market thins out above that ...

At 29000 Euros ($39000) ... even with a discount this won't be a hot seller. One might show up in a movie as a show piece, or in a museum, or at Donald Trump's mansion. But not in very many living rooms, eh?

I just bet they would.

Roland RD64 video from NAMM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cKTuLFkR18

Roland VR-09:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78GJgz9edCw

It's a hit and miss industry. Certainly their design for Bosendorfer is stunning in person.
Bosendorfer Piano - Design by F.A.Porche

Gah, the Alpha Piano looks like something Jean-Luc Picard practices on while not busy commanding the Enterprise.

The Physis piano looks like a nice experiment or concept, not much different from a concept car that attracts all the attention at exhibitions but ends up in the manufacturer's private museum or such. I mean, does anyone really want to tinker with every single tiniest detail of the sound the instrument produces?

$0.02 of mine.

Alpha Piano comes with Vienna Imperial - stretched samples and no half-pedalling. I would expect something better than this from a 30k piano...

I suppose there's always MIDI and / or VST...

Now the yamaha site is up
http://hub.yamaha.com/140-namm

, and some news, but nothing I find too exciting...

http://usa.yamaha.com/news_events/pianos_keyboard/?page=1&year=2013




New modus models


New CVP models, great...


YDP-162 and YDP-142 with nothing too exciting more than USB and IAC.

No P-155 replacement yet.
No AvantGrand update either I guess:
http://usa.yamaha.com/news_events/pianos_keyboard/yamaha_celebrates_its_award_winning/

Sweet. I have the Quartet.

Bought the Duet 15 days ago and now this.


***


Hey, YDP-162 has PureCF and ivory keytops now... Guess it will be the same with the 'P-165', right?

http://ca.yamaha.com/en/products/musical...162/?mode=model

Regarding Alpha-Piano,
this is completely missed-target product.

For who they invented it.
The only customers are some wierd wealthy people with no idea what pianism is and want to have some fancy and good-looking furniture.

If somebody has 30k EUR for piano for playing, he will defitely will buy baby grand,
otherwise he's an idiot.

However:
- if the action is really form top concert grands, the action cost is about 5-10k EUR
- the must give a lot of markup to cover the porsche design expenses and low volume of sales
- if any of you would like to buy this fancy piano for that price hands up


For me someone will loose a lot of money on starting this project
(for me also the V-piano grand is missed concept... for almost half of the price, however it's competion for digital Yamaha grands and from that point of view V-Grand is ok)

Yamaha still using this quote about AG, which won award again.

"deliver the tone and touch of a nine-foot Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano in compact footprints that can easily fit in limited space environments."

Let's start up another heated debate...

(I'm kidding, just having some fun)

So, do you think Yamaha will release more products during NAMM?

I could turn out to be dead wrong, because, you know, PR, but when I spoke with Mark Anderson at Yamaha last year, he indicated -- aside from stuff like the NU1, which doesn't replace anything -- that the AG was a long-term deal, i.e. not something you'll see updated routinely like a popular stage piano.

I have no idea. Just saying that 'P-165' (or whatever it'll be called) will propably also have PureCF and the ivory keytops, since P-155 and YDP-161 are basically the same gear with/without a cabinet (same with P-105/YDP-142).

Does anyone know why YDP-162 is 1" taller than 142?
http://usa.yamaha.com/news_events/pianos_keyboard/yamaha_expands_arius_line_of_digital_pianos/

Nice.

Because of different actions or speakers?

Absolutely hilarious the way Steve just wails on the board, then looks around like "Did anyone see how cool I just played?"

I noticed that as well. "Man can I jam" was the look in his eyes!

That's a minor tragedy, the sound generator in these models is nowhere near as good as the keys, speakers, and cabinets (IMO).

NAMM seems like even more of a bust this year than last. What by all rights should be an incredibly exciting event is once again hobbled by little or no real innovation.

I agree that NAMM is pretty barren this time - really nothing to get that excited about. Personally, I like the Kawai VPC - I could see myself with one of those. But Yamaha have generated nothing piano-wise. Nothing worth trumpeting anyway. A 64 key controller from Roland - big deal.

