Yamaha CP-33

So easy a caveman could do it. Only need two instrutions 1.) plug in 2.) turn on
ok maybe three 3.) touch a key

No software. All preset sounds are excellent except the guitar which doesn't sound anything like a guitar (electric or acoustic). I think they were trying for a Nylon string sound but it just plain sucks. The Acoustic painos are super, the organs are very good, and the strings are nice. Blend any two or split the keys L+R excellent features. Simple is GOOD!

I read the manual once, I'll never need it agian, it's so easy to understand.

Come on folks, it's a digital stage paino - designed for performance NOT studios. Every stage piano is a compromise of feature & Sound with size & weight. I think this is a winner.
At 39 lbs with excellent main sounds I can take it to gigs in my Toyota and not break my back. Effects are pretty basic, yea it's got midi I may never use it. Best features are the dynamic touch of the keys (feel is EXCELLENT) and the sound of the #1 acoustic piano which is right on the money. Only a nine because of limited sounds. BUT hey you can't have everything.

If your an 80's synth nut this is not for you, but other than that everyone will be happy.
All kinds of players will love this keyboard. Very expressive and very high quality sounds.

Pro players are very picky, we want everything and nothing is perfect so we will pick on something. Yea the power cord is wimpy cheap.

On board effects are Chorus, reverb (rooms), rotery (for organs), and touch hard/soft/ mid.

I've had mine less than a year and have played over 100 gigs on it. From biker bars to fancy hotel lounges it has worked hard already. Dependablity is 100% so far.

A screw fell out of the bottom, I put it back in, it's fine.

No idea. I owned a CP20 for over 25 years and never had a problem so I bought another Yamaha. I hope to get the same out of this one.

I compared to many other painos before I bought this CP33 none had the combination of top quality useable sounds, plus easy of use , and portability. For Value the CP33 is very high. It's not cheap at over 1000. but you get what you pay for. Pro players who are NOT programer geeks (like me) will like the easy use features. I've been a pro musician for over 25 years play all pop and standard styles, rock & jazz. Gotta love the Sound of this keyboard and the feel is so dynamic. I'm a singer 1st and a player 2nd won't let anyone else touch my CP33.
SIMPLE IS GOOD! The sound is everything, everything else is secondary.

Minor complaints: sometimes the split key button sticks but overall the buttons are pretty good.

Using the CP-33 is easy as a digital piano. Switch on and play without any fuss. After a quick look in the manual you can edit effect depth, metronome volume, split point, etc. As far as I know there's no much patch editing possibilities but no need to it either. With the touch and brilliance buttons you can set your piano sound reasonably well. It will always remain sounding Yamaha-ish, though. The instrument weights 18kg (27 kg with a hard case) which is still movable by 1 person (no mass transit of course!). The 3 digit LED display does its job, maybe it could have a 2 row backlit LCD for this price.

You have everything a stage piano should have... except some feats. These missing feats that are a little painful and annoying. Let's see: You have great pianos, epianos, clavis, strings, basses, organs, but you don't have even a simple drum set (e.g. for external MIDI usage during rehearsals). You have a decent metronome but you don't have even a basic sequencer to record some ideas when in the rehearsal room. I mentioned above the LCD display, that's an inexpensible component.

Now let's look at the good things: Excellent action! I used to play synths, was afraid for the legendary heavy Yamaha-touch but I got used to it quickly. It's very inspiring, gives good control, the keys come up a little slow so you can't repeat them quickly, as you can do it on a synth. 64 note polyphony proved quite enough for me. Two effect processors: a reverb and a selectable chorus/phaser/tremolo/rotary, all of them adjustable only by depth, but sounding decent. I haven't used MIDI functions yet so no opinion about the MIDI settings. Using the USB-MIDI cable generates a very audible constant and annoying noise on my CP-33's output, making that port unusuable. The standard MIDI out port adds the same noise, luckily that's much less audible. The matte finish looks very elegant but hard to get rid of fingerprints on it. The panel lock button is very useful against the kids at home. :) The instrument has no expansion capabilities.

