Yamaha CP88 Review

CyberGene · 2022-05-16T13:04:02+00:00

I received the Yamaha CP88 today. This will be a very brief initial review that I may update when I use it for more time. General It is a very solid instrument with all metal panels. Not very heavy for such a robust stage piano at 18kg. Slightly better than those 22kg digital pianos. It's also good-looking, kind of vintage due to rocker switches, etc. I like that they put the pitch and modulation sticks above the keyboard and not to the left as on some other stage pianos, thus it's not too wide. Interface It's very easy to use, similar to a Nord interface but everybody already knows that. Keyboard It has NW-GH3 action. I'm not sure what exactly that means since the name is a mix between NWX (as in P515) and GH3 (as in some of their Clavinovas). The keys feel nice and heavy. I've been going back and forth between it and my Yamaha AvantGrand N1X and the CP88 feels slightly heavier and just a bit more pushing against your fingers compared to the real grand piano action. But difference is not huge and I felt comfortable with that transition. It's not a tiring action to play, nor is annoying in any particular way. What is more, it doesn't have artificial escapement simulation which is something I love! It's graded though and has wooden sides (cores?). The touch response with the piano sounds is very good. I returned a YC73 (with BHS action) before getting the CP88 and I think the BHS action was less heavy and easier to play but also more pushing towards your fingers and the BHS also had some plastic feel to it whereas here I feel more of "pushing some real hammer" beneath my fingers. That is all subjective but I can say the NW-GH3 action is definitely a superior action compared to the BHS and is probably among the best digital piano actions I've tried. The white keys have some fake ivory surface to minimize friction. I'm not a huge fan of those. But my skin is very dry usually. Maybe people who sweat a lot will find it good. The black keys have artificially roughened texture and I find this pretty silly. All at all, the smooth white acrylic and (whatever it's covered with) black surface of my N1X feels more refined and higher quality than this fakery. But it's not a criticism. Maybe some people love those things. Sounds This is a professional stage piano for gigging musicians, not acoustic piano replacement (or home piano), so take that in mind All sounds are really sweet and nice. I first went through all the factory programs which include various acoustic pianos, electric pianos, as well as various layers with pads, organs, synths, etc. and there wasn't a single one that made me think "this is cheap, why did they put it?". I'm usually very critical about layered pianos with pads and strings but I guess the quality of the samples and effects is pretty high here because none was annoying, they are very subtle and varied and many of them reminded me of sounds I've heard on Lyle Mays records. It's definitely been programmed by real musicians who use these programs rather than engineers. As of firmware 1.5 there are now 6-7 full different acoustic piano samples with the CFX naturally being my favorite, I'm used to that sound already. They recently introduced a Hamburg (presumably Steinway) which is also very nice. There is a "Nashville" sample which sounds realistically imperfect and thus suitable for non-classical piano work. When I say "imperfect" I don't mean honky-tonk, rather a piano that is more real life, like a good workhorse (non-concert size) grand piano that you would find in a studio. And it's not an exaggerated piano sound that is artificially brightened or something like that. It's just a nice studio grand piano sound (I think Nashville is the studio where that piano was sampled) that can find great usage on stage and in more pop/jazz oriented context. There are also a few upright pianos and the recently added felt piano in 1.5 is absolutely fantastic! Especially combined with the excellent reverb and compressor it's a nice sound for modern cinematic/pop stuff. There are so many Rhodes samples and all of them are excellent (I'm starting to repeat myself)... The effects and the amp simulation are too. Enough said. The pads and strings are all very nice. Jazz organs are OK I think, there's nice rotary simulation. Maybe not for purists but usable. All the effects sound great. The reverb is a high quality one IMO. Not to VST standards but better than the average for professional stage pianos. And light years ahead of the usual reverb in home digital pianos. Features It has a USB interface, so I can easily add Moog Model D (and other iOS synths) to it through a single USB cable to my iPhone (for both MIDI and digital audio). It also has a very good master controller functionality with 4 external zones with detailed settings (including program change), so one can prepare live sets that include external synths. Another "feature" is Yamaha have IdeaScale where people can suggest features for the CP/YC (and other instruments) and they listen to the customers and implement some ideas, constantly improving the usability, adding samples and features. Seems those instruments were created as platforms that can be constantly updated and enriched and that is rather surprising when you consider it's Yamaha who are the last company you could expect that from! Cons It would be great if there was VRM. There's only damper resonance effect which is rather subtle but as I said it's a professional stage piano for gigging and not for home situations. I returned the YC73 because one of the encoders didn't have resistance when turned (leaked oil according to Yamaha service center). Well, I also have a few of these here 😕 I'm already tired of returning instruments to Thomann (with no piano available for weeks) and I will consider this a small issue and will live with it after all. I feel dumb now. Seems like the no-resistance encoders are intentional and I returned a perfectly working YC73. But well, it's a blessing in disguise since I like the CP88 more than the YC73 😀

CyberGene

KevinBSelby sure. But don’t be shy, you posted a lot of great music that people not interested in the CP88 might miss 👍🏻

KevinBSelby

CyberGene Ah…I gotcha…I hadn't yet looked at the other topics. GREAT forum here folks…very cool.

Yeah…now that I've prowled around…there are MUCH better libraries out there than the UVI libraries…so I may bag the comparison.
As a quick additional summary:

The ONLY UVI piano I would even CONSIDER using for the next project would be the Austrian Grand and it isn't even that great. It seems to be only 384 Mb and it also seemed to require a LOT of processing power such that on a year old MacBook Pro, I had to adjust the latency settings so I wouldn't get pops and crackles. Luckily it didn't affect the actual latency by much…so it was still playable. I would just use Addictive Keys Studio Grand over this one.