Another year goes by....

A very cool piece of kit, the Quartet. If I read the promo blurbs correctly, existing Quartets can be updated (with firmware and a new version of Maestro, I assume) for iOS compatibility.

Sadly, it appears that owners of existing Duets will have to buy new hardware if they want to get the MIDI and iOS functionality. Makes me want to upgrade to a Quartet.

It's a brave new world when the interface costs more than the host computer.

Don't think so, previous models had same height. Maybe to make YDP-162 looks more like a Clavinova? ('YAMAHA' above the keys and not on the music rest)

I am fairly excited by the Roland 64. Will want to see one in person before moving to the obsession stage...

Totally disappointed with this NAMM.

NO motif successor from yamaha
No K3000 from kurzweil.(It might only happen at year AD 3000 )
NO Fantom from Roland.
A DP from korg without their flagship piano sounds.

Kawai VPC didnt met the expectation(Every DP can control VST's over usb, velocity curve is not a deal).

Roland & Casio made something good (not exciting)
I hoped PX-5S had wooden keys since it's Privia "PRO"

So basically nothing will happen until next winter NAMM, usually Summer NAMM is dull & boriing

Another year ahead to upgrade my stuff :huh:

I like their current action a lot. As much as I like its 24 lb travel weight! I'm afraid wooden keys are unlikely to ever make it to one of my gigs.

+1

I would like to hear some of the EPs though before giving it an unambiguous thumbs up.

Yep. Sad state of affairs for someone like me as I have little to zero interest in organs or synths.

As my first experience at NAMM, I thought it was a decent show. I wasn't amazed. I forgot to bring my Audio Technica headphones, so I had to settle with the crappy ones they provided there. On the acoustic side, I could barely hear anything with everything else going on. Only a good place to test the action of the pianos (sort of, since you really couldn't hear what your playing). Only way to experience anything good there would be with a decent set of headphones and an electronic instrument where you can use headphones. Anyways, here are some photos I took.

PS: I didn't bother taking pics of models that were already out.

Casio PX-5S


Another shot of the 5S



Yamaha Arius 162



Some specs on the Arius 162


Kawai VPC1


Specs on the VPC1 (was really hoping for a GF action)


NEW Kawai CS-10 hybrid piano


Specs on the CS-10


NEW Kawai CS-7


Specs on the CS-7


New Kawai CS-4


Specs on the CS-4

@Gatsbee13,

You did a nice job in getting all of those pictures, although it is apparent there is nothing really new to speak of with Kawai, as both the CS7 and CS10 models have identical specs with the CA65 and CA95. Just different cabinets for each model.

Therefore, no improvements/updates on the current offerings.

Gatsbee 13, thanks for the pics. But I expect many of us here are most interested in what you thought of the sounds and actions involved. Any comments on the PX-5s for starters?

Here is something new, I believe, from Roland.. Keyboard and screen are synchronized so that when you play notes displayed on the screen, it is highlighted (+ automatic page turns)

I didn't get a chance to play the PX-5s as there was someone demonstrating the product. I did get a brochure of the PX-5s which I can upload later.

I got to play the Kawai ES-7 for the first time and I liked it a lot.

As far as sounds and actions, this is going a little beyond this sub-forum, but I think I may start to save up for the Silent Piano from Yamaha. They have the CFX sampling and theres quite a bit you can do with the system. By the time im finished saving up, im sure there will be more upgrades to the Silent Piano. Just wish they could install something like that on my Yamaha U1, but its only factory installed.

I believe the PX-5s is shipping in march/april from what I heard..

Uh oh, "Harmonic Imaging XL" - I wonder what heck that means? (re. Kawai CS10)

Kawai use this technology in the CA-65/95 as well, something about "eXtra Long" samples if I remember correctly. See the CA-65/95 brochure for the usual "marketing speak" description.

Can I recruit some help from someone at the NAMM show? Could you please ask a rep at the Nord booth if they are doing anything to upgrade memory on the piano 2? I am currently waiting for the "new release" to be delivered at the end of Feb and I won't receive it until March. If there is nothing different between the newest inbound shipment and the ones in the warehouse I'll just have them ship one from warehouse.

