at the risk of getting banned...

[Eric Brinkerink]

At the risk of getting banned from this site, I thought I would share that I discovered the ultimate digital piano today. Anybody ever seen this: http://www.roland.com/products/en/VIMA_RK-500/index.html? The ultimate "recreational" keyboard :D !

If you really want a laugh, take a look at the brochure. You can also use it as a photo slide show! Wow, that's great! Could anyone please get in touch with Yamaha and tell them to add this feature to the next CVP-4xx series? And you can attach a camera to it so you can see your own face on the LCD screen of the instrument. I always wanted that!

And ain't it nice that you can play while your family is staring at your back, singing and playing drums? Oh boy, I wish I knew this before I bought my CVP. And there is more: there are special effects i.e. you can sound like a duck or a bear!! How did we manage without it?

Gotto stop now and catch my breath. Hope I'll recover from this overwhelming experience.

[dbjorck]

LOL!

You can't be banned for making a harmless joke.

And the ugly design! Straight out of the 70s. And have you noticed how incredibly joyously happy the people all look in the brochure? It makes me wonder what kind of orgasmic faces they would make when they see a 309GP.

It's incredibly cheasy although it has two important things the CVP doesn't - CD drive and touch screen. But why didn't they take the opportunity to make the CD drive a recordable DVD, it's only a CD-ROM which indeed is of little use.

The idea can be built on though. The camera input could be used to record your hands while playing so you could record your own piano lesson DVDs, or study your technique (like proffesional athletes do). And the simple slide show functionality could be changed to a full graphics workstation so you could create your own Disney's Fantasia type thing right there at the instrument. (Or rock video). That would be cool.

Brgds

Danny

[Eric Brinkerink]

Hey Danny, I was waiting for you to mention the touch screen. Did you also notice the convenient placement of the USB port? Disney must be eager to find such happy faces for their next Christmas family movie.

PS: the banning was because of the reference to Roland site on this forum ;)

[Scubacpa]

Actually, some of those features could be useful.

I like the idea of the A/V input on the dashboard. I sometimes hook up a CD player or MP3 player for learning and/or playing along. It would be nice not to have to lay on my back on the floor with a flashlight to plug it in.

Also a screen that shows video is useful. I have some lesson DVDs that I use. Right now I have a portable DVD player on top of the piano with the audio going into the CVP. That way I can hear the instruction and what I play on the piano together through the headphones. It would be even better if the video from the DVD played right on the screen on the dashboard.

[Scubacpa]

But ... know doubt about it. Danny is right. The thing sure is ugly.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

They were probably trying to go retro chic. Big mistake according to me. Today I think most people would prefer a traditional look now when it is possible. In the 70's it didn't matter how the instruments looked, it was all new and exciting toy technology, not a part of living room furnishings. Yet in the brochure it is placed in a living room, which itself is not in retro 70's style. They just haven't thought through the design fully, which adds to the general feeling of Rolands "cheasiness". Yamaha seems to be doing that well.

You are both right - connections on the dashboard are a BIG plus. For things you disconnect when you're done with them - the current ones are still needed for permanent connections though.

Brgds

Danny

[Eric Brinkerink]

Well, I guess a built-in DVD player capable of playing midi and mp3 files (also with a USB stick) would be handy, so some features of this "recreational" (who came up with that word?) instrument could be useful.

Lately I have been using a notebook (or do you call it laptop?) attached to the CVP to play along with songs of which I don't have sheet paper. I find by this you are also training your ears to recognize chords and melodies a lot quicker.

Edit: but those over happy 70's faces still bug me :D

[Eric Brinkerink]

Did you ever take a look at Kawai?
http://www.kawaius.com/main_links/digital/06_dpmain.htm

[krugera]

Eric, I looked at a Kawai prior to geting my CVP309GP.
The reason I looked at the Kawai was that their mini grand is truly a "mini grand" (larger than the 309GP) and it also comes in white.
But since I had a 209, they would not give me a very good deal on a trade-in.
The built in CD is great and it also has the capability to convert styles from other manufacturers.
Another concern I had was the service. Kawai is not well represented in my area and I was afraid that should I have a problem, I would have a tough time getting it serviced and getting parts.
But overall it is a nice piano and the sound was good.

Regards,

Alex
CVP309-GP

[dbjorck]

Hi!

It is indeed a very good contender to 309GP. It has much less polyphony though, which is very important to me. And it was nice to hear the "Dao" voices again. I still don't understand why Yamaha took those away. In the 4 series I would like to see the old ones back and with a lot of new ones. Opera, Barber Shop, 60's backing, 70's (Bee Gees), Rap, etc. And as Mega voices or the like - so you can make different sounds. For instance, Rap could be a "Heyo!" when pressed hard, "kch kch" when pressed soft. Opera could have aah, eeh, ih, ooh, uuh, depending on how hard you pressed. And a more powerful choir voice.

Brgds

Danny