I have noticed this as well.
I guess the delay for them answering you tells you it's a dead end.
Bummer.

Unfortunately, I think you're absolutely right. However, besides that issue itself, it's very disappointing for me not to get any answer at the manufacturer official forum.
It's unacceptable for me that a simple and 20 years old P80 has a such a wonderful decay, while a recent model with an updateable OS doesn't have it with any of it's various piano sounds. I'm considering to sell this instrument, but because of the corona situation, it's not the best time to do this..
Maybe do you know- Is there any other way to write Yamaha staff (email address or a different forum)? Thanks!

You should contact your retailer, authorized service center, or your regional Yamaha distributor (contact information on the back inside cover of your Owner’s Manual). Here I can help you with operational questions. I cannot answer questions on what may or may not be in future updates or in future products. Sorry, even if I knew, I could not tell you. I actually don’t see any questions I could answer.

I can tell you that you should keep your firmware up-to-date, as new instrument sounds have already been added to the CP73/CP88 in recent firmware updates. Current firmware version is 1.31. (This is third update since the product was initially released). Firmware updates include new features, functions in addition to bug fixes.

Opinions, you are free to have and post. Hope that helps you understand, you’re yelling at the ticket booth attendant that the train is late (I can hear you but I can’t help you, here, unless you have a question about the product operations or who you should contact).

Thank you Bad Mister for your response. However, I'm very surprised to be sent to the retailer/distributor/service center, expecting them to find and reach the right person in Yamaha.
As an official Yamaha support forum I expected you (not you personally, but somebody here...) to have a better and more efficient way to reach a person, (maybe one of the CP developers), that is able and authorized to answer such a legitimate question from a customer.
I thought Yamaha wants their customers to be satisfied, maybe I was wrong.
My CP88 is running on the latest firmware version (1.31). So far, these updates didn't deal with this decay issue at all, and the last piano that was added (CF3), also suffers from the same exact problem.
I just wonder if the OS is capable of making a change in this area, or it's an issue that is here to stay forever. I checked reviews of the P515, and it surely sounds lusher, with much better decay and resonance. If it wasn't so heavy to carry, I would sell my CP88, and buy the P515, also saving some money...

My question is then- Is it possible that upcoming software updates will include an improved and enhanced sound controls ? If not, is there a chance a new piano sound will be added, focused on a long decay and higher string resonance levels?

I cannot answer questions on what may or may not be in future updates or in future products. Sorry, even if I knew, I could not tell you.

Thank you, however, for your comments. If you would like to register your request, we certainly encourage you to join the Yamahasynth Ideascale community and post your comments there. Our development team reviews your requests.

YamahaSynth Ideascale

Hi Gilad,

I totally agree with you. The behaviour of the sustain while holding the keys after the attack is an important aspect to a piano sound.
I don´t know why manufacturers still do this short sustain thing. Maybe they have to save sample space, I don´t know.

I´m a happy MOTIF XF8 user and all the stock pianos have convincing sustain. Many of the older stage pianos and current digital pianos in a cheaper prize range may use looping to simulate a longer natural sustain. Maybe the CP88 is better used for playing in a band with bass and drums but not really for playing solo in classical music or jazz.

In many videos you can hear demonstrators playing layerd piano sounds on the CP88. 🙁 I´m really sick of adding string or synth pads to a good piano sound to cover up the lack of natural sustain. The attack of a note is important too and I personally do think that the CP88 does a very good job regarding to this. A few month ago I was really close to purchase a CP88 but in the end I decided to wait for the next updates to come. But until now I doesn´t look like yamaha has an improvement of the sustain on the screen.

It´s a bit disappointing that a company like Yamaha - building acoustic pianos is really where the heart of the company is - is not able to do better on its top of the line stage pianos.
This time they have the focus on this new user interface. The truth is that I don´t care for the numbers of buttons on a stage piano as long as the acoustic piano sound is giving me all I need. And a convincingly sustain is definitly one of the things I would be looking for.

Oliver

Hi,

Maybe I can give my input here having owned the CP 73. The default decay is quite fast and I believe the reason why this is so (compared to the other models) is because this is meant to be used as a STAGE piano to be able to cut through the mix. The sound needs to be "clean" and you'll also notice the stock sounds are also brighter (a little too bright for home IMHO). Also, comparing with the P515 which has double the polyphony at 256 this is somewhat limited in the amount of decay it can have.

If you're playing solo and wish to have a longer decay, I found that you can use the reverb setting (time/depth) or delay setting to achieve a slightly longer decay. Of course there is a limit to how long a decay you want before it becomes unnatural and muddy.

Hope this helps and let me know if it works.

To me it always seemed as if Yamaha is surely able to do the ultimate Piano since they had the CP1 which was/is a great stage piano with superrealistic sound.
The CP1 is 10 years old now and maybe it´s time for a new model to follow up because there is new technology needed in this piano like

- built-in audio interface
- updated SCM sound engine
- additional sounds like layers and strings
- mac/pc editor
- newer piano models like CFX grand or bosendorfer
- ability to load samples
- updated piano action

If Yamaha would also reduce the price of the CP1 a bit it could be a great stage piano to go for. I would love to see an updated version of the CP1.