Yamaha P80

Very easy to use, the main presets and functions are all accessible. (sounds, transpose, metronome...)

But you need to open the manual for more advanced (never used them in 6 years, except some midi stuff) settings. There is no graphical interface (only 4 character led numbers).

The P80 is for me a PIANO REPLACEMENT, to be played as is without messing around.

Poliphony is ok, never heard a missed note.

The ACTION is WORDERFUL, the main reason I bought P80 at the time.
Nothing else had this feeling, and it seems they did not make great improvements over time. Action is better than many cheap vertical pianos i played, so real...

I tried the midi interface to play other sounds, but did not spend too much time to map the velocity sent by the P80 to the sound on PC I wanted to use, so I did not have good results. Some other posts say the velocity sent is dependent on the P80 instrument selected, how awkward...

The sequencer is there, easy to use, minimal features, enough to hear yourself again for study...

Realistic sound. Perfect on headphones. I'm talking about Grand Piano. The other sounds are fun to use, but P80 IS Grand Piano.

If played through speakers, some notes in the mid-high register seem out of tune, and sound is not clear. But it's an amplifier/speaker issue: using more professional amplifiers, the problem disappears.

A personal guess: the stereo sound is recorded with some phase shifting and intensity delay, in addition to volume difference from left to right, so that the two outputs must be of high quality to keep the synch and make sound come out as intended (and heard in headphone)

Playing is a delight, expecially at night, thus using the headphones and getting the best out of the P80.

Always used it at home, never broke

Never used

If stolen, I would buy another or one of the newer models, I hope they still use or improve the same keyboard mechanics of P80.

I wish it had built in speakers, optimized for P80 sounds. If I attach external speakers, I need to look for upper quality systems, which is not always available.

I wish it had an always available "quick guide", engraved or printed somewhere (maybe on the plastic score panel?), to avoid opening the manual.

P80 for me works as a perfect piano replacement.

the best. i only wish there was a pitch bender, but that's just me. can't bite the hand that feeds

I cannot honestly imagine a better sounding piece of equipment

As long as you treat it with care, this is SO reliable

If you're looking for the best, you'd be crazy not to buy this. I've had it 4 years and I can honestly say it's a decision i will never regret. just be sure to take EXTRA good care of it - no bumping it, or dropping it even the SLIGHTEST bit. If you can help it, always travel with a case (preferably hard - although I use soft and there's been no damage. Any questions feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I love talking about how awesome this keyboard is.

Crappy interface for functions,

manual is very global and doesn't really give detaills

Very less midi functionality, absolutely no midi keyboard for change controll

the keys are crap, all the d's do break after a couple of years, so you have to open it up and glue all the broken pieces of the keys, and after 2 weeks they are broke again...

sounds are okey, but no multiple effect support and there are not alot of sounds

Totally not reliable...

Not yet tried...

The keyboard is for the most part easy to use, all except for changing the volumes when you do layer and splits. But other than that it is very simple. The manual explains everything well, this is a digital piano, so there is not much to know, (compared to Tritons and Fantoms) Most presets are good.

The keyboard comes with 64 notes of polyphony and being that the keyboard at most uses 2 voices per note, it holds up very well. The action is good, not as good as on a Clavinova or grand piano. Action is a little on the heavy side. It has some good effects, you can use 2 at a time 1 for reverb and the other for stuff like chorus, tremolo, delay, and something else.
No expansion capabilities at all. It has a 2 track sequencer, its not flexible, but it is pretty easy to use

Rock piano is the best, Classical piano is to dark. The Jazz and Grand piano is pretty good. The variations of all pianos are okay but not that great. The electric pianos are excellent. EP1 is a nice FM piano and EP2 is a rhodes sound. Strings are decent, organs are pretty good. On Jazz organ with the variation off it is in slow mode, with the variation on, its in fast mode, so its pretty easy controlling rotary speed. This keyboard could probably do best with most styles in which pianos are used. Organs and electric pianos are great, but I wouldn't use the P80 for them. Effects are decent. I just wish the keyboard had a better overall brightness and lighter keys so modern music would be easier

I've had this thing 5 years, its pretty reliable. Paints coming off, and its rusty in some spots, and the letters are fading, but other than that its doing good

Yamaha's customer support is not half as good as Roland or Korg. I think Korg has the best. Yamaha is slow and they hardly ever get back with you on stuff, and really aren't much help.

