Great video as always. Excellent playing. An interesting video would be to put a digital next to it's counterpart to compare the sample to the acoustic sound. I'm partial to Kawai, I have the CA99 and love it.
Kawai is hard to beat, even through a youtube video. To my ears it sounds and looks the best. Always great vids with Ted. One of the only guys with un unbiased respectful outspoking opinion. If I'm on the fence for buying a piano and there is no video from Ted, I don't buy it.
I LOVE the sound of the 901. I was always a Yamaha person. I grew up playing a S400B. My mom had a clavinova once and I never really warmed to to, and in these videos, I find the Yamaha sound really uninspiring. And finally some bass octaves on the 901. THANK YOU. You can disregard my other comments regarding bass sounds….You gave me exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you again for all this effort, beautiful playing, and great insights.
Bought the roland lx708 yesterday. Tried all the models in this video plus the kawai nv5. Thought the yamaha sounded too much metallic. The ca901 sounded excellent. Very warm sound but became boring after half an hour. It missed the polyphony of the lx708. The speaker setup of it just enveloped me, very much comparable with an acoustic sound. Also i liked the action of the roland better than the kawai. The nv5 sounded very very good, but compared to the roland it wasn't worth the 2000 euro extra. Choosing a digital is very personal I suppose. Can't wait until it arrives in 6-8 weeks!
Thanks for the comparison. You may be mistaken with regards to the CLP- 785 Yamaha, this is a new model which replaced the CLP-685. It was released only two years ago. It had a new keyboard action, new amplification, Binaural sound etc.
I’m a Roland owner and love it, but on this presentation the Kawai stole it with its grand piano sound which is all I use. Interestingly enough I have heard that the modelling sound isn’t as good as the sample sounds used on my piano for instance and I must admit I thought the Roland sounded odd, somewhat synthetic so maybe there is something in that.
Yeah, modelling has come a long way, but it's still not quite there on its own. Give it a decade or two and it will be completely indistiguishable from sampled pianos.
I'm a guitarist who just happened to come across this video. If the opinion of a non-pianist means anything to you, I thought the Yamaha sounded best. It was the only one that sounded exactly like a real piano to me. Thanks.
I prefer the Kawai over the other two. It is so rich and smooth. May I ask is Patrick no longer with Alamo? I miss the conversation between the two of you.
Based on this I'd go with the Roland. Yamaha is dated, as mentioned. Kawai seem to suffer from quality issues, with some users reporting the need for "endless repairs". Even though Kawai fixes these on warranty, it still sounds like a great deal of hassle. Roland seems like the way to go. My only hesitation about the Roland is the key action, so would need to try out first for sure.
I like the Kawai the best. The Roland is decent, but with that being said, they just came out with an updated LX Series. The LX 9 sounds better than the LX 708. I am glad that Roland continues to push their technology forward
I originally bought the CA99, but some of the speakers had a roaring sound. I also tried the new CA901, which also had this problem. I like the sound of the Kawai, but I'm no longer confident in its quality. The Roland's keys are too light. The treble range of the Cacio is too sharp, so I can only choose the CLP785, but I think the keyboard of the CLP785 feels better and more like a grand piano than the Kawai. The overall sound is more average, and I think the bass is a little weaker.
All awesome instruments, but in person I prefer the Roland Rhodes sounds over the Yamaha and Kawai. That said, Ted makes them all sound incredible. For the best value, I would still pick a Roland FP-90X or the Fantom 8 and a pair of studio monitors for added sound reinforcement over any of these furniture pieces. I would like to see Casio’s top models in this shootout too. I think we all remember the old Casio, but on quick impressions on their instruments I was impressed, and I think their apps might be the best.
It's about upgrade time for me. The FP-90x has shorter length keys than the lx-708. I've had a casio privia 560 for a few years and feel like buying another instrument without full length keysticks is more sidegrade than upgrade. Unrelated, I don't feel like the pp could match what I'm used to with headphones on my casio when I tried through the speakers on the roland and the kawai in the store. If i could go back in time I would have gone the way you suggested with the fp-90 but since I'm only playing for myself at present and feel like I would get more out of a more realistic experience over portability I'm saving for the lx-708. The novus 10s felt great (like comparable to the steinway b they had on the floor (I'm a beginner)) but it's twice the price.
