The CLP-955 boasts the beautifully classic shape and finish of an authentic baby grand with smoothly flowing lines and a gorgeous black polished finish. Yamaha's superior craftsmanship gained from a century of building fine acoustic pianos and industry-leading technology make Clavinova the world's favorite digital piano. The CLP-955 gives you the ultimate in music-making potential - perfection dressed in BLACK.

The Clavinova's beautiful exterior demands a sound beyond the ordinary. It starts with AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) tone generation, the system that has led the way in digital pianos for over two decades. AWM uses samples of an actual instrument and varies the volume and timbre according to your touch on the keyboard for incredibly realistic response. Yamaha engineers employed new techniques to take samples of a selected Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand at a quality that far surpasses CD sound.

Thanks to the CLP-955's huge 32MB sample memory, they added 3-step Dynamic Stereo Sampling (DSS). With this unique system, each key includes 3 samples from loud to soft for dynamic selection according to your touch on the keyboard. Since the original is closer to what you play, AWM has less filtering to do, so the sound is even more lifelike. The engineers added Stereo Sustain Samples to recreate the unique resonance of a grand piano's soundboard and strings when the damper pedal is pressed.

"Key-off Samples" add the subtle sound when the keys are released, and Soundboard Reverb to recreate the delicate vibrations remaining in the soundboard and cabinet after the keys and damper pedal are released. There's no other digital piano in the world that comes close to this level of realism.

Sound this realistic requires a keyboard touch to match, the GH (Graded Hammer effect) keyboard more than meets the challenge. As the fruit of Yamaha's century-plus of crafting superior acoustic pianos, the GH keyboard comes just about as close to the original as you can get. Unlike conventional digital piano keyboards that employ springs or oil dampers to simulate the feel of a piano keyboard, the GH keyboard raises authenticity to new heights by using weights and mechanical linkages. The key weight is graded from heavier in the lower registers to lighter in the higher, exactly the same as a grand piano. It's a difference you'll notice every time you sit down to play.

The piano is perhaps the most versatile of instruments, but sometimes you want more. The CLP-955 offers a wide range of voices, including new sampled stereo grand piano and other stereo-sampled instruments, to give you an enormous palette with which to work. Thanks to enlarged sample memory and Yamaha's advanced technology, all of the voices are drastically improved. Take a listen to the harpsichord's key-off sample or the DSS effect on vibes and you'll instantly hear the difference.

A new design speaker system and high power stereo amplifier deliver the astonishingly lifelike instrument voices with genuine power and authority. Rated at 60W per channel, the amplifier easily delivers the dynamic range of a grand piano. The speakers are carefully positioned in the body facing upwards - same as the strings and soundboard of a grand piano. Since the bottom of the body is open, sound comes from both above and below the CLP-955, the rich, realistic sonic experience must be heard to be believed.