The thing with vintage eps is each one will have slight variance in tone and require maintenance. The reface sounds very believable and is will require a lot less maintenance in the long run. Own one, and love it
The Reface Cp sounds so good! Yes with good headphones i can definiately hear the more richness of the real e-pianos. But once you effect on that, and imagine listening to it in a band-mix, those differences because so small. What i am saying is: as an listener, or audience member, i would be moved and touch by the Reface CP.
They reface is def a little bit thinner, just a little bit less of that bassy body BUT not anything you’d miss or notice in a track or just hearing it not side by side I want one :)
I sometimes wonder if this is a reactionary measure; it's easier to mix in low end, but taking it out is tricky because the overtones cloud up the mids. Generally, I *think* that my argument is to go for pure authenticity, but I don't think that's necessarily the best case all the time unless it's something like a TS-808 where, in isolation, it's easier to mix and has always been more of a foundational structure to reinforce with more exaggerated EQ as you go. Conversely, I feel like the advent of "bedroom guitarists" resulted in guitar amps having so much low end that it amazes me how many people I've played with that don't know how to cut some lows for a live bassist to be audible.
Recently got a Reface cp, always wanted one since they came out but couldn’t justify it. Have to say it sounds incredible. I have a Montage 6 and honestly the ep’s on the Reface sound better especially the grunt that you want from a rhodes when you dig into the keys. Running it to a midi controller is a must but even on full size synth keys because of the sound it is so rewarding to play, that’s the best word I can think to describe it. Worth every penny
What an excellent collection you have, and what an excellent demonstration this is! Hats off to you :) Reface CP is certainly a tiny force to be reckoned with!
I have the old Yamaha KX88. Even though it’s just a “controller” it makes everything sound better. Can’t wait to plug it into a CP. When they introduced the whole Reface series everybody was very critical about the small keys and the price which was $500 at launch. I am happy to see these are quite popular now. For a while you couldn’t find them.
adamandlorraine dude/dudes, I actually appreciate how much effort you have put in to comment this on so many videos. Usually that spam is annoying, but this was damn helpful to me, and I’ve noticed a lot of other people as well, and it just made the instrument all the more attractive as a purchase to me, a nice bit of icing on the cake. So cheers for the tip mate, I’m looking forward to picking one up this week 👍🏼
@@CommissionerManu that's ok. I enjoy watching CP videos and just chuck the odd comment in to make sure everyone knows there is this sound hidden away.
T.I.N Mateus I was getting it second hand, but the seller pulled out last minute unfortunately, so I’m back on the hunt. Pretty sure some stores here in Aus still have them, but I have noticed lower stock lately when looking online 🤔
@@CommissionerManu I pre paid one ,waiting the store to receive it,otherwise it doesn't stay long in the stores,these ones sell like hot cackes,I even wrote to Yamaha to produce more quantity of CP keyboards and to provide their retailers with enough stock,cause there's an obvious constant demand.These refaces are future classics,same like microKorg was.
a good imitation, and maybe even if the sound is used in a large mix. But the complexity and fullness and mid strength of the real rhodes really stands out.
I bought it I keep it. And yes I have Keyscape, a real Feurich 1,90m Grand Piano at home and a Kawai ES-8, so I am not in need of something cheap. This thing is a beast and is worth every penny. 1. You can use it as a midi controller for example for Keyscape, LogicPro 2. You can connect with a 3€ midi cable with an 88 midi keyboard and use just the sounds 3. If you use on D.Delay full open two knobs, you have a simple cool loop function 4. If you switch on while the know between two instruments, you can play a very nice clean piano sound 5. You can use 6xAA betteries/accu and you can play for hours 6. Internal speakers are for its site amazing, ten times better than Akai mini Play for example 7. All knobs and faders are solid, super overall built quality 8. Keybed is so far best I had under my fingers with 3 octaves... 9. I DONT get paid for this, I payed with my hard earned money and I am happy some months already. This is like the ES8, it will stay at home, quality, sound and feel are great.
I agree. It's hard for me to tell the difference. Bro did you know the You can also connect the Reface to a master keyboard? This gives you full 88 key freedom!
@@christhedemocrat Forsure, in a mix I doubt you'd be able to hear any different. Mind you I find on mine the 1st Rhodes sound has a weird pitch in the lower octaves. Yeah its rad they have midi out! Im missing my breakout cable so stuck with the mini keys for now haha.
I own and it is surprising how good it sounds. I can't stand those mini keys. I either midi it up to my main keyboard - Yamaha MX88, or use my Roland A-37 controller. The onboard speakers sound like a bad transistor radio. You can shut them off by powering down the Reface CP, then holding down the lowest D note, power up the unit and that shuts off the onboard speakers. The unit sound great through nice sound system speakers.
