It has arrived - cvp 407!!

[musicman100]

Hi,

It arrived on Friday and I love it ( and so do my children!!!!) Its really good fun. Did karaoke all night Friday- we have some friends form UK staying!!! The Children love the microphone !!They have both started to learn twinkle twinkle little star by following the lights ( and they are only 5 and 7)

This morning I played along to the demo songs- turned off both hands and read the notation on the screen. I am glad I have the large screen.Its like playing with an orchestra!!!

I will post some of me playing later on.

Just one slight problem there is a slight hiss if you put your ear next to the speakers. It does not change with the volume. The volume can be set to off and the hiss is still there. Although when you plug headphones in it goes away!! I don't think it a major problem but just asking if it the same as every one else's.

I have read the thread about a noise in the speakers before but that sound changed with the volume. So I don't know!!

Nigel

[kempedkemp]

There was a lot of talk about this with Eric Brinkerink's instrument awhile back. I don't remember if it was ever resolved.

No... this is not something with all CVP's.

I am beginning to think it is a problem with the iAFC microphones picking up some ambient sound possibly. It could also be a power supply problem. Anyway, it sounds very annoying and unacceptable to me.

Glad you are enjoying it... I knew you would!! I can just imagine being a kid and getting an instrument like that... BUT DAD, WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE MY TURN?!

[musicman100]

There was a lot of talk about this with Eric Brinkerink's instrument awhile back. I don't remember if it was ever resolved.

No... this is not something with all CVP's.

I am beginning to think it is a problem with the iAFC microphones picking up some ambient sound possibly. It could also be a power supply problem. Anyway, it sounds very annoying and unacceptable to me.


Yes I am waiting to see if other cvp 40. owners have the same problem. I have tried turning of the iAFC but the hiss is still there. When you sit at the keyboard you can't hear it so its not a major problem.




Glad you are enjoying it... I knew you would!! I can just imagine being a kid and getting an instrument like that... BUT DAD, WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE MY TURN?!

I know I would have loved it then . I did however have a piano and an organ which later turned in to a psr 70- which I thought was brilliant!!!

Yes yesterday I had to wait in line to get on it!!!

[wally]

Well, if you're playing with proper form, you will be sitting upright and your ear won't be next to the speaker.

:p

[dbjorck]

That depends on how long your ears are.... :rolleyes:

Or how short your spine is...

Brgds

Danny

[Eric Brinkerink]

That depends on how long your ears are....

Or how short your spine is...

Brgds

Danny

Or the height of your pianostool...

Congratulations on your purchase Nigel, I hope you and your family will have a lot of fun playing it!

As the originator of the (apparently) notorious "noise-thread", I just had to reply. The noise is still there (as with you, it doesn't change with the volume and it's gone when you plug in a pair of headphones), but I just turn up the volume and play. I also use a pair of monitor speakers in addition to the CVP's which makes the sound good enough for me. In my case iAFC can't be the problem because my CVP-303 doesn't have it. Too bad the noise seems to reappear in the CVP-400 series. Or maybe you have sensitive ears for some frequencies. Not to transform this into another noise-thread, but are you the only one who can hear it? Or can your children, wife, friends, etc too?

[nickb]

Hello musicman100 and congratulations for the new CVP!!!

I am thinking about buying one, but I want to now if the screen quality of these new series are better than the 300 series or the Tyros 2.

Attached are some pictures I took from my tyros 2 screen. I think you should have similar navigation screens, so you can compare to your CVP-407 screen. I marked the ghost lines that you can see on the poor quality screen on CVP-300 series and the Tyros 2.

Two pictures are from the organ flutes setup. The best way to get the ghost lines is to move all sliders down. The other picture is from the Function Menu.

Please let me know if you have the ghost lines in your screen too!!

[kempedkemp]

Hi Nick. I do not have "ghost lines" like these on my 307.

[nickb]

Hi kempedkemp,

This is great! Could you post some pictures of your screen in the same menus I took mine? Remember to move all sliders down in the organ flutes setup for a better viewing.

I am asking that so I can show it to Yamaha here. I got a replacement screen for my Tyros 2 and it still have the ghost lines!

I have a friend with a CVP-307 with the same screen problems.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

I have them too, but they're not nearly as pronounced as yours.

If you had yours changed soon after you bought the original one, it may be that they came from the same production cycle. There may be differences for all kinds of reasons, even if it's supposed to be the same model of screen. There could be conscious differences, such as changing the type of a capacitator, or changing the supplier of some component, or other things like air humidity or dust. That could also explain differences between the two 307's - if they are produced at different times. And also makes it very interesting to see the 407 as well, as that must have the latest "version".

Brgds

Danny

[nickb]

Hello dbjorck,

Thanks for posting!! My screen was replaced 7 months after purchase... But as your screen is not that good too I am starting to think all Yamaha Tyros 2 and CVP-3xx series use poor quality screens. They look like old LCD laptop screens! I don't think they use TFT technology(this is the one used in almost all LCD screens today).
So I hope the CVP-4xx series use TFT screen.

