At long last, the player piano does multi-room audio

We all knew in our hearts that if we just waited long enough, the Internet of Things would come around to self-playing pianos; that surely the cloud would incorporate that last vestige of ol’ timey technology. And now, here at IFA, the least portable of home audio systems has finally gone multi-room.

Or, as Yamaha opens its decidedly hyperbolic press release, “For the first time in its 316-year history, the venerable acoustic piano can now play beyond the four walls of a single room to any room in the home.”

That’s right. No longer shall we be hampered by the limitation of acoustics and our stupid, stupid ears. Yamaha has gone all Sonos with its latest player piano.

The Enspire, the seventh generation of the company’s Disklavier line of reproducing pianos, has been incorporated into the MusicCast wireless multi-room audio system. Using the company’s iOS or Android app, you can control the piano right there next to Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody and SiriusXM.

The MusicCast system includes a slew of different speakers, including several made by Yamaha, so you, can, say, sit on the deck and listen to the piano do its thing. Granted, you won’t really be able to enjoy the visual novelty of your $27,000 piano playing itself, but you’ll know it’s there… and that should be enough, right?

Announced in January, the Enspire has a number of high-tech amenities, at least so far as player pianos go, including built-in access to more than 500 songs. The piano is set to get a firmware upgrade for multi-room functionality later this year.