Cheers,
Greg

Vintage Vibe came out with their Vibanet. Looks wicked.

Casio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfIMTbOg20I

Kawai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoktYu4D9HU

I really wonder how that alpha piano came to be. As if a real grand action wasn't expensive enough already, they decided to go with a Porsche design and somehow position this in the luxury segment. Unbelievably stupid to believe that anyone would want such a thing. The vast majority can't afford it, and those who can are sure to be buying a real grand which also come in futuristic designs if someone really digs that. Here's one example:

http://www.boesendorfer.com/en/special-models.html

That's not entirely fair. The Bösendorfer you linked to is probably three times as much as the Alpha.

I once got a quote for a Bösendorfer Imperial Grand and I would have to decide whats more important buying a house or buying the Bösendorfer if I ever came across that kind of money (it would probably still take a few minutes to decide though :D)

Problem is, you usually need a house for the Bösendorfer as well

Sure it costs more, but someone considering an Alpha piano is probably not too far off from being able to afford it. I just don't think that somebody who saved up $40k is going to throw it at a Porsche design luxury piano with a crappy VST inside. The only people I see could be even remotely interested are those who can afford a real grand and also have the space for it. Apparently there are plently of people buying grands as furniture as well.

You forget about the euro show in April .....

Frankfurter Messe ?!

By the way that px5 is great on specs and probably a good and lightweight gigging board, but it looks weird to say the least. Especially on the fotograph of the back it looks as if it is patched and glued together from all different kinds of parts, materials and colors. No design award there. Casio is making great leaps in technical specifications and keybeds lately, but they should really hire someone who knows something about product design ! (And not Porsche please ;-)

That's putting it mildly ....I'd call it fugly

It was an understatement to put it mildly ;-) I understand Casio wants to make a comeback in the synth marked and climb up the ladder in the DP market. A better , more stylish and professional design should be part of that effort. Apparently ; either no one has come to that idea at Casio headquarters or the design specialist at Casio simply has a totally different taste in terms of design and finish of the product(s). Maybe next year...

Hey, they're Japanese. Have you seen some of the car designs those folks have come up with?

Where are Studiologic's new product(s)?

Not only in Kawai's brochure but generally I see lots of adjectives like unique, stunning, incredible, inovative, etc, ad nauseum. Some but not really much breakthrough technology lately.

Best in show so far ..... DSI prophet 12 ....

C'mon now. Don't go there. I can name plenty of European and American cars that will make you go blind too.

Please check out the Vibanet by Vintage Vibe. Would love to get a first hand impression.

Finally something like Roland RD-64! Unfortunately it has keyboard starting on A on the bottom (I'd rather have at let low E), but there is octave switch button. Great keyboard + SN pianos + SN e.pianos! That's awesome, many people needed something like this, I suspect I'll see it on many stages, especially talking about gigs. Portability is very important for modern musician. With 12.8 kg you can even go by a metro with this I hope for price below 2000$.

All specs etc. are here http://www.rolandus.com/products/details/1266/471/specs/

Anyone?

Scuttlebutt on this forum has suggested a much lower street price. If that's accurate, I'll probably get one as a "travel piano."

The price in the US seems to be $999.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RD64

I consider many Japanese products rather sleek and good-looking, although there was a time when almost all of their cars didn't have a single sharp edge, everything was smooth and round... That was weird. Now I think it's mainly French car manufacturers who have lost their touch. But it's getting better... slowly.

But back on topic - that Casio keyboard does look a little strange, blocky maybe and kinda retro if you will. I'm not into such sort of thing but I'm sure there are people out there who are.

Which translates to about $899 if you make a little effort. That's friggin cheap. Personally, I think a vey smart move by Roland.

At this weight, at this price, for the travelling musicians, I'd hope Roland had added a pair of (cheap) on-board speakers. That really comes in handy to make it complete. Again, it doesn't need great speakers, but does need some speakers as an alternative to headphones in the hotel or a friend's house.

