Since refreshing its multi-room streaming platform in 2009, Yamaha has been steadily adding to the range of enabled products, last year promising to add over 20 new products by the end of 2015. The momentum has slowed down a little this year. But the company threw a curve ball at the weekend by announcing that its Disklavier Enspire reproducing piano had been welcomed into the MusicCast family.
The MusicCast range currently consists of over 30 enabled products, including sound bars, AV receivers and wireless speakers, which can be connected throughout the house without the need for messy cables, and controlled from a mobile device running an iOS or Android app. Now in addition to streaming music services like Pandora, Spotify and Rhapsody, users will be able to dial in the soothing sounds of an acoustic piano.
The new Enspire began shipping last month, and is the seventh generation of Yamaha's Disklavier reproducing piano family. It comes in three system variations, with 14 models available – from uprights to concert grands. The instrument can be played by hand like any other piano, or set to tinkle away on its own like a pianola. For the latter, each model has over 500 songs cooked in and more than 6,000 artist performances can be downloaded and set off.
Later this year, Yamaha will introduce the new MusicCast capabilities via an app and firmware upgrade. This will allow folks in one room to watch the piano reproduce a special Elton John concert performance, for example, while others around the home listen in on connected speakers.
You can see the Enspire overviewed at IFA 2016 in the video below.
Source: Yamaha
