Yamaha P90

A majority of the functions are easily accessible. Each patch has it's own button so it doesn't get easier than that. Effects, reverb, & sensitivity also have their own buttons. I don't use the recording functions much (use a computer) but laying down an idea is as simple as hitting record. I'd be perfect except getting to any other function w/o a button is cryptic at best. I've already read how people felt roland keyboards were difficult. I personally never understood that as I think their interfaces are quite clear. However, doing something as standard as turning the local messages off forces you to jump through functions and sub functions while trying to read a 3 digit display. What's worse is it won't save those settings after turning it off. I always have to bust out the manual to do this so most of the time I just unplug the midi-in when sequencing lol. Overall, it's extremely easy, especially if you're using it as a standalone unit. Almost a ten!

64 note polyphony, 88 fully weighted (graded action), basic stage piano patches, effects, 2 track recording, metronome,

special features:
direct serial connection to computer, dual headphone out, brilliance slider, rca outs

I chose this keyboard for two major reasons. The piano sound and the keyboard action. I give it a 10 on this alone because it is the best I've heard and felt. This what a majority of people would use this type of keyboard for and I don't think anything comes close. It feels a bit heavier (the action) than other stage pianos but I prefer that. The graded action is nice but subtle and no show stopper. The patches are standard (pianos, organs, strings, bass - no synths, brass, drums, etc) as are the effects but this is typical for these types of keyboards. The elec. pianos and organs are very good and expressive, but since there are only 4 of each it can be limiting. For some reason the upright bass patch is killer as well. Too bad I never need it.

I had it for 3 years w/o a problem. It is a mostly metal chassis and pretty heavy. Haven't had a problem bringing it back and forth to practice and no backup for a gig.

Haven't had a need for support in the 3 years I've had it

I would definitely buy it again if it disappeared on me. I learned on synth action and never had a piano. Any chance I get, I've always hopped on a real piano (friends house, hotel, store...) for as long as possible. I never knew a keyboard could even come this close until I played it. The piano sounds are better than patches w/ enormous samples (like those +500meg sampled ones). The dynamics feel so good, if you put on headphones and close your eyes you're in heaven. While it does other things, this is it's main purpose and if all it had were piano, elec. piano, organ sounds, & midi I'd still buy it.

Very ease. Plug & Play. Stereo outputs

If you need tech specs, go to yamahasynth.com. There are no upgrades, what you see is what you get. No aftertouch, but pianos don't have any. This is a pure instrument that does a few things very well. Grand Piano, electric piano, and a little jazz organ. Very subtle effects, 1 split if you want to add some bass. It's the action that is the best feature. It is a hard grand piano action that can be set to 3 responsiveness curves - light, medium, and hard. Since it is triple sampled, how you set your responsiveness makes a big difference in how the Rhodes sound(for instance) will be, smooth and round, or hard and "tiney".

It has two tracks for recording. I'm using it to record new songs to bring to practice. It's easy, and it sure beats writing it out.

I love the grand piano. The ambient harmonics that were sampled makes an unbelievable difference if you're playing solo. There is a great wurlitzer ep, Rhodes ep, and a bright upright which I put a chorus effect on, and it sounds like a honky tonk piano. Organs are fair. Basses are excellent, strings are fair, harpischord is fine

It weighs only 37 pounds which is great for a "real" action piano. I'm not carrying a backup anymore. I'm not worrying

I hope to never have to talk to them.

I would buy it again. It's the perfect instrument for me. I'm playing mostly jazz and blues these days and have found that I'm most confortable as a piano player, so I don't need all the other stuff some keyboard players need. The triple strike sampling gives me enough color variations for the style that I play

I'm not a gearhead. I'm a piano player. It's really nice that you can just get down to business with the most important things. In my opinion, these are transpose, a simple recording tool ("sequencer"), and metronome. All are quite simple. Now that I've had the P 90 for a while, some of the more advanced features (let's tune the piano in a non-even tempering just for the hell of it!) are hard to figure out, but so what - the user's manual more or less explains it, and they are less important features anyway.
I shopped around a lot, and it was nice that the piano that I ended up buying had one of the easier user interfaces that I saw.

Again, I'm not a gearhead so I can't be like, "A prime failing is the onboard midi compression module, which is not compatible with the BIOS-RAM firewire port effects motherboard."
I CAN talk about effects: I don't really use them. You can fool around with reverb and stuff but I don't really. I just leave it on Hall 1 and don't mess with the silly phaser and tremolo effects.
One thing a little enigmatic is the "touch" feature. First of all, it doesn't change the weight of the keys, for the record. It seems to make them more responsive - "soft" makes it easier to produce a sound, whereas "hard" meens that you have to play harder to produce a similar volume sound. But on a touch sensitive keyboard, I never really figured out how this is so different from just playing with the master volume.

THIS is where the piano really excels. I love Grand Piano 1 (without pressing the Variation button). I listen to through AKG K240S (studio) headphones ($100), the kind that go over the ear, and it sounds beautiful through them. I played a whole bunch of other pianos - Rolands (RD 700 line and especially FP-5), Casios (the privia line, inferior but a good value), Kawai (MP5 I think?), and Korg (ugh). Was unable to decide sound-wise between Roland FP5 and Yamaha P90 until I listened with headphones, when it became clear to me that Yamaha was a notch above. Never got to play a Kurzweil - I hear those are really good - but their distribution must be run by an idiot because I called EVERY SINGLE DEALER that they list for NYC and not a single one had a display PC1X or SP88 that I could try out, and the biggest stores (Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Manny's Music) no longer carry Kurzweil keyboards.
So I went for the best sound. I practice exclusively with the headphones and don't have a speaker. As for non-piano sounds, like jazz organ, electric piano... I like to play around with them sometimes so it's fun that they have them. An added bonus I guess.

I don't move it often becuase I don't gig. However, I have been playing on this thing pretty hard for 1-2 hours a day for about 5 months now and nary a problem.

Haven't dealt with customer support. (I haven't needed to - I guess that speaks well of the product).

Because I spent about 2 months shopping around for this thing, I'm sure it's the best for me. If it were stolen I would buy the same model without hesitation. (well, at least as soon as I felt like spending the money for it).
The ONE issue I had was the action - I'm used to a lighter action, and I was afraid that I would have this nighmarish heavy piano that would tire me out and be hard to play. But my piano at home is lighter than average, I think. Prior to buying the P90, I went to a couple piano stores in midtown and banged around for a while and realized that some grand pianos really do have a heavy action, so that made me more comfortable with my eventual purchase. Now, after playing the P 90 for months, I don't even think about the action. I've adapted.
A word about price - I was able to get a good deal at Guitar Center - they matched an internet offer I showed them, and because the interenet offer (950) included shipping and no sales tax, GC actually went BELOW the internet price so that when NY sales tax was added in, it came out to 950 total. I was happy with that.

this keyboard is SO easy to use, just turn it on and play. The only thing is that you have to memorize all the function numbers for a live situation since it has a small screen made just for numbers, but there are only 12 functions, so it's not a real problem. But if you're lazy about learning,that may be a problem. The manual is a yamaha , you know what I mean, it's not the best, not the worst, a little bit redundant but OK,and honestly you don't really need it , the keyboard it's very intuitive.

This is a "replacement" for a piano (you know what I mean , no keyboard could actually replace a piano but if you're playing in diferent places it's like a piano "to go") so it's features are not the target in this unit, just have the basic sounds for a live job like ac.piano,elc.pianos,vibes,organ,strings; etc.
The keyboard action is really good almost like a real piano "ALMOST" don't get very exited about it, but still is one of the better action in the market for a digital piano.
It has three levels of velocity: soft, medium and hard for diferent levels of intensity in your playing, I recomend you use it in hard all the time if you play acoustic piano or if you are begining with weighted action and wanna make any progress in your playing.
It's very strong, but if you're used to play in the real stuff and your hands are strong enogh to play in a real acoustic piano a jazz or latin jazz (michel camilo like) jam session with a band in a live situation I think you may broke a key. (I say it because i broke one!!! but it's worth the the repair because it sounds great) Any way if you play pop, even jazz or classical it's SO good. just measure the strenght you play with
The effects are OK just the basics but very decent, good revervs, chorus don't expect the best but it's better in this area that some competitors in it's category.

Very realistic acoustic piano, it's what it's made for,the grand piano 1 and it's variation is the best; very, very expresive and well sampled in stereo, the acoustic piano 2 is a mono sample and it sounds good too but it's more usable in rock and pop or mixing it with the other sounds.
The rest are just extras but some of them really good others not so good and others very bad, but as I said this is not the target of the keyboard they're just extras.
The Fm piano will cover almost all the ballad styles, you can still darken or brighten it with the brillance fader or mix it with acoustic pianos, strings or the fender rhodes sound. The fender rhodes it's ok, nothing impresive but not "cheap" as well, really playable and expresive.The organ it's nothing extraordinary and the jazz organ is good for soloing but not good for comping, it kind of lacks the bottom end punch to play in a duo situation just with a drummer(experience , again)

As I said, I've broken a key, that's the only problem I had with this unit, and the worst is that i've broken it in a gig in the middle of a tune. I know that every keyboard or instrument has a risk to get broken, but as I siad if you "knock" it hard in a real acoustic piano be careful, after all it's not wood and metal as in a real one, it's just plastic and yes metal but a milder one, any way it's worth it although it hurts your pocket.

HAHAHAHA that's a joke here in Mexico you're on your own that's the reason why if you wanna know which keyboard is more durable you have to ask to a mexican musician. The Yamaha company is the only one having distribution of parts for repairing instruments but they're not very kind. If you call them, they make you first e-mail them to say to you after a month that there is an authorized center in your city and in this authorized centers not always are willing to repair your unit in a short time, they say to you that they have too much job and your unit will be ready in a month and half, and it doesn't matter if it's a small or large problem.

It's worth it i'd boght it again at least yamaha launches a better unit than this.
It really helps you to make music is very expresive and is perfect for studying if you don't have the money and space for a grand piano.
I recomend it widelly it has a good balance in it's features that not much products have(I don't work for yamaha, allright?)

es lo mas facil del mundo,y editarlo es mas facil todavia,comparandolo con otros pianos digitales de su mismo precio,el manual es muy extenso no se porque,ya que editarlo es muy facil,y un pianista no debe ser tan bruto

la polifonia es la esperada en estos tiempos,los effectos internos no son la gran cosa,no se puede expandir,y del midi no puedo opinar ya que depende del uso que se le quiera dar,y el sequencer, brega muy bien,ya que es un piano para practicar y no para programar musica

los sonidos del piano 1 son los mas exelentes que he escuchado,y cuando digo esto,lo digo porque llevo casi 30 a?os tocando y he tenido desde un fender rhodes un RMI,hasta un Roland xp80,50,10 y RD30sx ,THECHNICS SX-P50 Y EN VERDAD LA tiran bien duro,em cambio el dx7 se queda corto de sustain,el rhodes suena muy bien y los organos tambien le doy un 9 por el detalle del Dx7 o (piano e 1)

Creo que si ya que siempre destornillo los pianos y teclados para pegarles adentro del board un sello con mi nombre y informacion (esto por si me lo roban) y la construccion que vi en las teclas y el main board me dice que pueden pasar facil de 10 a15 a?os si que esto te de problemas,Roland ,Kurzweil y ensoniq son muy pesimos en cuanto al teclado y la costruccion,aunque sus sonidos sean exelentes.

Jamas he tenido problemas con niguna de stas compa?ias exepto con la technics,y creo que por eso ya estan bien abajo,ah y kurweil tambien da trabajo bregar con ellos

es lo mejor en su price range,aunque probe el kawai es4 y esta brutal en su sonido pero es mas caro (1.600)si me lo robaran perseguiria a los tipos y cuando vean mi nombre adentro del piano se van directo a la chirola,lo compare con el Roland Rd300sx y con el korg sp200,en verdad los pianos acusticos de estos otros hacen el trabajo pero no suenan tan real como un piano de verdad(con los audifonos)y la costruccion de la tecla del yamaha es fuerte y lo unico malo es el cable de conectar la unidad y el sonido del dx7

plug in and play

grand piano 1 and 1 (variation) are simply outstanding

grand piano 2 just stereo, not so good but still ok

fm elec piano rich and nice

rhodes, not bad, needs the tremolo though

the rest of the sounds ok but for me not what it was brought for .

all about keyboard action for me, and its great, I play heavy so enjoy the heavy action.