The thing is: for classical piano (the most demanding usage), you can't judge a piano only by the sound in p-mp range, you need to put also mf-fff chords (eg., Liszt's Mephisto or Harmonies du soir for instance), and remove all automatic and sound optimisations making it "smooth" for the next pop song. You also want to play some expressive romantic piece such a Schumann Fantaisie or Chopin ballade (1 or 4 would be great), and maybe some impressionism (Debussy Images or études, Ravel Miroirs or Gaspard de la nuit). I have tried the CLP785 with a Focal clear mg pro headphone, the sound you have in the video is not correct, for some undisclosed reason; and I can tell I prefer the authenticness of the CLP785, CFX sound (that I have) the most over the Roland and Kawai from your video. The CLP785 Bösendorfer sound is however very poor, badly sampled and badly rendered: total inexcusable failure from Yamaha. So the test is not very good, not very conclusive; you want instead to play some real repertoire artworks and go get the raw guts of each piano. Beside this, not a word on the mechanics, and authenticity of the feeling of the keyboard etc. Too bad.
I totally agree. I've seen this same presenter in other Kawai vs Yamaha demo video and the music he played was very similar in style to the one you hear here: plain and fairly uninspired. Any digital piano can sound okay, but how many can come close to what a world class concert grand sounds like ? The only way to find out is to test the hell out of it, as you said, with pieces that stretch the range from ppp to fff. I'd also like to see how good any of these pianos is at creating certain moods and pianistic effects with the pedal, voicing through difficult passages ,etc. So to the highly trained pianist, Chopin may be the only choice, and maybe some Rachmaninoff too. Also I want to hear whether these pianos can adapt to Blues, or Jazz... which have their own particular sound.
@@kaankaral To me it was CLP785 with CFX, IAC off (if on, pp will be enhanced, but no you want real pp to contract with real ff), touch soft 1 or 2 (2 is more realistic, but then you have something like a very responsive CFX and you have to have great control over pp, which is very demanding). Real mechanic (what you actually do/feel) and virtual mechanic (what it mimics) are both great and beyond any competition. But soon, likely this summer the new generation arrives. Hapsichord and organs are very impressive of quality and realism (and Bösendorfer useless).
I don't find this video really trustworthy. The LX708 is the oldest piano there but then you make it seem like the Yamaha is older but the fact is the technology used in the Yamaha is the newest because the same tech is being used in their latest clp700, csp200 and cvp900 series. You can have you preference, there is nothing wrong with that but at least be honest with the facts.
When I chose a piano, I chose the CVP809 and I'm glad I did. The more I play it, the more I smile. If something could be improved, it would be: the addition of cloud compatibility so new samples and content could be downloaded without fussing with a USB thumb drive; a really wide touch screen so hardware buttons and knobs could be moved to the larger touch surface; the capability of creating and playing music with WAV and MIDI audio tracks; USB-C support; XLR connectors; improved external display technology; CarPlay like technology that empowers the ability to add new apps; etc... At the end of the day: I think those are marginal asks since my CVP809 feels like a real treasure. One of my favorite things: the CVP809 comes with Hanon (and other) exercises and the transpose button can transpose the displayed Hanon score! I'm also happy that I only have one device to turn on! That said, there are definitely "better sounding pianos" out there but, yup, my CVP809 lets me play those pianos-- in all their glory, whenever they're around.... At the end of the day, Yamaha's challenge seems to be: fairly cheap digital pianos are beginning to sound great so "higher price points" for "higher end digital pianos" are a harder to sell. i.e. I recently played Yamaha's sub $1000 keyboards and they came with a lot of the same technology that's inside a $12,000 CVP.
I just purchased the Yamaha 785, I love it. I looked at the Kawai and it just didn't have the sound or feel . These guys are very biased to the Kawai alway.
The Roland has "newer" technology in the sense that it is a newer technology, not the newest set of sampling. The Kawaii and Yamaha both have 256 tone polyphony libraries made up of thousands of samples of digital recordings of acoustic pianos. The Roland doesn't use samples, it uses a digital model of an acoustic piano, like, modeled hammers striking modeled strings, vibrating a modeled soundboard. It IS a newer technology by about 40 years.
