Disklavier

Good afternoon, Everyone.

In a message dated 2/18/02 10:48:20 AM, ksharp@... writes:

<< I'm seriously shopping for a disklavier and have found a couple older ones 
on the secondary market.  They do not have the CD technology.  I've been 
leaning toward a new piano so I can get the CD drive.  Is it worth it to pay 
a little more and get the CD option?>>

A lot of Yamaha's software development effort these days is in the area of 
CDs with audio. Personally, I have found the results to be very attractive. 
So, if you are thinking of the piano mostly as an entertainment unit, the CD 
option is a good one in my opinion.

You can add the CD option to an older Disklavier by getting the DCD1. It 
works very well. The limitations are that the display does not show the song 
titles, it does not transpose, and it does not support the new PianoSmart 
technology. The latter feature is one that we shall be seeing in coming 
months. Yamaha will supply floppy disks of piano accompaniments that will 
coordinate with commercial audio CDs that you purchase separately in a record 
store. With PianoSmart, you can also record your own accompaniments that will 
coordinate with an audio CD on playback. I don't know if Yamaha will come up 
with a way that DCD1s can be upgraded to support this technology.

<<Also, I was considering the 6'1" or 6' 7" models, but the finish I want is 
only available in 5'8".  The dealer said a 5'8" was probably the largest I'd 
want for a 16' x 32' room anyway.  Does anyone have the 5'8"?  Is it still a 
pretty nice sized piano?   >>

I believe that the 5' 8" instrument is a nice one. Of course, pianos sound 
increasingly better the larger that they are. If you are hoping to use the 
instrument for background music, smaller is usually better. If you are a 
professional or avid hobbyist who will play the instrument yourself, you may 
appreciate the sound of a larger size. Also, starting with the 6' 1" size, 
the instrument uses a more sophisticated record system. Most people will 
probably not notice the difference, but a professional may appreciate the 
fact that the larger instruments use hammer sensors rather than key sensors.

I believe I am correct in saying that in the case of the earlier models, all 
of the grands used hammer sensors.

Regards,
PianoBench