As said above the pianos are outstanding, dynamic sampling is great.

i guess its dependable, not been gigged yet, but will be soon so heres hoping it is dependable its certainly well built and feels very sturdy, feels more sturdy than the p120.

too early to tell

if stolen, I'd totally buy this again, before i brought this i did a lot of research on this and other sites and this has proved every bit the stage piano i wanted.

well done yamaha !!!

Very easy to figure out and use. You're playing it instantly. I love the acoustic bass with EP or acoustic piano split. I figured it out without a manual. Well, except for the transpose issue below.

To layer, press two patch buttons at once. To split, press the SPlit button. As someone else said, though, you have to learn the logic of the thing to know whether a layered sound will be in 'variation' mode or not.

action is a little heavy and slow for me. I used to have a Sequential T8. What a keyboard, even had polyphonic aftertouch. That had full-lenth piano keys in it, with whippens. Felt amazing. But the P90 is ok. I used to be a piano technician, very picky.

Transpose is not output, as far as I can tell. This is a big issue for me. I use a Hammond B4 softsynth, and if I use the transpose function on the P90, the B4 stays put, while the P90 transposes. Not cool. Still working on how to do that. Hopefully some setting in the P90.

Hammond problem #2: Pressing "Variation" while on the (there is only one decent Hammond sound, unlike the P250 which has a few) tonewheel organ toggles the Leslie on and off. (well, fast/slow) IMHO, fast is too fast, although the sound is not cheesy tremelo or vibrato effect that the M-Audio 88-key stage piano has. This one is really good. The bigger problem is that turning off/on the Leslie requires pressing the 'variation' button which is above your RIGHT hand. How do you hold a chord, and press the button? You have to reach over with your left hand and press it. THe rotor spins down or up (a little too quickly in my opinion but not instantly which is good), and then you can use your left hand again. There should be a pedal for this, Yamaha! Or like on the P250 (a great board, fab sounds but heavier) throw the mod wheel with a flick, and the leslie spins up or down quite beautifully. If you don't want to use a softsynth like B4 and you're loyal to Yamaha, go for the 250, or 90ES or Motif ES. Nice organs in those, as well as weighted action, triple-layered pianos, and scads more (including weight - the Motif ES8 is 63lbs vs the P90 at 37). The P250 has a 5-band EQ as well, very useful on the fly. (Keyboard mag did a great review of that board, BTW.)

It's all in this thread, so I won't repeat much. I agree with most everyone here. I love the EP cheesy "variation" layered with voices, though some people hate it. Very fun. THe pipe organs really rock me, and the harpsichord is amazing in that you can hear the plectra come back up over the strings when you release the key. The acoustic grand #1 is great. I agree that #2 is probably a Steinway. Darker.

seems solid. Always turns on, fast. Dopey external brick and dinky cord. I worry about the power supply, and would buy an extra if gigging a lot. Careful not to tweak the jack it plugs into! That's the part of laptops that breaks the most, and I expect the same of a keyboard.

don't know

Since I just bought it, I have options. I'm thinking of trading it in for a motif ES 8, but dan't decide. Two different animals. I love the P90 for weight. I want more built-in organ sounds (for church, R&B), and all the fun "groove" stuff in the Motif for 16-track composing, etc. Noodling around aimlessly, mostly. For real work, and if all you need is a GREAT piano, bass, and some EP, this is the one, hands down.

I agree with the other reviewers who say this is the best portable electric piano. I tried everything and this was the best choice pound-for-pound and inch-for-inch.

Ease of use -- heck yeah, its easy. Mostly because there's not much you can do with it other than playing. What few options there are, you can change around by pressing a few buttons. After learning the system, it quickly becomes second nature. There is no system for saving mutliple setups, however. The keyboard will remember a few basic things between the time you turn it off and turn it on again, but that's of limited help if you need to use alot of different setups. You'll have to work it on the fly. Again, its not difficult to do so.

The keybaord action is on the heavy side, which is exactly what I want because I'm playing piano patches 95% of the time. That Yamaha packed such a good piano-like action in such a light keyboard is the primary virtue of this thing. Or maybe the piano sound itself is the primary virtue. Its one of those two. Anyway, the action is extremely playable and my piano technique translates very well to it. The keys bottom out fairly hard, that would be my top criticism. I also own a Kawai MP-9500, which is the gold standard as far as I'm concerned, it has nicer action than my Petrof acoustic. So I'm spoiled by that. But I'm not going to carry the Kawai around. I would rather play the P-90 than alot of far more expensive and heavier digital piano.

I used to own the P-80, but I thought it had a problematic action. There was a slight disconnect between the keys and the sounds. I really thought that was a design flaw and though I figured I would get used to it and adjust, I never did. No such problem with the P-90 however.

So yeah, weight is important. Though I need weighted action and won't compromise on that, I am also not into carrying around a 50 lb keyboard to rehearsals, or even gigs for that matter. Not only is the P-90 a slim 37 lbs, but the Yamaha gig bag is also very sleek and lightweight and very functional. I toss that thing around and I don't worry much about hurting the board. With a heavier keyboard, you tend to also have a heavier case, which just compounds the problems. OK, so I'm obsessed with weight. So sue me. I'm lazy and I have back problems. This is my cross to bear, but I don't want to also be bearing a ton of equipment along with it. My Hammond XK-3 weighs quite a bit more than the P-90, which is both ironic and painful, but when you're in love with a keyboard, you'll do crazy things.

I think the piano sounds are excellent, and there's a pretty good range amongst the 4. Other reviewers found reasons to nitpick. I could do that too if I were so inclined, but I figure most people are not listening that closely anyway. I'm usually playing with bands in clubs and in that context, people want to hear something that sounds like a piano, they're not going to pick up on itsy bitsy subtleties and to be honest neither am I.

The rhodes sound is usable, though not in a league with the Nord Electro. The wurli is too brittle, but I'd use it in a pinch. Clav is decent. I don't use the other sounds professionally though at home I'll mess around with the bass sounds because they're fun. Effects are not impressive, but also not necessary for piano. If you're using non-acoustic piano sounds alot, this may not be the keyboard for you.

It feels very solid. Built like a tank, though not recommended for that purpose. My backup if my rig fails me is my comedy routine. Fortunately for my audiences, I've never had to resort to that.

I've never lost a keyboard but I had one stolen once. At first I was very angry, but then I thought what the heck, if someone is playing the thing and it enhances their life somehow, maybe its all for the best. If I had to replace the P-90 I would of course see what's out there in terms of lightweight with good piano action and sounds. The Nord Stage is out now and though I haven't played it yet, its also very lightweight with good piano and weighted keys. But of course its a much more extensive and expensive package. What I would love to see made is something like the P-90 in a 76-key version, thus cutting down even further the weight and size by eliminating keys I never use anyway. That would be an ideal keyboard for me, but I'm not holding my breath.

the best portable piano substitute i have found in its price range. straight forward, nothing to it. light weight, compact. there are four different piano sounds, the first of the four is perfect, the other three are less than perfect, and i don't use them, except when i don't realize it, and sit there messing with my amp to correct the hollow sound. manual is very short and easy to use (50 pages), because the unit is designed to be very simple and straight forward.

polyphony is great, you'll never run out of notes. keyboard action is as realistic as it comes. excellent velocity curve for realistic piano expressiveness. (graded hammer action: ie lower notes are heavier toward bottom just like a real piano.) effects are of minimal use or effectiveness. they just allow you to fine tune the sound to your own liking. it has two track sequencer, which does not transfer data over midi. is of very limited use, save recording your own practicing. i think it would have been a nice feature to just be able to send that data out via midi. why not? not a midi controller by any means. no pitch wheels or fancy stuff like that.

excellent: piano, rhodes, wurli, vibes, harpsichord, bass. I have mainly used piano, rhodes, wurli, and vibes for gigs, harpsichord occasionally for plays.
poor: guitar, jazz organ, electric piano sounds are cheezy. If you are looking for a good organ sound, you need a unit devoted to just that.
clavichord is a bit hollow sounding, not too funky. i have used it with a wah pedal and got some soul out of it though.
the rest of the sounds are just there. this unit is primarily designed to be a portable imitation of a piano, and it does this as well as i could imagine it being done for the price and portability. everything else is a bonus.

very dependable, i have owned it for less than a year and have used it on many gigs. it has paid for itself many times over by now. no backup needed. one glitch that i have discovered though - just started happening once in a while - it will change patches during a performance for no particular reason. that's no good. here i am jamming out with my jazz piano trio and suddenly find myself playing bass or harpsichord! jeez! i get by with it though. it is easy enough to switch back without too much hassle or anyone noticing.

haven't dealt with them yet.

it is worth the price. i have no regrets. i believe that yamaha makes the best portable digital pianos available. i compared it with rolands, and whatever else sam ash and guitar center had in their show rooms in early 2005. the P series was it. i chose the P90 over the P60, because it is definitely a better quality instrument, and liked it better than the P120 because it didn't have those useless bulky speakers attached to it. (again, i use it primarily for gigging - jazz trio in restaurants and an occasional cheesy musical.) i have to admit that the sound quality of the P90 sounded better to me than on the P120. that doesn't make any sense, but i wasn't about to spring the extra money for the P120. i have been playing piano all my life. the P90 is NOT a piano, but will serve as a worthy substitute when there is none.

First off, I LOVE this board. Real easy to use, just turn on, select patch & play. The function setting can be a bit convultued, but can quickly be checked witht the good manual. No patch editoing, really, but I haven't felt need to.

64 polyphony, not bad. Layering is said to be able to eat your polyphony, but I haven't run in to any problems so far. Keys are really good, graded hammer, pretty realistic if you ask me. Effects are quite good in quality, but I can't really see them being used much besides the rhodes & clavs. Built-in reeverb, which is nice, but I usually keep the reverb down. Onboard 2-track sequencer, but as you can't get these off the board its a bit useless save for practicing. MIDI in/out, with aftertouch transmitted on MIDI out. Decent for what it is.

Awesome piano sounds - great stereo sampled grand. The Rhodes in particular are really outstanding - enough velocity for a nice bark, but nothing overkill, and with the brilliance turned down you get this mellowness - sweet love. Anyways, the clav is great as well, as is the wurli. Church organs sound good, but I haven't heard many others to comapre with, so.... Jazz organs pretty good. ONly thing - organs I don't really think are suitable for rock - not enough grittyness, if you know what I mean. The strings are fine, with the variation producing a good slow rise in the string section. As far as choir & baasses, i say WHY?? They sound alright, but why would you by a keyboard for the bass or choir patches?

Very reliable. I've got some exteriors marks on mine from hitting doorways, etc. but nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly nothing to affect sound. I use it as my main board, along with a Roland AX-7 for live stuff.

N/A

Overall, a great board. After playing on it for about 1.5 years, I can say that it still feels awesome to play on.

Turn on and play. The only difficult thing is to set up the different settings, but usually you don't need to change it, and anyway the user guide is clear enough.

The keyboard action is near perfect for me. It's a little stronger than on a true piano, but with the "light pressure" setting, it is perfect for me.
The effects are a little useless except for the electric piano 2, where the chorus and phaser are great.
The MIDI is complete, and a key aftertouch is sent when you release the note (not just a noteoff). I bought it a bit for that, and I'm not disappointed.
The onboard sequencer is fun, but neat useless. It would have been great to get a MIDI output when we playback, to record it on a computer. But no MIDI output is provided, and the sequence you recorded IS and WILL STAY in the piano.

Piano 1 and Electric Piano 2 !!! That's all I can say. Oh, and I like the upright bass with the hi-hat in split mode. Combine it with the electric piano 2 on the right hand, and you can jam for hours !
I have a little problem though, and as I can see I'm not the only one : when you play hard the middle C and the middle C#, you can hear a kind of metal ring or a loose washer... It's kind of disturbing at the beggining, but I'm now used to it. Same problem with the second Bb. A was a little disappointed when I bought it, but now I don't regret since it's the best electric piano for now.

It's a tank, man ! It will NEVER break !

No nead yet.

If it would be stolen or lost, I would buy EXACTLY the same electric piano. I have it since one year and I still love it.

