Yamaha P80

Windows XP
Good but a pity it doesn't have vibraphone, and the chorus and guitar of the p-90. Could have cut down on the number of organs, some of which seem to be rare church samples, including the vicar being throttled. I don't edit patches. The manual is OK but with one little screen and a paucity of knobs, changing settings is like altering the flight schedule on a Boeing (use the manual, otherwise you end up in Brazil). I rationalise that the guy at the factory knew more than I did and use those settings.

Polyphony is good. Effects minimal but fine for piano. Organ sounds come in louder than piano, so switching over can give organ fans that lift they love. Action: I gave up the Roland RD-300 because the weighting was so light that I couldn't push down the keys on the accoustic afterwards. The Yamaha p-80 gives the fingers a real work out and I feel a bit sorry for the little kids my daughter teaches on it. Beethoven would have loved it. You can change to any piano afterwards have teutonic control. All the pre-recorded tunes are classical as a warning to those like myself who want to slouch at the keyboard drinking rubbish and playing jazz.

Grand sound is excellent through my headphones (30 year old Pioneer SE20A's but still brilliant). But through the amp (Roland RD-100) it sounds reasonable at a distance (ie: when someone else is playing) but poorup close (when I am playing). It seems all murky and muffled with little brilliance. Plugging it into the mike input seems to help so maybe it is seeing too much impedence, which would enhance bass notes. Pity it doesn't have multiple outputs to deal with this, like my old Roland RD-300 (Ol Floppykeys)

Seems to work well with most music types, which I can't play anyway. Onboard sounds generally OK, grand piano very good.I don't play the organ but it seems to me that it doesn't make much sense to have all those organ sounds without a volume peadal. On the other hand, a lot of organ playing should have the volume peadal removed entirely (Leslie's Hits of the Lift and Foyer, Volume 12). I think a few more electric piano sounds (Wurlitzer) would have been nice. The Jamaican drum sound as alternate to EP1 is diabolical as are the string sounds which I can't seem to get right with any piano sounds. One is so slow that it sounds like you have tuned in to an afternoon classical station (you don't know its on the air for the first minute or so). I can only seem to get the bass on the split keyboard with the alternate sounds in the upper part. The instrument seems to react well to playing. I'm not quick enough to test velocity and aftertouch.

Hard to tell until something goes wrong, but seems reliable. A free soft case would have been great, even if it had meant promoting something like MacDonalds. I don't think anything likes to get banged around too much.

The lugs on the distal ends of the keys (inside the piano) also started breaking on mine (the D's went). Seems to be a common experience. Being 1 year and three months outside the 12 month guarantee period, I repaired one with Shelly's Plastibond whereas a number of Pratley equivalents didn't work. Got tired of this though, so bought two new keys for about $5 US each. These arrived overnight from Yamaha Australia (package post)after an afternoon phone call. A week later a concerned sales manager phoned me to say that he'd noticed I was buying spares and this was not on. The resin used to cast the keys must be at fault and he had contacted Japan who were sending a full replacement mechanism. This took a couple of months to arrive but was fitted in a day when it did, with no charge for mechanism or labour. So in Oz big brother is watching your purchases and if you make a wrong move you are likely to have the entire piano recalled.

If lost I would buy a P-90. Won't shift from Yamaha as I have played everything else in music shops and they are inferior. I think this is one of the few serious electrics that some won't like as it is too much like a real acoustic and reminds you of the piano you were taught on (the good one). For learning music I think it must be about the best. Wish I had the P-90's chorus and guitar. Also a vibraphone. My playing has really gone ahead now I am off the sloppy RD-300, which was old, but they still seem to make some of their new keyboards very sloppy. The P80 should have a clock so I would know when to get off it.

This is an addendum to my earlier review. I have received some eMails from people whose P80 keys had broken like mine.

The story is: After one key after another cracked and I found out that they are 1. not "glueable" and 2. too expensive for replacement, I called YAMAHA Germany to ask them whether this was a known problem.

And they said, yes, we know of that, and they told me to go to an authorized Yamaha workshop and have THE ENTIRE KEYBOARD replaced -- for free!

