I just picked up one of these for my daughter who is an avid piano-player. Up until now, we have only let her use a cheap “beginner” keyboard, but felt it was time to make an upgrade. My wife wanted a very simple traditional piano (either acoustic or very simple electronic piano with classic styling). My daughter and I wanted more in terms of sounds and features. While that top end of the spectrum has some great work-stations, these are really expensive and tend to not look as nice in a living-room setting.

This Yamaha is a great “compromise”. It looks really nice, feels solid, and the keys are really great, with hammer-action, and simulated difference in pressing lower keys vs higher keys. It is possible to buy an add-on to get the more traditional 3-pedal setup, but for now, the one pedal they included will suffice.

Sound Quality is really excellent. The built-in speakers are good quality, and the piano-sound (the main sound in this instrument , accessible with its own key), while personally I am not a musician,it is certainly a night-and-day difference to her previous keyboard, and to my ears, it sounds very realistic. This is supposedly in part to using a good chunk of memory to store multiple samples PER NOTE of one of their flagship acoustic grand pianos.

There are loads of other voices, most of which also sound really good.

We haven’t really gotten too far in exploring features yet, but some I know of;
-it can automatically pick a style (rhytm etc) based on what you are playing, if you like a “back up band”.
-there is a one-finger chord feature where it will embellish the key you press for chords.
-you can record your songs, multi-track to midi, or usb stick. This means, you can for instance play a song using the piano voice, then go back and add on strings, rhytm etc all in different tracks, so they can be edited separately later. Update: Need to verify if the midi information can be transferred to pc via usb-stick or if it is only stored within the digital piano.
-it takes audio in which it can also save along with your piano-creation. Note that for mic, you probably need a mixer or mic-amp, which was my only slight disappointment with this unit. I do happen to have one laying around, so I am ok though.
-you can split the keyboard and have for instance bass-sounds on the keys on the left and piano on the right.
-you can layer two instruments, for instance strings and piano, to get a fuller sound.
-It can be used as USB midi controller, so provided you have a pc, the proper software and plugins, there are no limits to what you can do.

Overall, it also seems easy to use. We have not really read the manual yet, but watched a couple (of the only) videos on youtube that were really helpful.

What you do not get with this piano (and remember it IS a digital piano..), is stuff like arpeggiators, sampling, vocoders and stuff. Then you should look at the keyboards/synths/workstations. On the other hand, if all you want to do is play piano, and have no interest in other sounds, recording and effects, for the money you should consider buying a second hand piano and get it professionally tuned. I am sure there are people that will say there is no contest in feel and sound.

However, if you are like me and my daughter, and enjoys these extra features, and ability to play different sounds, this is an incredible digital-piano for the price!

I’ve had this piano for about 6 weeks now. I decided to wait to write the review, until I had some experience using it. So here goes.

As the title of my review states: I am a professional musician. I studied piano for 10+ years, had a 30-year career as a professional opera singer, and have played piano ALL my life. I have used my piano skills to accompany myself, learning roles, etc. and also as a private voice teacher. This is all by way of saying: I know pianos, and, I am most accustomed to a traditional acoustic piano. I recently moved back to CA from NYC, and was not in a position to buy a "regular" piano. After a great deal of research and reading NUMEROUS reviews, I settled upon purchase of this Yamaha Digital Piano. As someone who dearly misses the upright grand I played all my life, let me just say: I am THRILLED with this purchase.

Sound: Several reviews on Amazon are noting things such as: a lack of clarity in the lower range of the keys / imperfect action of the keys / imperfect sound here and there. If you are looking for a PERFECT Grand Piano sound – then you need to buy a Grand Piano, or spend many thousands of dollars on a Clavinova. If you are looking for a really FINE digital keyboard that can get as close as possible to that lovely and true acoustic sound produced by a grand piano – then this is the one. The sound is fabulous – as true and clear a Grand Piano sound as you are going to get in a digital keyboard. In my teaching I keep it pretty much always on the Grand Piano setting. One thing I’m REALLY liking about it is, in fact, the volume control. I have several students whose voices are not quite as developed or "loud", and the ability to calibrate the volume of the accompaniment is helping greatly in my instruction.

Action of the keys: Personally, I really LIKE the action of the keys. They feel properly-weighted and not terribly different from what I’m used to in an acoustic piano. Others on this site have made note of the actual sound (mild clicking), made my depression and release of the keys. I really don’t notice this at all. It is VERY mild, and does not bother me.

Pedals: Be aware: if comes with just one pedal that attaches via cord to the back of the piano. This functions as the damper (sustain) pedal. For my immediate purposes it’s working fine, but I will definitely purchase the add-on, three-pedal unit. The single pedal, over time, will not be sufficient for my needs.

Set-up: I am a fairly strong, athletic woman, and I was able to get this up two flights of stairs, on my own. I set it up on my own as well, and set up was clear and straightforward. Just follow the instructions EXACTLY as indicated, and it will be very easy. It took me about a half-hour. HAVE AN ELECTRIC SCREWDRIVER ON HAND—it will make the set-up monumentally easier.

As others have said here as well: having the ability to utilize headphones, and play / practice, in a way that does not bother others, is invaluable. Lastly—the only thing I did NOT anticipate is the fact that the detachable music stand sits farther back on the console, than on a regular acoustic piano. Of course this makes sense – because there are so many digital settings. So just be aware of that one detail. I’m used to the music being right at the front. But this really is not a big deal.

If you’re looking for a really GOOD, good quality and reliable keyboard that can give you the best possible sound, without breaking the bank, then I HIGHLY recommend this keyboard. Good luck and Happy Music Making!