They both sound prettygood, the first sounds thicker (and a little more 'blunt') but the 2nd, while a little thinner, also sounds like it would be more appropriate for ballads and classical music (the first sounds more 'pop & rock')
I've heard real CFX (mark 1 and mark 2... although Yamaha didn't call them that, there's a completely new design and sound for the CFX as of June 2023; the first time you could hear the updated version was at Montreal Jazz fest; I got to play on *that* CFX right before they shipped it to jazz fest in 2023). But they call both the same thing, and indeed both are the same sku, which unfortunately means the only way to know which version you got was via the serial # and playing them side by side. (the new one was much smoother, more 'Steinway like', and less... clinical sounding. But guess what? The predecessor, CFIIIs? Was also a different sound; a little smoother than the OG CFX, not as "dry" sounding, but as I've never had the new CFX side by side with the CFIIS predecessor... And I don't see how I'd ever get that opportunity, since they don't make the CFIIIs anymore)
Most agree the best piano voice is a Steinway, specifically the D or the B (I personally like the 7'6" B; the 9" concert grand is great, too, but it's almost too much bass for a piano, if you know what I mean?)
10 years ago I would've said Yamaha would never sample a Steinway; but here we are, CP88 has a downloadable Steinway (it's supposed to be a D, but I'm not sure), and the Genos2 comes with a steinway (alas neither a B or a D, the one they showed us that they recorded from looked like a much smaller "M" in the photo... still a nice sound, but to me, it appears that their head office didn't want to overshadow their own pianos by putting up a 9' against a 9')
Most people will be surprised, but after listening to all the available models, my favourite piano sounds (I still haven't heard the Montage M; those sell right out of the box, so no need for display models yet) My favourites are CVP809, N1x /N3x (same sample), Roland RD88, various Nord Pianos (NordPiano3 and the Stage 3 used the same piano libraries, the Nord Grand used the Nord piano 4 sample, and now they're on Nord piano 6! Which I've yet to try)
I've heard real CFX (mark 1 and mark 2... although Yamaha didn't call them that, there's a completely new design and sound for the CFX as of June 2023; the first time you could hear the updated version was at Montreal Jazz fest; I got to play on *that* CFX right before they shipped it to jazz fest in 2023). But they call both the same thing, and indeed both are the same sku, which unfortunately means the only way to know which version you got was via the serial # and playing them side by side. (the new one was much smoother, more 'Steinway like', and less... clinical sounding. But guess what? The predecessor, CFIIIs? Was also a different sound; a little smoother than the OG CFX, not as "dry" sounding, but as I've never had the new CFX side by side with the CFIIS predecessor... And I don't see how I'd ever get that opportunity, since they don't make the CFIIIs anymore)
Most agree the best piano voice is a Steinway, specifically the D or the B (I personally like the 7'6" B; the 9" concert grand is great, too, but it's almost too much bass for a piano, if you know what I mean?)
10 years ago I would've said Yamaha would never sample a Steinway; but here we are, CP88 has a downloadable Steinway (it's supposed to be a D, but I'm not sure), and the Genos2 comes with a steinway (alas neither a B or a D, the one they showed us that they recorded from looked like a much smaller "M" in the photo... still a nice sound, but to me, it appears that their head office didn't want to overshadow their own pianos by putting up a 9' against a 9')
Most people will be surprised, but after listening to all the available models, my favourite piano sounds (I still haven't heard the Montage M; those sell right out of the box, so no need for display models yet) My favourites are CVP809, N1x /N3x (same sample), Roland RD88, various Nord Pianos (NordPiano3 and the Stage 3 used the same piano libraries, the Nord Grand used the Nord piano 4 sample, and now they're on Nord piano 6! Which I've yet to try)
Statistics: Posted by amwilburn — Sun Apr 27, 2025 7:47 pm