They say Yamaha pianos are second to none - and I have to admit it. The "Grand Piano 1" with the 3 layer sound is simply perfect on the stage. It easily gets through the mix, especially the fortissimo, and you can't tell it of an acoustic piano on a common PA. Very inspiring sound, wide dynamic range, Yamaga-ish metallic hammer-sound above the mid-high range. It's not perfect though: if you listen to a simple middle C major chord it sounds a little empty and you hear the loop too. A classical pianist may hate it for the lack of harmonic resonances of the acoustic pianos. But again, it's ideal for a live performance in a band, especially for this price!

Other sounds: I use the epiano1 extensively which sounds nicely smooth. Sadly it has a painful layer-problem. There's a very audible layer difference at the mid range. If you play near the layer-switch dynamics, the samples can change note by note. The strings are very fat and nice, especially at the low-mid range. The jazz organ is fine but the fast leslie variation sounds ugly to me. Note: it's definitely not a rock preset. Acoustic bass is fine and the "bass + ride cymbal" variation is a good idea.

I bought it only a half year ago, played a lot rehearsals and a few gigs on it, it seems sturdy. Two blocks of keys has a little different touch sound but no problem playing on them - yet. It was a little frightening to see the fibreboard bottom cover, maybe it's for absorbing humidity. The controls and buttons seem massive. I use it without a backup.

Had no business with them.

If it were lost I'd hang myself, after that I'd buy it again. I made a little research before choosing this instrument and it completely fulfilled my expectations. The main competitor was the Roland RD-300GX which have much more great features but a worse action and a slightly higher price. I love the CP-33's inspiration, the punch-through fortissimo, the serious and yet controllable touch. I hate the epiano1's layer issue. I wish it had a sequencer, maybe a USB pendrive connectivity with audio playback function (like the RD-300GX).

I have 13 years of keyboard experience, played in about a dozen bands. I play jazz since 8 years. I have a Roland Xp-10 synth and played a few gigs on acoustic grands too.

Very easy to use its plug and play.

features are not very interesting 64 notes polyphony, built in effects which are very basic, no expansion capabilities, midi capable via Midi port or USB.. what i like however and what made me buy this board is the touch which is similar really to a grand... it doesnt give you the wood keys but the weight is amazing.. i have played alot of Kurz and Roland and Korg wieghted board but nothing comes as close as this. and im working in a music store with a selection of acoustic grand and upright.. so i know alot about piano action.

Sounds is ok on this board but on the studio im using my synthogy ivory (Software) and complemented by a nice action of this board. but the piano sound of this CP-33 is beter than the stock piano of the motif ES. because i have the ES rack which i use live with my CP-33 so i can compare the diffrence of the two.
rhodes sounds are also delicious! you can really use it in live situation but i would not record with it.

100% reliable

no idea

i have two of this board and both serve as my controller one is sitting on my studio fixed i had a carpenter set up a very nice slot for my Mac and Desktop PC with all my gear and this is my controller because i fell in love with the action.. for live i use my 2nd CP-33 with 2 modules my ES rack and Hammond XM-1 module with an XM-2 controller.

If you want to plug it in and play it, it's quite easy to use with the most important controls such as voice, touch, volume, and effects right at your fingertips But, once you get into setting up the settings for MIDI, tuning, and even the Master settings, you will need the manual because of the way the menus are set up.

As you read in the other reviews, the polyphony is 64 notes. I use this board for a stage piano on gigs, so I'm not interested much in the built-in effects. The keyboard action is absolutely amazing. Growing up with a Yamaha P2 upright, I feel right at home with the Grand Hammer keys-it doesn't get much more genuine than this. The keyboard has MIDI features, including it can be a "Master" keyboard in Master mode and control two different tone generators. It can be a little confusing the first time you try to set it up, but it actually works well. Though I wish you could edit more parameters. AND I thought my days with an external power transformer supply was over.

Tue rating I gave applies to the Grand Piano 1 sound only. The Grand Piano sound is absolutely amazing. I thought my 9000Pro Live Grand piano sounded real-the CP33 puts it to shame. It's been out on three gigs with me so far and every one comments on how real it sounds. I bought this specifically because of the weighted keys and the Piano sound, as I intend on using this as a piano replacement at home. The touch is a little sensitive but there are three touch sensitivity modes. I find my preference would be between the medium and heavy setting. But the way the piano sound reacts to the touch is simply unexplainable how real it sounds (and feels). As for the rest of the sounds, they are either average or above average. I am a bit disappointed in the electric piano sounds however. And, yes, as a review said before, I think Yamaha should have included the CP80's sound. A major oversight.

