Yamaha P80

If you cant figure out how to use this thing you should try playing the kazoo instead. Its butt simple, which is one of its greatest strengths. The more i play music the more i want my setup to be as simple as humanly possible. Quality definitely rules over quantity.

As stated before the feel of the keyboard is impeccable. It doesent get any better (that is unless you get a real piano). The 2 track sequencer is handy but I would have liked it if we could send it out via midi. The transpose feature is nice too but it would have been even better if this were controlled via footpedal so that we could transpose while playing. That may be asking a bit too much for this unit though. It is intended for players who are more interested in a great keyboard feel than a lot of whiz-bang features like touch screens and hundreds of useless sounds. One cool feature it does have is the sound variation key. Each sound patch has two variations, in essence doubling the number of sounds!

The keyboard sensitivity adjustment is very subtle. The key action feels so good that is it very easy to be expressive. The piano sounds are ok but flawed. You can clearly hear the sample loop point about 1.5 seconds into the sample. It is a very noticeable volume spike which could have been improved. Memory is cheap. I'd rather have paid more for the unit to have enough memory to not have to loop the piano samples. However, i think the $1k price point was an important design factor for Yamaha. The harpsichord blows chunks but the electric pianos rule! They actually change timbre when you strike the keys hard, just like a real rhodes. I think the harpsichord should have been replaced with a funky clavinet. Who the hell uses harpsichord anyway, especially one this syntheitc sounding? The jazz organ variation key gradually introduces a leslie speaker cabinet effect which you can actually hear spinning up to speed and slowing down when it is turned off. Very cool. The bass variation introduces a cymbal for jazz parts. Nice touch. The pipe/church organs sound decent but i wouldnt use them on a recording. The best approach is to use this device as a controller for Gigasampler.

Ive only had it a week so we'll see how reliable it is. If i did gig im certainly not rich enough to afford a second keyboard. If this one broke then i'd just have to get it fixed and play cello or bass at the gig instead.

Ive never dealt with Yamaha.

If it were stolen i would buy another in an instant. I sold a bunch of complicated music gear which i never used in order to afford it. Im a cellist & bassist and ive only been playing piano for one week. My friend was awed that i didnt just start with a cheap keyboard from radio shack but the way i see it is if you are serious about learning the instrument you need to learn on an instrument that has an excellent action. If you learn the fundaments on a cheap keyboard your playing will not improve as well as it could on a great interface. The same is true on guitar or sax or any instrument. Proper feel is critical for jazz/classical/progressive playing. If you're into techno/disco then you may not need this board.

One thing i wish it did have is support for the middle piano pedal. This is almost always overlooked on electronic keyboards but it is enormously valuable. Though this unit was prolly intended as a device for piano students i wonder if Yamaha will release the same keyboard as a dedicated midi controller without sounds but with better controller features.

Rollsmusic.com is quoting $925 for them, probably the lowest price out there.

It's very easy to use, so you almost don't need the manual. It can keep the setting in its memory when turned off, Technics P30, Korg Sp-100, Kurzweil SP88/76 and Roland RD100 can't!!!!!

64 voice polyphonic, good sounding clean effects ,reverb!,but it is very basic. That's why it's so light!!!

The acoustic and electric piano's are realy great. I have an Roland A-80 combined with an E-MU Pro/formance, but that doesn't sound that dynamic!! For pop music but also I think for classical music, that musicians won't try, it is fantastic. Good Rhodes with Tremolo!

When my flightcase is ready i will take it to the gigs for sure (together with my Roland XP-80 and Yamaha TG-500 (for the brasses and Organ!!!)

No idea

I would definetely buy it again, there are more good ones but not that light with such a good keyboard in it!

The P80 is about as easy as it gets. Front control panel is very intuitive, and if you need a transposer, it's very simple.

Not many features, but it does what it does very well. A few piano variations and rhodes variations. Even the drawbar organ isn't too bad.
Best feature? A measley 37 pounds for a full weighted action 88 key piano that sounds great.

This thing sounds great. I saw someone mention that this would be a good "beginner/Student" piano. This isn't giving it enough credit. This is an incredibly stage worthy instrument. I play blues and rock piano and have a Roland VK-7 (the best Hammond B3 imitator) - and my life is complete. The piano sounds are right on, and the Rhodes piano with the tremelo booms through a Roland keyboard amp. This thing sounds GREAT!

It's built tough and solid.

I would replace it without question. For a lightweight realistic piano that can cut through crunching guitars - this is your clear choice.

I just read my recent submission on this keyboard, and noticed that the rather lengthy comments entered into the "features" box did not appear. Moreover, it seems that no recent submissions have a "features" section included. Hopefully, the keepers of this site (great site, BTY) will catch on that there might be a problem here. In the mean time, I felt it was important to go back and explain this keyboard's raison d'etre in my rig. Two things: superior digital piano action packaged in a lithe little unit that won't bust your clavicle. The action is the same as in the P200, which I had previously tried out in stores and decided I liked above anything else on the market. Action is important to me. I use alot of piano and electric piano sounds when playing out. At home, I play on an acoustic with a great, solid and heavy action. To the go out on a gig and play on a keyboard with much lighter action gets in the way of optimal performance. I have to believe I'm not alone in facing this dilema. The Yamaha P series keyboard is solid, heavy, yet responsive and a pleasure to play. In my opinion, the Roland PA4 action comes close, but is not quite as heavy, and does not feel as solid and even -- a bit loose and sluggish. I find the action on Fatar, Korg, and Kurzweil keyboards to be responsive, but far too light for my taste. The only keyboard that really feels like playing a piano is the Kawai MP9000, with its real hammer action. But it weighs in at something like 75 lbs. If Kawai put out a 76 key version, I might go for it. Opinions about keyboard action are to a large extent subjective. For me, the P-series wins.

