Yamaha P140

All things are just there at the right place and all of them works according to my highest expectations.

Everything you may need for work is there and the piano touch is perfectly balanced and responsive, and includes a bunch of other instruments than various pianos and organs, too. The only shorcoming is absence of line out - the bundled RCA output has a little shorcoming in the fact that volume cannot be controlled (fixed levels).

All the instruments are pretty good and the acoustic piano is just excellent, one of the best I tried. All the effects works finely. Piano responses with maximum delight and is more than reasonably realistic. You can use it for classical music as effectively as for any other genre.

This instrument is a jewel. Definitely will use it in my home studio as much as on the stage.

Yamaha support is just as precise and fast as it should be.

With this instrument I fell in love almost immediately and just can't recommend it enough. I hope that Yamaha will continue making the instruments which are made with real musicians in mind. Five stars!

Motherboard quit working during a piece. It was only 3 months in use. A score of 2 is the lowest score permitted as it did work for the few months at home.

Warranty paper work is formidable. Needed copies and verification of all paper work. Even after providing the information, it has been three months with no repair or replacement. Many, many excuses but no help so far. This keyboard failed on its own but Yamaha has not seemed to admitted it yet

It has cost $1000 for a cord and a foot pedal. One may wish to also add the countless phone calls and shipping return.

If you can handle a microwave, you can handle this piano

Too many features to me. I use only piano 1 and thats about it. And its a hell of a good feeling. And if you use MIDI, you wont need the integrated sequencer and other features at all.

Some (or maybe just one ?) here didnt like the playing. I guess it depend on the style you play. I play fast paced blues / rock on it and it bounce better than any keyboard I ever played on, and some were waaayyyy more expensive. The closest to the real thing you can get. I played 5 hours a day on it the first 2 weeks and im still amazed when I sit in front of it. Maybe that those who dont like the playing didnt tuned it right. Theres a few settings you can adjust for more or less hard keys ...etc.

I play real hard sometimes (hey, its music) ... No failure yet ...

For that price, to me its obvious that there's no other better digital piano out there ...

And anyway, when you buy a piano you are expected to try all models on the floor for an extended period of time to make the right choice that suits you. I you are about to buy a digital piano, you definitely got to give this one a good try. 10/10

This is an addition chapter to my preview.
The P140 model HAVE all the preset voice of the P90. On the front panel you can recall only 14 voice, but in the P140 you can find (and Play!) 26 voice, the same, Identical to the P90 and CP33 model.
The only way you have to do this is to recall voices from Cubase/Nuendo or other DAW.
Try this: create a midi track in the arrange mode; in left panel you have the Bank and Program Change fields, that by dafault are in Off.
Selecting Bank "1" try this program changes numbers:
1 - Grand Piano 1
2 - Grand Piano 2
5 - E.Piano 2 (rhodes)
6 - E.Piano 1 (DX7 e.p.)
7 - Harpsichord
8 - Clavinet
12 - Vibraphone
13 - Marimba
17 - Jazz Organ
20 - Church Organ
25 - Nylon Guitar
26 - Steel Guitar
33 - Wood Bass
34 - E.Bass
36 - Fretless Bass
49 - Strings
50 - Strings (slow attak)
53 - Choir
89 - Syn Piano (this is a "Fantasia" sound from D50)

Change Bank number to "113" value and try this Program Change number:
1 - Grand Piano 1 (Warm and mellow version)
53 - Choir (Slow attak)

Change Bank number to "112" value and try this Program Change number:
2 - Grand Piano 2 (bright version)
5 - Wurlitzer (Named "E.Piano 2 var.")
7 - Harpsichord (octave version)
20 - Church Organ Full Coupler Tutti

On bank number 114, program change 33 you'll find the Acoustic Bass with ride cymbal.
The ONLY thing that you'll not find is the "mono piano", new on the CP33 series.
The conclusion is this: the wavetable on this machines is the SAME identical.

This is about as easy as it gets. If you can open the lid on a real piano, you can start playing this one. Turn it on, and you're off. Pianos 1 and 3 are great, and the EQ presets make quite a difference to the tone. There is nothing to edit beyond a few effects parameters but then this machine is very clear about what it is - an electronic piano.Use Piano 2 only if you want to punch out from between the guitars in your band.

It is lovely to play, much better weighted than any of the Rolands I tried (the RD300sx in particular feels like a toy). The action is well-weighted, just like the upright it replaced in my house. The Casio range comes close but this beats it for sound. And it will take a hammering too. In fact many of the keyboard touch effects only really come alive when you're giving it a good work out. MIDI is limited and of course there is the RCA output issue. But I solved that with a basic volume control mix box from Tandy. On board effects are pretty standard but you're not going to muck about with a piano much beyond reverb settings. It's not pretending to be a synth. I love it as a MIDI control keyboard.

I love it. I tried all kinds of keyboards before I plumped for this one. It wasn't a decision based on budget either. I had ear-marked up to ??1200. But ended up spending around ??650 on this keyboard because I liked it so much. The speakers are OK for home practicing but it really comes into its own through good headphones. Piano 1 (for jazz and rock) and Piano 3 (for slower and classical pieces) are beautiful.

I haven't needed to find out yet. Which hopefully says it all.

I don't know yet.

