Modern Yamaha piano impressions:
Spent a couple of hours today at a local Yamaha dealer, trying out the various acoustic and electric/hybrid pianos they had on the floor, just for kicks, and to see what's out there that could (hopefully not soon) replace my ~18yo technics digital piano.
Acoustics:
GC2 (I think it was, maybe a GC1, I don't remember) - ok but sounded more like an upright than a grand, and the action was a bit sluggish. Not interested in this one, personally.
C3X - now this one I LOVED. For a piano with an msrp of $57k (and "street price" quite a bit lower than that), it is a very respectable piano, and IMHO a good price for a 6'1" grand. In particular, the action on this was terrific, very fast and smooth and accurate. Frankly, I thought it was better in that regard than the Steinway B in our church (although that piano has been having issues lately). Now, it might have felt fast partly because this one was voiced on the bright side, and was in the middle of the showroom with a solid wood floor, not great acoustics. If voiced a little more mellowly, it might lose a little of that sense of speed - but that's just a guess. Overall the tone of this piano was very nice and balanced well across the range. The lows weren't quite as resonant as a full size concert grand, but I think this would do quite respectably in any living room. It was really fun to play.
I would seriously consider getting this piano (in the "silent" C3X-SH model, see below), if it weren't for a few things: 1) still more than I can afford, 2) can't really fit it in my little house, and 3) after owning a digital piano for 2 decades, I think having to keep an acoustic piano voiced and tuned would drive me crazy.
C7X - played this 7'6" model (biggest of the CX series). In comparison to the C3X, it definitely has more resonance, especially at the low end. This particular one was clearly voiced a little more mellowly, which I liked overall, but the midrange was a tad muddy IMHO. Still, a very nice piano that I could see being used in a concert setting.
Hybrids:
They had one "silent" piano - action and strings of a normal piano, where you can push a lever and prevent the hammers from hitting the strings, and instead get a synthesized sound from sensors on the action (and you listen with headphones). This was an upright, with an older generation SG(2?) sound engine, and while it sounded good, supposedly the sampling of the newer SH series is much better.
N2 AvantGrand - this has the action of an acoustic (grand) piano, but no strings. Fully digital sound. The action of this one was somewhere in between the G and CX series. Definitely playable. But the sound on this older generation was a little disappointing, at least through headphones. I thought it sounded better through its speakers than the headphones, actually.
What I REALLY want to try out is the newer N3X, which has upgraded electronics and sound, in particular the binaural sampling. But they didn't have one in the store, as they're still pretty new from what I gather. I hope to get a chance to try one someday, because I think this might be the "sweet spot" for my needs, if it performs as well as advertised. Remains to be seen...
Spent a couple of hours today at a local Yamaha dealer, trying out the various acoustic and electric/hybrid pianos they had on the floor, just for kicks, and to see what's out there that could (hopefully not soon) replace my ~18yo technics digital piano.
Acoustics:
GC2 (I think it was, maybe a GC1, I don't remember) - ok but sounded more like an upright than a grand, and the action was a bit sluggish. Not interested in this one, personally.
C3X - now this one I LOVED. For a piano with an msrp of $57k (and "street price" quite a bit lower than that), it is a very respectable piano, and IMHO a good price for a 6'1" grand. In particular, the action on this was terrific, very fast and smooth and accurate. Frankly, I thought it was better in that regard than the Steinway B in our church (although that piano has been having issues lately). Now, it might have felt fast partly because this one was voiced on the bright side, and was in the middle of the showroom with a solid wood floor, not great acoustics. If voiced a little more mellowly, it might lose a little of that sense of speed - but that's just a guess. Overall the tone of this piano was very nice and balanced well across the range. The lows weren't quite as resonant as a full size concert grand, but I think this would do quite respectably in any living room. It was really fun to play.
I would seriously consider getting this piano (in the "silent" C3X-SH model, see below), if it weren't for a few things: 1) still more than I can afford, 2) can't really fit it in my little house, and 3) after owning a digital piano for 2 decades, I think having to keep an acoustic piano voiced and tuned would drive me crazy.
C7X - played this 7'6" model (biggest of the CX series). In comparison to the C3X, it definitely has more resonance, especially at the low end. This particular one was clearly voiced a little more mellowly, which I liked overall, but the midrange was a tad muddy IMHO. Still, a very nice piano that I could see being used in a concert setting.
Hybrids:
They had one "silent" piano - action and strings of a normal piano, where you can push a lever and prevent the hammers from hitting the strings, and instead get a synthesized sound from sensors on the action (and you listen with headphones). This was an upright, with an older generation SG(2?) sound engine, and while it sounded good, supposedly the sampling of the newer SH series is much better.
N2 AvantGrand - this has the action of an acoustic (grand) piano, but no strings. Fully digital sound. The action of this one was somewhere in between the G and CX series. Definitely playable. But the sound on this older generation was a little disappointing, at least through headphones. I thought it sounded better through its speakers than the headphones, actually.
What I REALLY want to try out is the newer N3X, which has upgraded electronics and sound, in particular the binaural sampling. But they didn't have one in the store, as they're still pretty new from what I gather. I hope to get a chance to try one someday, because I think this might be the "sweet spot" for my needs, if it performs as well as advertised. Remains to be seen...