This is a much anticipated review. CLP 785 was clearly superior to the CA 99 but I will need to play the CA 901 as it appears to have the Yamaha beat. It will be interesting to see what replaces the CLP 785 as it has been the standard of the industry for so long. I understand about Roland build quality and innovative design but am not a fan of their overall sound.
Roland have the e-piano's to a tee. The Kawai had the best piano sound. I'd still, at 53 years old buy the Roland. The action of the Roland is the closest to a mechanical action using the PA50.
Please help me to choose between Yamaha CLP-775 R or Roland LX-708,I am professional pianist,and the sound quality is very important for me.which one is the best?
Clp 775 has a more realistic piano sound sampled from the world's world-famous grand pianos, while Roland uses computer-generated sound, and has digital sound.
The Roland has an ugly old fashioned design with all the buttons above the keys, I feel the unlimited polyphony is a gimmick, (I.e not noticeable), Yamaha is lacking in sound and feel. In my opinion Kawai is the clear winner here.
Kawai has the best key action of you like light key touch. Yamaha has a slightly more heavy key action but if you like that you might like the Yamaha clp-785. I think the Yamaha has the best speaker system of them all with 300 watt if you use it to play music with bluetooth. I dont think the yamaha is outdated at all in this regard. Soundwise i think Kawai is the best then the Yamaha and last the Roland. The Roland just doesnt sound like a real acoustic piano in my opinion. In fact all of these piano's still lack the detail and richness and dynamics a real acoustic grand piano or even a good VST can give like the VSL synchron piano's for example.
I like what your doing with your comparisons, but, but, but the only way to tell if a piano is right for ME is to PLAY IT. Unfortunately, most music stores don't carry the full line of pianos, and they will only get the piano your thinking of - if you buy it - but you won't know until you personally PLAY IT. Before I spend $7K on a digital piano I will "fly" to a "store" that has that piano so I can PLAY it. I'm intrigued by the Kawai CA901 with the sound board, but I will not buy it until I can PLAY IT. I know that's a big expense to the music store, but I can't help that.
Well now I feel like I just wasted six thousand dollars. I really liked the CLP 785, and I really disliked Kawai’s touchscreen interface. But if you’re saying it’s a huge disappointment, then maybe it’s a mistake.
Did you by the CLP 785...? I am on the fence about the yahmaha and the Kawai 901.. thinking I will wait a few months to see if yahmaha comes out with a new version
Music is a 100% subjective topic (and propably the guy has some economical background motivation), so take everything with a grain of salt. If the action, sound and interface of the yamaha were your favorite, you bought the right piano. They all play in the same league and just have some different flavours. The first real noticable difference begins, when you enter the realm of novus nvs or n1x hybrid pianos. So dont let you joy be diminished by some salesman on youtube. Its all about the music and you bought a great piano with which youll be able to enjoy paling and making music for many years
I bought a Yamaha CLP 785, I also looked at the kawai.. but just wasn't turned on about it- I love my new Yamaha- it's all about what feels and sounds good to you
The Yamaha is an antique that falls flat on its face against the Roland and Kawai. A few months ago you put it up against the Kawai CA901 and made the Yamaha sound like the new sampling and the powerful sound system made it a strong competitor and worth a serious look. Now you’re disappointment with the Clavinova is obvious.
I liked them all, but my fave was the Roland LX708. Wonderful tone, IMHO...
Great video as always. Excellent playing. An interesting video would be to put a digital next to it's counterpart to compare the sample to the acoustic sound. I'm partial to Kawai, I have the CA99 and love it.
Kawai is hard to beat, even through a youtube video. To my ears it sounds and looks the best. Always great vids with Ted. One of the only guys with un unbiased respectful outspoking opinion. If I'm on the fence for buying a piano and there is no video from Ted, I don't buy it.
I LOVE the sound of the 901. I was always a Yamaha person. I grew up playing a S400B. My mom had a clavinova once and I never really warmed to to, and in these videos, I find the Yamaha sound really uninspiring. And finally some bass octaves on the 901. THANK YOU. You can disregard my other comments regarding bass sounds….You gave me exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you again for all this effort, beautiful playing, and great insights.