@@Keyboardman88 I finally just received my Reface CP off backorder from GC and it is DA BOMB! Sounds amazing-all except that annoying Toy Piano. The designers must have been smoking some powerful stuff when they thought up that one! 🙄 And yeah, the mini-keys and speakers suck too. I only intend to use it via midi as a sound module with my Roland Juno DS88 being the master-board. The Vintage EP sounds are magnificent and worth putting up with the aforementioned drawbacks. I would definitely buy it again! And thanks for the info on how to disable the speakers!
@@Keyboardman88 Yeah, but it never stays in position and always slips into either of the adjacent settings as soon as I start playing. 🙄 How SUPER annoying it is that Yamaha failed to recognize that an acoustic piano is WAY more valuable to a piano player than a ridiculous toy piano. I love Tchaikovsky but give me a break! lol
On the Clavinet you're using CB pickup config while the Reface seems to be using the DB config, so it's kind of an unfair comparison. Aside from that the comparisons with the Rhodes and Wurlitzer were cool, and you play very nicely.
To me one of the biggest difference are the low and high ends of the instrument, the reface lacks some weight in the lower register (especially the Rhodes modes) and maybe some brightness and punch in the high end. But it's so marginal, that the form factor, probability and price more than make up for it.
Yeah the reface definitely seems a bit thinner/less bass-y, but it also sounds a bit quieter/lower output in some of these comparisons, so pushing the gain on it a bit might help that to some degree (obv not completely though). But then I also see plenty of people running the reface through pedals, so there's extra opportunity there to shape/sculpt the sound a bit too
@@meksykstudio5150 Its absolutely amazing that a $400 little keyboard can replicate over $10000 worth of instruments close enough for you to even compare, never mind say which one you prefer. well played Yamaha
@@meksykstudio5150 I use a Roland electronic drumset. Moving it, far outweighs some small sonic inferiorities, that my old Ludwig set actually weighs. !
On the Wurlitzer, the CP cuts the sound too abruptly on note releases, but in a mix, no one would notice. And for a fraction of the price of real pianos, you get a very convincing emulation. BTW, there's an easter egg in the Yamaha Reface CP: if you put the piano type selector in between two models, and power on the unit, you get a Grand Piano sound!
I want to point a thing out for everyone who says that one sounds "thicker" (or somthing liek that) than the other: This is probably just because of this not being played by a MIDI cable. It's probably just a thing of volume, it can easily make you believe one sounds better than the other.
I'm sorry, but what you're saying makes no sense to me. The sound of the CP is being recorded straight from it's outputs. Whether you play the CP's own keyboard or control it with via MIDI with another keyboard, it would not sound any different.
@@darwinsaye i think he meant that with a full keyboard action you might have more midi velocity and so more subtle difference between the difference finger pression . So it might sound different , even if he engine is the same. Think of a keyboard with the velocity on full on every note , it would sound different than a velocity sensistive keyboard . Same think here cause the action is shorter so velocity is reduce
As a Rhodes MK1 owner I'm Impressed with the Reface in this video, but you can tell it's synthesized with a close ear because every Rhodes has different characteristics from tine to tine and voicing alone is never perfect. And the Reface has a very consistent sound note to note like a synth. In a mixed track with effects you might not notice the difference but I don't think it'll feel the same as sitting with a Rhodes. Keyscape is pretty amazing though, especially through a big system, it can really feel like my Rhodes aside from fact that it feels pre mixed where my Rhodes doesn't unless I'm tracking it with effects
I agree, but I think it's one of the strengths of the CP. Playing a real rhodes, those inconsistencies are part of the charm, but those types of inconsistencies quickly become irritating when I hear them in samples. It's why I adore the rhodes found in the CP1, CP5 and CP4. Authentic, but kind of enhanced at the same time.
@@dynoroad yeah I can agree, there’s positives for both, the CP is cool too because you have so many tones on hand really quickly, paired with pedals or effects it’s even better and it’s a sound we’re becoming used to on modern music. But I’d say it depends on the Rhodes itself, the inconsistency should be super minimal if it’s a good Rhodes, like some tines have a little more bell and some sound a little warmer but very minimally, it just brings it to life a little more, if it’s starting to sound irritating then I’d say that Rhodes probably needs a good setup and restoration haha. I fully restored mine and you can hear it in a video on my channel, it sounds brand new, beautiful stereo tremolo, upgraded preamp, internals completely redone etc. I’ve thought about making it into a Kontakt instrument but there’s so many Rhodes out there already, I dont know if there’s a RetroFlyer Rhodes though so maybe I’ll do it some day!
This is very close especially considering one is played on full size keys and the other on mini keys. Also consider how difficult it would be to play the same passages with the exact same nuance.
You're right. With proper amplification and EQ they would be really close, though. The reface is obviously a compromise but it sounds so much better than it should and it's more intuitive to use than virtual instruments in a DAW, IMO.
