The Clavinova CVP 501 piano is shorter, less deep, taller and lighter than the Clavinova CVP 405 piano. The Yamaha Clavinova CVP 501 is 54 in. wide and 23-7/16 in. deep. The Clavinova CVP 405 is 56 1/2 in. wide and 24 in. deep. While the CVP 501 piano is 35 3/16 in. tall, the CVP 405 is 34 7/8 in. tall. Clavinova's CVP 501 weighs approximately 127 lbs., 14 oz. and the CVP 405 weighs about 169 lbs., 12 oz.
The control interfaces on the Clavinova CVP 501 and Clavinova CVP 405 are nearly identical. Both pianos offer 88 keys and multiple touch sensitivity settings. These pianos also have 3 pedals that offer such functions as sustain, soft, glide and volume control. Both pianos feature 320- by 240-dot liquid crystal display (LCD) screens. Languages on the Clavinova CVP 501 and Clavinova CVP 405 include English, German, Spanish, French and Japanese.
The Clavinova model CVP 501 features a different number of styles and effects than the discontinued CVP 405 model. While the CVP 501 offers 42 preset reverb effects and 71 preset chorus effects, the CVP 405 only offers 34 preset reverb effects and 29 chorus effects. The CVP 501 offers 191 preset styles, including 36 pianist styles. The CVP 405 piano, on the other hand, offers 344 preset styles, including 36 pianist styles.
The CVP 405 piano offers more preset songs than the CVP 501 piano. The CVP 501 is loaded with 61 preset songs while the CVP 405 offers 120 preset songs. Both pianos offer recording capabilities but the CVP 501 only has 300 kilobytes (KB) of data storage space while the CVP 405 has 1.4 megabytes (MB) of storage space.
Yamaha's Clavinova CVP 501 features two 20-watt amplifiers and two 6 5/16-inch speakers. The CVP 405 model was also built with two speakers but features two 40-watt amplifiers. The song book "50 Greats for the Piano" and an instructional CD-ROM are included with both pianos. The CVP 501 features a sliding key cover while the CVP 405 offers a folding key cover. Both models are equipped with headphone rests and music rests.