Bought the roland lx708 yesterday. Tried all the models in this video plus the kawai nv5. Thought the yamaha sounded too much metallic. The ca901 sounded excellent. Very warm sound but became boring after half an hour. It missed the polyphony of the lx708. The speaker setup of it just enveloped me, very much comparable with an acoustic sound. Also i liked the action of the roland better than the kawai. The nv5 sounded very very good, but compared to the roland it wasn't worth the 2000 euro extra. Choosing a digital is very personal I suppose. Can't wait until it arrives in 6-8 weeks!
Thanks for the comparison. You may be mistaken with regards to the CLP- 785 Yamaha, this is a new model which replaced the CLP-685. It was released only two years ago. It had a new keyboard action, new amplification, Binaural sound etc.
It was so noticeable when you played the Kawai!! I agree with another commenter in doing can acoustic/digital comparison
I recently traded in my Mason & Hamlin upright for a Yamaha CLP-795. I absolutely love the sounds and especially the action. Phenomenal 🎹🎶🎼🎵❤
Pensi che il suono del 795 gp sia migliore del verticale acustico?
Best review I have seen thank you. Roland I believe is the best followed closely by the Kawai. Yamaha I’m afraid have lost it.
So happy I found this video. AT THIS MOMENT I am on the fence between the Roland 708 and the Kawai 901.
I’m a Roland owner and love it, but on this presentation the Kawai stole it with its grand piano sound which is all I use. Interestingly enough I have heard that the modelling sound isn’t as good as the sample sounds used on my piano for instance and I must admit I thought the Roland sounded odd, somewhat synthetic so maybe there is something in that.
Yeah, modelling has come a long way, but it's still not quite there on its own. Give it a decade or two and it will be completely indistiguishable from sampled pianos.
I'd be happy with any of the three.
I'm a guitarist who just happened to come across this video. If the opinion of a non-pianist means anything to you, I thought the Yamaha sounded best. It was the only one that sounded exactly like a real piano to me. Thanks.
I've had the CA99 and changed it for the CLP-785. The latter feels and sounds way better to my taste. Also CA99 had some software issues.
Thanks for the piano comparisons. It would have been nice if you listed the specific voice you were playing on each piano.
I prefer the Kawai over the other two. It is so rich and smooth.
May I ask is Patrick no longer with Alamo? I miss the conversation between the two of you.
I thought the same thing!
Based on this I'd go with the Roland. Yamaha is dated, as mentioned. Kawai seem to suffer from quality issues, with some users reporting the need for "endless repairs". Even though Kawai fixes these on warranty, it still sounds like a great deal of hassle. Roland seems like the way to go. My only hesitation about the Roland is the key action, so would need to try out first for sure.
I like the Kawai the best. The Roland is decent, but with that being said, they just came out with an updated LX Series. The LX 9 sounds better than the LX 708. I am glad that Roland continues to push their technology forward
I originally bought the CA99, but some of the speakers had a roaring sound. I also tried the new CA901, which also had this problem. I like the sound of the Kawai, but I'm no longer confident in its quality. The Roland's keys are too light. The treble range of the Cacio is too sharp, so I can only choose the CLP785, but I think the keyboard of the CLP785 feels better and more like a grand piano than the Kawai. The overall sound is more average, and I think the bass is a little weaker.
All awesome instruments, but in person I prefer the Roland Rhodes sounds over the Yamaha and Kawai. That said, Ted makes them all sound incredible. For the best value, I would still pick a Roland FP-90X or the Fantom 8 and a pair of studio monitors for added sound reinforcement over any of these furniture pieces. I would like to see Casio’s top models in this shootout too. I think we all remember the old Casio, but on quick impressions on their instruments I was impressed, and I think their apps might be the best.
It's about upgrade time for me. The FP-90x has shorter length keys than the lx-708. I've had a casio privia 560 for a few years and feel like buying another instrument without full length keysticks is more sidegrade than upgrade. Unrelated, I don't feel like the pp could match what I'm used to with headphones on my casio when I tried through the speakers on the roland and the kawai in the store. If i could go back in time I would have gone the way you suggested with the fp-90 but since I'm only playing for myself at present and feel like I would get more out of a more realistic experience over portability I'm saving for the lx-708. The novus 10s felt great (like comparable to the steinway b they had on the floor (I'm a beginner)) but it's twice the price.
Roland fp series short keys are very tiring after some time..
Have fp-60x. Slowing me down..