Thanks! From it:

"With the latest Harmonic Imaging XL sound technology, remarkable 256 note polyphony and brand new reverberation and resonance modeling effects, the new Concert Artist instruments deliver unparalleled acoustic realism that is guaranteed to enthral performers and audience members alike."

And:

"With expanded piano sound memory, the new Concert Artist boasts the largest sample size of any Kawai digital piano. This ‘eXtra Long’ standard of Harmonic Imaging technology extends the important attack portion of the piano sound by up to 120%, articulating the natural detail and resonance characteristics of each note more clearly, and improving the instrument’s organic tonal quality overall."

A shame it's still looped. Looking forward to testing this HI-XL though.


I was thinking XL was some kind of parental film / game warning like "Extreme Language" because they got, say, Samuel L. Jackson's vocals integrated into the built-in tutorial software:

"#@&$%! B flat! @#$#!"

At the same price, the Casio PX-5S looks a lot more interesting to me.

And a $1 one line LCD. Kind of weird to have SN pianos with this clunky, low information interface.

Good point. But you do have SN sound at 999$. They can't make it too good

While I was checking out the Kurzweil booth, I saw the Studiologic booth next to them. They had a new DP called Numa Concert. I didn't have time to really try it, but it sounded good to my ears. It still has the Fatar action however.

Here is an article I found about it.

http://www.synthax.co.uk/news/studiologic-launch-numa-concert

A gigabyte of samples for the piano. Not bad for a DP.

Nord has a new upright sample that will be released based on Yamaha's U3. Start the video at 1:10 to hear about the piano section. He plays just a few seconds worth but it sounds good!

I like the PX line and have the 350. To me, a 64-key board is a real advantage for traveling, though.

Yes, it does sound good, but how many uprights do most gigging players actually play? Uprights were a compromise solution for those households with insufficient space for a grand. The clamor has been for new, bigger, more detailed electric piano samples - to compete with Korg and Yamaha; and yet Clavia has apparently turned one very deaf ear to that request, so far.

Who says everyone is a gigging player? I fit into the household niche myself and like to have a variety of thing s to play...

The Nord upright Tomas is demoing in that vid sounds much better there then it did on the phones. Surprisingly Nord wasn't using the Beyer (770s or 880s can't remember which) phones like in the past. They were Sennheiser, but kinda Bb ones.

I personally I have little to no use for uprights so they are the first thing to go from my NP2 when deleting stuff to free up memory for the larger XL piano samples. That said, the new upright sounded good...if you like uprights.

Can't say I played everything related to *new* at NAMM, but out of everything I did play, nothing made me want to go out Monday, sell the Nord and switch gears, upgrade or.... downgrade, as is the case more often today.

Also surprisingly there were no Krome 88s out for the public to check out. And yes, quite disappointing there was nothing new from Yamaha, specifically in the CP5 or S90/Motif department.

I can see that, but I think the Roland will actually be heavier than the Casio, and with the control panel on the left, maybe not all that much narrower, either. Meanwhile, the Casio functionality looks very impressive, and I really like their new action.

Yes, I wondered whether I should have said that...

However, my point is that most Nord boards are designed for gigging. There will always be a percentage of players who like and buy them exclusively for home use, but there are a number of DPs with much better action that are more suited to home use where weight is not a factor.

I don't think there's a problem with wanting to have a variety of options in piano samples, but if you read the Nord Forums you'll find threads dedicated to asking Nord to improve their electric piano samples.

Yeah Nord's defintley going to have to get on the ball now, with regard to updated rhodes and wurlis, after hearing what the new Casio has to offer in that area under a grand.

Again personally, the Nord EPs work fine for me now as they are. I'm not as discriminating in that area as a lot of people that buy Nords are. On the other hand, something new and better is always welcome.

Dave would you care to give an opinion on the Casio? Did you get to play it?

Vox,
Hehe.....

Yeah I saw that over there too... Honestly Im lucky I can play chop sticks right now. Even for home use while the action may be different than Kawai or Roland (good is subjective so Im not going there) I love the idea of having access to their library and updates to it. Right now I am waiting on the new shipment from Nord due in at the end of February. (the new model, whatever that means) With that said, the new Kawai VPC has raised my eyebrows for sure.

voxpops, the Petrof 'Black' upright is currently my 'go to' piano sound on my Nord. I love it for 60's New Orleans-style tunes, where using a grand piano can feel strange.

