Talk about bad timing, i found a close door today in Koln, noboddy told me al shops are closed today in Germany because they are celebrating their reunion..

So i drove back to Holland and Belgium and visited 2 shops in Holland and one in Belgium... I didnt even come close to testing half the stuff on my list, but i had a great day with free coffee after the innitial problems..

I played...

Yamaha P115 (�600)
i would not advise anyone that wants to play seriously this keybed, it does not repsond well to fast playing, missing notes when a key is striked fast in quick concession

Yamaha P225 (�1200)
a little better then the P115, but still not fast enough, the sound selection is really thin compared to other keys in this price range. however the sounds available are okay.

Casio PX-5S (�800)
A much better keybed then both Yamaha's, and a huge sound selection, also assignable knobs and sliders, which makes the instrument really usable as a masterkeybed. I tought Sound quallity piano sounds was on par with the P255. it also offers lots of rythms and a very very nice arpeggiator

Roland RD800 (�2100)
i really really loved the keybed, but also the interface with the direct controll and offcourse the sound, i have allways been a huge fan of the Roland sound but thats a personall opinion. on this instrument you can p[retty much eddit every aspect possible of the sound..

Kawai MP11 (�2200)
Maybe the touch was even a tiny bit better then the RD800, and the interface and sounds where great to.. maybe its the Roland being a bit flashier and espescially lower that made me feel that the RD800 would be a better choice in combination with a T5. however i will not rule it out.

Nord Stage 2 EX (�4000)
A very nice instrument, great piano sounds, top knotch organs and an awesome synth aboard.. perfect for people that love to fiddle with around with the knobs and continously finetune their sound during a performance. The keybed however is a trade off between piano and synth action.. feeling okay but not great and way less then all the other + �2000 instruments..

Korg SV1 (�1700)
surprisingly nice keybed, somehow even feels better then the Kronos. perfect Epiano's both sound as well as the controll interface. The other sounds however including the acoustic piano's sound dated.

Physis H1(�2900)
Also a Fatar keybed, but much much better then on the Nord, very very good piano action and sounds.. and the indepth piano sound edditing is just perfect. Epiano's are fat, and the other sound are all top knotch. Interesting interface, everything is glass and touch. except for the screen.



and then there was the Clavinova CVP709

Yamaha CVP 709 (�8000)
The brand new piano version of the Tyros 5. first and foremost i think the keybed is very much better then what i remember from the CVP 609. Not as good as the Roland and the Kawai, but miles better then the cheeper Yamaha's i tested. On par with the Physis and the Korg. And in my opinion a bit better then the Casio and lots better then the Nord.
The touchscreen works perfectly and makes me wish they would have added such a nice screen to the Tyros 5. The instrument was a real joy to play. convincing me again from the fact that a single 88 key arranger would be perfect for me..
However at twice the price of a Tyros 5, i think its a shame that the T5 has so many features not available on the CVP709..
I really missed the aftertouch, ensemble and organworld voices. Also the fact that there are no pads convinced me that its better to have an 88 key under the T5.. because the T5 is a much more complete instrument only missing the pianoroom feauture of the CVP709..



only got to play one 61 keys keybed for Dan. the Akai advance pro 61. which felt surprisingly good. i like the keybed maybe even better then the Tyros.. if you want a keyboard to controll VST's with a 2nd board above your arranger, then you must give this one a try.. the VIP software really adds a lot and turns your VSt's into something that feels like a hardware instrument.


So far my day, the music shops are closed i am done eating my sandwitch, going to close my Ipad and drive home. Its allways nice to get your hands on new instruments... just go to your LMS ask for a headset and of you go..