Love the Roland
The thing is: for classical piano (the most demanding usage), you can't judge a piano only by the sound in p-mp range, you need to put also mf-fff chords (eg., Liszt's Mephisto or Harmonies du soir for instance), and remove all automatic and sound optimisations making it "smooth" for the next pop song. You also want to play some expressive romantic piece such a Schumann Fantaisie or Chopin ballade (1 or 4 would be great), and maybe some impressionism (Debussy Images or études, Ravel Miroirs or Gaspard de la nuit).
I have tried the CLP785 with a Focal clear mg pro headphone, the sound you have in the video is not correct, for some undisclosed reason; and I can tell I prefer the authenticness of the CLP785, CFX sound (that I have) the most over the Roland and Kawai from your video. The CLP785 Bösendorfer sound is however very poor, badly sampled and badly rendered: total inexcusable failure from Yamaha.
So the test is not very good, not very conclusive; you want instead to play some real repertoire artworks and go get the raw guts of each piano. Beside this, not a word on the mechanics, and authenticity of the feeling of the keyboard etc. Too bad.
so Mathieu, what would be your suggestion to me if you are to choose one of them .
id like to have the most classical full sound , and action.
I totally agree. I've seen this same presenter in other Kawai vs Yamaha demo video and the music he played was very similar in style to the one you hear here: plain and fairly uninspired. Any digital piano can sound okay, but how many can come close to what a world class concert grand sounds like ? The only way to find out is to test the hell out of it, as you said, with pieces that stretch the range from ppp to fff. I'd also like to see how good any of these pianos is at creating certain moods and pianistic effects with the pedal, voicing through difficult passages ,etc. So to the highly trained pianist, Chopin may be the only choice, and maybe some Rachmaninoff too. Also I want to hear whether these pianos can adapt to Blues, or Jazz... which have their own particular sound.
@@kaankaral To me it was CLP785 with CFX, IAC off (if on, pp will be enhanced, but no you want real pp to contract with real ff), touch soft 1 or 2 (2 is more realistic, but then you have something like a very responsive CFX and you have to have great control over pp, which is very demanding).
Real mechanic (what you actually do/feel) and virtual mechanic (what it mimics) are both great and beyond any competition. But soon, likely this summer the new generation arrives. Hapsichord and organs are very impressive of quality and realism (and Bösendorfer useless).
Is the audio of the pianos in this video from line outs, or did you use microphones?
Aspettiamo risposta
Roland all the way!
The Kawai has the best realistic piano sound. The Roland is nice but it sounds more electronic .
I don't find this video really trustworthy. The LX708 is the oldest piano there but then you make it seem like the Yamaha is older but the fact is the technology used in the Yamaha is the newest because the same tech is being used in their latest clp700, csp200 and cvp900 series. You can have you preference, there is nothing wrong with that but at least be honest with the facts.
When I chose a piano, I chose the CVP809 and I'm glad I did. The more I play it, the more I smile. If something could be improved, it would be: the addition of cloud compatibility so new samples and content could be downloaded without fussing with a USB thumb drive; a really wide touch screen so hardware buttons and knobs could be moved to the larger touch surface; the capability of creating and playing music with WAV and MIDI audio tracks; USB-C support; XLR connectors; improved external display technology; CarPlay like technology that empowers the ability to add new apps; etc...
At the end of the day: I think those are marginal asks since my CVP809 feels like a real treasure. One of my favorite things: the CVP809 comes with Hanon (and other) exercises and the transpose button can transpose the displayed Hanon score! I'm also happy that I only have one device to turn on!
That said, there are definitely "better sounding pianos" out there but, yup, my CVP809 lets me play those pianos-- in all their glory, whenever they're around....
At the end of the day, Yamaha's challenge seems to be: fairly cheap digital pianos are beginning to sound great so "higher price points" for "higher end digital pianos" are a harder to sell. i.e. I recently played Yamaha's sub $1000 keyboards and they came with a lot of the same technology that's inside a $12,000 CVP.
I just purchased the Yamaha 785, I love it. I looked at the Kawai and it just didn't have the sound or feel . These guys are very biased to the Kawai alway.
