Yamaha P120

Accessing basic functions is easy but more advanced functions require you to press non-intuitive combinations and sequences of buttons. You might need a crib sheet to get this right consistently, especially on stage.

There is *definitely* a difference between the action of the P-120 and the P-80. For me this is what clinched the decision to go for the P-120 rather than the P-80. I tried them both side by side. The difference is subtle - the P-80 has more of a 'rubbery' feel and the key return seems slightly less well controlled. But they're both pretty good for a non-acoustic action - I could have lived with the P-80's action.

You get 14 'main' sounds, each with a 'variation' invoked by pressing the VARIATION button or pressing the instrument button a second time. I bought it primarily for the acoustic piano samples. Piano 1 is the most useable, particularly the variation which is a bit brighter but not overdone. Piano 2 is artificially bright and there is noticeable quantising distortion when the note is struck; this sound is only any good if you want very clear definition. The Piano 2 honky tonk effect appears to be done using phasing rather than by sampling a real honky tonk piano, which is a shame - come on Yamaha, you can do better than this. E Piano 1 is pure DX7 and though it has slightly too much ring modulation effect for my liking it's quite funky. The Variation is awful, like a cheap Casio keyboard - I can't think where you would use this outside a Bingo hall. E Piano 2 is very Rhodes-like and the variation is a good Wurlitzer tine sound. The Harpsichords - 8' and 8' + 4' - are realistic and you can hear the jacks returning when the key is lifted. There's also a strange after-ring which changes in pitch and sounds electronic, slight marring the otherwise excellent acoustic sound. The Church Organ is a superb Baroque organ sound, complete with lifelike chiff and slower speech from the bass pipes - I love it; the Variation has more stops speaking and definitely sounds electronic. Jazz organ is a pastiche of a Hammond, though useful because the variation is the same sound but with Leslie rotor spinning and the rotor spins up and down again between the two samples. Strings are fairly usable provided you keep within about 2 octaves either side of middle C, beyond which they sound too artificial. The Choir singing 'Oooh' is fabulous! I don't like that sort of thing usually but these samples are excellent and respond to touch so you can bring out different parts. I managed to simulate a fairly believable Bach chorus. The useful range is quite limited and the sample quality audibly degrades between the F and F# in the 2nd octave above middle C. Similarly the sound degrades rapidly below the C below middle C. But within that range it is excellent. Guitar is a sample of a nylon-stringed guitar which, if you roll the chords, could almost pass for a real guitar except for the noticeably uneven decay. There are 2 bass instruments which are very useable. Other sounds are: Clavichord, Vibraphone. The ability to play two instruments simultaneously, or split them across the keyboard, makes the P-120 very versatile.

One aspect that Yamaha have NOT got right is the piano sustain samples. These play if the sustain pedal is down, to give more of the effect of a real acoustic piano. But they only play when the pedal is ALREADY DOWN. If you use normal pedalling technique, ie lifting the pedal when a chord changes and then immediately depressing it again, as you would on an acoustic piano, the samples don't sound because the pedal is up when the note is played. That makes them almost completely USELESS.

Overall I'm not quite as pleased with the piano samples after a couple of weeks playing as I hoped I would be. The bass and top end is okay, but the middle registers sound mushy and the decay is sometimes uneven. I have an acoustic Yamaha piano to compare with (a U3 upright) and the P-120 has a long way to go to catch up. But the other voices, particularly the good electric pianos, make up for it. Ultimately, I'm finding I have to adapt my style of playing to get the best out of this instrument.

It's a Yamaha - my Yamaha DX-7 is still going strong after around 30 years.

No experience of this.

I bought it from Chappell's in New Bond Street, London. Chappell's matched the price with a company I found on the internet - saving around #80. They were happy to do this so I could probably have got it down a bit more. Warning: just because this is a 'portable' piano doesn't mean it's easy to take on the tube (metro). I wanted to get it from Chappell's, which is relatively local to where I live, just in case it goes wrong and needs to be sent back. Unlikely to happen though - it's a Yamaha.

