Having returned to the Hohner fold after years of playing Hering harmonicas, (and one disastrous encounter with a Suzuki chromatic) I was interested to see how the CX12 stood comparison with my instrument of choice, the Chromonica 270 which I have already reviewed elsewhere on this site. The first impression was one of size. The instrument flares at the rear to a greater extent than I am used to. Not a problem but surprising at first. The construction of the front of the instrument is a real improvement on the traditional screwed-on slide, and is remarkably easy to dismantle for cleaning. It plays beautifully, and is far lighter to blow than a 270. Only problem for me is that, being physically bigger, it won't fit in the slots in my harmonica case which are designed for 270s! Small price to pay for a real leap forward in harmonica design.