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  • Beginner - need help with CFX

    I'm a relatively new piano player and generally unfamiliar with audio equipment.  I purchased the Yamaha CFX Synchron Piano and I'm having trouble getting started.

    My goal is to play my digital piano and have the samples play from my PC.  I plan to record myself playing with these samples via an easy program such as Audacity.  I've already recorded myself by directly feeding the audio to my PC and recording it.  I have a capable PC with all of the VSL software installed.  I have a Yamaha P515 digital piano with a Type B USB hooked up to my PC.  I'm seeing that having an audio interface is good, but I'm not sure if it's necessary.

    I've gathered that I must open Vienna Ensemble to access the CFX interface.  I can create a Vienna Synchron Pianos channel and after loading a preset, I can press keys on my digital piano and see them being pressed in the software.  However, the audio samples from my digital piano are the ones being played.  The audio samples of the CFX only play when I click the keys with my mouse in the software.  What am I missing to be able to control the sound via my digital piano?

    To take it a step further, what exactly do I need to do to record the audio when I play?  Should I just record through Ensemble or is there a way for my Synchron "device" to show up in a program like Audacity?


  • Hi,

    I'll try to answer all your questions.

    Audio-Interface: If you encounter klicks and drop-outs with your current set-up or you can't reduce the buffer settings as low as you need, first try ASIO4All (free ASIO driver). If this still does not work you should consider buying an audio-interface (a good starter costs around 100€).

    Normally if you see the keys being pressed in the CFX GUI you should hear a sound.
    Because most Yamaha pianos allow for a lot of different settings I would try a master reset on the piano. Also make sure that in the Ensemble settings panel your piano is selected as playback device.

    Recording the sound without a DAW or a soundcard with loopback is difficult. You can use a free DAW like Studio One Prime or use a host like http://www.hermannseib.com/english/vsthost.htm and host Ensemble or the Piano plugin directly in it. You can enable record in this host, save the wave file and edit it later in a software like audacity.

    Best, Ben


    Ben@VSL | IT & Product Specialist
  • Ben,

    Thanks for your response.

    After doing hours of googling and trying things, I found out that my piano can be used as an audio interface.  It sends MIDI to my PC and my PC sends the audio back through the USB into the piano.  I can use the volume slider to adjust volume of what I hear but I'd have to adjust the slider within Ensemble in order to boost the sound of any recording.  Using my piano as the input didn't work - I had to use the Yamaha ASIO input, and the audio output is my piano.  I'm pleased with the result, and was surprised that my P515's internal sound is very high quality even compared to the VSL CFX.

    The only thing I'm curious about is that if I put the volume slider within Ensemble about halfway or more, I can hear a noise whenever I engage the sustain pedal (and only the sustain).  It sounds like someone is blowing on a microphone.  Is this intended?  Is there a way I can stop this?


  • Yes, this is the sustain pedal sound. You can alter the volume of the "Pedal Sound" on the right side of the Synchron Player.


    Ben@VSL | IT & Product Specialist
  • Awesome!  Thanks for the help.  I'm able to play and record with it now.  I find the sound of the keys being pressed a bit distracting in my recordings but I'll mess around with settings and hopefully can tame it.