Easy to use. My only complaint is that when you go to layer sounds, you have to be careful not to trigger a variation on one of the sounds. This is because you need to hold down the two buttons in order to get a layer; you need to push a button for a sound twice in order to get a variation. Yamaha made a dedicated "Variation" button so that should be the only way to change variations, in my opinion. Small gripe, but in a professional setting you need to be able to get a sound or layer within seconds. Other than that, it is very easy to use. For me, the portability is one of its strongest attributes. At 37 lbs (40 in the soft Yamaha gig bag) it's easy to carry with one hand.

Features have been covered elsewhere. Check out Yamaha's site for a full list.
Suffice to say that it does not have a large library of sounds; rather, it has several piano sounds, pipe and tonewheel organ, guitar, clav, harpsichord, strings, choir, acoustic and electric bass, vibes. The most useful and useable are, of course, the pianos/E. pianos, the harpsichord, and the strings. I would like to call out a glaring mistake made by several reviewers who criticized the organs for not being velocity-sensitive: Have you ever played a pipe or tonewheel organ? THEY AREN'T SENSITIVE TO TOUCH!!! You control the volume of these instruments via stop/drawbar management and swell pedals. Some of these reviewers on HC don't know jack and they invalidate their reviews by comments like that. Being an organist, I'm not a fan of the organ sounds on this board nor do I like using weighted keys to trigger those types of sounds. That being the case, the organs are decent. I would have liked a harp sound on this board. Every sound is well-done, although I wouldn't really use the acoustic guitar. I have better clav sounds on other synths.
I love the action: A little on the heavy side, but very responsive. Far better than anything else I've tried (Roland, Korg, Kurzweil, Casios) although I must say I've never tried the Kawais, and I hear a lot of good things about them.
Effects are limited but sound good. Reverb, delay, phaser, chorus, tremolo.
The AC adapter is a drag, especially on gigs.

The main weapon on this instrument is the first piano sound. It sounds like a (surprise) well-sampled Yamaha grand and is extraordinarily expressive, especially with the excellent action on this instrument. No, it won't replace an acoustic piano, but it's a very good practice/gig instrument when a piano is not available. The variation on this sound is a darker, rounder grand, maybe a Steinway?
The second piano sound is a very bright, tacky piano. It would definately cut through in a mix, but it's not my cup of tea. I play jazz and classical, and I'm into warm, dark sounds. That being said, I can see this sound working real well in a live rock band.

There are four e.pianos on this unit. One is a Dx-7 style, 80's pop FM piano, one is a horridly cheesy synth-EP. The other two are more vintage in nature: A nice wurly and a great rhodes. The Rhodes is really killer and responds really well to touch.

The strings are nice, and work best when coupled with a piano sound. I like the variation which is the same sound but with a slower attack time. The problem here is that the sustain pedal does not seem to hold the strings.

The acoustic bass is extremely useful in that it's variation is a bass with a ride cymbal. By setting up a split with piano in the right hand and the bass/ride in the left hand I can do a gig solo or with a horn player and create the illusion of a larger band. At the very least, it's cool to have.

The only other sound I use is the harpsichord, which I really like.

As far as the main piano sound goes, I haven't heard better on a hardware keyboard. If you want pianos suitable for pop and dance, however, the Rolands and Korgs may suit you more. I respect Yamaha for their no-BS no-frills sounds. Just beautifully sampled instruments.

I've gigged with it for awhile now, and it's so portable and easy to use. It's helped me make a lot of money :)

Never dealt with them, never needed it.

I depend on this keyboard and use it for the majority of my piano practicing and gigging. It's definately a major component in my keyboard rig, which also consists of a mini Voyager, Korg Triton, Nord Electro 2. The Triton's classical piano is laughable. If you are a serious player looking for a good 88-note keyboard with a great traditional piano tone, look no further.

Manual is good (probably written from scratch in English rather than translated). You don't need to even look at it though.

I grew up playing piano and I loved the action on the p90 from the first time I played it. Absolutely realistic piano, great e-piano, the rest I could live without (or another way to say it would be if you actually need these sounds you'd get them from somewhere else).

Metronome is a nice touch but other features are only OK.

I really loved the piano when I played it in the store - then I read about all the metalic overtones so I went back and could hear what people were talking about but all the overtones are is just the sound of a real piano. I think everyone is forgetting piano's are big chunks of metal and wood and make all manner of overtones.

Best part about the piano (and the reason I brought the P90 rather than a Kurzweil, Korg, Kawai, Roland) was the way the sound changes as you play from p to fff. If you need a more 'static' sound for recording (rock/dance etc.) the 2nd piano sound is a pretty good sample but for just kicking back and playing for your own enjoyment you need this 1st piano sound.

Don't know yet, only had it for a week or so - feels pretty solid.

Love it - just put the touch on soft, take off the reverb and play the Grand Piano 1. If you don't like it I have a feeling you didn't grow up playing real piano's

The presets are generally very good. I spent a lot of time comparing every digital piano in the $500 - $1200 price range and felt that the two standout boards were the P90 and P120. Frankly all of the boards (Casio, Roland, Suzuki, Korg, etc.) were acceptable, but the sound and keybed of the P90/P120 are superior.

And though this is heresy, I could not tell much if any difference between the P90 and P120. I compared them through power amps, keyboard amps, and headphones, and the differences were so minimal to not be a deciding factor.

I also paid particular attention to the "ringing" in the top register notes. As some have mentioned, you will hear the same ringing on any grand piano since the top register strings are not damped. HOWEVER, in defense of those who complain about it, I believe the ringing can be annoying and does not decay as quickly as you would expect on a traditional piano. Is the ringing a problem: NO. Is it there: YES.

No patch editing.

Manual is good.

Lots of demo songs and audition capability for each preset.

64 note poly, fine for my needs. Frankly 32-note poly is probably find for a digital piano since you are not going to use it as a sophisticated midi controller, assigning this and that.

Tremolo, reverb, delay, and chorus effects are fine, it not perhaps a bit understated. More than adequate for a digital piano. I run my P90 and Yam S03 through a Behringer mixer with a Behringer DSP setup in the aux mix so I am covered effects wise.

No expansion to my knowledge.

Midi is sparse. I use the P90 to drive the S03 synth and a myriad of soft synths. Works great. However, as a midi controller--well it is not a midi controller. No dedicated buttons for midi functions etc. If you got to have midi controller, by the P90 and a cheap midi controller just for its buttons.

Two song sequencer works great BUT it is not tied into the MIDI implementation--it won't drive another keyboard/sound module.

All four pianos (two with two variations) sound great. No comparison in the $1,500 price range I was working with. PERIOD.

EPs are great. This bit about them not sounding as good as the P120 is a load of _________. First of all, how many different types of EPs are there in the world. The P90 EPs are fine. With that said, they sound very close to the XG EPs on my S03 synth.

Organs and variation are great. However, I swear the church organ is the XG patch from the yam synths.

Strings and choir are what they are. Good fill in use with the Piano/Organ presets. Realistic? NO. Useful? Absolutely.

The rest, fine I guess but I don't use them much.

The keybed is fantastic. Some say it has a heavy feel. Give me a break. It is a piano for heaven's sake. Feels just like the best piano out there. Very expressive, very dynamic. Provides three levels of control though I feel little difference between them.

Effects are fine: tremelo, reverb, delay, chorus.

Built like a tank.

Improved soft buttons compared to our CLP-130.

You can gig with it-however mine is dedicated for the basement recording.

Yam responded to my several emails within 2 days.

Got a great deal from Guitar Center. Definitely would replace it. There are lots of good to great digital pianos in the $500 to $1,500 price range. For my ears and needs, any of them would suffice. But the P90/P120 offers the best keyboard and true piano sounds in the price range. PERIOD. So I went with the P90.

I play the P90 through a behringer mixer-> Behringer DSP -> ART SL-1 power amp-> Kustom PA Speakers, or through a Kustom PA. Either way, sounds are crisp and clean.

Feel free to email me for questions.

Just plug it in and go... couldn't be any easier...

well.... if you're after a piano this is it... let's be realistic, if you're planning on writing a concerto you don't buy a p90... let logic pro do the recording for you and let the p90 take care of what it is supposed to be, a piano. makes me laugh when people say the action is not like a real piano, how navie... when they say real piano have they tried them all..? this is like a real piano, a real yamaha concert grand. if you're comparing it to your upright then it is not the same, then again, neither is a grand and an upright

once again, for a realistic piano nothing comes close, only the p120. i love gp1 and gp1 variation is great for classical, gp2 is much brighter, great for rock and pop. ep2 is a killer... great rhodes... and great aftertouch too, jazz organ is very good, strings are really nice, didn't get a 10 'cause of other samples, guitar..? why..? choir..why? someone else wrote on here why include bass but i disagree, spilt up the keyboard, have bass on the left - it's a great way to practice...

built like a brick - though i wouldn't recommend spilling the coffee over it!

never had to use them

if you want a stage piano buy this... you'll need a sound module though as this is limited...

by the way, a few people wrote on here there is a ringing sound in the high register... what???? there is suppose to be one, haven't these people ever heard a grand piano in the high register...???

Very useful bread-n-butter sounds on this board. You get grand pianos, electric pianos, harpsichord, clavinet, vibes, nylon string guitar, church pipe organ, jazz tonewheel organ, strings, choir, acoustic and electric bass.

The interface is easy and intuitive. FX and EQ are easy to set. Before I opened the manual I found out that you push two instrument buttons to get a layer - press the second button while holding the first. Pressing an instrument button twice cycles between variations. Simple and intuitive.

The manual is well written, no grammar or engrish problems.

I am a traditional piano player with exacting demand for authenticity in an electronic piano, both in feel of the action and the sounds. The P90 has very very good piano action but a little stiffer than a real Yamaha grand piano. My personal favorite remains to be the Kurzweil MIDIBoard for piano action, that is the one to beat. Roland and Korg actions are too stiff.

The effects include reverbs (room, hall, stage), chorus, phase, tremolo, and echo. To my ears they are optimized for the percussive sounds (pianos and clavs), I didn't hear one that worked with the pipe organ as it is missing a church reverb.

It has a limited on-board sequencer but I didn't buy it for that.

The sounds are fixed - I miss the ability to tweak them. No expansion capability either, just use a MIDI module.

I have to laugh at the reviewers here who complained of the ringing notes above G5. Any of you ever play a REAL piano? The top 21 notes (starting at G5) are UNDAMPED. THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO RING!!! I am actually surprised how few boards go to this level of authenticity.

Grand Piano 1 is best for classical/jazz or solo settings. The bright timbre of Grand Piano 2 (variation) works best for rock-n-roll or R&B. The other two piano presets are in between. The timbre changes as you play harder on Grand Piano 1, but is constant on the others, and only the Grand Piano 1 preset has undamped high 21 notes.

Electric pianos are the vintage and FM variety. The vintage mimics the old Fender Rhodes pianos, the ones with a round tone. The tone varies from soft to a nice bark when you play hard. The FM electric piano is the (in)famous DX7 FM Piano, great with chorus.

I used to own a real Clavinet, and the preset is one of the more authentic sounding ones I've heard. There are so many poor Clavinet emulations but this one really works. You won't get the pickup/phase variations of the real thing but the preset is useful nonetheless.

Strings sound good but not very useful in popular music - but does sound nice when layered with piano. They are the gentle string variety, not at all aggressive. If you want that high singing string sound ala ARP String Ensemble or that dark bowed Kurzweil low string, it's not here.

Choirs sound good but are limited with no envelope or timbre editing. They do sound great as a layer with strings of piano.

Pipe organs are pretty good when mixed with effects. Best with Bach Fugues or with church hymns. A church reverb would make it complete.

Now for the dud sounds. The harpsichord misses the mark - you don't hear the plectrum and the tone isn't authentic. Might be useful for churches but I have no use for a harpsichord sound. I don't understand why boards with weighted action have jazz tonewheel organ presets - tonewheel organs have spring action with waterfall keys, the solo organ technique won't work on a piano action! Get a Hammond or Roland clonewheel, they're way more authentic. The acoustic basses don't have the life of my Kurzweil acoustic bass, and I have yet to hear a good sample of an electric bass (I play bass so I know my bass sounds).

I chose the P90 because I needed a compact low profile 88 key electronic piano with weighted action. I have looked at several other makes and at MIDI controllers and piano modules. In addition to the very compact case, I like the fact that the I/O is on the side not the rear of the P90, as this makes for efficient use of space in keyboard stacks. The controls on the panel are low profile which lets me maximize keyboard stacks, my Hammond XK3 can extend above the P90 case. A shame it uses a wall wart though.