Since I can't afford two of these, I have to use it without a back up. But then again, I've been gigging with Yamaha products since high school and I have never had any of them fail right before a performance. I feel more confident with a 3 year warranty from Yamaha on it. The keyboard seems to be very solid and well-built.

It this were stolen, I would buy it again. In my opinion, it was a little pricey, but then again, the Grand Piano sound was worth it. I have been playing the piano for 28 years and have been playing around with keyboards for about 20 of those years and I have never played on a digital piano that sounded or felt more real.

CP33 is very easy to use. The presets for the acoustic pianos are good. I play in a band and use the mono piano setting most of the time. The clav setting combined with variation button is useful also.

The keyboard action can be adjusted via a button for Hard, Med, Soft and off. "off" is good if using the CP33 as a controller for an organ setting. I play on the Medium and Hard settings most of the time using piano sounds.

The sustain pedal works well. However, DO NOT accidentally connect it to the AUX input, which is next to the sustain input. It will kill your sound everytime you step on the pedal. I found this out the hard way. It was two hours into a gig after replacing cables and checking AC power that I discovered my stupid mistake.

I don't like the cheesy power adapter. It won't last long. I bought a backup adapter when I bought the piano. If the piano is built like other Yamaha products, it should last and be relatively trouble-free.

I like the piano a lot. It does the job for what I use it for. Live gigs in a rock band. I just don't understand why Yamaha chose the cheap power adapter for a "stage piano". They need to improve this.

Nothing to learn. Very easy and logical.

It has the stuff a stagepiano should have and the added bonus of two controllerwheels (pitchbend, modulation).
Both USB and Midi works like a charm with both PC and Mac (yes, I have tried both).
Yamaha did a clever thing when they decided to put the wheels on top of the piano instead of the usual place, on the side. This saves space were it is needed, stagepianos are long enough as they are.

I play rather complicated stuff, many notes, fast tempo with the sustainpedal down and I have not had any tones that gets cut off - Polyphony is more than enough.

I bought it for two reasons:

THE SOUND!!!
It sounds GREAT!
Some sounds (the not important ones) are a bit thin but all the important keyboardsounds are very good and the two pianosounds are soooooooo good. Actually, it's the best stagepiano I've ever tried so far.

THE KEYES!
The expressiveness is also top notch! Oh Buddah! I really like the way the keys respond to my playing. It feels like a grand piano for real (not an ordinary piano).

My fourth Yamaha piano. Never any problems.

Yamaha has always made the best pianos in my opinion (but never the best synths). Other companys simply don't have the same qualitysounds or fantastic weighted keys.
I play both the piano and the guitar and have been working as a professional musician for about 12 years but been playing for most of my life (43 years). I choose my instrumnets with great care.
And this is just that - A REAL INSTRUMENT!
Best buy of the year for me.
It won't get stolen, it's too heavy.
If anyone tried to steal it, I would smash him over the head with one of my guitars (not my Martin tough)...

It's very easy to use. You get going right away. If you just wanna play, you don't really need the manual. It just works. However, you do need the manual to change things like pitch etc. The manual is pretty easy to use.

I doesn't have many features, and that's fine with me, ??cause I just wanna play. I do like the two "zone"-faders, though.

Most of the sounds are really good. The piano is really really good. It's not as good as in CP-300, but still very good. It also good to make a dual with piano and strings. It has a very warm sound.

Seems VERY good. No problems. I will definetly use it on a gig without a backup

Fine

I would buy it again if it were stolen. The only piano in the world that is better is the CP-300, but it is also way more expensive and heavy.

So I went to the music store to try out the CP-33. I'm trying to find something that sounds $1000-$2000 better than sound number 4 on my Roland P-55 module.

I was prepared to buy it from what I'd read on Yamaha's website.
I thought for sure they'd finally figured out the piano sound for a decent price.

I didn't see any improvement in sound over the P-70.
The touch of the keyboard was OK...nothing special compared to my SL-880. Better, but not $1000 better.

