Dave,

As you can see in the video, see link below, I already had the P255 for a short while. I do agree it is a nice piano but I was not as enthusiastic about it as you seem to be. Particulary the internal speakers, though loud enough , did not wet my appetite.
For use at home you should try and connect a set of Creative T10 ( very cheap really) and then already you will hear a lot of difference. As to gigging I have no idea.
Tomorrow , unexepectedly , I have to go and see a Yamaha CP5 which is on sale at close distance from where I live. I am sure Bachus will fill me in on the merits of it !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ohq_Td-3q8

regards,
John

Got it, John! I must've missed that bit of info. I play on headphones a lot, or through a system, so I'm averaging the sound I get from all sources. Mostly, I love how the app makes it more customizable, and so easy!

The setting up of two units is the drawback but if you want the ultimate I guess you have to sacrifice something. As for the BK7M sounding old I really don't understand. How much better do you need for gigs? People don't listen that intently and my BK9 (same sounds) is doing a great job.
Chasing the next best thing has gotten real old for me after all these years of playing.

About the CP5

Well, sometimes it happens that a new product cant keep up with its predecessor.. this happened with the move from CP5 to the latest CP4..

Both are build on the same SCM technollogy which is a combination of sampling and physical moddeling.. and the CP4 has one more grand piano... and some more other sounds... but the CP5 has more sound edditing options.. and more direct controll over the sound.. and even tough the CP5 is like 6 years old, the piano sounds are still very good and dynamic..

The Cp5 is quite heavy(almost 30kg), but its build like a truck and almost looks like a 70's e-piano. Where the CP4 looks like a piece of plastick altough also being somewhat lighter.. both have yamaha's best action for stage piano's with a few small differences. i prefer the somewhat lighter touch of the CP5..

the Cp5 is a terrific choice, and if you can find one under €1000 you will have an instrument that will last for years...

Another thing of the CP5 that i like is that you dont need much room above it to controll it and when using a top keyboard, you can put it quite low (which is something i prefer)

Also great is the fact that you can layer 4 sounds (only 2 on the Cp4)


For whats it worth (i dont think you are really wayting on my advise) i think the CP5 might be what you are looking for.. so if the price is right, buy buy buy... you cant go wrong with high end Yamaha stuff..

Altough, the piano sounds are typically yamaha.. so if you prefer the more warmer and darker sound of Steinway and other traditaional western piano brands... you might not be a fan of the CP5 sound... as its quite bright ... altough, so,e edditing might work miracles..

I think i would trade a CP5 for my Kurzweil PC3x thats in the same price range, witouth much thinking...(altough they are both very different instruments)

First and foremost, Bachus thank you for your views and advice,
much appreciated !!!

I will be testing the CP5 later on today. For me there are only three or four essentials. Obviously the main acoustic piano sound ( though I do not worry too much about that), second the keybed and key action, ( the action on my old yamaha P80 is close to perfect.....) and third, apparently the owner is a smoker. Now I have nothing against folks who want to smoke bad as it may be for you but I once or twice bought an arranger keyboard (unseen) which turned out to be reeking of smoke beyond belief and take it from me, there is preciously little you can do about it. As I will only be using the piano within the confines of my music room at home this becomes an issue. And of course the price should be right.
To be continued............

regards
John

There is one thing to be noted about the action.. its much like the morif and montage 8 as its a ballanced action where all hammeraction keys are weighted the same...

On an acoustic piano there is a slight difference between bassend and high end...high end keys having a lighter touch

....That is one of the things I discovered this afternoon while playing the CP5. No graded hammer action. This intended purchase of mine has taken a bizarre twist or so it seems. As the name of the thread suggests I was on the brink of purchasing the cheapo brand new Studiologic Numa, getting sidetracked by the offer of a secondhand yamaha CP5 at 10 miles from my home.
After playing this instrument for a while and after due consideration I have opted not to buy it for several reasons.
The absence of graded hammer action is one of them , although being a minor one. I had taken along my small monitors to compare the sound of this beast to the one of my old P80 and to put it simply, what I missed was the WOW factor...On top of that the asking price for this CP5 ( in mint condition but still well over six years old) was close to 1500 euros.
I did the maths, realized I still had a 15% discount coupon with the largest and cheapest music store in Holland, and.............ordered a brand new Yamaha CP4 for 1695 euros, with a 30 days trial period..........PPffff.......

to be continued

regards,
John

1500 euro is definately overpriced...

I hope you like the CP4, its a great instrument to.. espescially if graded hammer action is important for you...

30 days trial periode is also a great thing... and if you decide you dont like the CP4 as much as you wnated... you can allways try the Roland Fp90 which is at the same price range..

But for now enjoy your honeymoon weeks with the cp4..

or...Why not just wait and save up for what you really want?

Having initially started this thread and getting sidetracked into purchasing the Yamaha CP4 stage piano I thought I might leave you with my conclusions. First and foremost: I did not keep the CP4 as it had a substantial trial-period, not that I had to think long and hard. In one word: nowhere did I get even close to the WOW factor.In detail:
I know it is unfair to compare it to my old (2001) Ymaha P80 stage piano but more and more I am beginning to understand why the P80 is such an icon among stage pianos.

The CP4 at approx. 2000 euros harbours three basic piano samples , only one them a new one and not particularly impressive. The internal programmable memory holds 128 Performances whereby each basic piano sample is stored in 15 different manners with 15 different names. Nice marketing but pretty senseless as you can make your own performances by altering the key parameters such as filter, resonance, eq, envelop etc. Ultimately you are stuck with the three basic samples and like I said one of them is very good but hardly different from the one used in its predecessors. The keybed is an improvement on the CP5 in that is graded and of course also wooden keys. Probably out of habit I still prefer the superb keybed of my P80. the CP4 furthermore boast a few hundred sounds derived from the Motif workstations, some useful some less useful but of minor importance when looking for a good acoustic piano. So all in all I thought 2000 euros was a large amount of money for a, for me, minor progress.
Later on this year I will give the Roland FP30 and Kawai ES110 a go but for now I have other interests, both musical and non musical.

regards,
John