The bread-n-butter sounds are good enough for many music situations. The P90 would be at home in schools, churches, community bands, small ensembles, and in the club. I have been playing popular music in the clubs since the 80s and the P90 does a good job.

While the P90 does miss out on organ, horn, and synth sounds, I have long ago accepted that no single keyboard or module is going to get every sound. You can't play rock organ on a weighted action. No single technology recreates every sound. Rapid staccato parts are best played on non-weighted actions. The P90 reflects this fact and does what is does well without trying to be something it isn't. The preset sounds are optimized for a weighted piano action (dismissing the jazz organ of course) and that is what my money is buying. I like the fact that I am not paying for features that I'll never use - too many keyboards have bells and whistles that are redundant (ANOTHER sequencer?) or are no use to me, I don't want all that junk!

To fill in those gaps, I am using the P90 with a Hammond XK3 and Alesis Andromeda for my stage rig, and this combination gets the maximum bang for the buck in a small footprint.

After failing to get what I wanted from Korg when it came to pianos, I decided to look at some of the budget Yamaha gear... being too poor for S90's and things like that, I was drawn towards the compact yet powerful P90. Less of an ugly brick than the other P's, and the music store pimped it up to high heaven! =) Overall I found it an impressive piece of kit for the price, but this is more of a first impressions review after playing with it in-store for a couple of days.

Basically if you can play a piano and work, say, a TV... then you can work this. You get some up/down buttons for altering transpose and other parameters, some voice and effect select buttons and a button for touch response (three levels). There's a slider for volume and brilliance and that's about all you need. There are no complicated sequences of combinations or button presses, everything does exactly what it says. If you can't figure this bit of kit out in 3 minutes you don't need a digital piano ;-)

Having not read a manual I couldn't really tell you what the exact spec is. You'll have to look it up online, I'm sure it's out there. You get the usual serving of voices: 2 grand and 2 electric pianos each with variation, clav/harpsichord (these are surprisingly nice! I love them) church and jazz organ with variation, strings, choir, and some nylon guitar/bass things you'll never use... More on these later. There's a 2 track recorder built in but I can't see the point in this really.

As for effects, you've got a few different kinds of reverb, and then on top of that some DSP like chorus, phaser etc. These are limited compared to synths but they do their job very well. Try the clav with the phaser slammed right the way up. Very cool. The only gripe I have is you only have one pedal jack. So... no soft pedal, no expression pedal. Damper only. There's a chance you could "attach" something like that via midi but I've not tried it.

I can't remember whether this uses balanced or graded hammer action or whatever... but at the time of playing around with it I was directly comparing it to a very expensive clavinova which used Yahama's new GH3 keyboard. And in all honesty I found the P90's action to be better. Maybe it's because I was brought up on synths and don't really care about ultra-realistic actions, but I found the P90 was just perfect for me. Just enough weight without being too clunky or spongey, and with the response set to "medium" it was just right for some really nice expressive piano playing. The piano sounds themselves, considering the price of the keyboard, are simply excellent. Plenty of balls in the bottom end without sounding "dead" like Roland's pianos, which are all bass and no real character. For me, it's the bottom end clarity and power which really sells the instrument, and the P90 certainly satisfies. Sure, there's better... but I've not found it for that price. Hardcore piano players will surely pick faults with the samples but I personally couldn't find anything majorly wrong with it.

I was also quite taken with the electric pianos and the clav/harpsichord. Especially the 80's cheese piano pad thing - E Piano 1's variation! The guy in store said he'd tried and failed to find a way to demonstrate this voice... obviously he's not heard a lot of Bon Jovi. The sound, to me, is very David Bryan, and I just can't quite get it to sound right on Korg gear. It's sheer rockage for power ballads. Overall, the sounds are great. Way better than most other things in it's class, I think.

The only thing which knocks points off is the string/choir samples. They're really not THAT bad but I doubt I'd use them for anything, especially as they do not respond to the sustain pedal as I believe they should. I have Korgs to deal with those sounds anyway. So not a huge problem. I also don't like playing organ sounds with weighted keys... but that's more to do with me being picky than a fault with the sounds themselves.

You should look at this model if you're on a strict budget, want a nice weighted controller board with more than decent built-in sounds. I think it would compliment the gear I already have really well and can't wait to get it on my rack.

Don't know... :-) will have a better idea when I buy it. One thing I will say though... is that this uses an external power adaptor. WHY!? If anything goes, it will be this. Is an onboard PSU too much to ask for? All kit should come with standard kettle plugs. Not least because if we lose the plug we can rob another one from most household appliances without fussing on the phone to yamaha for a replacement.

The thing is built like a brick, I wouldn't be overly worried about breaking it prematurely. Still, I'd take care not to drop it or spill stuff on it.

See above. I baby my stuff anyway... so chances of me breaking it are slim.

Don't know what else to say... I guess I can add the rest when I buy it. I've looked at many similar instruments and nothing satisfied quite like it.

Turn it on and play. Manual is a piece of cake to read, but you don't need it.

Not high on features, but I think that's by design - it's not a synth, it's a piano. That said, the features they did add don't distract from simple piano but add just enough.

I can hear the ringing, and if I focus on it it could annoy, but I don't.

Only had for a month.

It arrived broken from my seller - and they fixed it for me, but it took over a month for Yamaha to replace a part (a midi board I think).

My review is best suited for non-pro musicians. I've been playing piano and synths for almost 30 years, but I just jam with friends. Now that that's out of the way, the piano presets sound very convincing. Grand Piano 1 is great for deep, classical styled music. It's built from four separate samples - wow. As my tastes tend more toward rock, I find GP2 more realistic as a stage piano. If you're like me, you're gonna love GP1 and wanna play it, but you'll find GP2 more closely matches what you hear from Elton, Billy, Jackson Browne, etc.

The reviewer below mentioned something that bears repeating: there is definitely a ringing overtone that permeates the piano patches. At first I thought it was due to my amp, but it can be heard through headphones as well. It's obnoxious, but you'll learn to live with it the way computer users who use Sony Trinitron monitors learn to live with the two thin wires you can see going across the screen.

You can read in depth about the polyphony in other reviews, below. I've hooked the P90 up to my PC and recorded tunes to the hard drive using a MIDI patch cord running to my sound card.

I wish it had more sequencer tracks, but it's a piano after all. By the way, there seems to be confusion as to how long your tunes will be saved in the sequencer. The manual says you should power on the keyboard at least once a week to maintain your tracks. But I've left it turned off - BUT PLUGGED IN - for several weeks and not lost my patches. I think keeping it plugged in maintains memory.

The piano patches are VERY convincing, IMO. Yamaha is known for its audio technologies. Their surround receivers are tops, they are used in theaters, etc. You want true sounds, these guys know their stuff. But I'll agree with many, some of the patches are so-so. Not bad, just not "WOW." Slow strings are really beautiful. Choir sounds are nice too.

The piano feel is truly realistic, with graded weighting (lower keys require more force than uppers).

I've used it now for 6 months and it hasn't hiccuped even once. I'd definitely use it in a gig without backup, partly because I have no backup other than a synth. But I trust Yamaha's products fully. I'll give it a 9 instead of 10, only because I haven't tested it over the course of years yet.

Haven't experienced it.

First, I got a sweet deal on this piano. At the time of this writing, people have been paying at least $50 more. That alone makes me happy. Years ago, I had a small electric piano - a Jen - that seems now like a toy in comparison. I don't even remember what I did with it. Nowadays, I play the P90 almost exclusively, with my Yamaha and Juno 60 synths most often sitting quietly.

I purchased a soft shell Yamaha gig bag with the piano also. You'd be crazy to own something this nice without proper storage for moving it from place to place. Hey novices, it was maybe $80 - if you're spending close to a grand on an instrument, spring for the case. Get a good stand too. It's heavier than your small synths.

This piano weighs 37 pounds. Not heavy for a piano, but heavy nonetheless. If you're going to move it back and forth a lot, consider using a cart or dolly with pneumatic (air-filled) tires.

I've banged this board pretty hard so far -- mostly playing 80s and 90s rock and dance music -- it takes everything I throw at it. It feels solid as a rock. It's a gig piano but is perfect for studios too. Get out there and play one for a while, you won't be disappointed.

Very EZ to use for the basic stuff. A bit more complicated if you need to change volumes in splits, etc...

Nice for a basic Piano.

How does Yamaha get away with having a ringing overtone on the Grand Piano 1 patch. If you have one, try sounds in the upper middle of the keyboard. Atrocious!!!! This would be the best thing out there, but instead it sounds like you have a toy piano midi'd to it!!!!!! I've tried every P90 that I've ever seen and they all do this. I've talked to salesmen who denyed it, shown them, and then later they tell me, "Yeah, they all do that".

Mine was "B" stock and damaged, still works 100%

I haven't tried, but I'm getting annoyed enough to give them a call.

It's too expensive. It's too heavy. The ringing on the Grand Piano 1 patch is terrible. The piano feel is great. The Rhodes sound (E. Piano 2) is killer. I wouldn't buy it again. I might try a P80, or look for something new. I have tried (and bought) the Casio PX-300 and it's a nice piano for $600, but the Grand piano can't compete with this, warts and all.

About as straightforward as you can get for a keyboard.

It does what it's supposed to do. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that other keyboards do, but as a digital piano it feels and sounds awesome!

No complaints here, I never thought I'd be able to give up a traditional baby grand. The P90 sure changed that. Feel and sound are the P90's true strength.

No problems yet.

The sustain pedal that came with my P90 was very squeaky. I contacted them (via e-mail, then they had me call a specific person) about fixing this, and they simply sent me a replacement one. I'd give them an A for this one.

I purchased the P90 for my apartment after growing up with a baby grand. It is a great solution to space and noise (headphones) issues. I tried other products in stores, but after researching reviews and my own trials - the P90 had the feel I was looking for at a price most couldn't match.

After reading some of the below reviews i must clear up some of the incorrect statements. First the below review said you lose your recorded sequence at shut down... that is incorrect, the sequence will stay in the system for up to 14 days unless you power up before that. In other words if turn off the board for 6 months, yes your sequence will be gone. Second, 2 posts below a review stated that there is no available balance adjustment if you split the voice or dual voice... that is also incorrect, there is balance adjustment between the dual or split voices. People need to read the manual. Even tho it is a very simple board to use, why not read the manual and understand every feature available... get your moneys worth...

The keybed action is the reason i bought the unit. effects a easily accessable. Its a very basic keyboard 24 sounds in all not much flashyness... bottom line, it for piano players.

the piano 1 sound is fantastic. sometimes i just listen to the preset songs in amazement... the only reason you will buy this is for the piano sound or as a controller

its yamaha quality... same same same

have never dealt with them... but i asked for stickers and sent me about a million of them in the mail :P

The piano sounds are very good.
The electric piano are not so bad.
The organ sound is excellent.
Church organ is nice.
String are so-so.
Drums are... Oops, there are no drums!

The keyboard action is very good, altought it is definitely
NOT realistic. Who cares? Somewhat unrealistic but still excellent!
Who said that the real piano action is the best one?
The sequencer is a shame: only 2 tracks and to power-off backup! If you swith the unit off, your fantastic sequence is lost forever!

Piano sound is very nice and usable. 4 different acoustic pianos.
My favourite one is the Piano2 without variation. It is so sweeeeeet.
A real joy to play.
Velocity is okay. You can play either smooth and hard! The unit
reaction is always accurate.

Seems to be a solid unit.
I think (but i'm not sure) I've found a bug... The sound
got kind of hazy. I then had
to reset the machine to get the sound clear! But maybe it is my
fault...

I hope i'll never call them.

Perfect portable piano.
Solid. Good sounds. Very good action.
And... A cheap price.

There are only 24 presets as it is a digital piano. The main piano sound is amazing and among the very best ever sampled. The electric pianos are also very, very good. The choir and harpsichord sounds are useable and sound as expected. The other sounds are very vanilla and aren?t going to blow anyone away. You can do some editing and make some changes to the sounds. For the most part though, what you hear is what you get. My primary use for this is piano and EP?s so in this respect it?s perfect for me. The manual is actually pretty well laid out and easy to use, but you really won?t need to refer to that much if at all. Everything is very easy to figure out and I have rarely had to use mine.