As background, I've become quite disenchanted with hauling around 50+ pound keyboards. I'm not physically-challenged, or anything. But to move something that heavy and awkward through an urban environment (e.g., stairs, traffic, funky little venues, street people eager to "help" you carry something) 4 times for each gig, over and over, invariably adds a tinge of misery to an otherwise pleasurable experience. For some clubs/gigs, its not such big deal. But for most, physical ingress and egress makes it a major hassle.
'nuff said -- call me crazy. Being of average height and build, I seem to hit a barrier right around 40-something pounds -- as the weight approaches 50, I really start to kvetch. The P80 weighs 37 pounds. That's about the same as my Hammond XK-2 (and I have a bone to pick with them about all that gratuitous wood paneling - geez). Congratulations to Yamaha for being the first to figure out how to do such a thing. Now, if they could just add a decent set of controller functions, they'd have a true winner. From this standpoint, the P80 works well enough within my current setup, because its only being used to trigger piano/e.piano sounds from a module. Not much need to send more than midi note, velocity, and sustain messages. Which is a good thing, because the P80 can't do much more than that. Its obvious that the P80 was designed to be an affordable student/beginner keyboard. But it seems like with some minor upgrades, it could be a first-rate controller that players like me would covet. Even with its limitations, it has proven itself more than worthwhile.

Piece of cake to use. Not even a power on-off switch! Just plug in the power supply and voila. This keyboard appears to be designed, at least in large part, with the student in mind. Functions are few and simple. Manual could be better written, but then, when have I not thought that about a keyboard?

There is a very limited palette of sounds. A few pianos, couple rhodes and organ, a bass, and a handful of others that frankly I haven't paid attention to. Here's the reason I love this keyboard: it has great weighted action, 88 keys, and yet weighs only 37 lbs! My need is for a weighted-action keyboard that can be hauled around easily, and I can't think of another keyboard that comes close in combining these two attributes. The P80 the same keybed as the P200. That Yamaha was able to house it in a body weighing half as much is, in my view, the grand achievement and primary virtue of the p80. Whether the action on the P80 will appeal to you is, of course, a matter of taste. It is heavy and solid, quite like playing a real piano in terms of force required to depress a key. To compare it to others in the field, I find most weighted action keyboards (e.g., Fatar, Kurzweil, Korg) to be too light, such that switching from practicing on my acoustic to gigging tends to throw off my chops. The Roland PA4 action is more substantial, yet still less so than the Yamaha P series, and less responsive in my opinion. If you want weighted action that really and truly feels like a piano, check out the Kawai MP9000 (at 75 lbs!). Even the Kawai does not have the "graded" action of the P80, wherein the lower register keys feel heavier -- hardly an essential feature, in my opinion, but one I can appreciate given that its part of the package.

There is a two-track sequencer. Not a serious sequencing tool, but still nice to have around. I use it quite a bit as a scratch pad just because its so convenient -- reach over hit a button, and you're off. A "brilliance" slider allows you some EQ control. No bender or modulation control, no expression pedal input.

Here's my biggest complaint. The designers of this board seem to have completely overlooked its potential as a controller. Yes, it transmits note, velocity, and sustain pedal messages on one switchable channel, but that's about it. From what I can tell, even volume control data does not go out, and oddly enough, the sequencer will not transmit. It works well enough as a controller for my purposes, which consists solely of triggering piano-type sounds in a module that sits within easy reach. But I can see how the controller limitations could be a serious drawback for many professionals. Fortunately, the keyboard works perfectly well within my setup. But it seems that if Yamaha had added just a few more controller features, it could have targeted this product to reach a much wider audience.

The onboard sounds are fairly good. I would use the piano or electric piano sounds in a pinch. Rhodes sounds are currently what I use most when playing out, and p80 has a decent patch for that, including that all-important cross-switching that allows you to slap the key and get that realistic crunch. But the onboard sounds had little to do with my decision to buy the p80. Generally I will use my sound modules wherever possible. For piano, the General Music piano expansion module has a warm sound with realistic overtones. For rhodes, wurlitzer, and clav, I haven't found anything better than those on the Roland JV "60's and 70's" expansion board, which I house in a Roland JV-1010. Again, because I set these within reach, the lack of controller capabilities on the P80 is not such an issue. The P80 allows you to adjust key sensitivity through a front panel switch -- nice not to have to access a menu for that. I find that the P80 quite adequately enables me to use the full range of expressiveness for these modules.

Seems solidly built. Haven't had it very long. Yet another keyboard with a wall wart but no stress relief thingy to prevent the cord from popping out. Why is it so many keyboard manufacturers overlook this incredibly inexpensive yet important feature? Maybe they've never gigged in a small club where the patrons get up close and personal, bumping into your rig and so forth.

Haven't had to.

I'd buy it again. That is, until someone comes out with a product that can match the p80 in portability and killer piano action but with better controller capabilities. The p80 is but one piece in my setup, essentially its where my hands go to play piano and electric piano sounds. For that limited purpose, its fulfilling its role quite well, and its weight makes it a pleasurable thing to take home at the end of the night.