Eduardo

Purely basing this on the recent price drops.

It's 1799 EUR now. It was released in Nov 2013. It's 4 years in the market.
I would say that its a tad late in the product life, in that time the Motif XF was replaced by the MONTAGE, the Tyros 5 was replaced with the Genos.

so perhaps until the end of 2018 we'll see a replacement. perhaps not. I don't think Yamaha will share this info. but for 1799 its one hell of a keyboard and one of the best stage keyboards ever made.

I know Yamaha doesn't disclose anything prior to the launch of new instruments

But you ask anyway... ??? 🙂

Can you tell me if I can buy with confidence regarding this aspect ?

I can tell you with complete confidence you can and should get a CP4 STAGE... while there has never been a perfect product, the CP4 STAGE is as Eyal says, “one hell of a keyboard and one of the best stage keyboards ever made”.

It probably will be replaced at some point, but later than sooner. People rave about it and it still sells well. I personally think it is a great stage piano if we were back in the late 90’s, but there are better options now for less money. Hell the Kawai MP7SE outclasses the CP4 in nearly every way. I thought with everyone refreshing their stage pianos that Yamaha would’ve introduced a successor at Winter NAMM 2018. Anyway, because people keep buying the CP4 it tells Yamaha they don’t need to change anything and it’s “perfect”. I’d rather Yamaha be more innovative like what they did with the CP1, but simply make it lighter.

The CP1 is still available, Kahlil.

Very true Badmister but not at the current price for an instrument that is about 9 years old. Yamaha are releasing some very nice improvements to their home piano department and I wish that division would team up with the stage piano department. Combine the piano resonances (second generation of VRM) with the current (or improved) SCM technology. Allow the user to edit and create their own piano voices like the CP1 (with the hammer hardness etc parameters). I’m just saying Roland took their flagship V-Piano and combined it with improved vintage electric pianos, effects, and action plus allowed for expandability. They really didn’t skimp on anything with their RD2000. Forget about the marketing hype of Yamahas “best stage piano ever” and really make a stage piano that can stand up to a beast like the RD2000 or even a Korg GrandStage. I mean both mentioned keyboards don’t have piano sounds that have unnatural looping when you hold the sound longer than 5 seconds. Yamaha can do better, so I hope that they do. But they probably won’t because I guess sales say the CP4 is doing just fine. But I wish Yamaha would go back to music first and make a truly innovative stage piano to succeed the CP4. Sorry for the rant, believe it or not I’m a Yamaha fan actually. As an educator I use many of their products for my general music classes as well as for my band program. As a professional performer I don’t use their stage pianos much any more because of other competitors simply offering better products for the money.

Eduardo, if you are just beginning piano lessons, the CP4 will be just fine. Even if they come out with something better tomorrow, you have plenty to learn on. You could probably get by with way less piano. I certainly would not worry about it. I am 49 too! But I have been playing for 42 of them. I learned on a Kawai upright piano and now I own a Steinway L. I have had many different keyboards over the years. The Yamaha CP4 feels very much like a real piano and it sounds great. You'll love it. go buy one.

I have been hoping for the same. I have had CP5's since they first came out and absolutely love them. For myself anyway the ability to record straight onto the board has been an incredible feature. I think they should have gotten rid of the CP1 instead of the CP5 but that's just my opinion. I'm sure the CP4 is a great keyboard but it bores me. I know looks aren't everything but every other instrument made (guitars, drums, whatever), focuses on connecting with the musician and audience with it's aesthetics. The CP4 is so vanilla looking it's amazing. The keybed is the only thing I'd rather have than what's on my CP5. So with that I would hope Yamaha would come out with something incredibly pleasing to the eye with a triple sensor keybed. I couldn't be happier with their sounds and believe they have nothing else that really needs changing. IMO anyway.

