Yamaha Clavinova CLP-380 (Polished Mahogany) with Matching Bench

Yamaha CLP380-pe

You will gather from the star rating that I like this instrument.
Appearance: Utterly gorgeous! The internet illustrations do not do justice to the finish and workmanship of this instrument. The polished ebony is finished to the same standard seen on Yamaha\'s range of grand acoustics - beautifully black and glossy!
Sound:
The CLP 380 uses 5 samples per note corresponding to the changing character of different key velocities. Loud notes are not just quieter notes with the volume turned up, they take on the \'angry\' tone of an acoustic when played loudly. Softer tones are sweeter. The loud pedal (which allows for half-pedalling) works well, although I sometimes notice an odd \'bloom\' which may be due to my particular settings. A lot of flexibilty is allowed regarding reverberation and tone control, so it may take a while to get just the right sound for you. But, let me just say that I regularly \'forget\' this is a digital piano - and trust me, that means it\'s REALLY good! There are many different sounds to choose from, but the emphasis is on the piano sound (as should be, in my opinion). There are a range of very useable \'main\' sounds (piano, organs, harpsichord, some basses etc.) and a large library of XG sounds which are mostly pretty good in their own right. If you are into doing arrangements, this is a nice to have feature. More on features later.
Playing:
This instrument is primarily a piano (compared to the more general function of the CVP range)and for this job it is superb! The action is silky and light whilst being heavy enough to give it a real piano feel. Ideally, it would be slightly heavier, perhaps but maybe that\'s just a taste thing! I found, for example, that fast trills are not that easy to articulate. Overall, the action is a lot better than many upright acoustics. It allows a great variety of expression which many digitals just can\'t cope with - all tunable to your own preference.
Features:
I can\'t list them all, so I\'ll just mention the most likeable examples. The piano has some demo songs on board which are showcases for all of the main sounds with full accompanyments - short but sweet. They work extremely well through the 8 speakers and amplifiers - surprisingly high quality, in fact! Nice. But in addition to this there are all of the carefully selected classic piano pieces (50) which are included in the sheet music provided. These are high quality performances which you can play along with at a tempo you specify. You can even play along with one hand while the piano plays the other. The selection of pieces deserves real praise because they haven\'t only included the \'easy\' pieces. Some pieces are very tricky and will stretch the most accomplished of players. If you wish, you can of course record your own performances and overlay parts played on other instruments (up to 16 tracks).
Conclusion:
You can read the full specification on the Yamaha site, so I\'ve tried to give you a flavour of living with the instrument. It\'s a very good facsimile of an acoustic except it has the advantages of not going out of tune, having a volume control, having (2) headphone sockets and taking up a reasonable amount of space (unlike a grand piano). It\'s not perfection, but it\'s very, very, good. Always try before you buy, but you can\'t go far wrong with this. Is it expensive? I think it\'s a bargain! One gripe though, the stool is too high for me and it isn\'t adjustable!