I definitely agree that some new EPs/Wurlies would be welcome though.

Cheers,
James
x

The Numa Concert has a tri-sensor action - is this the first Fatar action to have that? Good stuff, anyhow.

Greg.

Width difference looks to be about 8 inches; Roland appears to be about 4 lbs. heavier.

James, I'm also using one of the Krome's uprights for certain tunes. I can't remember how many uprights Nord has, but I'm pretty sure it's at least five or six - how many more would one want before getting just one new Wurli?

Actually, I'm only going on about all this because it's possible there could be something red inbound soon...

You know, the weight of the Numa Concert with wooden keys is around 45lbs. Couple that with 1GB for AP samples, properly implemented resonance (I hope), and the tri-sensor action, and I might be tempted. There were a lot of things that were very good about the Numa Piano, but Studiologic are going to have to up their game in the areas of quality control, software debugging, and user support.

Yeah, good point. But additional sounds are always welcome in my book.



Back on the Christmas card list?

James
x

We'll see...

Well, we've got our new $1,000,000,000 (propert tax hike anyone??) convention center opening up just in time for Summer NAMM ths year here in Nashville, so maybe that'll be more exciting than Winter NAMM... I think this is endemic of the overall economic malaise plaguing the industry. It seems the manufacturers are being very conservative with their R&D.

As far as the Nord stuff, we would definitely welcome newer and better EP samples. I think Nord is ahead of the game in the Acoustic Piano world, and their whole free updating approach will keep me plenty satisfied sticking with their products.

I did not get to play the PX-5. Nor did I get to hear Joe Sample live unfortunately playing the Wurl sound. Me and another fellow from KC got an impromtu demo in an iso booth off to the side from another longtime KC member. The little I heard, more in the synth area, was inconclusive, simply because I'm not a "synth guy". Much of that stuff is lost on someone like me. It's definitely an instrument still in the making imo. They scrambled to just get a few of the sounds playable for NAMM.

I was told the pianos are improved from the 350. Also from Mike Martin's and Joe Sample's demo video, it's pretty obvious the EPs are as well. I'm sure they will be working very hard to pull of this together to meet promised shipping dates in early spring. I'm sure the PX-5 will be a monster ! Personally I hope too much QC is not overlooked in the process.

Thanks, Dave!

Don't vist Sweden without checking with your local PW travel agency. I could possibly save you some green on the red.

I just finished another day of NAMM and here are some things I feel were very interesting.

Casio PX-5S

I know this keyboard has been talked about a lot on the forums already, but I do have to say it sounded amazing to my ears, especially the new electric pianos. They were headphones to use while listening to the demo and everything sounded wonderful. The quality of the different electric pianos, clavs, synths, and obviously the acoustic piano was higher than anything I would have expected from Casio. I use to own an older casio workstation keyboard and would always dream for something better, but now I dream for this instrument lol.

Best video I found that actually was recording direct from the keybaord.



Yamaha SH Silent Piano *CFX Sampled Piano

I wasn't aware Yamaha had updated there silent pianos but the sound of the sampled piano was amazing. The sign next to the piano said that the silent system uses new samples from the CFX Grand and was recorded using binaural recording techniques.
I thought it sounded wonderful. Much better than any other digital piano I heard from Yamaha. I hope that they start putting these samples in upcoming DPs.

Here's a video from Yamaha's youtube channel.



*also I checked the Yamaha NU1 who's sign also said it used CFX samples, but did not mention anything about binuaral recording.

Ivory American Concert D w/ Kawai VPC

Both the Ivory booth and Kawai booth had this setup. The combination of these two products was just amazing. The keyboard on the VPC felt very similar to the Kawai grand we have in our rehearsal room at church. And it was a joy to play with the American Concert D. The resonances on the American Concert D were also sounded very realistic. Notes that should cause other strings to resonate did just that. The demonstrator at the Ivory booth was running it on a Macbook pro and told me he could get up to 700 voice-polyphony. That seemed like a lot of notes, but maybe more than one sample is triggered when playing a not on Ivory.