Meanwhile, the UVI Model D is actually pretty bad. Feels very "uncontrollable" and has some notes that stick out (either via weird velocity issues or weird tonal issues). Would not use this for anything.

the UVI Italian, while more "balanced", still isn't "album-worthy".

That leaves the CP88 Hamburg (album-worthy…but I'm fatigued from using it and want to try something different) and the CP88 Imperial (which to my ears isn't as good sounding as the UVI Austrian.

So there's the final review and my semi-professional opinion. I'll either try the Austrian, Addictive Keys, or stick with the Hamburg.

Great forum!

KevinBSelby

Okay…I finally threw together a "Grand Piano Shootout" of nine different grand pianos playing Be Thou My Vision (a popular Christian Hymn):

Addictive Keys Studio Grand (customized by me to sound similar to Steinway D).
UVI Austrian Grand
7 Grand Pianos from CP88.

YouTube video:

https://youtu.be/r-Vfl4PxgO8

Discussion/explanation on kevinselby.com: https://kevinselby.com/2023/02/11/grand-piano-shootout/

SoundCloud Playlist (with the comparison track being Track 1 and then full versions of all 9 grand pianos):

CyberGene

It is with a great sadness to report this news but I sold my CP88 today 😕 In any other regard it is a wonderful piano that I love but as I said I experienced a severe back pain that lasted for two days after I carried this piano from my car to a rehearsal room and back a few weeks ago. It's not the heaviest stage piano there but it's certainly heavy enough for my herniated disc to get hurt... Besides, since it's 88 keys it doesn't fit in my car trunk sideways, so I had to lower half of the backseats and I usually drive the other guys.

And so, I ordered a Studiologic Numa X Piano 73 today 🤣 Yeah, yeah, I know, I had a lukewarm impression from the brief time I owned the Numa X Piano 88 and I posted about that in another discussion. But it's two times cheaper than the CP88 and I am ready to accept some compromise. Besides, they are now at firmware 2.10 and I was at 1.0 and they supposedly improved the touch response which was my main criticism. They also added more sounds and improvements.

P.S. BTW, I managed to sell the CP88 not far from to the original price I paid 7 months ago. Due to the inflation the brand new CP88-s had their prices increasing. At the same time the Numa is still at its original price, so it's not the worst financial acrobatics I've been through.

SouthPark

Pete14 I love Gould, but I’ve come to believe the whole sitting extremely low and “I only play on that chair” was simply Gould being Gould.

True. We could easily beat Gouldy - as in, we can demand we sit on the floor hehehe

SouthPark

CyberGene It is with a great sadness to report this news but I sold my CP88 today 😕

Oh geez. The back definitely needs to be looked after. Can herniated disc be fixed up permanently?

David B

CyberGene It's not the heaviest stage piano there but it's certainly heavy enough for my herniated disc to get hurt...

Your health comes before your hobbies. Good choice to move on.

CyberGene P.S. BTW, I managed to sell the CP88 not far from to the original price I paid 7 months ago. Due to the inflation the brand new CP88-s had their prices increasing. At the same time the Numa is still at its original price, so it's not the worst financial acrobatics I've been through.

Sounds like a win win situation.

Looking forward to seeing/haring the new Numa 73

God Bless,
David

Mindbullets

CyberGene Nice combo! I landed on a very similar pairing… I'm using a CP88 and the Hydrasynth Explorer. Those are some cool wooden cheeks! The Hydrasynth also makes a wonderful virtual instrument controller with programmable scribble strips and polyphonic aftertouch. It's an excellent value (for me, anyway) especially compared to something like a Nord. I strongly prefer the action on the CP88.

I really enjoy the CP88+Hydra pairing with a good reverb/delay pedal. I run the Hydra into the CP88 inputs, then CP88 into a SourceAudio Collider, it's a lot of fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kCENgDXRjo

And as you mentioned, the USB interface is awesome to just quickly load up Pianoteq, iOS synths, etc. Great review/discussion.

CyberGene

Mindbullets nice playing and sounds! I enjoyed it a lot. Is that Hydrasynth patch yours? I hear some interesting stuff in the background, some noises that change pitch, is that coming from the Source Audio Collider?

Mindbullets

CyberGene Thanks so much! Those were just a couple of presets I had in my favorites -- Cory's Lead and Flylyke. The Collider here is adding a reverse delay and a big spacey "e-dome" reverb to both the CP88 and Hydra, but I'm also using the Hydra to control a sampler in Bitwig (that plucky texture is coming from the sampler) and that was layered with both Hydra patches. That plucky pad might be what was detuning a little bit, or maybe the aftertouch/vibrato on Cory's Lead.

Anyway, I really enjoyed your noodling in your previous post also! Really beautiful playing. Did you make those Hydra patches?

CyberGene

Mindbullets Did you make those Hydra patches?

Yes, I guess it’s one of my patches. They are here:
https://pianoclack.com/forum/d/646-asm-hydrasynth-patches-and-know-how

Mindbullets

Awesome, thanks!

AdamExe

CyberGene This is a professional stage piano for gigging musicians, not acoustic piano replacement (or home piano), so take that in mind

OK, yep so this is a stage piano, clearly. I'd never use most of the functions and the dials and knobs look overwhelming.

But, but, BUT I'm really quite interested in all the acoustic piano sounds of the CP88. I find it quite disappointing that the NU1XA just has one pretty lousy upright piano sound. The P525 doesn't have any upright and I'm not in love with the CFX or Bosendorfer on the 525. I'm attracted to all the different piano tones of the CP88 plus the wooden keyboard…. I'm I completely barking up the wrong tree here?!

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