Chappell's sell a soft case with wheels for #50 - #60 (don't recall the exact price) which I'll probably buy (they didn't have one in stock at the time). This is a WIDE piano - it wouldn't fit across a London black cab (though it went in diagonally) and won't fit easily in my Toyota Yaris I suspect.

I bought this instrument as a portable piano that could cut it in most jazz and rock gig situations where a real piano is unavailable. It was also purchased as a project studio piano.

This instrument is generally very easy to use. All the important stuff that you might need quick access to is right on the front panel. Calling up voices and variations is second nature, and I had no difficulty with the metronome and sequencer. A reasonably clear manual was referred to only a few times, and I was thrilled to discover that there are a number of intuitive button shortcuts for editing parameters such as balance between layered and split voices, and effect depth. The manual also clearly lays out more sophisticated MIDI and sys ex functions, and I expect I will only ever need to refer to the charts in the appendix from time to time when using it with my computer and synths.

The keyboard action is simply outstanding. I played it for four hours once I brought it home, and found it expressive playing jazz, rock and classical. No clunkiness or sponginess here. There is some substance to the action which keeps the keys under control for soft passages, but I was able to control the dynamic range very well, and for once found myself playing a digital piano, rather than fighting with it.

The effects aren't bad, though I was disappointed that I couldn't get a really deep fast tremelo (a la Riders on the Storm) for the e-piano. Generally I will be using my studio effects, though. Would be nice to be able to get a little overdrive on the e-pianos and organ.

I haven't tried many midi applications with it yet, but was pleased to learn that it is multi timbral. I hope the fretless and acoustic basses respond to pitch bend, I haven't checked this yet. No biggie if they don't, but it would be nice.

The biggest disappointment is that the sequencer cannot be made to transmit midi note data. This limits it to a very capable practice tool, though I had hoped it could serve as a sketch pad for inspired ideas, which could then be transfered into my sequencer and "elaborated". Unfortunately, it is really only a practice tool. On the plus side, tt was easy and intuitive to use.

This really is the reason to buy this instrument. I have not used a better sounding stage piano. I used it on a gig which ended up being featured in a live broadcast on the local 11 o'clock news. Once we put our cell phones away, satisfied that our significant others had the VCR's sorted out, we settled into the gig. It was a jazz quartet with a singer, and we performed standards and some latin and R&B. I forgot to bring a power bar, so decided to save plugging in my amp and monitored through the internal speakers. We were running through a small PA.

I would not generally recommend this, the speakers are just a hair under achieving for this kind of use. Fortunately the vocalist had some piano in her monitor, and was in front of me. However, it sounded stellar in the fronts, and I found it to be incredibly expressive. Better still, it also sounded really good on TV.

At home, there is still no comparison to a real piano, but this is really close. At the risk of offending all the P 80 lovers here, I have to say that the P 120 provided great relief from the dreadful midrange honk in the P 80. It was the P 80 I found unplayable, and when I used a loaner P80 once, my "lay" friends commented on this without being prompted.

For acoustic piano, I would only ever use grand piano 1, and the brightness slider. But, who cares if there is only one piano sound... a real piano has only one piano sound. As long as it's good...

And it is. The really noticeable feature is that it gets dark when you play it quietly, and bright when played more forcefully (no, there was nobody messing with the light switch...). It does this more realistically than any other diital piano I've tried, including other Yamahas, Rolands and Korgs. I would not hesitate to track piano parts with this, especially in an ensemble. Even alone, it is very realistic. With eq, it could work in any jazz, rock or classical context I can imagine. This is a warm, expressive instrument.

For those concerned with the lack of bottom, try using an amp and bigger speakers. The bottom end is tight and musical, and the resonance on the high keys is an outstanding imitation of a real piano. The mid range is also very convincing.

Electric piano 2 and it's variation are very worthy of note. It sounds as though the main sound is a Rhodes, and the variation a Wurlitzer. The Rhodes is stunning, and I will undoubtably get a lot of use out of this. It is very realistic, and gives you that nice bell tone when played softly, and just the right bite when you dig in. The velocity switching sounds well matched to the real thing. The Wurlitzer is good enough to be identifiable as that, but does not give that same bite when digging in. Unfortunately it does not appear possible to layer a variation with the "mother" patch, since these two layered may have given an interesting tone.