Anyways, those are just a few things that peeked my interest at NAMM.

The silent piano from Yamaha looks/sounds pretty amazing ! Unfortunately , when they were trying to demo it in that little iso room off the main floor, they couldn't figure out to get a decent sound out of the module...all they kept getting was that old DX7 rhodes....

The Yamaha product manager was in the process of taking the legendary studio pianist Ralph Grierson and myself to a private room to demo it, where I guess it was working better.. Regrettably it was late in day and my ride was leaving....darn.

I would think even in its smallest C2 (?) scale, it would still be quite $$,$$$ .

Yes hopefully some of that technology will trickle down to the CP stage pianos or Motif/S90s.

Personally I had a tough time with the action on that NU1. I found it hard to execute the RH of the opening section of Chopin op. 25 Winter Wind Etude.

That's Jamie Cullum playing the Yamaha SH Silent Piano. He's one of my favorite all time artists. Check out more of his videos on YouTube.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mEF3slpfqXE

If he can't I can ..... It's good.... Very good .....scarily good especially for the price and weight. I was particularly impressed with the ep's and organs and some of the strings and pads as well. The AP's are certainly getting to the point of diminishing returns for live work and would give a cp5 or mp6 a fright. Controls are excellent and its ridiculously light for a board with such a nice playable action. But ... and it's a big but ... It's incredibly ugly ....I mean eye gouging stomach churning ugly...we are talking major fugly here. But if your blind or blind to the effect that being connected to such a visual design failure will have on you ... By all means grab one. It's like a having a fling with a girl who's great in bed but isn't for public display and we have all done that

Later this year it will for some boards. It's a lovely sample and Yammy are gonna milk it to death over the next few years in a myriad of versions

When you say the organs are good, which organs? The church/chapel ones on the 330 are really not very good (and that sort are the only ones that are of any interest to me).

I dunno I only played a couple of clonewheels I thought nice. I'm not much into churchy stuff ( understatement of the century )

Dr P (or anyone else), are you familiar with the action and acoustic piano sounds on the PX-150 and 350? Is this the same, or is it better?

I am not clear on which CASIO product you are referring to.

Could you make that clear ?

I am just curious, what do you all think were the highlights of NAMM this year when it comes to DPs? I think the Kawai CS-10 and the Roland RD-64 top my list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEF3slpfqXE

That guy knows how to mistreat a piano.

You know Dr P, it's really frustrating when you share such vague thoughts. I mean really, what ARE you trying to say? It's just not clear what you are trying to communicate!

He was referring to the PX5S, see below:

Regarding the aesthetics of the PX5S...

Aside from its role in facilitating or obstructing functionality a lot of people look past/through the surface design and only see the internal workings with their mind's eye. Knobs/sliders/screens are just the means to access them when they use something like this.

Appearance can be redefined in the perception of your mind given a strong product. Nord makes ugly eye sores but they are very popular for good reason. The orange box even seems to be a status symbol.

The PX5S seems like it is going to be eaten up by the world as fast as Casio can produce them.

If this were known to me a few months ago I would have opted to sell my MOX6 and buy one of these instead of buying the PX350. I would not have needed to add a 2nd tier to my stand. I may never play two keyboards at the same time. I could live without the unweighted action of the MOX. I could do everything (within my limited ability and probable future ability) with this one keyboard.

Nords are red.

Violets are blue . .

They look deep orange to me......in that case they are not ugly eye sores.

They are bloody eye sores.

Red or Orange ... It's a bloody awful colour. But while Nords are visually challenged nothing is going to prepare you for the visual assault on aesthetics that the PX-5S provides. You know it's coming but still your somehow not ready for it when you see it in the flesh. It looks like a wallybox from 1992 covered in ice cream.

Same basic sound and action but fully editable with more variations. It's really quite good indeed. Action is far better then it should be for the money. Very playable and quite fast. Samples seem fully mapped to me.

about yamaha, was there a new cp33 successor or a new p155 successor?

no

noooooooo!!!

lol. so what new pianos did they actually release?