I must say that is really fair. They seem to have used inferior, brittle plastic in older models, and they seem willing to keep Yamaha's overall good reputation. And the technician said the new keyboard is made of a different material. He told me he had already replaced quite a few of those keyboards. From the outside however, there is no difference, same feel, same weight, and the keys are black & white too :-)

Now I have a new instrument really (the electronics or the casing would most certainly not wear out considerably), and to be on the safe side, I avoid playing too hard.

To answer the suggested questions: After 3+ years playing this instrument without a backup, I would say it is quite safe to rely on it. It's a Yamaha.

-- See above --

Very easy to plug in and play for the basic presets. Navigating to the deeper functions is a pain. Manual necessary. Main point of this review is RELIABILITY (below).

Its a piano, not a workstation. The sequencing features are basic. The keyboard action is great and the polyphony quite sufficient.

The piano is mighty fine. That's all you need to know.

It seems that nobody has ever had a problem with a Yamaha. I must be terribly unlucky. I have had the machine for nearly 2 years now. All well for the 1st year but then the electronics have gradually gone on the blink. What happens now is that whenever I push a button (try to change the preset, transpose, demo, whatever) - the piano seems to take some random action and a bunch of unrelated lights change. The upshot is I can't get it to do anything other than play the main piano sound, which is the default on power-up. Has anyone had the same experience? Any ideas what to do? Note that the machine has always been well looked after in my home, never gigged, never dropped etc. Needless to say I am extremely frustrated.

When I phoned Yamaha all they said was, yes, somebody should take a look at it. Great. Thanks.

If it worked OK I'd recommend it very highly. Unfortunately, given the reputation Yamaha has for high reliability, I feel compelled to share my less than ideal experience. I'm not trying to put people off the P80 - I'm just wondering if I'm the only one to have had problems. Let me know if you have.

Give the Grand Piano a good EQ and iy'll be SUPERB
The EP's are COOL... just don't forget to adjust the sensitivity level to HARD or you'll get sudden bursts of velocity level
The Rock Piano's nice too
The Jazz Organ is also nice but the weighted keys get in the way

64 NOTE POLYPHONY is generous and the keyboard action is very close to the real thing
The effects are very basic yet serves its purpose
MIDI??? FORGET IT (REALLY)

SUPERB Grand Piano (don't forget to EQ it well) It respondes to how I hit

So far so good... no problems here

My next buy would be the P90... Equally light, good, yet more useful sounds

I've been giging all over Asia and I've been investing on equipment ever since. My collections are DX7s - D50 - O1Wfd - X5 - Triton Studio 61 - QS6.2 - S4 - SE Orchestra - Vocalist VR - KORG iH. All have their own beauty so comparing doesn't really apply. One wish I'd have on the P80 or P90 keyboard is the 76 key version with the highest octave removed (A1 to C7 remains), not he one that starts with the F2 key. Easier for gigs.

As a Grand Piano = EQ it well and it'll be SUPERB
As an E. Piano = you have to adjust the sensitivity to HARD to avoid sudden bursts of level especially the Rhodes and it'll be COOL
As a Midi Controller = Forget it, (REALLY)

It has a generous 64 note polyphony and the keyboard action is very close to the real thing. It responds on how much you hit it. The effects are very basic but it suits what I use it for (GRAND PIANO & E. P.) Not the MIDI... it really is a shame for YAMAHA

GRAND PIANO & both E.P's. will be rated (9.5)... the Rock Piano a (9)... The Jazz Organ sounds very good too but the weighted keys will get in the way of playing even if you adjust the sensitivity.

Very Reliable...

It's built well enough to take the punishments a giging pianist has to go through so it hasn't been sent for repair

It's definitly worth the price I paid but if I have to get a new one, I'd get the P-90 because it's equally good and lightweight yet more useful sounds.

I been giging for 15 years all over Asia and invested on equipments ever since. The ones I own are (DX7s - D50 - O1Wfd - X5D - O1R - O5R - S4R - KORG SYMPHONY - ROLAND SOUND EXPANSION ORHESTRA - ALESIS QS6.2 - TRITON STUDIO) all have their pro's and con's

I like the presets, usually keep mine on Jazz Piano or mix it with strings/electric piano for an interesting combined sound. I've only used this to record phrases to be able to listen to how I play it, but I don't think editing is even a possibility beyond play and record. You can't even rewind.