Seeing what Yamaha can do on the Montage and Genos, i strongly believe they can do better on the for the next generation of Stage Piano. Though CP4 seems to be a good stage piano, it becomes boring compared to Roland RD-2000 or the Korg Grandstage. Dont get me wrong, yamaha piano sound is still the best to me, but the functions on CP4 are not. So, i decided to wait for the next generation of CP4. I am still fine with my Montage except it is quite heavy.

We’ll go with “boring” as long as we can boast the “piano sound still the best”! You want excitement, try skydiving 🙂
I’m kidding, we feel what you are saying, just simply: Sound first, features/functions, excitement.
I’d hate to have an exciting stage piano that sounded embarrassingly bad. Me, I get excited about the best sound...others get excited about the under 40 pounds in weight, ... just to get some more info and a dialog going... what is “exciting” for you?

I think many Yamaha stage piano fans are in the same boat as me waiting for a successor to the CP4. Despite all the positive accolades, it's long on the tooth. I have been waiting for a new Yamaha stage piano for at least a couple of years so I could finally retire my S90ES, the piano sounds on which are still surprisingly good! I got so tired of waiting for Yamaha, I bought a Nord Piano 3 last Spring. Unfortunately, this relatively expensive stage piano is currently collecting dust at home as I find myself going back to my S90ES on gigs. I was again disappointed at Winter NAMM 2018...still no new CP"?"! If nothing comes out in the Summer NAMM, I might have to start entertaining the RD2000 or Korg Grandstage before my S90ES finally gives out.

I agree with Patrick on the aesthetics issue. I've been playing a CP4 for two years. Love the sound. Hearing the voices through my BOSE headphones is really something. I recorded a YouTube demo and it sounds great. I love gigging with it. I do think Yamaha could have paid more attention to the body style and graphics. It's pretty basic looking. I think for the next generation Yamaha can at least increase the size of the logos on the back. I love it when a keyboard brand name has visual presence onstage. Keyboard players are pretty proud of their gear and want to show it off. This would be simple, and IMHO, would add a lot to the look. As a graphic designer, I'd be happy to submit my ideas. 😉

I do not have a CP series stage piano. At one point I was looking to replace my MO6 and looked at the CP series. This must have been around 2010 since the S90XS was relatively new and I was looking at the CP1 vs. CP5 and CP50. I was leaning towards the CP5 simply because it had more sounds and still had the wooden keys. When I stacked it up against the S90XS - which was on sale - the CP series didn't win for me. I think I wished there was more modeling involved with the CP5 along with the extra sounds you would get. So I went with pure Rompler - something I was familiar with - and upgraded from the ES sound set to the XS sound set. I did end up getting the S90XS.

That somewhat establishes my credentials in this department (or lack of). When I see aesthetics as some of the first responses to a call for feedback - I cringe. Everyone is allowed to voice what excites them - we're all different - so the question deserves varied responses. I'll just describe from my perspective.

As a guitar player as well - I do understand the aesthetics of a guitar. A guitar is a performance instrument. You can jump around the stage and do lots of tricks with a guitar. As such, it does tend to become a showpiece and have identity. ZZ top's twirling. The heart shaped "X" guitar some metal guy played. Prince's guitar that produced hand lotion. I do not see a stationary instrument so much in this department. Different from drums, the keyboard player is fairly locked down in movements. Probably the most "boring" part of any band as far as performance aesthetics is the keyboard/piano player. In order to overcome this - pianists will wear clothes that give aesthetic interest. You can decorate the keyboard stand/table with anything you want - like a drummer puts the band logo on their bass drum shell.

I've never had anyone come up to me and comment about the keyboard logos or keyboard aesthetics. To me, the keyboard is between my emotional/musical intent and the speakers. What it looks like is secondary. I need the controls to look a certain way only so I can read how everything is set - but I don't need the wood or coloring to look like anything. I don't need the logos to look like anything particular. I just care about this sort of thing if I'm looking at a performance on TV, like the keyboard sound, and am trying to figure out what the keyboardist is playing. But my own keyboards can look like anything as long as they sound great and can be controlled like I want.

