I think many companies keep "zigging" when we expect them to "zag" and Yamaha is no exception.

Thankfully, the Live!GrandPiano responds well to editing...even something as simple as rolling down the filter Brightness to -12 mellows it out quite nicely for Jazz Ballads (sounds almost Steinway-esque)...it actually sounds better (to my ears) than the Live!WarmGrand panel voice.

A friend of mine bought a brand new CVP-609 last year and was very disappointed in the SA Pianos...in fact, he phoned me wondering if he had to reset the piano in case the EQ was out of whack.

He eventually calmed down and settled for the Live!GrandPiano, although he was still very disenchanted in such a high priced "piano" instrument having literally no advancement in the piano sound since his previous CVP-109!

When I was working for the company, I complained vigorously about the SA Pianos, and I was not alone...however, it obviously had no effect.

In fact, the relatively inexpensive Yamaha P-85 we used in the studio as an 88-note weighted action controller had a better piano sound than the CVP's featured pianos.

In my case, "piano" is only one of the many sounds I use (although it is used a lot), so having a full range sound isn't that critical...on a piano-based arranger instrument, a lame sounding piano is unforgivable.

Ian