Why they can't make a better piano sound in this day and age of computer modeling and VST's, I don't know. Even the CP-300 seemed contrived for that kind of money. They should be able to do everything a piano is required to do from solo to church to stage.

Maybe the Roland dealer set up the Yamaha's so they wouldn't sound very good next to the RD-700. But they were going through the same amp, and I powered down and rebooted the CP-300 to get to the first grand setting. Still not quite the $2000 dollar sound I was looking for.

Back to the CP-33. Looks like a decent controller with some average piano sounds as a bonus...instead of killer piano sounds with some decent midi controller functions as a bonus.

No problems at all - just "plug and play". Instrument remembers all the sound settings, so that you'll be ready to play immediately after turning it on.

The action is harder than Petrof I play and compared to some Clavinovas (GH3 keyboard). You can't also play so quickly - e.g. scales are problem for me, but after an hour, I got used to, but it is different compared to acoustic piano. But some people find it very good. No sequencer, MIDI I havent tested, but assume it is ok, no expansion capabilities, but you can buy a standalone sound module.

Dynamics are ok, the touch setting "hard" is acceptable for me, but it is a little harder. Medium is too "soft". Piano sound realistic if you play a single tone, but octaves in lower keys aren't in tune because of strictly equal temperament tuning, no stretch tuning typical for piano sounds are supported and it is a big problem for me. Nothing for classical music, for some styles acceptable. Other instruments are ok, I will find useful to have some mellow strings. The strings that are present here are a little agressive. Church organs ok, electric piano is better on GEM instruments.

Have it a few days - don't know.

Don't know.

For my purposes (Big Band) it is acceptable, but not good. Piano tunning and the action are the biggest problems for me. I bought it as a "late in the night alternative to acoustic piano with more sounds" and I'm very disappointed about it. It is better than GEM pRP-700/800, but I think KORGs will be better.

It's designed as a stage piano, so there aren't a lot of bells and whistles to make it complicated.

The function method of configuring the keyboard is a little cumbersome, but implementing it in a more intuitive way would probably have added significantly to the price.

The keyboard doesn't read the position of the zone control faders at power on. It defaults to a high value. I keep mine at the middle point to give plenty of room to move in both directions. I have to move the faders each time I power on to get the positions read. It also forgets the function settings (at least the one I've used so far). It's annoying because things like the selected instrument and variation are remembered across power cycles.

I've only had to refer to the manual to look up function edit codes. I haven't used the Master Edit function, so I can't say how good it is in documenting that.

64 voice polyphony, which isn't as much as some other instruments, but it's enough for a stage piano. I haven't noticed any drop outs yet, and I'm heavy on the damper pedal so there is plenty going on when I play.

The graded hammer action is excellent. It's the closest to a real piano I've seen, which should be expected from a company that also makes acoustic pianos. The weighting is heavier on the low end and lighter on the high end, like a real piano.

I've only used the piano sounds so far. The sound reproduction is excellent. I've skimmed through the other sounds. They're usable, but by no means as good as the grand pianos.

There are only three levels of velocity sensitivity. My ideal setting falls between two of them , so I find myself switching back and forth depending on the song. On the other hand, the setting has a button on the front panel, so I just press it rather than having to dig through menus.

It has basic MIDI capabilities. I've used it to control a rack synth for basic stuff, but not editing or any advanced MIDI functions.

The piano sounds are excellent. The other sounds are usable, but not as good as what I have in my rack synth. 99% of my work is on the piano, so I didn't care much about the other sounds.

There are basic built in effects: Chorus, Phaser, Tremolo, and Rotary speaker, plus four reverb settings. So far I've only used the reverb. I think my home studio is a rather live room, so I haven't gotten a good read on it yet.

I've only had it a few weeks, but so far it hasn't glitched once with several hours of use every day.

I haven't had to call Yamaha (yet!), so no opinion here.

Overall I'm quite happy with it. It has a better action and piano sounds than keyboards that cost twice as much, which were my primary criteria in choosing it. I wish it had the bigger display and sequencer of the CP-300, but at a little over half the weight of its bigger brother and $600 less it was a no brainer, especially after carrying around a 51 pound keyboard previously.