Weight is a big factor for me. The S90XS never made it out on the road with me. It was too much to carry. I've purchased and returned 88's since then. There's always, with good reason, an "upcharge" for the 88 vs. lesser key models. It would help sales if people who get less keys could be "converted" to the 88 version. Some really just want synth action - and weight is not the issue. But for the others - like me - it the weight/action ratio could get really low (less weight - better "weighted" feel action). There are examples of 88s out there that say they are fully weighted and weigh less than others -- haven't played on them to know if the action is bunk or not. But an 88 that I could take out on the road would excite me. The Montage 7 is about my limit.

I like the concept of what Roland did with the RD2k. Modeled pianos and non modeled ones in the same box. Modeled ones have "unlimited" polyphony. I'd like to be able to tune parameters of the model. I'd like to mix modeled and sampled so I can borrow from each technology to create a "best of" hybrid. I haven't gone deep enough with the CP series to know if this is already part of the feature mix -- it may be already old hat.

The kind of tweaking that something like Pianoteq gave you for the E-pianos was impressive. Not sure if that's available on the CP series. I think you can change the hammers to materials that do not exist in the real thing. So you can create new/different sounds.

For the product as a whole - I don't wish for the following, but it would be interesting to only me:

If an 88 CP gets light enough to carry on the gig - I'd want the concept of "center of the rig" to be thought out. The RD2k has two mod wheels. Not sure what all you can do with that - but it seems reasonable to think that external MIDI control is one use. If I'm just open to wish anything - I'd wish there are enough buttons and controls to do something meaningful to control the Montage as my 2nd keyboard. This isn't great for the general public - maybe niche. I don't need drum pads for a CP series. But knobs and buttons that I can use to cause scene changes and such on the MIDI'd board would be good.

As a whole, I think stage pianos need to be simple which means less knobs and buttons in general. There may be a way to balance this -- like have a mode where the knobs and buttons that do exist change to external MIDI control. In other words, don't add buttons/knobs for this -- but allow for context switching the ones that are there for external control.

Use of the Genos OLED displays on the buttons/knobs can help label those.

Hope others can chime in with things that excite them that are in the audio/usage categories (others with a deeper understanding of the CP4).

When or if Yamaha decides to release a new stage Piano, I'd like to see the following features:

- More Piano sounds with improved sampling tech including samples for the Bosendorfer
- Same weight or lighter than the CP-4
- Similar or better action than the CP-4's NW-GH which is still quite good. Perhaps go with NWX action if possible without increasing the weight significantly
- Nicer front panel layout with a larger LCD screen than the one in the CP-4.
- USB audio interface

Just like the CP-4 was significantly better than the P-255. A new stage piano from Yamaha will have to be at least as good as the P-515. Preferably better.

When or if Yamaha decides to release a new stage Piano, I'd like to see the following features:

- More Piano sounds with improved sampling tech including samples for the Bosendorfer
- Same weight or lighter than the CP-4
- Similar or better action than the CP-4's NW-GH which is still quite good. Perhaps go with NWX action if possible without increasing the weight significantly
- Nicer front panel layout with a larger LCD screen than the one in the CP-4.
- USB audio interface

Just like the CP-4 was significantly better than the P-255. A new stage piano from Yamaha will have to be at least as good as the P-515. Preferably better.

I still love my CP4. I use it at home, but as a live performance instrument; the CP4 is still vastly superior to the P-515. Lighter, more connectivity, more controllers, more customization options, much more effects, and the workflow gives you direct access to just about everything you would quickly need right on the front panel. As a home practice/small venue instrument, the P-515 is hard to beat. Built in speakers, excellent sampling technology, and a great subset of the same features you find in the CP4. Personally having also owned a P-255 before, I prefer the look of that instrument. It was clean and elegant with those rear facing speakers, and the lack of bright, detailed display screens and lights all over it made it a great keyboard to focus on your playing. Sadly, I gave it up for a steal while fairly new so I could make room for a Montage.