Yamaha Clavinova CSP170 digital piano

What we think of the Yamaha CSP170 digital piano

The new CSP range is a completely new concept in learning to play the piano, combining the piano quality and playability of the high end CLP675 with an intuitive iOS app. The piano sounds come from Yamaha's fabulous range of acoustic instruments, the flagship CFX concert grand, Bosendorfer Imperial concert grand, Yamaha C7X studio grand piano and the SU7 upright. These sounds feature Yamaha's unique Virtual Resonance Modelling system (VRM) resulting in unprecedented realism. The CSP170 features the NWX key action with wooden naturals, synthetic ebony and ivory keytops and escapement resulting in a natural and responsive playing experience very much like that of a real acoustic grand piano.

From here things start to get very interesting!

Yamaha's totally unique new Smart Pianist app gives you complete control over the instrument, with a full Piano Room menu as found on the high end CLP and CVP models so that you can customise and create your own piano sound. In addition, it will analyse your iTunes library and produce a music score on the screen for you to play along. This means that you can learn to play your favourite songs, and the lights at the back of the keys will show you which notes to play now and which ones to play next, and it will even wait for you! Having analysed the chord structure of the song you can then re-arrange the song using one of the 470 built in rhythm accompaniment styles which using the built in 16 track sequencer you can then record and even add your own vocals to. You can also play your piano and have one of the hundreds of backing bands play along with you - it will even switch variation automatically when you get to a chorus and follow your speed.

Owing to the fact that it is completely app based, the possibilities are endless and it is likely that more incredible innovations and features will be introduced over time. This is totally unique and has never been seen before, and is setting a new standard by which all other digital pianos will soon be measured!

In addition, the instrument itself is very simple and only has two buttons, making it the ideal choice for the school classroom or practice room, or indeed for those who would rather purchase and instrument that looks somewhat more traditional.

The only differences between the CSP150 and CSP170 are the action and speaker system, and because the pianos are completely app based the content is exactly the same! The CSP150 has Yamaha's GH3X all plastic key action which feels very realistic and natural, whereas the CSP170 offers the NWX natural wooden action which feels even more realistic, with the natural flex of the wooden keys enabling a more controlled touch. The larger and more powerful speakers of the CSP170 and the speaker box combine to create a considerably richer and more resonant tone too.



Specification

• 88 note NWX graded hammer action keyboard with escapement
• Wooden naturals with synthetic ivory and ebony keytops
• Virtual Resonance Modelling (VRM) on piano sounds
• Binaural sampling on Yamaha CFX concert grand
• Key-off samples, smooth release, string and damper resonances
• CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial piano samples
• 256 note polyphony
• 692 instrument voices and 29 drum kits
• 470 rhythm accompaniment styles with 4 variations
• 58 reverb presets
• 5 Master EQ presets plus user settings
• Intelligent Acoustic Control
• Stereophonic Optimiser
• 44 Vocal Harmony presets
• Dual/Layer and Split keyboard modes
• Full keyboard and lower keyboard only chord detection modes
• Three assignable function piano style pedals with half pedaling capability
• 403 built in songs to learn including technical exercises
• 16 track record facility, all recorded to your iOS device
• 4 step stream light learning system with 'correct key, any key and your tempo' modes
• USB Audio record as a WAV or AAC file
• USB Audio playback with time stretch, pitch shift and melody suppressor
• Audio to score analysing to produce a music score from iTunes library
• Registration memory to pull up your favourite settings
• 2 x 6.25mm headphone jacks
• Microphone input jack
• MIDI IN/OUT/THRU
• 3.5mm stereo Aux in port
• L/L&R,R Aux out ports
• USB to host, USB to device
• 2 x (45W + 45W) amplification system
• 2 x 16cm and 2 x 8cm speakers with speaker box