[musicman100]

Hi,

After looking at my CVP. I don't need to adjust the settings to read some pages. As for the lines, if I look very hard I can see a vague line in the middle on the function page. On the flute screens there is a faint line in the middle( You really have to look hard) but no where near as bad as your pictures.

What do you mean by old technology?? What are the difference between old screens and new ones??

The brochure says it has VGA Colour LCD?

Is that TFT -how can you tell?

Nigel

[dbjorck]

Hi!

The old LCD's were what's called passive, whereas the new TFT screens are active, which gives a more crisp image and luminance. If you compare a screen on a new laptop to the CVP screen, you can very clearly see a difference.

However, TFT are LCD (Liquid Crystal) as well, so when they say it's LCD - that's not very clear which it is. It could be the old, but also a new TFT but with very poor quality.

I just tried to doublecheck on their site what they say about what type it is on the 4xx, but only keep getting this fun message:
OK
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
So that's "OK" is it? :)
Reminds me of a problem I have at work at the moment. Sometimes a certain program fails, and gives just a small, mere, nothing to worry about, warning message. It's not marked error, it's not red, it's just a small yellow exclamation mark next to the text "Warning". Next to that though, it says
CATASTROPHIC FAILURE!

After which it of course crashes. :)

I am suspecting however that the 4xx screens are the very same screens as in 3xx. As far as I remember the brochure they didn't make much fuzz about it, which they would have if they changed it to something better. They would have marketed it as "new supercrisply articulated megascreens". :)

Brgds

Danny

[nickb]

Hi!!

Thanks for looking at your screen musicman100!!! So seems that the CVP-4xx series uses the same LCD screens used in Tyros 2. If it were different you woudn't see any ghost line. :(

That is really sad, because I am waiting for the CGP-1000 and I think it will have the same screen...

Thanks again for posting dbjorck. Like you said, these are passive LCD screens!! Passive LCD screens needs constant contrast adjust depending of the angle of view and they also have ghost lines!! I think the only consumer product that uses passive LCD screens nowadays are the Yamaha products and the cheap chinese MP4 players!!!
I really don't understand why Yamaha don't put a good quality screen in products like CVP-407/CVP-409 or Tyros2 that are the top instruments. I would be happy to pay a little bit more for a good screen(it should cost US$10.00 or US$20.00 more to the manufacturer), I would pay US$150.00 more!

The old Tyros1 had a great LCD screen. Seems Yamaha's decision to reduce production costs, but they need to think that these instruments are expensive ones and the buyers WILL look for quality!

Sorry for the long post, but I really don't like these poor quality LCD screens!

I almost forgot to answer you musicman100:

If the brochure only says it is a VGA LCD, it means it supports 640x480 pixels. But it could be passive or TFT. Like dbjorck said, if they were using TFT screens on the new CVPs they would include a feature like that:

"new supercrisply articulated megascreen" or "no ghost lines, any angle viewing, Score readable super ultra non-crappy screen" :)

[dbjorck]

Hi!

Suggestion to Yamaha to put in their brochures then: "Unique screens with unique capabilities hard to find on any other equipment" :)

But I just, suddenly, had a completely different thought. My plasma TV also has some ghost lines. It was the best quality I could find and I bought it just a few months ago. So I never thought it was the screen, but the graphics driver or possibly the graphics card itself. You see, if I move a window over the area which seems to be ghosting to the side, the lines do not disappear. Which to me seems it's somewhere inside the PC that they are created. It may even be a Vista issue due to it's new way of handling layered graphics.

So, perhaps the problem is in the firmware? Perhaps people who have no ghost lines, people who have weak ghost lines, and people who have strong ghost lines like you, are using three different versions of firmware?

Just another theory.

Brgds

Danny

[musicman100]

Hi,

Is there a test to see what kind of screen it is - passive or active?

At the moment I have no problem with the screen - I can read everything and the score page is easy to read.

I will check about the angle feature but that is a problem with all TFT screens it is the same on my new lap top and the screen I use with my desk top.

Is there a definite test for passive or active? Has anyone asked Yamaha?

Nigel

[dbjorck]

Hi!

Yes it was somewhat unfair to claim the angle problem - they are both for old LCD and new TFT. You have to go to plasma screens for full angle (mine has 178 degrees, which means you can basically stand next to it and see the picture; it is as good as, and even slightly better, as a normal TV).

And in fairness to Yamaha, angle on the screen of a CVP isn't really that important as you'll be sitting right in front of it. It was just used as an attempt at understanding the quality of the components they use; for the money it should be top-of-the-line.

As a test, try this; turn on the CVP and walk sideways until you can't see that the screen is actually lit. Mark that spot. Put your new laptop over the CVP screen and repeat walking sideways. I got an "angle" of over a meter (3 feet) extra using the laptop that way. And while you have the laptop next to the CVP screen, compare the luminance/crispness. You should see a clear difference.

I have a slight memory that someone on this forum once asked Yamaha if they were active or passive, but never got a reply.

Brgds

Danny