What about the shades of intensity at contrasted velocities ? At this moment we could see if we're hearing the multilayering. And try the highest notes to hear if there's aliasing. Thank you for your demo ! So much stuff and delicious funky rythms
almost went with the CS, but so glad i went with the CP. its much more satisfying & i love playing such a great electromechanical piano sound... happier this way more than trying to spend time FINDING sounds in the CS.
@@meksykstudio5150 eventually, for synthesis, maybe the CS might get purchased. dont get me wrong, it's a cool instrument. just value the enjoyment of tone and playability the CP offers straight away.
The differences are marginal and everyone stating otherwise is just trying to show off. I’m a mix no one will notice without further suspicion, and frankly it won’t matter. Of course it’s a different feeling as a player, but with an external master keyboard this package, as hardware, is as good it as it gets in terms of quality, price, portability, effects and style.
i think it does the rhodes close to spot on...the wurlitzer sound seems to lack a bit of the fundamental and/or lower overtones, so the CP sound a little brighter than the Wurlitzer...But it seems just the opposite on the Clavinet, which sounds brighter than the CP (which I would not have expected)...All said, the CP overall sounds great.
Nice video - I have a reface CP as well as a similar collection of vintage keys. (Except for the D6 - haven't had an opportunity to pick one up yet) While the sounds are good - they don't really compare to the real thing. But to be fair - I only spent $400 on my reface CP while I've got over $10k in my Rhodes, Wurlitzer, CP-70b, and Hammond B3. And I took my reface CP camping!
Great video! Would love to know how you got the CP so close to the Rhodes? how are we hearing it - through an amp, or DI? have you done much to it in post? Thanks so much
@@meksykstudio5150 wow!! It really does sound very close. Closest emulation to instrument I've heard - especially with the tremolo masking some of the difference. Both sound fantastic. Thanks so much for the response, and the awesome video!
Why o why don't yamaha make a full-size keyboard that combines CP and YC. Those old-style controls and stomp box style effects are rad, it's what everyone wants EDIT: not to mention that sound-wise it really does the job.
I thought about that too...And the truth I suspect is we should be happy we can get these sounds now for 399$. Its basically a brain that you can midi to. Id love a keyboard with the CP and YC combined...But how would its sell? Its a more niche market I think. I mean look at Vintage Vibes original tine EPs. They're 5000$ USD but they're amazing. They're not pumping them out like hot cakes I don't think. It does suck, and maybe they'll finally put one out, but for now there's always a midi controller
@@LiberLotus I mean I use MIDI controllers and been thinking about getting a Reface CP and YC and modding them into modules but I don't really like using a MIDI controller in the first place, I like "whole" instruments with keys or pads. Not to mention controllers tend to be butt-ugly and focused on DAW (this is now finallly changing with Novation and Arturia) when some of us are interested in hardware and Eurorack. So for rhodes, organ, clav, acoustic piano we still need romplers but they haven't really made them fun to use. except for those Yamaha Reface... I know a lot of song or score writers opt for these mega workstation type keyboards with internal sounds like the really expensive Yamaha and Roland ones but those things may have the sounds you want and beautiful sounds but they're just not fun. With thousands of presets and shit. Give me a Rhodes with an analog monosynth and an acoustic piano and organ sound and I wont' ask for much. Imagine a double-decker 61-key board were the bottom deck is weighted and the to no. So you have all your pianos on the bottom and the top used for organ and synths. Pianos could be ROMpled (modelling is total overkill), Organ modelled (or ROMpled), and a real analog engine for the synth. And comes in its own box. Like the super funk gig machine. I've been wanting this keyboard for years! And it would have controls like the CPs. Aaaaanyway
@@LiberLotus I forgot to say that you can find the reface for like 350 each, because of course the intro price was too steep. So that's 700 euros. If Yamaha were to take those panels connect it to a decent keyboard with split capacity and options for semi-weighted or hammer action and 61 or 73 keys style and how much more would you have pay 700 would be a huge premium. So the whole board would be 1400, the price of a Crumar Mojo 61 and loads more user-friendly. Yamaha have done some cool things lately with the YC61 and the CP pianos so tehy probably would feel it might encroach on that market but virtually any manufacturer could make a board like that for such a price.
Definitely doesn’t sound that way. Have to hook it up to a larger midi keyboard but as far as I know the tiny keys have 127 velocity increments. I recently got one from ebay, always wanted one since they came out and even on the little keys it’s so rewarding to play. Hook it up to a full size controller and it’s unbelievable imho
I just sent mine back. The keys are very very small. The sound volume without amplification is so low. Not a problem if you want to always use an amp. But I was looking for something small and light that I could just place on my lap. Too small, too light. My search for a keyboard will continue.