Well if it was lost or stolen I probably wouldn't buy it again cause I have a Fantom and a Triton so I use them, and the P80 just sits in the basement (finished) basement of the church. But you never know when you might need it. I've been playing for 10 and 1/2 years, and I also own a Roland Fantom X8, Roland Juno-D, Korg Triton Classic, Yamaha S03, M-Audio Keystation. I looked at other keyboards, but I liked this one the best, it was pretty affordable but that was because I got it on closeout

Very simple. Only difficulty is with functions--the three digit display is very limiting and you need the manual for reference. It also forgets your settings when you turn it off, so I have to reset the reverb and touch sensitivity every time I play.

Everything you need, nothing more, nothing less. For it's time, it was great. Mine is at least 5 years old.

See other reviews for detailed features.

I've had this thing for over 5 years now. No matter what new digital piano comes out, and no matter what the hype surrounding it, this P-80 is STILL the best sounding, most expressive digital piano out there. I've tried Kawais, Rolands, even GEMs. They're all full of shit. Even the newer Yamahas don't sound as good as this.

People (including myself) tend to complain about the short sustain on upper register notes. But the decay sounds NATURAL, unlike the fake sounding ring on their newer digital pianos.

This is also one of the few digital pianos out there that nails the physical dynamics of the damper pedal. Here's the test: Play a chord while holding down the sustain pedal. Release the chord but keep the pedal down. The chord sustains, right? Now depress those same keys all the way down, but slowly enough so that they don't play the notes again. Now release the pedal while holding down the notes. On a real acoustic piano, the notes would continue sustaining. And the P-80 does this. But 99% of digital pianos, including most of Yamaha's other models, don't get this right. (It's basically a way of getting the sostenuto effect without using a sostenuto pedal.)

I'm a pianist, and I don't care about the other sounds. Reverb is descent. Action is more expressive than most digital pianos, but not at all like the real thing. (Again, no matter what the hype, I've never tried ANY digital piano that came anywhere near the feel of a real piano. Not Kawai, not GEM, not Yamaha, not Roland.)

Been pounding out Rachmaninoff on it for over 5 years, and it's held up quite nicely.

Who knows?

If it had 128 notes of polyphony instead of 64, some more sustain while retaining a natural decay, and a somewhat more realistic action, then this would be a dream instrument. Given its shortcomings, it's still better than everything else I've tried, even "flagship" models costing more than twice as much.

Previous electronic keyboards I have used were complex to set up, and neede elaborate sequences to be followed to get any sound at all. With the P-80 I just switch on and play. I like the absence of menus - Individual controls for eachg feauture is by far the best for ease of use.

64 note polyphony is fine - after all there are only 88 notes on the keyboard. It is a definite i provement on 32 which cause problems in much classical piano music

The MIDI capabilities are rudimentary, but I wanted a portable piano thta I can also use with headphones for intensive practive without disturbing everyone for miles around. If I wanted MIDI I'd have bought a MIDI controller

The feel of the keys is good, but not perfect. There is a bit of "springiness" that you don't find on a grand piano.

The ability to record is useful, both for playing concertos, and for objective assessment of my performances. The other features and instruments don't interest me much, but they are easy to use and fun.

The instrument responds with the right level of volume and timbre for the weight and speed that the keys are struck - just like an acoustic piano.

The piano sounds are convincing in the bass and middle register, but the upper registers have a definite electronic sound to them, and do not sustain as long as on a genuine acoustic. They are good enough, but still obviously not the real thing.

Big benefits over an acoustic piano (apart from the obvious ones of portability and silent practice) are that the instrument is always in tune, that the action is consistent through the whole range with gradually reducing weight from bass to treble, and that there are no hammer felts to harden or develop grooves. I find it better than most acoustic pianos for developing tonal control and sensitivity.

My P-80 has one small fault. The E flat below middle C occasionally sticks in the up position, usually after the instrument has been stored or transported on end. It is easily released by jiggling it about and coudl probably be properly repaired quite simply, but I don't relish opening up the case myself (and probbly doing some serious damage), or seeking out an instrument technician tht could repair it for me

Apart from that it is completeely dependable and I'd have no problem performing on it without a backup

I have no experience of Yamaha's customer support.