The Roland has "newer" technology in the sense that it is a newer technology, not the newest set of sampling. The Kawaii and Yamaha both have 256 tone polyphony libraries made up of thousands of samples of digital recordings of acoustic pianos. The Roland doesn't use samples, it uses a digital model of an acoustic piano, like, modeled hammers striking modeled strings, vibrating a modeled soundboard. It IS a newer technology by about 40 years.
Qualcuno sa dirmi se il suono è registrato dagli altoparlanti o si sente come in cuffia?
This is a much anticipated review. CLP 785 was clearly superior to the CA 99 but I will need to play the CA 901 as it appears to have the Yamaha beat. It will be interesting to see what replaces the CLP 785 as it has been the standard of the industry for so long. I understand about Roland build quality and innovative design but am not a fan of their overall sound.
Without hearing them, I'm betting on the LX-708
Roland have the e-piano's to a tee. The Kawai had the best piano sound. I'd still, at 53 years old buy the Roland. The action of the Roland is the closest to a mechanical action using the PA50.
What is this song that is played over and over? Anybody has the name?
Please help me to choose between Yamaha CLP-775 R or Roland LX-708,I am professional pianist,and the sound quality is very important for me.which one is the best?
Clp 775 has a more realistic piano sound sampled from the world's world-famous grand pianos, while Roland uses computer-generated sound, and has digital sound.
The Roland has an ugly old fashioned design with all the buttons above the keys, I feel the unlimited polyphony is a gimmick, (I.e not noticeable), Yamaha is lacking in sound and feel. In my opinion Kawai is the clear winner here.
To be fair, Yamaha is making some great current-generation digital pianos, but they're not in the same form factor as the CLP-785.
708 has been discontinued, I believe lx-9 is its replacement
Kawai has the best key action of you like light key touch. Yamaha has a slightly more heavy key action but if you like that you might like the Yamaha clp-785. I think the Yamaha has the best speaker system of them all with 300 watt if you use it to play music with bluetooth. I dont think the yamaha is outdated at all in this regard. Soundwise i think Kawai is the best then the Yamaha and last the Roland. The Roland just doesnt sound like a real acoustic piano in my opinion. In fact all of these piano's still lack the detail and richness and dynamics a real acoustic grand piano or even a good VST can give like the VSL synchron piano's for example.
May Yahweh bless you brother we love you and thank you for the video i agree with you 💯
I like what your doing with your comparisons, but, but, but the only way to tell if a piano is right for ME is to PLAY IT. Unfortunately, most music stores don't carry the full line of pianos, and they will only get the piano your thinking of - if you buy it - but you won't know until you personally PLAY IT. Before I spend $7K on a digital piano I will "fly" to a "store" that has that piano so I can PLAY it. I'm intrigued by the Kawai CA901 with the sound board, but I will not buy it until I can PLAY IT. I know that's a big expense to the music store, but I can't help that.
This needed to be done one tone at a time, with all 3 pianos, before moving to the next example. Very confusing and impossible to compare.
Para mi roland mejor
Thanks for the comparison!
The piece that you performed is a Joe Sample/Crusaders tune, yes?
Ps. Where is Patrick? I hope he is doing fine.
Well now I feel like I just wasted six thousand dollars. I really liked the CLP 785, and I really disliked Kawai’s touchscreen interface. But if you’re saying it’s a huge disappointment, then maybe it’s a mistake.
Did you by the CLP 785...? I am on the fence about the yahmaha and the Kawai 901.. thinking I will wait a few months to see if yahmaha comes out with a new version
In Europe it's priced half of that
Music is a 100% subjective topic (and propably the guy has some economical background motivation), so take everything with a grain of salt. If the action, sound and interface of the yamaha were your favorite, you bought the right piano. They all play in the same league and just have some different flavours. The first real noticable difference begins, when you enter the realm of novus nvs or n1x hybrid pianos. So dont let you joy be diminished by some salesman on youtube. Its all about the music and you bought a great piano with which youll be able to enjoy paling and making music for many years
I bought a Yamaha CLP 785, I also looked at the kawai.. but just wasn't turned on about it- I love my new Yamaha- it's all about what feels and sounds good to you
The Yamaha is an antique that falls flat on its face against the Roland and Kawai. A few months ago you put it up against the Kawai CA901 and made the Yamaha sound like the new sampling and the powerful sound system made it a strong competitor and worth a serious look. Now you’re disappointment with the Clavinova is obvious.