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Hi All,

I’ve had the CLP 585 now for just over a week and have had a decent chance to play with it and am happy to give a review of my first impressions. Please accept these are only my opinions and other people may feel differently. I have been extremely happy with the piano but will try to be objective and descriptive.

I am an adult learner at a beginner to intermediate level working on pieces from grades 4 to 6 in the AMEB syllabus. I have an acoustic upright as my main instrument but need a digital for all the usual reasons.

Cabinetry:
The quality of the fit and finish on the cabinet and the instrument as a whole is very high. The fallboard has a very ‘soft’ close with a very well build mechanism for this. The music rest is sturdy has no problem with big heavy music books. For example, the 280 page Beethoven sonata Henle hard cover (band 1) book fits nicely and I can just fit a second thinner score in front of this at the same time. The PE finish is stunning to look at although it does seem to attract dust quickly. The overall cabinet size is more compact from front to back than I expected which is a nice plus. There is an adjustable stool that was included with the piano. It is well built although there are the occasional squeaks when I lean from one end of the keyboard to the other.

Sound: Firstly, I’ll refer to the overall sound through the speaker system and I can say that quality of the sound system itself on the 585 is simply mind blowing. There is so much power but it is rich, smooth and not overblown. There is a delicacy and accuracy to the sound as well. I have experimented with many of the 480 different XG voices and the sound is just incredible. It has been so much fun just playing with these sounds that it has been taking me away from my usual practice of classical pieces.

In terms of piano sound, I just love the main CFX sound of the Yamaha. I haven’t needed to adjust it out of the box – it just plays well and sounds right. The attack, sustain, resonance and harmonies come through beautifully as well as a lovely range of dynamic tones and colors. The Bosendorfer sound is different. I felt it was lacking a little in the ‘out of box’ settings but I have adjusted the key sensitivity and brightness up slightly and it is now making a very pretty and delicate sound. Initially there was lackluster attack sound and it just sounded a little dull. I’m still assessing this one with different music styles. There seems to be more of a change in tone with different dynamics than with the CFX. For example you can really bring out the voicing of the main melody in a piece. Overall, I have preferred the CFX sound but I’m finding the Bosendorfer is growing on me and perhaps it will get better as my playing improves!

Action:
I very much love the action. It just feels great under the fingers. All the keys have a consistent feel and sound with a steady “linear graded” change in weight with the lower register keys having a meaty feel to them and the very high keys being light and feathery. You can play very fast repeated notes with no problem at all on all keys. There is no abnormal side-to-side motion and glissando is easy to do. There is a smooth resistance from the top to the bottom of the keystroke. There is no boggy feeling and there is no delay in the key returning up again – it is very fast indeed to return. The bottom has a firm feel and it makes a dull soft noise as it strikes the bottom. This key noise is consistent with all the keys. There is also a very faint plastic type rattle/noise with each key as it is depressed which is again consistent across the entire keyboard – I wonder if it is the escapement mechanism. These noises are soft and not bothersome at all and can barely be heard when playing unless you are bashing it! (I only mention key bed noise as its been a topic of discussion so much on these forums)
It is also possible to play very quietly notes when you wish to although control of this is slightly different to my acoustic and will take time to get use to. It is also easy to play high up on the keys, as the pivot point seems to be well back. Fast trills are easy to play and feel even and smooth.

As far as the counterweight goes – I feel that it has made the resistance to the down stroke more even compared to the other Yamaha actions I’ve tried, rather than having an artificial initial resistance, it feel more even as you press into the key. I suspect this makes it more like a real action and as a result, very pleasing to play.

Summary – I couldn’t be happier with this digital piano. It has already brought me hours of pleasure and now that I can practice late at night I can hopefully develop my playing to enjoy more of this and my acoustic. It has an incredible sound reproduction system, is very well constructed and has a marvellous action. The piano sounds are gorgeous and very satisfying to play and experiment with. I would highly recommend anyone in the market for a higher end DP to consider one of these.

Comments and questions welcome - till then I'll be playing.....

Edit: Adding link to some photos
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sadv7se6ydrpbnk/AAAS2QpJyGioldppL1eHRcGMa

Congratulations Cub with your new CLP 585. Good to read that you are really happy with your instrument. Sounds like a real Bulls Eye purchase this time. I have two questions.
1) I would like to know the height in centimetres of the 585 measured from floor to the bottom side of the keyboard (knee height) Somewhere I read that Yamaha decided to make this model a bit higher then previous Clavinova’s. Earlier generations Clavinova’s where to low for me. (61.5 cm) My CA 95 measures from floor to bottom side keyboard 64,5 cm and that suited me.
2) How does your instrument sound with headphones? Yamaha mentioned a new way of producing the sound through headphones (Stereophonic Optimizer). I don’t know if you remember how your former CA 95 sounded trough headphones and now in comparison to your new piano. Thanks and have fun.
Greetings,
Dhamma

cub, you are the only 585 owner in the forum ... so for now your word is golden

How exciting! I am drooling

How does the pedal feel?

Hi Cub, Many thanks for your comprehensive impressions of the CLP 585. I had another play yesterday and I'm of the opinion that the counterweight touch is about the best for pure digital pianos. I still prefer the action of the Avant Guard N2 but the 585 is very good. I also tried the Kawai MP11 and I find the grand feel touch does not suit me which is such a shame as the MP11 is a real bargain. It looks like I'm gravitating towards the CLP 585. I'm going to try out the Kawai ES7 which has a different feel to it just in case. Once again, congratulations on your new piano.