I have been playing piano for 35 years and have played on all the top name grands (Bechstein, Bluthner, Steinway, Bosendorfer) as well as many lesser brands. I own a good quality upright piano. I used to have a Fatar Studiologic 1100 keyboard. It had excellent action, touch sensitivity and after touch, but it needed an external sound generator and was rather fussy and time consuming to set up - which is why I eventually sold it.

For practicality (built-in sound, instant-on) I much prefer the P-80, though I think the keyboard action on the Fatar was marginally better.

If my P-80 were lost or stolen I would certainly consider getting another, or a later model from Yamaha, but I would also check out the competitio to see if anyone has produced a more realistic treble sound in an equally usable and convenient package

It is definitely worth what I paid - but then I bought mine second-hand. I don't know if I would have paid the full retail price for one.

It has been and still is, a tremendous help to me. I like to put in 4 or more hours of practice a day. I could not do that on an acoustic piano. It would be quite impractical in a small house shared with other people. With the P-80 I just plug in headphones, or turn the volume right down on the practice amp, and practice for as long as I like. I also often work away from home, and it is convenient to be able to take a practice keyboard with me.

I would recommend it to any beginning or improving pianist. How good you get depends entirely on how many hours of meaningful practice you accomplish. Future super-stars work at the keyboard for 8 hours a day for several years to develop their amazing skillss. An instrument like this provides the means to do that without driving everyone around you mad!

Generally very easy to use and the manual is clear. My only complaint is that features I commonly use (such as local on/off) take more keystrokes than I'd like.

This an electronic piano and the polyphony (64) is generally more than sufficient. The multiple piano sounds offer nice choices. The built-in reverb and brightness slider are good and allow some tailoring of the sound. The ability to set resistance on the keyboard is a very nice feature, although the keyboard itself is a bit spongy.

The MIDI features are generally adequate. However, the piano will not accept a panning signal from the computer nor can you split it into multiple MIDI transmit zones - of course it's not a controller.

This piano is great for rock and pop music. The expressiveness and sounds of the pianos on this instrument are excellent, particularly the Grand and Jazz Piano. The Rock Piano itself sounds less than stellar on its own but works pretty well in a blues, blues rock or country mix.

The other sounds on this baby - easy piano, organ, etc. - aren't worth anything but you don't buy it for that. If you want a great, inexpensive electric piano, this is a strong contender.

This piano is very dependable and I have often gigged with it without a backup.

Have dealt with Yamaha on other instruments and it's support has been very helpful. Not had to deal with the co. on this one.

If I lost this piano I'd buy it again or one of its successors in the Yamaha P line. I've been playing for about 30 years and really love the piano sounds on the P-80 in combination with its relatively light weight for an 88-key elec. piano. I've had it for several years now and felt no need to replace it. I own a Yamaha SY-85 and TG500 and a Windows PC with Gigastudio and many sound samples.

The presets? I just turn it on And go. I do a lot of gigs with this thing and have had it for 5 years. The manual, like all manuals, are complicated so I looked at it 3 times in 5 years. But like I said, the beauty of the P80 is you turn it on and go!

The only effects I really use is the split with bass in the left and jazz piano in the right and let me tell you, using the right amp ( Roland kc300, 350, 500, ) this is as close to the real thing as you can get, upright bass and grand piano for jazz standards and straight ahead, especially if you know how to play left hand bass!

Like I said before the bass is awesome with the correct amp and the jazz piano is great. The electric is o.k. The expressiveness works well to me and the touch is definetly real piano like.( I play classical so I know)

Again, 5 + years and many, many gigs 3-4 nights a week every week
and my only complaint was the afore-to-mentioned key-sticking problem
that cost me over the years a few hundred bucks to have repaired until I recently took it in for a yet again stuck key and the shop called me and said yamaha would replace the entire key assembly , which they did. I wish I would have known that a few years ago.
I have used this baby for 5 years and never needed a backup.

Like I said, I did get a major repair which makes me wish I 'da just contacted Yamaha in the first place!

If it were lost ( how the heck do you lose an 88 key keyboard...on the other hand I did "misplace" 2 100 Watt Amps ) or stolen ( don't even go there ) I would definitely buy it again, although I would definitely consider something exactly like it with onboard drum kits.
Then I would be a one man trio.
I use a Roland KC300 to play it through and a Kawai GB2 session trainer drum machine.

I HAVE NOT TRIED MIDI YET..BUT HOPE TO SOON. THIS PIANO IS SIMPLE TO USE BUT BE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE PLUGS AND MONITORS THAT DON'T COME WITH THE P-80. ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE FIRST TRYING IT ON A SUNDAY! THE MANUAL IS A MUST WHICH IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON-LINE.