The P90 has 64 notes of polyphony. It handles long and complex runs very well and without the sound cutting off which was important to me. Most of the Roland and Korg digital pianos I tried (with 64 polyphony) all cut off during the runs I played. There are no expansion options which shouldn?t be a big deal. If you want expansion options, step up to the P250 which is made for that. The effects are limited but designed with the pianist in mind. You have basic effects and can change the sound to match your playing environment. So whether you?re playing inside, outside, in a small or large venue you can adjust your setting to best suite the environment your playing in. The P90 is midi compatible and works as you would expect it to in a midi environment. It has a simple two track sequencer which is good for remembering ideas or laying down a rhythm and then soloing on top of it. You have two tracks to work with in any way you see fit.

For piano, nothing compares in this price range for realisism other than the P120. The piano sound is very fluid and very realistic and works well with anything you?d expect to use a piano sound with. The EP?s also are very useable and work well when combined with the piano sound. The effects are limited but do what you?d expect and want. The reaction to my playing and feel of the P90 closed the deal for me. It feels as genuine as they come. The reaction to my playing is exactly what I hoped for and expected. When I want to increase the velocity through my playing, I can and get incredible results for a digital piano. The P90 reacts to me as a player, I don?t feel I have to alter my style to make it fit me. I can?t tell you how important that is when you?re playing live. When I auditioned other instruments, I felt the feel and reaction of other boards was a huge disappointment for me. Yamaha seems to have figured this out.

I?ve had it for 9 months now and I haven?t had any issues yet. Seems to be built very well and has survived the gigging experiences I?ve put it through.

Customer support was helpful when I contacted them after my purchase. I got transferred to a tech support person, left a message and got a call back and my question answered about 3 hours later.

I?ve played piano for 20 years and I?ve played many different pianos and keyboards in that time. While everything has pluses and minuses, I?ve learned to take my time when making a new purchase and get what?s right for me. The P90 is exactly what I need without all the other things I don?t. In my opinion it was the best stage digital piano out there. The sound is near perfect and the feel and reaction is beyond what I expected. I took over eight months to make decision and played many digital pianos, workstations and other keyboards in that time. I found that for my needs the P90 was the best thing for me. Its important to clarify that I am considering a new workstation to complete my set up which is why I auditioned such a wide variety of things. I played digital pianos by Korg, Roland, Kurzweil, Gem, Casio, Yamaha and Kawaii. I got it down to the Kurzweil SP88 and the P90. The SP88 didn?t sound as real to me and the action was a big turn off as it didn?t even compare to the Yamaha. I demoed these two for one week each and used them live during shows so I could get to know them. The more I got to know them, the more obvious it was the P90 stood out as the better stage piano. Another big difference was when I recorded a couple of songs in different music style formats and was surprised how much better the P90 sounded in a recording process. My band members even commented on the songs sounding better with the P90. I also listened to many sampled piano sounds and played them through a midi controller. In the end, Yamaha as a whole had the best sound and feel, bar none. Ironically I went into this thinking about a Roland RD700 or one of the Roland FP digital pianos. The Roland digital pianos really disappointed me as a whole. They don?t sound realisitic and the action is missing something to make it feel like piano like. After really taking my time, doing research and playing the hell out of over 25 digital pianos and 10 workstations, nothing was in the same league as the Yamaha digital pianos.

For the money, the P90 is the way to go, especially if you?re gigging live and in need of a great piano sound. The bonus of it sounding great live as well as in a recording in studio was a huge plus for me. The P90 sets the standard in its category and it will be interesting to watch the other manufactures play catch up. I understand so much of this process is personal preference. I liked the Kawaii and Kurzweil piano samples but just preferred the Yamaha sound and especially the action. The Korg and Roland piano sounds need to go back to the drawing board with their sampled piano sound and keyboard action.

Use is very simple. It's a digital piano, not many buttons as a synth, and the manual is for dummies (however you won't use it, the instrument is intuitive).

Very good polyphony, 64 is the minimum for a digital piano, and mininum doesn't mean a limit for this instrument. I played Chopin, Bach and Liszt on it and worked very well. Keyboard action is very near to piano, a bit tough (but you know Yamaha builds in this way all his digi-pianos), legato could work better. A tough keyboard is much better than a flabby one, like the synths have, because for a pianist practicing on a soft keyboard means great loss of touch on a real acoustic piano (and on a tough keyboard your touch will become stronger). The sustain pedal works very well, considering the difficulty of making it digital. There are also some effects (chorus, phaser, delay, tremolo), not bad, but i don't use them. Ah, there's also a 2 tracks midi sequencer, a bonus from Yamaha (but I don't think I'll use it, I'm not interested in midi registering on a digital piano). I couldn't ask more from a digi-piano (maybe less :-)).

The 2 main things on a digital piano are the sound and touch (they must be as near as possible to the acoustic piano). Touch works well, and sound also better; There are 4 pianos, the grand piano 2 and 2 var1 are too bright, and don't work well on high and low octaves, but grand piano 1 is very very good, makes worth the cash spent, grand piano var1's not bad. Only a problem, I use very good headphones from AKG and I heared the first time i played a little metallic noise in the background of Grand piano 1 (the BEST piano of P90, VERY good), but setting the volume and brightness ok this problem disappeared. I bought a digi-piano for practicing (I study classical music and jazz) at night with headphones, and P90 for me does the job. However, P90 doesn't reach perfection, but I don't know how much an acoustic piano can be "copied" perfectly on digital. I tried 2 digi-pianos of Korg and Kurzweil, and the sound wasn't good (and Korg built a keyboard too soft, very bad for practicing classical).
Yamaha put in also some instruments as organ, choir, vibes... and now the question: it's a digi-piano, don't buy it if you want a synth, half of addictional sounds here are bad. The sounds included are:
4 pianos (Grand piano 1 IS P90)
4 e. pianos (1 is bad, 1 var1 is very bad, 2 is good, 2 var2 so and so)
1 clavi (not bad)
1 harpsichord (good)
1 vibes (VERY bad)
1 acoustic guitar (VERY bad)
2 church organs (good in my opinion, the first overall, maybe because is a baroque organ)
2 jazz organs (not bad, the sounds are good, but velocity...)
1 strings (VERY bad)
1 choir (very good, good sounds, and very useful to me, i'm studying classical harmony and writing chorals)
1 acoustic bass (VERY bad)
2 e. basses (not bad, but how much they're useful?)

And remember, it's a digi-piano, it works on classical and jazz, for pop/rock you have to play a synth (and so, if you play that, buy a Korg synth)

Yamaha is reliability.

I bought it in a keyboards shop in Milan (i'm italian), support was ok. Prices very good.

I play classical and jazz, and I think that for playing a jazz concert or studying classical with phones, P90's Grand piano 1 works very well. It's obvious that a piano student hasn't to play only on a digital piano with phones, to play the piano you have to play the piano. So I think that a digital piano is useful only for concerts where there isn't a real piano and OVERALL for studying AT NIGHT with headphones (during the day the piano must be played, in my opinion).
P90 is a very good digi-piano, not much expensive (as the P250) and very transportable (also if it's 16 kg, don't miss).
P.s.
I'm italian, so I surely did some errors writing in english...

I was needing a piano for live performance without the bells and whistles of a workstation. the P90 was it.great weighted action,grand 1 was too mellow and grand 2 was too bright, but blend grand 1 and 2 with var. was perfect through the p.a..Just add the chorus and you get a real nice honky tonk for country flavor.In addition nice mellow blues like "riviera paradice" by stevie ray vaughn, add piano and organ together,you have organ for sustain and piano for attack when changing chords its awsome.For jazz or rock the organ is not like my c3,but it doesnt weigh 495lbs either.I bought it for a great 88 key piano with weighted keys and the yamaha P90 gets the job done.

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the lack of a second pedal jack is moronic.

most of the piano sounds (grand 1) are better than the '8' would imply; however, starting at about G5 on up there is a HUGELY ANNOYING, though subtle, metallic ring which continues to play on after the key is released. It is easily overlooked if notes in lower registers are playing, but it is still very apparent, and a complete pisser when you consider it's a thousand dollar board which was supposedly sampled off a grand. Also all notes in that register and higher have what I feel to be an inaccurate timber. They sound like you are hitting a rock tuned to a note with a little hammer, and don't sound accoustic in nature. The timber, however, is more accurately reflected in grand 2 which, unfortunately, brightens too much across the board for my particular musical taste. The only other noticeable issue is G2, I think it is, which sounds completely like a $99.00 Casio when played at any point softer than ff and stands out horribly in soft passages. All the other categories are described nicely by everyone else, but just wanted to get this out there. This is my own opinion obviously. Please make sure to listen to EVERY note individually before throwing down the cash.

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if it is to be a complete piano replacement for classical music players, listen very carefully.

This is about as easy as it gets. Of course, there aren't many features either. Just right for what it is - a stage piano.

Not many features, but it does what is supposed to do. No aftertouch. No controllers. No balance between layered sounds -- I wish they had this one.

9 - The pianos are near perfect! Other sounds are OK. I use this keyboard primarily in church gigs, for leading worship. Very responsive.

Build solid. I trust it without a backup. However for any multi-show thing I would bring a spare power supply along. A wall wart! Couldn't they use a line lump with a heavier cord? That's the one thing that I could easily see failing.

Yamaha is supposed to be great for service. I've never had to use them.

I would probably get another. Great keyboard action, good sounds, light weight for an 88, good price compared to the competition. What's not to like?

quite a simple interface, no aviation degree needed to figure this thing out - although somtimes 'simple' can be limiting as it doesnt give obssessive-compulsive tweakers like me lots of buttons and switches to play with, but then again this is a digital stage piano so it functions great as that. just power it on and start playing.

the best feature about this [and the one i purchased it for] is that it has the best feel of all the other digital keyboards that i tried at the local anonymous corporate music retailer. has 2 headphone outs and 2 line outs and MIDI capabilities, so it should be sufficient for most live and studio applications.

has a total of 4 different grand piano sounds, ranging from dark classical sound to really bright pop sound and everything in between. the first piano preset sound is the best piano sound ive heard from other digital pianos and some software ones as well. the other non-piano sounds are really weak [relative to the great acoustic grand piano sound]and might as well not even be there. even if this unit didnt have any other sounds than the piano i still would have bought it - i only wanted a digital PIANO anyways - if i wanted a wurly i would have bought a wurly instead !

seems to be built pretty solidly. ive only owned it for about 3 weeks and it hasnt left the studio, so i cant really say how it would actually function under the harsh conditions out on the road . . .

i didnt not have the recommended power adapter [it was not included] so i called yamaha [askinf to see if i could use another one instead] and the support was friendly and helpful and reseolved my problem quickly. good job.

overall, this item is definitely a welcome addition to my studio setup. before buying this item, i wanted:
-full sized 88-key REALISTIC graded-hammer action weighted keys piano feel
-excellent acoustic piano sounds
-portability
-can be used as MIDI controller

and the P90 delivers exactly what i wanted. i personjally think the yamah P## series digital pianos are the best all around.

The piano is very easy to use. Buttons are clear and feel good. The 'extra' functions, however, is a bit difficult to set up and cannot be adjusted while playing (well...as long as you don't need to change the pitch or string-resonans level that's no problem). They are shown on an LCD display but don't have names - only numbers like 6.1 etc. You must therefore know what every number stands for, but the manual is very simple and after using half an hour studying this and checking out the functions you're ready to go.

The inputs/outputs are on the side of the piano which might be a problem for some users. For me it's great, while you can have the piano by a wall and still easily plug in your headphones and so.

The polyphony is 64 (32 in stereo) and that's definitely enough.

I like the action very much!! The keys are quite heavy, but with the touch response setting you can easily change that and play even organ. It's not like a Steinway grand and not like my parents old light upright piano, but it's kind of that all. After getting used to these keys (after a few weeks) you can play on almost any keyboard. That's great!

The built-in effects work very well, but some are more usable than others. Personaly, I like the phaser mostly because you can add another value to the Rhodes, Wurlitzer, organ and even piano sound. But still the chorus is good, so is the tremolo (for Wurly) and the last one - the delay - is nice too.

I haven't used the midi capabilities, but apparently they work fine. In, out and "to host".