The piano's very easy to use, plug it in, get an amp, turn it on, go. Tough to change most of the settings because of the design of the interface, with just one 3 digit LED to guide you. Better have the manual next to you if you want to mess around with those settings. Personally, i haven't touched them since the second week I owned the piano, almost 3 years ago.

I've never had a problem dropping notes in polyphony, with 64-note it'd be tough. I got the keyboard because the action felt very similar to the baby grand I learned how to play on, a Young Chang from 1988. It has basic built-in effects, though I'm sure anyone that's buying it for anything beyond a straightforward digital piano will be disappointed. There is no expansion, and I don't know how to use MIDI, although I really should look into that one of these days. Don't even know what an on-board sequencer is.

Again, I got the keyboard because it reminded me so much of my piano at home. Having had it for some time now though, I can safely say it sounds much more like a true Yamaha than my piano, which by comparison shouldn't even be compared because it would just be a waste of time. The classical piano sounds nice, although I find it a little too muffled. I keep mine set on jazz most of the time, it provides a nice clear sound without being too bright, like the rock piano sample. The only song i can't do on this keyboard is billy joel's angry young man, the key doesn't react quite that fast. Other than that, it keeps up with everything I do, and everyone keeps telling me i play everything too fast.

Yamaha. Duh.

I don't play gigs, if i did no i wouldn't bring a backup, but only because i'm a broke college student and can't afford another one.

I've never needed support.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd cry. I love my keyboard. Afterwards, I'd probably get another P80, but i'd look at the similar Yamahas with a few more features, especially built in speakers. I hear Korg's an excellent brand too, but I didn't really like any of the ones I tried out when I picked the P80.

I love the fact that there's a piano in my bedroom that sounds and feels like a fullsize grand, and best of all, i can play it at 2:30 AM (as i just did) with a pair of headphones on. It's easy to move, it's very simple to use, and it does everything i want. i hate nothing about it.

I tried a lot of different keyboards but couldn't tell you which ones, it was too long ago.

it doesn't help me make music, i help it make music.

p80 is, in my very limited opinion, by far the best keyboard you can get for the money.

The basic useage is simple - there are not a lot of bells and whistles but I didn't purchase the P80 for that. I don't much care for the navigation of the function settings - they are completely non-intuitive unless you focus on memorizing everything, or you have your manual handy. But, other than that, its pretty simple to use.

Part of the reason I purchased the P80 was for the key action. Personally I like it. I can change the weight of the keys (personally I feel the difference between the settings - to me there is a big difference between heavy and light!). Effects, sequencers, etc... if you purchased the P80 for those things, you made a mistake. I think the P80 does what it was designed for - its a digital piano. Period. To me, the features are the key action, the simplicity, and the piano sound.

I purchased my P80 a couple of years ago and at the time, I compared it to several other models from Korg and Roland. (In fact I still own a Korg, which I like for some of the effects). From a piano perspective, for under $1000 I don't see how I could have done better. Yes they have other sounds like electric piano and harpsi and yada yada but I didn't buy the P80 for those. I think the piano sounds very good. I use it exclusively in the studio and I like it.

I turn it on, it works.
I don't gig with it.

If it were lost or stolen, I would definatly look at getting another one. I might shop for what else is out there but I would not overlook the P80. It is worth what I paid for it because it does what it was designed to do. Dude, if you purchased this and you didn't like it, you were a dork because you didn't buy what you needed.

Presets are good. No problems here

Has more than adequate polyphony. I play fast New Orleans Blues, and Jazz, there is no way you can drop chords.

Okay, here is the deal. I read somebody's note below and I said "WOW-ME TOO!!" The keyboard sounds fantastic with headphones. GREAT! But it sounds very muddy when hooked up to every kind of amp that I have tried. i have no idea why. But it is true. So I will just vote on the headphones...