The remaining sounds are well selected for a grab bag on a gig, and some are actually quite good. I can't remember ever needing a harpsichord patch, but if I did, this is pretty impressive with the key off noise. I had the good fortune of being able to compare it to a real harpsichord in the store where I bought it, and it is surprisingly realistic. A harpsichordist may complain about the P120 action being too heavy, but could not complain about the sound.

Otherwise, the Organ sounds like it is a sample of the 888000000 Hammond drawbar setting with a little vibrato, and the variation speeds up the leslie. If you are holding a note or chord when you hit the variation, it will speed up or slow down the leslie while the notes are playing. I have a real Hammond and Leslie, and the P120 is does a pretty good job at this one tone, which is a common jazz stop. I sould like to also have had a 800000008 setting for pads, but the stop they chose is a good choice in a lot of situations.

The strings have a fast and slow attack, and are usable. The church organs are quite good, and I'm sure somebod

I have never had a problem with Yamaha gear, and do not expect any problems with this instrument.

I've got this piano for two days now and did already a gig with it. The basics are totally easy. The function mode is indeed not intuitive but I didn't need it so far. Manual is much better than the one of my CS6x.

64 voice polyphony is more than enough. Effects are cool but you have to adjust them, especially the preset effects on the Rhodes are not cutting through unless you adjust it. Two track sequencer is very basic but I don't care about that. That's what computers are for. Over all not that many features but all that's in there is more than usable and the best of all, great keyboard action!

Of course I bought it because of the amazingly realistic piano sound and the unbelievable Rhodes patch, although I do have the real thing. Sometimes you just don't want to take that heavy Rhodes with you. I'm using piano 1 only, without variation. It's very warm but also very bright when being hit hard. Pianos need that brilliance with loud playing and I was missing that on the P80. When played softer it's perfect for classical playing. All other piano patches are too bright for my taste and who needs a honky tonk really? Organ sucks but what else is new with Yamaha.

As I said I did my first gig with it already and a little incident happened. I was putting my new keyboard stand together for the first time. I messed something up but I didn't notice and as a result the stand collapsed with the piano on it. Luckily this was before soundcheck and the board didn't give in one moment. I guess it's totally stable and reliable. My CS6x never let me down in the one and a half years I have it so that's another good sign.

Never had to deal with Yamaha customer service.

This is the perfect combination of sound, action, size, weight, looks (silver cherry!) and reliability. Unbeatable value! A GEM ProMega3 has unbelievable sampling technique but is big, heavy and more than twice as expensive. I would get the same one if it would be stolen as long as there isn't anything better. Great job, Yamaha!

Easy if you only use preset piano. Function setting can be a pain, it?s not intuitive. Reverb adjustment would be easier with a knob like RD700--but at least it can do it. It?s difficult to set dual layers when you want only one of the two instruments in its variation. It?s also difficult to set the dual instrument balance. The manual is fine, with highlighted boxes answering faqs that came to my mind.

Not many, but those it has are practical and adaptable. You can adjust most things you?d want if willing to do enough frustrating function flipping. The song recorder is useful to hear how one sounds or used as a notebook. The effects aren?t worth squat but can be ignored. The half-pedal and special sustain samples are overrated. Adjustable reverb is useful to tailor to room acoustics (the preset ambiance settings don?t do much without it). The custom stand is very sturdy. The foot pedal slides across floor annoyingly. The damper pedal can alternatively be set to sostenuto or to soft.

Action: With all the talk I had heard about the great Yamaha action, I was surprised how badly it compared with a good acoustic. It doesn?t have that bounce-back you get with real weighted hammers. You can?t hit the same key in really quick succession, so forget certain pieces. On the other hand, the action is basically functional for classical playing, unlike most digital pianos by other companies at this price. Frankly, the P120 action is better than most acoustic pianos. The Roland RD700 (PA-5) action seemed more realistic at double the price.

Surprisingly, the P120's action is notably different from the P80's. Playing without power there is not much, if any, difference; but with sound the P80 keys require more play to sound the note. In the store I found it easier to play trills on the P80. But in some ways the 120 feels more like a real grand.