The sequencer works as it shall though it'd have been nice more than just one song. You have one song with two tracks which you can play separately. Good for practicing.

There's no built-in amplifiers, but instead it has to headphone outputs - for teacher and pupil and so on. The feeling, however, is not the same as with speakers. I bougth some Edirol MA-10A with the piano and they are tremendous for practicing. Only 10 watt each but a fantastic sound compared to the price (1200 dkr, $120 at Musician's Friend). For monitoring, I guess they are not loud enough (surely depends on what type of music you play...).

The piano sound is fantastic! Depth, roundness, attack and what say you. It's very realistic with 3 pressure samples, string resonans samples and lift-off samples. The Grand Piano 1 is the main sound and the best too. The GP 1/vari. is also good but different. GP 2 is okay for some genres. If you combine the GP 1 with the GP 2 you get a very good spanish/brazilian-sound which is very usable for those styles.

The EP 1 + vari. are bad. The EP 2 is synonumios Rhodes and it's very good!! If you set brilliance on mellow and the touch response to soft you get a very round sound. You may add the phaser effect for a new dimension. EP 2/vari. is Wurlitzer, but it's not very good. Playable with phaser and tremolo but you don't have very much control and the dynamic is missing.

The organ sound is actually surprisingly good! The variation adds a leslie effect which fade in/out when shifting while holding a note. Works well, but you don't have much control of the sound. Compared to other 'ordinary' stage pianos this organ sound is very good.

Clav. is okay combined with the EP2 and with a phaser effect.

Strings, choir and church organ are definitely usable, though they're not superb.

The basses are not very good, but the woodbass/vari. adds a ride cymbal, which is good for practicing.

Yamaha, man!

If this piano was stolen I would buy it again. No doubt.

Compared to the P120 I actually like this piano's sounds better. Perhaps not the Rhodes sound but the piano, organ and so are better. The P120 have speakers and 3 songs sequencer, which would definitely be good, but with my Edirol monitors it sounds a lot better than the P120's built-in.

I purchased this on 10/21/93 and it had not been released that long before. The only thing simpler to play is a tuning fork. Most users will never need to look at the manual, however if required, the manual is lucid, well-organized and easy to use. I had it unpacked, hooked up and playing within 15 minutes.

I only had to refer to the manual in order to set alternate temperaments -- easy to accomplish with manual at hand.

This is a very good basic digital stage piano so it is feature-light by design. It could serve as a general purpose MIDI controller but would be less optimal than using a Yamaha P-250 or Kurzweill 2600 due to its dearth of control surfaces and I/O.

I assume that the inability to simultaeously use split and dual modes is a marketing decsion to prevent cannibaliztion of P-250 sales.

The basic effects are extremely easy to use and certainly adequate to their purpose. THey also cover the range that will be desired by most keyboard players (i.e. not distortion but chorus, etc) The on-board sequencer will be useful mainly for students as a practice tool; it is too limited for most professional use.

A surprising limit is that only one pedal is supported instead of the three standard on acoustic grands. This is silly since the cost to add ports and programming to support these is trivial and Yamaha would incresae revenue since it is probable many musicians would happily purchase the addtional two pedals.

Action is very good, although it won't fool anyone who plays on a acoustic grand. <WARNING> Concert-pianist friends at conservatory have developed tendonitis by practicing on digital keyboards with piano-like action the same way they would on an acoustic grand. If you are a concert pianist you should only be using these to supplement your principal practice on a Steinway. This does not affect me since I primarily play guitar and use the piano for theory and composition, nor would it be a problem for anyone who primarily plays pop music or electronic keyboards. Having said that, the action is less good than other Yamaha lines (Clavinova, etc), and while I understand the requirement for market segmentation I believe that musicians who need stage pianos are already differentiated and that Yamaha sales of more expensive and bulkier units will not be cannibalized by offering the same better action on stage pianos. Cost is a possible concern but I suspect that standardizing action across Yamaha digital piano lines would off-set any increase in materials cost via quantity raw materials purchase, and SKU process and inventory reduction.

A no-cost feature that should have been included but wasn't is a stretch-tuning option. Another no-cost improvement would be to offer more temperament choices. While 7 are included it would have been nice to have alternate Werkmeister and Kirnberger in addition to (I presume) the "I" version of each included, as well as both of the Young tunings and Tartini-Valotte. User-defined temperaments are not suitable for this class of instrument since more controls and memory are required but they should be part of the P-250.

Piano: The acoustic grands sound very good -- strangely like a Yamaha grand ;-) This is really good for pop as they can cut through a mix. On the other hand - for classical music there's a reason that most artists use Steinway (and a few other, mainly German, makes), and it would be nice to have this type of piano sound as a choice. The pre-set choice, Grand Piano 1 (with variation) is good but not good enough. While some would argue that Yamaha would lose face by sampling a Steinway (or equivalent) I would argue that Yamaha already owns the much larger and more lucrative Pop/Jazz piano market, and further, that to serve one's customers well increases prestige. Many, perhaps most, will find this sound acceptable; I can only speak for myself. The second grand though is excellent for Pop/Jazz. if Nicky Hopkins were still alive he could just "get to it" as opposed to spending a lot of time on EQ and microphone adjustments. A glaring omission is a not-included slightly detuned, upright honky-tonk piano --likely to be of real use to any pro or semi-pro players. As this is no-cost to add hopefully it will apppear on the P-95!

Electric pianos, etc: well the classic DX-7 sound is perfectly emulated and the alternate e-piano sounds very, very good, not as an emulation but as an instance. The E-clavichord is good but just doesn't quite ring true -- fine for a many situations but doesn't quite get Stevie playing Superstition, but at most gigs no one will notice. The harpsichord is not bad and perfect for rock (think Strawbs or Edgar Winter). For classical try a Roland Digital Harpsichord instead (or a real harpsichord ;-).

Organ: I guess by the choice of sounds that the P-90 is being positioned as a general purpose, jack-of-all-trades, pro/semi-pro keyboard, and in this it suceeds very well. However organ requires a very different - waterfall keyboard, different physically and in action. The sounds are not bad but are obviously digital and not convincing -- go to church and hear pipes, or better (often more fun anyway) go to a jazz/blues club and listen to a real Hammond/Leslie. This isn't it. I guess market research says - include these sounds -- but I'd rather use the memory and pre-sets for something else.

The guitar is interesting but, hmm, wouldn't it have made m

Don't know, it's only been 5 weeks *but* Yamaha is the only manufacturer of musical instruments (a very broad line), who is also natively an electronics manufacturer -- particularly an IC/chip manufacturer/designer. This provides Yamaha with a major competitive advantage which should sustain them through the 21st century.

On the subject of back-ups -- well Arthur Rubenstein, Jozef Zawinul, Jan Hammer, Herbie Hancock, Yes, the Stones, Miles Davis, JJ Johnson, Steve Swallow, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ali Abkar Khan, Jim Hall, Andre Segovia -- the list is endless -- never required backup instruments. Imagine the look on Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Ry Cooder, Wendy Carlos or Prof Longhair's face if you asked them about back up instruments ;-) What would JS Bach have retorted?

Yes, buy well and don't think about it...I'll give this a 9 based on who Yamaha is and their experience with acoustic instruments, electronics, and manufacturing in general.

Haven't and don't expect to need it *but* as above -- Yamaha has a 100+ year history of good service; also the website was very useful (downloads, etc) in providing data helpful in making a choice. Lastly the quality of the manual and the packaging speak volumes about Yamha's intentions.

If this had stretch tuning and two more piano sounds (see above)I would raise it to a 9. It is an excellent value, I'm very happy with my purchase and would definitely buy another if lost or stolen.

A final aside - I bought this at ZZounds.com where unlike Musicians Friend .com I've always received good service.

I realized that a keyboard instrument with piano action would make my studies and experiments easier (I'm a guitarist) and spent a good deal of time researching / demoing prior to purchase. In this regard the reviews here at harmony-central were very, very helpful (if not for specific models then for overall company histories).

The contenders were:
* Korg - eliminated immediately since no one had anything good to say about their E-pianos (as opposed to their synths)
* Kurzweill - elimiated due to Fatar keyboard
* GEM - eliminated due to Fatar keboard
* Roland - seemingly a hotbed of featues, but support less than explemary, sound quality variable, action not as good as Kawai nor Yamaha
* Kawai - M9500 would have won but a few inches too long ;-( DAMM!
* Yamaha P250 was runner -up but also slightly too long

My criteria were;
* size -- I live in NYC -- this is serious
* action_-- must be good enough not to f*ck me up on a an acoustic grand
* features -- in my case this really meant temperaments since this is an area of vibrant interest for me
* sound -- al least the piano sounds had to be very good
* flexibility / expandability -- I would have preferred the MIDI control/interface capabilities of a Kurzweill 2600, but for my immediate needs I'm very happy with the Yamaha P-90
* size / portability - outstanding
* value - oustanding
* price - I would happily have spent up to 3x as much but size was a more important factor

If you are a student or enthusiastic amateur *or* if you are a pro with limited equipment budget (dollars, size, weight) who primarily does live gigs then the P-90 is an outstanding choice.

I truly hope this review will be as helpful to some as the many H-C reviews I perused were to me.

Just plug in the power, plug in the necessary cabling to your PA, stereo system, recorder, or whatever; turn on, adjust the volume to your liking and you're all set.
As far as it sounds, the piano presets sound great (after all, this is a digital piano!!). The other presets are there to entertain I guess :-). I do like the 2nd electric piano with the variation. It reminds me somewhat of the E-piano in the Queen song "You're my best friend" and the E-piano sound on Supertramp's albums.
The organ presets: either you love 'em or hate 'em. Jazz organ sounds somewhat like a Hammond B3. It's variation changes the rotor / horn speed to fast (note to Yamaha: slow rotary speaker speed is too fast and fast isn't fast enough and the horn spins up quicker than the bottom rotor). Unfortunately, you can't edit the organ's sound, ie: no drawbars, etc. Like I said, it's there to entertain. That's how I look at it. Choir preset: a bit cheesy, reminds me somewhat of a Yamaha DX7 sound. Pipe organ is also only of 2 variations. The 2nd variation is like a loud pipe organ (think Bach's fugue in D minor).
As other's have said, the editing is limited. If you want to edit to your heart's content, get a synth workstation. If you want a great sounding "grand piano" tone, get the P90.
So why did I buy this instrument? For the piano sound, plain and simple.
The manual is easy to read, and quite fun to see the occasional typo too :-). This is my first digi-piano purchase (and probably sounds like it too, lol) and I had this up and running in no time.

It comes with a sustain pedal. So don't let the sales clerk try to tell you otherwise. The pedal is quite heavy and it has a good feel to it.
64 note polyphony. That's good for me, an amateur :-). The keyboard feels wonderful. It plays...like a piano. No spongey feeling keys. Also like a piano, the lower keys are more "stiff" while the upper keys not so stiff. For practicing, this instrument excels. You have 2 headphone outputs so you won't bother family members, pets (lol), or neighbours. This keyboard doesn't have built-in speakers. You need to either patch it into your stereo system, or buy you some monitors, or just use headphones, or patch into a PA system.
AFAIK, this unit hasn't any expansion capabilites but it does have MIDI in / out so you can use some external devices if you wish.
It has a 2 track recorder which is rather limited and I'll probably use that to play back my practice

The 9 is given to the combination of piano sounds offered on the P90.
Sound ratings: GrandPiano 1 v1: 10 v2: 9
GrandPiano 2 v1: 9 v2: 8
Electric Piano 1: v1 and 2: 6
Electric Piano 2: v1:7 v2: 9
Jazz organ: v1: 6 v2: 6 (rotor speed is wrong in both instances and you can't adjust the timbre, but the speed up / slowdown is kinda cool). Organ isn't velocity sensitive. A hardcore B3 player wouldn't like the choices offered here (then again, it's a digi-piano!)
Pipe organ v1 and v2: 7
Sustain pedal also works with organ presets too, lol.
remaining presets: varies but mostly middle range. Choir sounds get a 3 :P
Wood bass sounds okay; its variation adds a ride cymbal noise, so you can write your own jazz number ;-). Electric bass could be better. It sounds a bit flat to me. Perhaps Yamaha should've sampled a Fender P-bass running through a cranked Hiwatt :D
Aside from all the tones, you also can choose 4 different types of reverb, and other effects such as chorus (sounds good with E-piano2 w/ variation), phaser (use with clavi), tremelo (rate can't be edited!), and delay (which to me, doesn't sound like it does much of anything). Both the reverb & effects can be edited to some extent.
The keys react well and give you good feedback.
This keyboard would suit anyone wanting a good piano sound without having to deal with normal piano maintenance. Ideal for any music genere that features a piano.