Solid as a rock

don't need it. See above

If it were lost or stolen I would cry, and then I'd go get the P120 so I didn't have to mess with an amp.
It is a great practice keyboard and it is good for small gigs.

There are minimal flaws in this issue, Yamaha interfaces for digital pianos an synths are straightforward and intuitive, overall features like layering, splitting, metronome use and recording don't need even a quick read in the user's manual. For secondary itens like tuning, emulation of size of ressonance box, the keyboard deserves a better display. The funciont aliases for extra functions seems a task of computer geeks.

The metronome and sequencer are must have items for any digital piano, even for entry level models. The polyfony is adequate, I've played Chopin first op.10 etude and Debussy's Reflects dan's eau without dropouts. The efects are ok, a distortion effect for the organs would be welcome. The variations piano sounds are not necessary, since they are rather poor in fidelity. It would be marvelous if there were slots for PLG boards.

For the price paid, it deserves the best rating. There are only two samples better than P80 Grand, present only in the damn good but a bit expensive Korg Extreme (in my opinion the best workstation ever made, with a built-in and unmistakable steinway), and RD-700's (Bosendofer like), whose synth makeup make its price a joke.

The notes on the P80's grand, fifth octave sounds a bit cheesy (but beautiful on the classical sample), and the overall notes clean, blurred, mellow, but is much better that any ordinary accoustic grand.

The output quality depends on the kind of equipment. Is perfect with high quality phones, like Philip's SBCHP195 and SBCHP250, and it works good with various external monitors, I play my P80 in different t places, but for professional purposes, a external equalizer is needed. The dynamic fidelity is remarkable and pedaling extremely precise, consider using a FC3 model footswitch.

The action, albeit heavy to professional players, is instersting to students and better than a lot of jurassic acoustic pieces present in music schools. I'm considering to use my unit as a controller.

No comments, it's a Yamaha.

I don't needed that.

It's the best digital piano I have seen and it really deserves the awards that it have. Is not right to compare the a digital piano with good acustic ones, and reviews in this sense is out of scope. We are talking about sampled units.

Before buiyng it, i have tested Kurzeil PC2, RD-700, P120 and some korg models but them all have a inadequate action, albeit the good sound fidelity. Pressing a roland keyboard is like to put your finger in a sandbox. Yamaha action is unbeatable, even for synths (BHEffect).

I haven't upgraded to P120 or P90 cause the samples of this new generation is too bright. I'm focused on jazz and classical, because of that, I remain using my actual unit and in brief months I will get a korg extreme workstation. If do you want to get a new generation Yamaha keyboard with more sofisticated resources, consider a S90 synth.

I'll admit that I don't have the extensive talent or experience of many of the reviewers, but I own an upright grand piano and have owned 2 Hammond tone generator organs. I think the P80 is very intuitive and simple to use. If you are looking for a lot of bells and whistles, this keyboard probably won't satisfy your needs but for me, the simplicity makes it all the more appealing. I want to play an instrument that doesn't require an engineering degree.

The 64 note polyphony is plenty for me but I suppose someone could run out of voices on very complex, sustained passages. The adjustable action is nice and firm but since the action on acoustic pianos varies from one to another, it is difficult to compare the two. I particularly enjoy the split keyboard (for bass) and the dual voicing for varying the sound.

When listening through headphones, the lower and upper registers of the piano voices are hard to distinguish from the real thing. I may not have much use for the harpsichord and church organ voices, but after having played the Hammonds, I think the organ voices are very good; especially in light of the fact that they can be mixed with other voices. A lot depends on what you are using to produce the sound (amp / speakers).

Have had no problems and it seems to be well made with a nice finish and control layout.

NA

If anything happened to this instrument, I would definitely try to replace it with the same make/model. Everyone likes to get a bargain, but I think this keyboard is worth what I paid for it. I enjoy listening to live music and I know what I like. I have heard the P80 played by other musicians (better than me) and I was blown away by the sound. On at least one occasion, the only amplification was a small powered Yamaha speaker / monitor! I enjoy practicing with the headphones so as not to disturb anyone else in the house. The fact that the keyboard action and voicing imitate the real thing is icing on the cake.