Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Yamaha CP5 vs Kawai MP10

A thread for open-ended comparisons...

No takers? These outstanding DP slabs will soon be available for reduced ‘behind the curve’ prices. An MP11 is in the pipeline, ready for launch. Sweetwater has de-listed the CP5. I would think that prices will drop in 2014. Which one would YOU get?

Most of us probably haven't played both. The CP5's NW-Stage action is balanced, and the MP10's RM3 Grand is graded. That's my understanding at least. The CP5 has a lot more voices... But I'm not anywhere within at least 200 miles of being able to try either. Maybe some of the folks here who have played both can chime in.

True, but that's the least of the differences between the actions.

What are the other difference?

NW-stage is light and quick--more so than an acoustic, probably--the MP10 tends toward the meaty side.

Basically, what gvfarns said. It's not something on a spec sheet, you could hardly find two weighted actions that feel more different than these two do, and that has nothing to do with the gradedness, i.e. whether higher notes feel lighter and lower notes feel heavier, which is usually pretty subtle to begin with on any particular board. You can play them both in their centers (where gradedness does not apply, and where you play most of the time), and they are as different as night and day, you're comparing one of the lightest DP actions to one of the heaviest. I find it hard to imagine anyone who really loves one being a big fan of the other.

Good to know. Thanks. If and when I do upgrade, I'm limiting my options to graded actions since this is what I'm used to, and I want practice to "transfer" to AP use as much as is reasonably possible.

Subtle? Thanks for your thoughts, but I think the gradiation is fairly significant. For instance, the trilly B/Bb//C/A thing at the end of Chopin's Op.9 No. 2: I've had to work this up to speed, and just for practice I've been playing it on my graded keyboard at different octaves, and the difference in the resistance is HUGE. I couldn't get this type of work in on a balanced synth board....

Where does Yamaha's GH sit in comparison to both the MP10 and the CP5 in terms of light to heavy? Is it somewhere in between?

First, as you probably realize but is vague from your statement, a balanced weighted action is nothing at all like a balanced synth action.

But yes, while it may vary a bit from one board to another, I'd say gradedness on a DP is generally subtle, at least compared to an acoustic. Unlike an acoustic piano, where you essentially get keys of 88 different weights, a graded DP usually has only three different weights. The lowest region is slightly heavier than the middle, and the highest region is slightly lighter. It can't be too big a change, or you would notice the exact points where the keys get lighter and heavier. Since that would be a negative, the gradedness has to be enough to make the top feel heavier than the bottom, without either feeling jarringly different from the center, in order so that the transition points are not specifically noticeable as you play. There may be exceptions (the Avant Grand would be a likely candidate for more acoustic piano like grading, I don't know), but 3-region grading is, AFAIK, the most common approach.

Regardless, my bigger point is, there are far more noticeable differences between DP actions than whether or not they are graded. If someone finds that the action of the CP5 speaks to them, I couldn't see suggesting that they forego it and instead select an action they don't like as much just because it is graded.


yes

Thanks for the clarification anotherscott. Yes, I probably should have said "balanced weighted" instead of "synth". Though synth boards are AFAIK always balanced, they have little to do with this discussion. I didn't know about the three regions either.

I do get your point about getting whatever board "speaks" to you, and agree. I just have a personal bias towards graded actions, in part because of the reasons stated above. At the very least, if the gradation is divided into three zones, then I have three "different" actions available to work on finger strength and such.

Yeah, that's along the lines of what I was going to say. Grading on acoustics is very strong. On digitals it is much weaker. I don't know any digitals with the light tinkling keys you get at the very top of an acoustic. Anotherscott is also right that "graded" usually only means 3 or 4 regions in a digital, though I think some higher end Clavinovas have continuous grading. Maybe continuous and realistic grading is somthing we should be demanding of the manufacturers. It is a very noticeable characteristic of acoustics. I would definitely prefer that to the letoff simulation that we have been seeing.

IIRC, the CP5 has neither letoff simulation nor grading, the MP10 has both.

As to keyweight, how does the MP10 compare to the VPC1? I got to playtest a VPC1 (small miracle really, in my neck of the woods) and really, really like the action. I might have bought it, if there had been no rumours of MP11 with GF floating around. Also, contrary to some postings here, I did not find the action of the VPC1 heavy at all, perhaps because it is so easy to play.

I believe the key weight should feel very similar, if not identical.

The MP10 utilises the 'RM3 Grand' action, the VPC1 utilises the 'RM3 Grand II' action. The main difference between the two is that the VPC1 is a 3 sensor action, while the MP10 is two sensor. The mechanism, key weight, key length, pivot length etc. are the same.

Kind regards,
James
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Thanks, KJ, come to think of it, I should have known that. There may or may not be a perceptional difference in key weight feel when actually playing, due to the 2 vs 3 sensor difference, I am not sure.

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