Reliablility? I hope it's reliable! I won't be gigging with this keyboard anytime soon and it's very unlikely for it to be treated rough. I just have to remember to unplug the power in case a storm rolls in.

Never dealt with Yamaha yet. Hopefully I won't have to.

If it were lost / stolen, I would be very upset, to say the least. I chose this keyboard for its "feel" and its piano sound. I compared this to the other digi-pianos and I believe this offers the most bang for the buck, as far as I'm concerned.

Dead simple: plug in the power cord, switch it on - and off you go. Sounds are easily accessed in 2 rows of 12 preset buttons. Editing patches other than adding on-board effects (4 + 4) is not possible. What a VERY GREAT shame in this day & age!! Manual is very straight-forward. I mean, what' difficult about pressing buttons!

I played some two-handed chromatic scales with full sustain pedal on the "Grand Piano 1" preset all the way up, and the notes didn't cut out other than fading away naturally - very impressive even with 64 voices polyphony. Effecs are very easy to access by the press of a button. The 2-track sequencer is what it is.....as far as I'm concerned, useless! MIDI in/out is there so it fits into your overall rig, as is "to host" with a switch for PC and / or Mac (not for me - I'm a musician, not a programmer!). L/R out, sustain (only one jack, unfortunately), the norm I guess.

There are two sounds that make the P90 worth every single penny spent: the "Grand Piano 1" and the "Electric Piano 2" (classic Fender Rhodes). Everything else is a nuisance - I mean, yes, the upright bass sounds reasonable but who would play "bass" off such a keyboard anyway (not to mention the lack of mod & pitch bend wheels)? Organs are flat & factory-sounding (remember - no editing possible), strings boring, the clavichord "fun" at best, and the guitar........it's an electric PIANO for cryin' out loud!

This being said - with long years of experience in both classical and jazz piano, I have to say the Grand Piano sound is REALLY outstanding. Very playable & full of detail / nuance, excellent resonance and good velocity on the keys. The keyboard is Yamaha's "graded hammer " and feels very comfortable and solid indeed - very, very nice indeed! The Rhodes decays a bit too quickly for my taste but with the "chorus" effect it seems to work quite nicely. And the sound of it is fantastic! Grand Piano 2 is a more "metallic" version of GP 1 with a sharp touch, and the Electric Piano's (some DX-7-type; a Wurlie with vibrato (ok, playable) and some ballad-type of synthetic junk!) are not really worth it. There's even a choir who is so badly done you can clearly hear the sample loop.....

Every sound can be adjusted in "brilliance" which is rather useless because it's simply a "low-high" equalizer slider - rubbish!

Did I miss anything? Oh, yes, Jazz Organ does not react to key velocity.....how stupid is that!?!

GP 1 and EP 2: a 10+++
The rest: 2 - 3, and I'm generous!

Solid built, easy to carry (what's that flimsy plastic partition-holder doing?) and compact.

Not necessary - yet?

I was looking for a sample- generated grand piano sound that is as good as it can get on its own or in a mix (live- or studio) without having to buy a trailer & a piano tuner everytime I move around. I've tried whatever I could put my hands on: Korg, Roland, Kawai, Kurzweil, Solton, Ketron - and of course Yamaha. For my taste the P90 comes out on top. You get a truly outstanding grand piano-sound with an excellent keyboard action at a very good price. Hook it up to your rig and it's very difficult to tell you're not playing off "the real thing". The rest of this board is useless with the exception of the Rhodes electric piano that is fantastic (if a Clare Fischer-type of Rhodes sound is your thing).....

this piano is really easy to use - in spite of the edit mode, for which you need the manual, which is quite useful and easy to read.

Polyphony (64) is enough, the keyboard action is real great for this price. No other stage-piano at this level is like this - i tried especially roland rd170, which i found horrible! Midi an sequencing is ok.

The grand piano is very very realistic an sounds simply great on stage as well as at home. the fender-rhodes sound is very nice, especially if you add the phaser-effect - like the rhodes-sound on the central-park-concert of simon and garfunkel... i've forgotten the name of the keyboarder...

For Piano and Rhodes an perhaps string-pad i don't need another keyboard on stage.

i would certainly buy it again if it were stolen. it's a great keyboard graded hammer-action and it weighs almost nothing! my back is happy...

As most of the people say here - the instrument is easy to use for its basic features, if you want to just turn it on and play, change instruments and effects. Only the advanced features - temperaments, tuning, MIDI capabilities, etc. are accessed through some nasty menus, however the manual solves this problem and is very useful at all.

The polyphony on this instrument is 64 notes and one may think that this is enough or not, however I would like to explain how subjective is a single number when we talk about polyphony. First, this number shows how many mono-samples can be reproduced by the instrument at a time. So, this means that the real polyphony for stereo sound (the main piano sound, for example) should be 32. But the most important thing about the polyphony is that the algorithm used for note stealing is much more crucial for the final perception than anything other. That's just what Yamaha has done perfectly. I tried all my best to make the instrument drop out notes (playing long and complex arpegios with sustain pedal) but only if you play chromatic lines from bottom to the top, you may notice some drop outs and they are still very subtle, so it is not obviuos. In all other cases the polyphony is enough. There is re-pedalling feature, i.e. if you play some chord, release it, but immediately after that press the sustain pedal, then the sound is catched and chord is sustained - this is standard feature and most of the digital pianos have it (excluding the software piano Steinberg The Grand VST). There is also a feature that I haven't noticed on other digital pianos. If you play a loud chord, press the sustain pedal, then - while the pedal is still pressed - play the same chord very silently or even without sound, hold the chord and then release the sustain pedal, on most pianos this will produce the loud chord to disappear (in contrast to a real piano), that's not the case with the P90.

About the keyboard action - it's again very subjective point, since the final perception of it depends on the key/sound connection. Although it's supposed to be the same Gradded Hammer action used in most Yamaha digital pianos, I found it the best key/sound connection among the digital pianos I have tried up to now (Roland, Kurzweil, Korg, Alesis, Technics, Kawai). Maybe only the Yamaha CLP-170 had better keys, but they were only sightly better. I exclude here hybrid pianos with real keys, since they are not in the category of pure digital pianos, according to me. Some people find the action heavy, but I think these are people that doesn't have real piano training. I have played acoustics almost all my life and I think the action of the good uprights and grands is the same as in the P90.

The built in effects are good and they don't sound artificial. When I play through monitor speakers, I don't use the reverb, because I want to allow the real reverberation of the room. When I play with headphones, I use the standard hall 1 reverb of the piano and it is good enough for this.

The MIDI capabilities are not huge, however I bought the piano just for the reason that it sends an even stream of note velocities from 1-127. I am using Steinberg The Grand and the control is ultimate, it reacts perfectly to the dynamics, from ppp to fff.

I haven't used the onboard sequencer, since I have a PC :)

Here is where this instrument shines. My little history here. I bought Korg SP-200 digital piano year ago. Even from the begining I was not satisfied with the sound of it, although it has good samples, but unfortunately there were no multiple samples per key. The sound of the piano was also a little bit brighter. I decided to use software piano - Steinberg The Grand, but then the second surprise was that SP-200 sent some compressed region of note velocities (say 20-100) and another values were extremely hard to be produced. I have made some corrections of this problem with the sequencer, rescaling the note velocities, but it was again very unrealistic, although I have tried all the possible solutions and velocity curves of The Grand. Besides that the SP-200 keys are slightly lighter than real piano and they strike some hard surface at their bottom position which makes them even more unrealistic. Finally, I decided to buy Yamaha P90 and to use it as a MIDI controller for The Grand. And it really works for that perfectly. But my surprise was that although The Grand is one of the best sampled pianos, the P90 itself is more playable. It's main piano sound is excellent. I still use The Grand when I am recording because of the seamless audio mixdown export, but when I am practicing or playing to myself I use the P90's sound (With the last update The Grand has fixed some of its major bugs, but the re-pedalling feature is still not present and it is the big disappointment that makes me not prefering it). Piano 1 is my favorite preset and I use it 98% of the time. I play jazz mainly and also some classics - Bach, Chopin, Debussy. It works well for all these styles of music. It's variation is darker and I don't like it. The harpsichord preset is my next favorite, it is the best harpsichord I've heard in a digital instrument and it's a big pleasure to play The Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations and other Bach pieces with it. Piano 2 is artificial and is probably suited for pop music. E.Piano 1 is also playable for some easy listening tunes and pop, as well as its variation. E.Piano2 is supposed to be Rhodes but I don't like it - too sharp and bell like sound. For that reason I use software e.pianos - Lounge Lizard and EVP. E.Piano2 variation is Wurlitzer, but I don't like this particular sound at all, even on the real Wurlitzer (the same for the Clavinet, that's why I will not comment it). The Vibraphone is very good, especially splitted up with wood bass in the left hand. The church organs 1 is excellent, but it's variation is a little bit artificial. The jazz organ is not of my interest, getting in mind that it's stupid to control it with weighted keys. The strings and choirs are cheesy and I don't use them.

Although some instruments are not very realistic, I will give here 10 because of the excellent piano sound, which is the main sound most people would buy a digital piano for.

Seems well made. I have it for a month only.

Here in Bulgaria the customer support is bad...

It's definitely the best digital piano you can buy for the price. If it were stolen, I would buy it again.

So I now own a P90 and a P120 and I have been comparing playing the "Grand Piano 1" of each back and forth. The P90 is easier to play. The key to note connection is somehow easier to trigger and I don't know exactly why that is. The P120 keybed feels harder when the keys bottom out, the P90 feels a little bit more cushioned, the hump they make when the key hits the bottom is different.

The P90 notes sound rounder and don't have such an exagerated atttack portion of the sound as the P120. Therefore, on the P90 it's easier to execute fast runs that sound smoother and more connected. The sound of the P120 GP1 is more open, less round, more percussive,, more spacious; single notes sound bigger on the P120. The P90 GP1 tone is smaller, rounder, more muffled which is partly why it's easier to connect and blend the notes. The middle range of the P90 keyboard is softer and blends chords more together than the ouder more percussive mid range on the P120. The P90 sounds boxier in its mid range, sort of compressed like Kurzweil.

The P90 GP1 reminds me more of how the notes blend so well together on the P250, they integrate together well, connect more smoothly on fast runs, and have a "roundness" and a less steap decay curve. The P120 GP1 notes seem starker and more individual, they don't seem to blend together as well and it takes more effort to play the P120. The P120 GP1 pkays more like a "rock piano" or "fusion piano" and the P90 GP1 blends more like a "classical piano" or "jazz piano"

Yes, the sounds are different. The second post on this thread describes some differences between the Grand Piano 1 on each model.

More than half the sounds on the P90 are in mono, and I prefer them. The only thing I miss on the P90 is the P120's EP2. The mono EP2 on the P90 is good for chording, but not nearly as good for single note solos as EP2 on the P120.

I have been playing the P90 for the last couple of days without problem. I played scales on the P120 for an hour today and now my wrist hurts. It takes more percussive effort to play the P120.

Yamahas are well built and very reliable.

Very easy to use out of the box - but hard to make edits unless
you use the manual due to the simple LED numerical display. In
my case - playing jazz piano - this is not a problem at all.

Keyboard action is very nice IMO (my other keyboard is a Steinway
grand). It might be a bit heavy - but I acclimated in about 2 weeks.
Now I love it.

String resonance and reverb are very pleasing sounding. Haven't
used MIDI out or the simple two track on board sequencer.

I do miss some of the other sounds that my Roland RD-600 had
(more organs, more electric pianos etc.) For that I would
have had to get a P250 and that board is so big I couldn't
imagine moving is by myself.

IMO - a great piano sound especially with headphones. The triple
strike samples really are great - allows me to alway feel that I
can build intensity in solos. Sustain is very effective for
ballads. I don't get fatigued playing this keyboard like I have
with my previous digital pianos (Kurzweill PC-88 and Roland RD-600)

String resonance and half pedaling are great - the people I gig
with have remarked how nice this sounds. Very expressive

I am not afraid to book solo jazz piano jobs anymore. (I primarily
do jazz piano trios or small ensembles)

(Rhodes sound is ok - harpsichord really is nice for my
Bach practicing - pipe organs are fun as well.)