64 POLYPHONY IS OK, EXCEPT PLAYING FULL TWO HANDED CHORDS WITH STRING AND PEDAL CUTS OUT WHEN PLAYING FAST.TOO MUCH FOR 64 TO HANDLE? I USE JAZZ PIANO WITH STRING ON THE 17 TO 18 MIX SETTING. LEARN HOW TO USE THOSE MIX SETTINGS.

REALISTIC SOUNDS! COME ON, YOU CRITICS...SPRING FOR A GOOD AMP (LIKE THE ROLAND KC350 OR KC550. FOR GOOD STUDIO OR SMALL HALL SOUND ALSO PLUG IN YOUR MONITORS AND SUBWOOFER IN THE RCA HOOKUPS! THATS RIGHT,BOTH AT THE SAME TIME (AND THE P-80 HAS ENOUGH OUTPUTS!). PIANOS NEED THE RANGE OF HIGHS AND LOWS! THE AMP IS A MUST AND IS THE "OTHER HALF" OF YOUR SYSTEM.

HAD IT FOR 3RD YEAR NOW...USUALLY STAYS IN ONE PLACE...OCCASIONALLY LUG IT TO A GIG IN A SOFT BAG.(SHOULD HAVE TAKEN UP HARMONICA)sSOUNDS GREAT SOLO AT COCKTAIL HOURS.

NO NEED YET

MIGHT LOOK FOR THE SAME THING WITH MORE INSTRUMENT SOUNDS..P-90 OR EVEN A MOTIF W/88 KEYS

Brianless. Plug it in and your good to go.

The action on the board and the weight are the reason I bought the board in the first place. Great!

I play in a rock band and the rock piano works best for me. The rock organ is pretty good and when you press the "variation" button is give you a leslie simulation effect. The strings aren't bad as well as the electric piano. Howevever, when using the electric piano press the "Hard" button so because if you play too hard the volume suddenly increases.

I have had the P80 for about 5 years now and it has never failed me. I gig with is about 3x's per month and transport it with the Yamaha soft case to/from practice. This keyboard is a workhorse.

I had a few keys sticking. Not sure why but I play very hard and after 5 years it my be normal wear/tear. I called my local Yamaha repair shop and they called Yamaha for me and described the problem. In 3 weeks I had a BRAND NEW P80 shipped to me.

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.

no proplem

I hate the fact that I am paying much just for the keys while the sample memory for many of the sounds are filled with worse than toy quality sounds.

I read all the statements here and spent much times trying out the p80, but once I had it at home, I noticed many bad things about it.

no comment

no comment

1. some of the piano samples are really bad and annoying
2. the sustain is way tooooo short, which is strange since one only have to make it longer, doesnt need more sample memory in itself
3. the harpsicord is very bad
4. the other sounds are also bad, like a toy,,,it is a shame!
5. the special reverb for soundboard is cut directly once you release the sustain pedal, and it just sounds cut.
6. I sold mine...was a waste of money
7. but ...if one like it, that is good...for me, it was just a waste of time and money...

The YAMAHA P-80 is extremely easy to use. however, i would suggest that after your first hour or so playing, to start checking out the manual 'cause you will definitely need it sooner or later. this 'break' will also give your fingers/wrists/forearms a rest 'cause the action is quite heavy (unless of course you do most of your playing on a 'real' piano) and we don't want any of those naughty tendon type problems do we Wolfgang.

This heavier 'realist' action on a portable digital piano is to me, the best invention since the tea bag ! i do not own a real piano. i have had a Roland HP-1700 for 10 years which has a light action and there is nothing worse than sitting down at a 'real' piano and feeling like a beginner ... "goodbye mister chops". after 12 months on the P-80 i can now sit down at ANY piano and rattle off fluent 'psuedo' classical scales, arpeggios and flourishes that never fail to impress older folk. (i am a jazz player). having a compact portable keyboard in this price range with such a realistic action is a dream come true for me and, i'm sure, many other serious players. at the time of purchase it was between the Roland RD-150 (whose sounds i preferred) and the 'yammy'.
they were the same price .... $2000 here in australia.