Aesthetics: The aesthetics are a strong point of the 120. I really like the way Yamaha designed the P120 to sit in a living room, not as an ugly black gig box. At the same time they didn?t try to unnecessarily duplicate a piano?s bulky wooden mass. We love the look of the grey-cherry model (120S). The dark wood model looked cheap to us. We got the black stand by mistake (matches the other model), but this turned out to a blessing in disguise.

(?for the price). I spent many hours listening to the P80 v P120 at Guitar Center (pure hell!) with Grado S60 earphones and in-store monitors. I also listened to a Korg SP200 and Roland FP3. The Korg had quite good piano sounds but a slightly ?mushier? action just to the point it wasn?t realistic. The FP had excellent action, comparable to Yamaha?s, but the high end and low end and dual layering sounded worse to me.

You?d get the impression from many of the reviews below that the P80 grand piano sound is head-and-shoulders above the P120?s, the latter sounding tinny and lacking roundedness. After careful consideration, I don?t agree. After playing the 120 a few weeks at home and then going back to listen to the 80, the latter sounded dull and lifeless. In fact, after a trip to the piano store listening to real Yamaha grands, I am even more sure of this.

The 120?s sound is bright, clear, open, distinct. Very musical and shimmering and beautiful. More ?present?. The lows lack some realism, but make up for it with clarity of pitch. (Most other digital pianos have a mushy bass similar to cheap stereo speakers.)

If you want to hear the P120 at its best, bring sheet music for the slow variation 45 of the Goldbergs. The P120 does best in this kind of music with limited polyphony. (You start to hear the limitations of this machine with larger chords; not really ?note stealing? but a subtle decrease in realism.) You can do a good in-store comparison using Chopin?s Fantasy-Impromptu, which is P80?s demo sample and preset tune 22 on the P120. This piece has all the extremes of fast and slow, loud and soft, and you?ll hear the weak points and strong points of both machines. Debussy?s Arabesque (preset 47) is another good comparison.

Despite what some say below, neither the P120 nor P80 sound like a real piano, though there are moments when you can?t tell the difference. For one thing, the low notes on the 120 aren?t nearly loud or broad or strong enough?which has psychological effects on your playing. The high end also seems very weak on the P120 compared with a real grand. The top few octaves have too much hammer and lack the clear tones of a good grand, they?re more like a bad upright. (All these aspects are somewhat minimized with good earphones.) Also, the sustain pedal doesn't hold the high notes nearly enough. Still, at a recent visit to a piano shop, the 120 was more enjoyable to play than many of the $10,000 grands, and almost all the used pianos, especially those that had fallen slightly out of tune. I?m sure some will take me to task, but I concluded that only with the Yamaha G2 do I start to get a more musical instrument than my P120. I was surprised just how many pianos have a mediocre action and sound compared with my 120.

Because the P120 has inbuilt speakers, you want to be careful not compare directly to the P80 through monitors. Rely on good classical earphones (like the $69 Grados), or attach the same speakers to both machines. Also remember that the acoustics in your home are likely to be different than in the store. Try the different touch sensitivities as well, not so much to adjust the touch but rather to force slightly different piano sample sets, especially noticeable at the low end.

The sound in our living room was much better than we had anticipated, and we continue to be impressed with the inbuilt speakers. These manage to convey enough depth to make it musical. You?re not going to get the low rumble, but they are much better than your average inbuilt speaker (like e.g. the awful one in the Clavinovas). They pass the ?good enough? test, and most don?t. We have unexpectedly ended up using the machine "as is" for our daily playing. (Note that they do sound better for the person playing than they do for someone standing elsewhere in the room. These definitely ain?t gig speakers.) I do wonder what this machine sounds like with good speakers.

Several idiosyncrasies of the P120

Doesn?t seem to have a warranty! (May be wrong about that.) Foot pedal starting squeaking after one month. Custom stand is very sturdy.