I'd buy it again, after looking to make sure something new hadn't aced it. They could improve it with a pitch bend control - enhancing its capability as a midi controller. It would be good to see a better sequencer on board. And I wish they'd dump the stored tunes in the memory. If I really want to hear the flight of the bumblebee, I'll grab my ipod.

standard

have not used MIDI capabilities

have only used it for piano tuition

Action is terrible at this price point. The keys are spongy. Piano voices are too tinny. Strings are ok-ish. Do yourself a favour and get a Roland. I really rate the FP-2 and own the FP-5. Come to think of it...i think a Casio PX100 piano sounds better than this.

I wouldn't rely on it at a gig. Build is not strong enough. Again, i'd rather use a Roland RD or FP series. Its the plastic beneath the keys that feels flimsy

never dealt with yamaha.

this is based on just using this for a couple of years at a school. I wouldn't be silly enough (in my opinion) to buy one and that says it all. I recommend schools to buy Rolands instead. Far better for the money.

If you need the manual, you need to wake up.

Sounds are for piano only. piano 1 and 3 are great. the rest suck big time.

keep reading.

Been playing for 36 years. I played this thing to death at a couple of stores along with some other gear. Great feel for the board itself. My biggest complaint is that yamaha is cutting down on what should be standard equipment. I mean RCA outs??? It's not like 1/4 inch came out last Tuesday. And no volume control?? You see my point/ A great rich company like Yamaha (and the rest of the musical giants) needs to get back to giving more than we asked for. Stuff built years ago not only feels as good or better to play, but sounds decent and is still going strong because of the build quality. Big companies making bigger money more than ever before with hardly any memory, cheap plastic .... Let's give what hard working musicians need: Quality with a little extra cause without us.....

Easy to use as a portable piano.
Difficult to change split voices quickly using f codes.
When I purchased this piano 9 months ago yamaha uk listed it under stage pianos. However it is now listed under personal pianos possibly due to there only being fixed level outputs. The new CP33 piano is now listed as a stage piano but it has no built in speakers but the 3 level piano voices sound the same and have the same description in the CP33 manual.
However this is still a very good portable piano.

I have played grade 7 classical pieces with no problems.The action feels right compared to a real piano.Players who say the action is heavy and opt for Roland which is slightly lighter is a personal prefrence, but if your studying for exams the yamaha action is better as there is nothing worse than finding the piano at the exam centre has a heaver touch than the instrument you have been studying on.
Midi to a computer is easy with a yamaha UX-16 MIDI-USB Interface

Pianos 1 and 3 are fantastic 3 level with half damper feature. Apart from the action this is the main reason to buy this piano,all other sounds are ok.

Due to the fixed level outputs and having to press the function button to change split voices I would not buy this for giging. Also due to the plastic chassis you would need a semi-flight case.
The first P140 I purchased had a hairline crack at the back, the music store exchanged it no problem but it made me think it would not take much to damage it.
For home/student use with the buit in speakers it should be fine.

Yamaha UK have always been helpful to me in the past as I play yamaha keyboards as well. They once sent me a replacement speaker grill on my out of warranty keyboard free of charge.

If this was lost or stolen I personally would not buy it again as I have a Yamaha Disklavier Piano for home use and would want a Full stage piano with 1/4 outputs and usb. Also dedicated buttons for split mode. (Maybe the new CP series).I have been playing piano for 15 years and completed ABRSM piano grades.When I purchased the P 140 I compared it to the Roland RD300X and Korg sp250 both instuments piano sounds were not even close to the yamaha.
As a piano in this price bracket I personally think yamaha should have kept the connections the same as the P120 and added usb as the piano sounds are hard to fault,surrley the extra cost would be minimal.

Straightforward in normal operation, easy.

The midi/masterkeyboard functions are tricky , with codes like f2.3.2
in a display. Glad the display is with light so u can see in a dark stage.

64 polys, good in this pricerange i think.
Effects like reverb, chorus, phaser, all are suitable and passable, but not as standalone effectunits in quality.

Yamaha forgot to install volume control on the outputs. The volume is only reacting on the "two" headphone outputs. Who need volume on stagepiano anyway!! HELLO YAMAHA, are u on drugs?

I tried the acustic piano and the roads-sound, bought it strait away.
To me the pianosound is sounding "right" , so do I agree with the el piano sound. Love it.

I hear the piano samples are like 2-3 seconds, I hear the sound "wander" in 2-3 secs and then get static (the loop is present). Do u really have to use only 20-30 Mega pr a sample, do u ever get this small ROM chips nowadays, or is this a comepetition in squeesing the samples into the smallest space u can make? How can an inc in ROMSAMPLE SIZE make the piano cost so much extra????

This piano has an identity problem, do Yamaha know there is serious musicans out there who use their products on something called a "stage"?. On a stage u need not two headpones, not metronome, etc. You need something called a "volume control". Some rugged knobs, and sliders, not built in songs, thats where the computers is for.

And yes, we need a "line out", not phono out for a stereo equipment. Do play gigs with a radio on the yamaha planeth?

Looks solid to me.....

No problems

Still happy, bought a mixer for the missing volume. Like keys and sound , looks nice. Press a sound and play , hate keyboards with 1000's of sounds wich noone of them are good, here u get a few quality sounds which WORKS. I'd never liked the ROLAND piano sounds , they sounds upright, which I hate. Yamaha sounds grand-piano, which I love, but thats taste and scope.

Thanks