Don't know yet - this is my first piece of Yamaha gear - seems
to be ok.

Don't know yet - this is my first piece of Yamaha gear - I haven't
called the factory yet.

If it were stolen I would defintely replace it with a P90. I think
it's worth what I paid. I've been playing for years doing jazz gigs
for the last 8 years or so - I use a Roland KC-500 though the stereo
sound of this keyboard is making me think about getting two JBL EONs.

I love the sound. I wish it had a more slip resistant bottom so that
it wouldn't slide off my Hines stand when people are tapping their
feet or drummers are vibrating risers (this has happened and I
bungy corded my P90 to the stand at the first break). Wish it
had drawbar organ sounds as well.

I replaced a RD-600 and compared it to the RD-700 and also a P80
and P250. The P90 is a real improvement over the P80.

Like I said before, its very expressive, I practice in the morning
with headphones and really enjoy it. Much better for solo jazz
piano gigs - I don't worry so much anymore.

Very easy to use.

The action is great but Yamaha should weight it slightly lighter, like the Balanced Action on the S90 and Motif 88. Playing fast runs is hard work on the Graded Actions, is heavier than most real grands, and can wear your hands out.

I carefully compared the P120 and the P90 today.
I positioned the P90 directly between two ear level Yamaha powered studio monitors. I set the P120 to the side and used the P90 as a MIDI controller to play the P120 so I could keep my ears the exact same distance from the speakers at all times. I used the same mixer with identical Pan and flat EQ settings.

The first thing I noticed was that the output of the P120 is about twice as loud as the P90. The only two sounds I was interested in comparing were the "EP2 Rhodes" and "Grand Piano 1."

Fisrt I compared the "Rhodes'" between the P120 and the P90.
The P120 has a more vintage or authentic sounding Rhodes, IMO. The P90- has and exaggerated "Dyno" bell tone type Rhodes. I preferred the P120 Rhodes for it's darker vintage sound, it was no contest in my mind. The P90s "Rhodes" produces more tine bell sound in the soft strike layer and much less when you play the hard strike layer.

The "Grand Piano 1" was much harder to judge between the two. I spent a long time playing the same parts back and forth between the P90 and the P120 trying to find something that would clarify the subtle difference I was hearing. I will say the P120 has a more aggressive, perhaps harder sound. The P90 had a rounder almost smaller tone perhaps a slight bit warmer and cleaner, it seemed to make a little more sense. You would only notice this difference when playing solo piano through good stereo monitors, you would never notice it in a band live nor probably in a recording mix with percussion.

I have had 6 Yamaha P series digital pianos and they all were without problem.

The "Grand Piano 1" on both the P120 and the P90 use the same triple strike layer samples. But they sound slightly different.
It's hard to put into words, but the P90 GP1 sounded a little bit smoother, balanced and rounder. The P120 sounds slighty harsher.

The "Rhodes" on the P90 and P250 are different. The P90 Rhodes has more Dyno bell tine sound. I preffered the P250 Rhodes over the P90 Rhodes. I prefer the P120 Rhodes above all.

The YAMAHA P-90's manual is quite easy to read: everything is carefully explained and illustrated. The instrument has the same functions as its predecessor the P-80 except for the key-off sampling function and a different grand piano soundboard function.
The onboard 2-track sequencer works fine and also the preset songs are enjoyable to listen to.

The P-90 has 64-voice polyphony, so that's OK. The keyboard action is superb; its weighted feeling equals the touch of a concert grand! Heavy touch in the bass area, lighter in the treble area.The effects sound good: chorus, phaser (nice on the Rhodes), tremolo and delay can be easily applied to each of the P-90's voices. There's, however, no expansion capability (cards, memory), and also the MIDI-features are very limited: do not expect it to be the ultimate master keyboard (no external split or layer possibilities). The 2-track sequencer can be used to record your ideas quickly: also the sounds/effects can be changed after recording, so that's cool, I guess.

Preset Grandpiano1 sounds stunningly realistic: it consists of a 3-layer sample taken from a YAMAHA CF III-S concert grand, plus sustain pedal resonance and key-off samples! Grandpiano2 is a superfluous preset: in my opinion, it doesn't sound up-to-date; it reminds me of the sound of the P-100 ten years ago; maybe nice for dance/techno music. The Rhodes is very well sampled (nice bell tone and sustain; a bit Bob James-like sound). Wurlitzer is a bit thin, but usable. The clavinet rocks !!! Harpsichord sounds quite realistic. Strings are poor (compared to my S-90). Both wood and electric basses are warm, and very effective for splits.

YAMAHA never let me down!

As a YAMAHA endorser, customer support is always to the point!

Very much piano for its price. I don't want any other stage piano.

As easy as can be in terms of playing it - press the button for the sound you want to play. Getting into Midi settings etc. is a bit more involved, as the P90 only has a 3 digit display, all the Functions are represented by some sort of nummerical code, that has nothing to do with the funtion it represents - so the manual is needed for this.
Personally I made a small list, put it on a little magnetic piece, that attaches to the P90's metal casing.

64 note polyphony, seems to be the min. for piano playing, but I haven't noticed any voicestealing, but I never used it in dual mode, which probably halves the amount of voices.
Efx are decent for praticing purposes, and I guess OK for smaller clubgigs - I wouldn't use them for recording, but the implementation of the efx. again is very simple to use.
One of the P90's main attractions is it's weighted keys. I personally think they are the best in the industry. Amazing that Yamaha can put such a great feeling keyboard in such a small, lightweigt package.
I did use the predessor the P80 before I got this, and I have to say, there is a small difference in feel between the two - the P90 is a little lighter feeling than the P80. Of the two I prefer the weight of the keys on the P80.
Midi is nothing to write home about on this board. It sends and receives note on/off. There is program changes associated with each voice button, but it's not laid out in any logical order, so that you might easily use the P90 to call up programs on external equipment.
Don't plan on using it as a master controller without the aid of some other controller box. It's really a shame, since the P90 comes in such a lightweight portable package.
It's built in 2-track sequencer is mainly usufull for students, who would want to record one hand at a time etc.
Despite it's shortcomings I would rate it a 9 - it is afterall a digital piano, not a motherkeyboard.

The main attraction is the Grand Piano 1 - and it's gorgeuos. Close your eyes, and you could easily forget, you're not sitting at a real concert piano. The sample does have a couple of noticeable loop points, but it is very palyable. The main thing is, it responds like an instrument, despite minor imperfections. This sample is definately an improvement over the P80. In fact it's the best Piano sample I have heard in any digital board, and to top it, I think you would have to go the GigaSampler way. I find this sound usufull for any style, that I would use a real piano for. It's soundboard and key-off simulation adds to the overall 'realness' of the sound. It responds very well to outboard processing like EQ and compression as well, making it nice to use in a recording environment. I wouldn't hesitate using it for any kind of recording seesion. However the Grand Piano 2 voice is to my ears useless - I think it's the sample originally introduced in the P100 stage piano years ago - and it really shows it's age - sounds a bit like the old M1 piano . I can't personally think of any situation where I would use this sound. The P80 had 4 different piano voices, that were all useable, so this choice by Yamaha seems like an odd one.
As for the rest of the voice set, it's an improvement over the P80 - especially the Rhodes sound is way better - doesn't suffer from the very obvious velocity switching problem, that made that sound unplayable int the P80. I like the Vibe sound a lot too.

Well - the unit I received brand new in a unopened box, had a problem with one of the keys, so I have to return it. Hope it's not a sign, that the keybed design is flawed.
I did experince on the P80, that over time it would develop problems with some of the keys sticking.
Other than that, I would say it's built as tough as it could be, all metal casing, no knobs sticking out. There isn't that much that can really break on this one ( other than the keys ).
I have very good experiences with other Yamaha gear for being very well designed hardware, so I would definately take this to a gig, and not worry about it. Only thing is the design choice, to have an external powersupply. Those are always flimsy, and generally a pain in the b....I guess this is one compromise you have to make, to get this much piano in such a compact format. I would like a powersupply with a stronger cord, more secure connector, and preferably, one that's 'in-the-middle-of-the-wire'. These clunky things always take up too much space at the power-outlet.
If it wasn't for this - and the problem with the key - it would be a perfect 10.

I have dealt with Yamaha several times in the past, and always found them to be extremely helpfull - they even fixed my EX5 for me for free, when some idiot sound guy dropped a lighttower on it.
Getting email/phone responses from them has alway been fast, helpful in locating usermanuals etc.
I own a Motif 8, and the support in form of Motifater.com is un-paralled, so that's a two thumbs up

It's definately worth the price - actually seems like a small miracle to me, that you can get this much instrument for such a small amount.
If it was lost, I don't know if I would get again, or go back to the P80 - I did like the keys better on that one, but I would definately get one of them.
I did compare it to Roland's similarly priced piano, before buying, like the sound and feel of the P90 better.
I do wish it had a powersupply that seemed more solid and reliable ( not that I have ever had a problem with it - but I did get a spare, just in case ), and the Midi options for controlling ext. equipment was up to just the basic-basic.
I have been playing proffessionally for the past , let me see, og gosh, 27 years, and currently use besides the P90: Motif 8, Triton, Kurzweil K-2500XS, Ex5, XV 5080, JV 1080, JV-1010, MS-2000, MKS-80, MiniMoog, FS1R, SG-Rack, S-6000

The previous review below is false. The P90 did not even debut until May 2003!

The P890 is essentialy a P120 in black without the speakers and weighs only 37 pounds instead of 40 pounds (P120).

The instrument sounds are the same as in the P120. "Grand Piano 1" is comprised of 22 megabytes in a compressed format of triple strike piano samples. Not only are these the same 22 megabytes of piano samples used in the P120's "Grand Piano 1" but they are also the same samples as in the marvelous P250's "Grand Piano 1". The P250 sounds better because it's "playback engine" uses more expensive VLSI chips which produce greater "clarity, and improved string resonance effect and a higher polyphony.

The action is heavy, about 79 grams of down weight required per key. It is the same action found in the P120 and the P250. If you think it feels different than the P250, you are right, the P250 key to sound connection "feels" or responds better due to it's superb "play back" engine. But turn the sound of both keyboards and the actions feel the same. It is probably the most "expressive" digital piano action available. It is very precise in that it allows you to easily play every velocity point between 1-127 with good control. On a Fatar for example you don't easily get to play every velocity point up and down the range (graph) and the Fatar range feels compressed as if you can only play p-f, not ppp-fff.

This is a subjective catgeory, but I liked the P90 sound well enough to sell my Kurzweil PC2X for the P90/P120. The P90's "Grand Piano 1" has a more "open" and "present" sound than the Kurzweil PC2X and the Yamaha responds so much more dramaticly and dynamicly to touch that it behaves more musicaly reagardless if the sound is perfect or not.
The Rhodes is also very expressive and realistic on the P90/P120.

Very sturdy design and parts.

In my opinion the P250 (71 lbs) is the finest digital piano available followed by close seconds with the P120 (40 lbs) and the P90 (37 lbs). In a "live band" situation I do not think you could hear the difference between the three since they all share the same samples for their "Grand Piano 1s". You will hear and feel a difference when playing the P250 solo piano or in a recording.

Grand Piano sound is OK. Lacks personmality. After 15 min. I was bored. Other sounds are really not professional quality.

Action is OK. 64-note polyphony. Key depth is too shallow comparied to a real Steinway. Feels like a toy. Controls do NOT feel like they will last a long time. All jacks on the right side. This makes cable managemnet very challengin if it is in a rig in a tight or small location.

Grand Piano is not bad. Would like more varation in timbre when you play harder. Keyboard is Volicity sensitive, but key depth is too shallow (makes it feel like a toy). OK for a beginning student, not a professional.

Contols looks and feel that they may not last long.

Have not to call Yamaha.

NO. I would not get the Yamaha again. For about the same money, I would look at a Roland FP-3. The Roland has a much better piano feel, better dynamics (volume and timbre) over sounds and much better sounds. Flute, Sax, Organs, and Jazz vocals are an awesome bonus. Acoutic Guits is also excellenjt. Plus it acts as a GM sound module. It is a preference, play them both.