A good value for someone wanting a decent home piano for classical/jazz playing. No ugly speakers to deal with and no ugly ?synth? look. You don't have to press a million buttons to get to the piano. Much better than a typical home piano, acoustic or otherwise. The P120 has a unique bright open sound. All digital pianos in the $1000 range have sound limitations of one sort or another; the P120 has to my ears more ?musical? sounding limitations than comparable units, viz. Yamaha P80, Roland FP3, Korg SP200. We?ve had the P120 a month and love it. Consider the Roland RD700 with grand piano card ($1700 + stand + $300 SRX-02 + amp + monitors) if you want an even better action and sound. Wasn?t worth it to me though. Of course if you?re interested in other voices and effects or prerecorded rhythms I recommend almost anything else.

As simple as possibly imaginable, editing is quick, sequencer requires NO BRAINS! Extremely portable, but not wild about the partial wood(plastic) finish (break out the spray paint)

64 notes is plentiful, yamaha action continues to improve & impress, effects are decent, no eq (boo hoo). All the connections you possibly need, even 2 phone jacks! On board speakers do the job well..

This is what it's all about, right? The piano sound, which is all I want & bothered to play. It's second to none! I own a P200 & will be selling it immediately. The sustain (looping) is noticably smoother & longer than previous models, the pedal down soundboard resonance is a welcome treat. Sounds very realistic when brightened & mellowed with on board controls, no clunker notes or ringers, but still a little "thunk" sound when playing soft passages...I've been using the Gigastudio piano samples, but dare not to bring my cpu to the gigs. P120 is still a step back in terms of the sample sound, but it's the first piano I've played that I think I'll still enjoy playing, almost as much as my gigas. Playability & sample layer points are seamless (wish I could say that about the Gigas). Simply the best sound out there in its class...

Haven't had a piece of Yamaha gear go out on me to date!

Yamaha will call you if leave a message at their website service! Beat that!

Has every featute you could ask for: style, portability, playability, value, outputs galore, simple sequncer, effects, ample controls, and yes, excellent sound! I back to backed it with the Roland FP3 (yuck), Technics P50 (nice, but obvious flaws in sampling) Korg (thin & gutless) Yamaha P80 (a big step back) & my P200 (out the door with it!) P120 WINS!!!

This isn't a complicated synth but a simple digital piano.
Very easy to make a full use of it.

64 polyphony which is enough.
The keyboard action is about 95% identical to the real one IMHO.
The board has several basic fx functions like reverb, chorus, phaser,
tremolo, delay, etc. plus all the essential features that you can
find in any digital piano like transpose, metronome, 2 track recorder, etc.. but has nothing special in other words.

This is a yamaha-made piano and it imitates a yamaha grand surprisingly well considering its price.
All the other sounds have been greatly improved from P80 with no doubt.
I especially like the EP, church organ, jazz organ, and acoustic guitar sound.
The built-in speakers which is the one important reasons I chose this piano were much better than I expected.
They are loud enough and create some feel of vibration when playing.

It's been only 10 days.

If it were lost or stolen I would save my money to buy another one.
I used KORG SG proX, YAMAHA P80, KURZWEIL PC2X, NEMESYS Giga Piano, and Steinberg The Grand, and the P120 is the best and definite replacement of an heavy acoustic piano to me, and it looks nice, too. ( P120S, the silver model )

The yamaha digital piano is very easy to use. All is in front and under your fingertips.

Polyphony of 64 notes is more than enough for me. Get rid of those keyboards with 128 notes etc. How many times do you use them?
The keyboard action is GREAT on this yamaha. Much better then the Roland XV88 or RD700.

The Samples are the best i've heard. And I tried them all. I must say that the Roland RD700 sound is also good, but the layering of the piano voices on the yamaha is MUCH better.
One Special Thing!! If you press the Jazz Organ the 'leslie' of the hammond organ is turning slow. When you press variation, you actually hear!! the leslie speeding up!! Great sound here!!!!! yamaha !!!!

OK and OK

Never must have contact them, so no opinion.

I've been playing piano almost 35 years. For 'on the road' I use my P120S now and a Korg T2.
The feel of the keyboard P120S is the greatest.

Very simple to operate.

Good all-round features. See postings below for specs.