O.K. This is where things get rather sad so pour yourself a stiff drink and read on. i have had ENORMOUS problems with MY P-80 from day one. in hindsight i should have ignored 'advice' and opinion and returned it immediately.
PROBLEM # 1. the thing sounds quite good through headphones (sennheiser hd-450) but i can't get a good sound through ANY amplifier/speaker combination and believe me i've tried a lot of gear in the last 12 months. my main keyboard rig (i play guitar also) is a YAMAHA EMX 68s stereo powered mixer with a pair of WHARFEDALE EVP-S10 speakers.
PROBLEM #2. there are six notes from G# (two octaves above middle C)up to the next C# that are very distorted or 'furry'.
PROBLEM #3. the midi transmit velocity is very weak and .... get this ... VARIES from patch to patch. only the 3 organ patches transmit a reasonably healthy midi velocity. (i purchased a ROLAND JV-2080 after having so much problems with the 'yammys' built in sounds and have other sound modules as well).
I have read with much interest ALL of the P-80 reviews below ... especially "ACE" 11.21.2001 and "STEVE T" 4.8.2003 and it seems that MY P-80 might be one very sick puppy.
however, i am hoping to rectify these problems and give a glowing report. if you have any suggestions (please don't say chuck it in the creek and get another one and please don't tell me how good yours is ... i've read ALL the reviews below), email me at murftone2002@yahoo.com.au
also, i've been a pro muso for 33 years .... yep, there i was age 16 with my les paul and piggyback fender tremolux helping the keyboard player lug in his B3 and leslie tone cabinet so we could thrill the audience with santana covers .... so don't say dumb things like check your leads etc.

Everyday when i switch on the P-80 i can rely on it to sound shithouse.

My retailer/dealer is a good guy and has been in the music business as long as i have and can play well. however he does not acknowledge problems #1 and #2 ... i did suggest that small monitors on the floor 8 feet away mite not be ideal test conditions but he was more interested in the midi transmit problem.
must admit dear reader that i was a little pleased and feeling less of a dickhead when he hooked up the P-80 to another keyboard and, after much button pushing and manual flicking said "HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM". i sat back and watched as my poor P-80 (laying on a bench with many cables connected to it) was being prodded and poked by the other salesmen and curious shoppers. it was like a scene from E.T.
the piano ended up at yamaha H.Q. here in melbourne. The top guy there rang me two days later and said that after testing for all the above problems he could find nothing wrong with it ! sounds a bit like the weapons of mass destruction saga (although i'd prefer to call my piano a 'weapon of jazz construction').
after all this stuffing around the piano is now out of warranty and,although the problems over the past 12 months have been duly noted, all correspondence was verbal .. either in person or over the telephone (remember those funny communication devices ?). if it was all emailed i could print out etc. a lesson for us all there my friends.
Harmony Central users ... please help me get this potentially brilliant digital piano up and running. i wish i'd stumbled on this site 6 months ago. it is excellent. regards, murftone.

if it were lost or stolen ? not a good time to ask me this question or ask for my autograph. just let me say this. every nite before i go to bed i carefully put the P-80 in the hallway, give it a gentle wipe with a soft rag (very dusty my place), carefully place the manual and the two power adaptors (good idea to have a spare) on the keys and LEAVE THE FRONT DOOR WIDE OPEN !

The basic use is very easy. Not too many options, so you cannot make a lot of mistakes.

However, there are some "special" settings like volume balance or individual pitch settings in split and layer modes (which I use occasionally) that are not easy to access since there is only a 3-digit LED display. Those "hidden" parameters are organised in "function menus" and of course, they are not self-explanatory.

The manual, however, is OK (which is not difficult to achieve since this is not a complex machine).

Polyphony is absolutely sufficient in my opinion.

Effects are OK for live use, but they are nothing fabulous when compared with a good FX processor. Effects are easy to apply, and the assignment is memorized individually for each voice. So are individual tuning and volume balance in split and layer modes. However, you cannot store these settings to a dedicated memory.

There is no expansion possibility. However, you might stick a baroque-type wallpaper with floral design to it :-)

MIDI functions are nothing more than rudimentary. You can select a channel, switch local on / off, and that's it. No great masterkeyboard since it does not provide aftertouch or any controllers other than the (non-graded) sustain pedal. There isn't a second ("soft") pedal (as in every grand piano).

The best thing is the portability (rather slim and only 17 kg).

A clear setback is the external power supply ("wall wart"). That one really sucks. Mine dropped once and was defunct thereafter (after I already had to fix a broken cable).