Regards,

Paul H

Hi Dhamma,

Thank you for you comments. To answer your questions: 1 - the distance from the floor to the underside of the piano where your knees are is 61.5cm which sounds like what you remember of earlier clavinovas. I've never though about this measurement before but now that you mention it, I measured my Sauter Masterclass 130 and it is 66cm to the underside of the key bed. I have to admit that it is more comfortable playing at my Sauter piano in terms of the keyboard height. If I go on my toes beneath the yamaha, my knees just touch the underside.

The height at the top surface of the keys is 72.5cm on the yamaha vs 75.5 on the Sauter. I have an adjustable stool at each so I should be able to make it work nicely.

Question 2: I've been using headphones quite a lot and I played with the sterophonic blah blah feature. To be honest with you - I could not hear any difference with it on or off. Also, overall the sound is very nice through headphones but I just love the power and richness of the bass you get through the speakers of the piano itself so overall I prefer without headphones. For info my headphones are open style Sennheiser HD 650. Perhaps closed style headphones may benefit from the optimizer feature.



Hi theoak,
Don't take my work as golden - my opinions are just as biased and unbalanced as anyone else I am still loving the piano though and I'm very surprised to be the only 585 owner who has posted to the forum. I admit I was waiting for others to review but became very impatient and thought I may as well post my impressions in aid of others who are thinking about one of these.

Pedal feel is great - there is a real 'half pedal' feeling on pressing down and this is matched by a half pedal effect on the sounds too. As with anything digital it still doesn't feel quite like the real thing but its getting closer and closer.

Paul,
Good luck in your decision making. In the end I think your own personal preference is what you have to go buy. I can vouch for the build quality of the yamaha and my own preference is for the sound and action of the 585 as well. Hope you get something you will enjoy for a long time.

Also - I've asked for the WIFI adapter to connect my ipad to this piano and will update how that goes when it arrives.


On a side note - I had my lesson today and after practicing so many hours this week I was hoping it would go well but I guess the combination of tired fingers and nerves meant that nothing I played came out well! oh well... off to do more practice...

So the extra centimetres Yamaha announced for making the CLP 585 higher went into the top part of the piano. Indeed they made it 7 centimetres higher (101,3 cm) compared to the previous top models CLP 380 and CLP 480 (94,3cm).
But for a rather tall person like me, it’s a pity they did not raised the knee height. They kept it on 61,5 cm. Before I bought my Kawai CA 95 I had my eyes laid on the Yamaha CLP 380. I could buy it for a real good price because it went out of production to make place for the CLP 480. But each time I tried it I experienced problems with my knees. Lowering the bench brought some other difficulties with it. The 64,5 cm knee height of my CA 95 is just perfect, what a difference those 3 cm make! I think most of the taller people will be happy with the larger knee space Kawai is offering. So still no Clavinova for me. Not that I had in mind to change my CA 95 for a Clavinova, but even if I wanted it I could not because of this limitation. But, good to hear Cub that for you this is not a problem.
Greetings,
Dhamma

Wanted to continue this thread as I will soon be obtaining the CLP-585 to replace and trade in my current CLP-480. Will be posting a new review with a few recordings.

Congrats pv88!

They look good, those Yamahas. Nice and tall, classy. Good to hear someone who`s happy. And I like the sound of those other instruments . . . .wouldn`t like to lug it around, mind . . .

Hey pv: Do you have a stable for all those pianos? Where do you find the room?

@Mac,

The way it has worked is that I only continue to trade off one piano at a time (with same size upright cabinet model) and keep the remaining older ones. As of now I am only trading one Clavinova for another, i.e., CLP-480 for the CLP-585.

I may have swapped out quite a few pianos over the last few years although I can only do it one instrument at a time without changing the total number owned which is four:

1) Roland V-Piano
2) Clavinova CLP-480 -- (soon to be CLP-585)
3) Clavinova CLP-990
4) Kawai EP3

If something else better eventually appears that might be a good replacement for the V-Piano I might consider it although it has to fit the space where the V-Piano now sits.

And, the CLP-990 is a permanent "keeper" being that it was difficult to locate one for purchase and is now a discontinued model.

Hi, I am also considering to buy yamaha CLP585. I live in Hong Kong and most of people this Forum like Kawai CA 95. But such model (CA 95) is not available in Hong Kong. So, I am now considering to buy yamaha CLP585, NU1 or Roland HP508. Any good advice? Thanks.

Personally I much preferred the NU1, the real action on it feels really really nice. However, remember it is an upright action, and the CLPs (and most digital pianos) try and mimic a grand piano. I actually switched between an acoustic upright and the NU1 in the shop, and they feel identical. When I moved between a real acoustic grand, and the CLP585 in the shop, it felt noticeably more artificial. Maybe that's because grand actions vary more, or down to personal preference, I don't know. If you can find a shop that has them all in stock to compare side for side, i'd definitely do that, as its down to personal taste.

Another important difference is that the NU1 is very basic in terms of added features, having just 5 voices, USB and MIDI + a few extras. The CLP is a proper digital piano with loads more voices and features. Also the CLP has the Bosendorfer samples, which sound really nice through the speakers, the NU1 is missing that.

Cant remember the Roland i'm afraid, although I did try that too, but just much preferred the Kawais action + sound so didn't spend long on it. Roland uses Steinway samples, which are also very nice.

Hope that helps a little.