The main piano sound is undoubtably more realistic than that of the p80 and all others in this price range - more vivid, with a better "front-end", and a more real response time. The action is also superb. However, the reviewers below who claim the piano sound is too bright and metalic do have a bit of a point. There are three bright piano sounds (plus a joke honky-tonk) but no really round-edged ones. Also, the C above middle C and the G above that have marginally harsher overtones when played with any weight, and the notes in-between these two are also slightly affected. This is also a problem on most of the new middle-level yamaha clavinovas, which seem to have the same sample set. (I think it's a problem with the way that the samples have been manipulated during the process of making them fit more than one note). This shouldn't be a big enough problem to stop you buying the insturment - which is magnificent in every other way - but it is something to look out for when you're testing it. As well as reducing the brightness with the slider, the best way to get around the problem is to set the touch to "Hard". This greatly reduces the effect. Note also the vastly improved other sounds including an unbelieveably good rhodes and a harpischord with a superb click as the key is released.

No problems after 5 months.

A first-rate digital piano and a bargain at the price. One slightly over-bright half-octave (see above) is my only complaint.

Very simple to use. A child could master it in an afternoon. The manual is also fine.

This is a great digital piano. It has fantastic piano sounds, it is portable, it has inbuilt speakers which are actually very good. The action is clavinova class - the best available.
Why get a massive temperamental piano that goes out of tune, has a duller sound, is harder to make sound good and only has one sound to choose from?

Should mention that it plays better than Roland pianos. The action is so much more fluid.

Yamaha have sampled the piano sounds to perfection. My only complaint is that the piano sound is better than a piano. They will soon be making pianos to sound like the Yamaha samples. I seriously wonder whether in the future acoustic pianos will just not be made anymore.

You can get carried away by the rich bright sounds and play for hours. The harmonics using the sustain pedal are wonderful.

THERE IS NO METALLIC RINGING SOUND IN MY MODEL (the black + wood effect one). The reverb sometimes causes some high frequency overtones but that is just what reverb does.

This is an improvement on the acoustic piano.

N/A
Only had it for a week.

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Would buy this one again if it was stolen.

THIS IS A VERY SIMPLE KEYBOARD TO USE. I CAN TURN IT ON AND START PLAYING RIGHT AWAY.

I HAVEN'T USED ALL OF THE FEATURES YET. MY ONE COMPLAINT IS THAT THE RECORDER GETS FILLED UP QUICKLY DEPENDING ON WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC YOU PLAY. I ONLY USE THE GRAND PIANO SOUND WHICH IS JUST FINE WIH ME.

THE SOUND IS GREAT FOR SUCH A PORTABLE KEYBOARD. I DID NOTICE THE METALLIC RINGING THAT ONE OF THE POSTERS MENTIONED, BUT THAT STOPPED ONCE I USED THE AUX JACK FOR THE SUSTAIN PEDAL. NOW I AM TOTALLY HAPPY WITH IT. I WAS A BIT BUMMED OUT WHEN I FIRST NOTICED THE RINGING NOISE BUT NOW IT IS FINE. THE KEY ARE ALSO OF A HIGHER QUALITY THAN SOME OF THE OTHER BRANDS AT THIS PRICE RANGE. I WOULD SAY THAT THEY ARE EVEN BETTER THAN THE YAMAHA BABY GRAND AT MY WIFE'S CHURCH. THEY SEEM TO BE WEIGHTED PERFECTLY. OF COURSE YOU DO NOT GET THE RANGE OF EXPRESSIVENESS THAT YOU GET WITH AN ACOUSTIC BUT IT COMES CLOSE ENOUGH.

IT A YAMAHA---THE TOYOTA OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!!!!

I HAVE HAD IT FOR ONLY 3 MONTHS AND IT HAS WORKED FLAWLESSLY.

I WOULD BUY THIS PRODUCT AGAIN. I GOT THE SILVER ONE WHICH LOOKS A LOT BETTER IN PERSON THAN THE BLACK ONE. THE BLACK ONE HAS AN EXTREMELY CHEAP LOOK TO IT. BEFORE YOU BUY, YOU SHOULD SEE THEM IN PERSON. I WAS GOING TO BUY THE BLACK WHEN I SAW IT ON THE INTERNET BUT I CHANGED MY MIND ONCE I SAW IT IN PERSON. THE SILVER ONE IS JUST BEAUTIFUL.