The sequencer cold not be designed any more bare-boned. Two tracks, a click, but no editing or rewinding and the like. Just play / stop (and record, of course). Nonetheless, you can record two different sound on the two tracks.

The piano samples are really OK. Nothing great when compared to a grand piano (in good condition), but often I'd prefer this one over a real piano provided at performance locations.


The dynamics are very good, and so is the alignment between action and sound engine.

Nonetheless, a (good) acoustic piano is still beyond reach for ANY digital simulation. In the P-80, the treble notes lack a bit of sustain and that shiny bell tone, and the overall sound is more "mellow". That's OK for some styles, but not so great for pop tunes where you will have difficulties with integrating the P-80 into the mix. It just doesn't have that "sparkle" you'd expect for an Elton-John-style production.

The other sounds are just little goodies, really nothing expensive. I often use the strings layered to piano, and that is rather good for comping musical tunes. Harpsichord and pipe organs are OK, jazz organ is ridiculous, The e-pianos are average while the Rhodes suffers a too distinctly different sound between soft and hard stroke sample.

The Action:
I think the touch of the P-80 is a bit too heavy, and the action swallows some of the energy. It doesn't run quite as smooth like a (properly regulated) real action. This makes playing unnecessarily difficult (try a very fast piece like the "Etincelles" of Moszkowski in comparison on a grand piano), and it holds the potential danger that not-so-sturdy persons (like I am) to get injuries or joint problems from extensive playing. The rather hard "bottom" (the key resting point when pressed down) adds to this risk. It requires a VERY hard stroke to get the loudest of three velocity layers. That is (for me) hardly possible with chords, but just with single notes.

The dynamic range is, as I said, very good, but I don't find the slope of the curve perfect. It's more easy to play soft or loud. On a real piano, the midrange sound levels are more accesible. That's of course my subjective point of view (as this whole review is).

Action lifetime:
Due to extensive playing for about three years now (including regular home practice, transport and many live performances), the keys of my unit tend to break. There is a little edge on the rear end of the key which simply cracks away after a certain time. So the key would stand slightly angled, and it would gets stuck (stays down) over time. You cannot really repair this (a probable fix with super glue showed not to be forever) but the respective key must be replaced in the end. And single keys are rather expensive (about 10 $ equivalent here in Germany).

Despite all of these restrictions, the key action (and the sounds) are really good for a less-then-1000-bucks instrument.

It is rather reliable, but when taken "on the road" frequently, it should not be carried in a soft bag. And there is the problem with the cracking keys (see above). I wonder if anyone but me encountered that problem. Please feel free to email me in that case. In general, I would say such an electronic instrument is not made forever since it is not really serviceable like a real piano where you can replace even the smallest part.

I never dealt with them because the unit basically worked, except for mechanical problems which would require a replacement -- I can do that myself.

If it was lost or stolen (or if a major repair of my worn-out unit should not pay anymore) I would check out Kurzweil's PC2 because of the lighter action, its highly integrative piano sounds (I recently heard it live in a concert and it sounded really good / realistic to me) and its masterkeyboard capabilites. The Kurzweil, however, is twice as expensive.

Anyway -- good value for the price.

Very simple - no problems with using this machine, easy to get your own personal settings back after some one other has used it. A few simple reverbs,easy to use + fix a little, I haven't faced any problems. And that simple fact that this one weights only 16.8 kgs (37 lbs) makes it easy to get to gigs and everywhere. Would tell you about the manual but didn't get onw eith

Polyphone is great,has been enough for me all the time never cutting off any notes. And once again must say,that keyboard action is fabulous! Probably one of the best I've ever tested. Way ahead of it's competitors at this price. Haven't really used the MIDI section at all,and well,this isn't really a MIDI-keyboard..not at least ment to be that way primarly I guess. 2-track sequencer,works fine,but not anything more.

Grand piano is fantastic,also classical piano. Other pianos are quite fine,but don't really know how reasonable is for example 'Rock Piano' or some voices which are not that excellent. I like the Rhodes sound of the variation of Electric Piano 2, but I am disappointed with Strings and Organ sounds, they should have concentrated more on those also. But Grand Piano is great.

Have never seen anything made by Yamaha fail - very reliable. No problems with this keyboard. It's very expressive, could be used without backup in some situations. But however isn't really used by itself.

Haven't used support..dunno about it.

Best keyboard for used as a electric piano at this price. Fantastic touch, very reliable. If you're looking for a MIDI-keyboard or keyboard with fine sequencer, forget this one. But if used primarly for piano sound, this is the one.

For basic sounds, as simple as it gets to produce sounds straight out of the box. The manual is fine. Changing split points is incredibly easy, as are: transposing, using the two-track recording function, metronome, changing presets, volume, etc. It is also extremely simple to tune the piano in microtones, which is often useful if you happen to be playing along with LPs etc.

I rate this a five, because of the presence of the recording function, transpose, etc. It is, to my ear, best employed as a digital piano, however.

Serious flaws in design include the lack of ability to easily switch between sound modules and internal voices (I use an AB box to switch between piano and my Voce organ module), and the inability of the P80 to send VERY basic MIDI program changes. I still use a Voce Micro-B2, and cannot access any of its sounds which are not accessible by its own rotary control knob.

Out of the box I only use the classical and grand piano presets, with the brilliance slider set to "Mellow." I have found that layering the Harpsichord and EP2 presets, when channeled through a distortion pedal and wah, creates a more-than-acceptable Clavinet substitute, especially when the rest of the band is playing at volume and can handle the dirty tone created by the distortion box. The upright bass preset is OK, and I often use it to record walking bass lines as an instant "Band in a box" type thing, to practice improvising over new changes. The ability to loop recorded tracks would have been nice.

However, if one discounts heavy effects processing or special, "fooling around" applications, I've not found the extra-piano voices to be useful at all, except for laughs.

I use a JBL Eon 15 G1 to reproduce the piano sounds, and also to amplify the organ module I use for tonewheel sounds. The powered monitor gives a great clean sound, throughout the entire dynamic range, for the pianos.

The action is superb. It's more difficult to play fast runs in jazz, blues, or obviously after the Hammond fashion, as opposed to on a good "compromise" keyboard such as the Kuzweil SP76 (or my old Wurlitzer 200A for that matter), it pays off in that one is able to properly inflect classical music, which would be impossible on a semi-weighted board. I admit it took me a while to be able to play full-on Albert Ammons, James Booker, Jerry Lee Lewis pieces at tempo on a quite stiff action, but I'm glad I learned how without giving up playing Brahms's Op. 118, or Schumann's Op. 76 on the very same keyboard. I think it's psychological valuable to see the music one plays as not essentially disparate, and to find in an instrument whose tonal variances are not commensurable to, e.g., that between a nylon- and a steel-stringed guitar, some sort of parity.

Bottom line: I don't need a better piano sound, or a better action, and I never will. And if you want to try my faux clav patch, go ahead and enjoy. But the only sound it does OK is piano. For solo, or playing at home, I use classical at mellowest slider point. To cut through a mix, you can mess around with the brilliance slider and try grand, or even jazz or rock. But it's strictly piano.

It's tough enough, I suppose. Its case is solid, maybe prone to scuffs if you're concerned about that, but I've not opened it up to see how it's built inside. I've taken it to many gigs, usually just encased in the soft-sided bag Yamaha recommends for its product. It hasn't failed yet, but it might. Who knows? NEVER place this on some crappy x-stand, if you're going to play hard. I have used a QuikLok Ws556 (unsure of the exact model number) to great success, as have a number of people I've talked to, some with the same P80 I've got. It's designed as a speaker stand/keyboard stand sort of thing. It supports up to 300 lbs. or so, costs around USD100, and won't fail (except in case where some chooch falls over onto the whole thing and spills it all, mos likely given the thin profile of the instrument.).

I was initially gravely disappointed at the way the P80 failed to make it when controlling even a simple Hammond organ module, but I've since learned a great deal about the world of pro gear. I would not part with the P80, simply because it offers, especially with the amplification I've provided for it, a choice instrument on which to practice and even perform and sort of music one might like to play on ACOUSTIC piano. It is quite light, although not enough to make me want to lug it around for casual jams or frequent rehearsals. I think if one is serious about the PIANO as an instrument, this unit can't be beat -- also, it's cheap, esp. these days. For me, I needed for casual gigging a shorter board with better vintage-keys voices, more suited for playing the simple, repetitive, sound-as-commodity music people pay to hear. But as a piano, P80's A-OK. BTW, I'm selling my Voce Micro B-II if anyone's interested -- won't bother Ebaying but if you contact me we could talk.