Yamaha PLG150-PF

THIS ENTIRE REVIEW IS BASED SOLELY UPON MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS BOARD IN AN S80, I HAVE NOT HAD ANY EXPERIENCE USING THE PLG150-PF WITH ANY OTHER KEYBOARD OR MODULE OR SYSTEM.

Ease of use...well, this has two parts...As soon as you get the board installed and figure out how to select voices and edit them it's a piece of cake...but actually instatlling the board itself and figuring out how to use it was for me personally very difficult...the installation is counterinuitive due to how Yamaha set it up, and nowhere in any of the documentation that I found anywhere did it tell me that the default Utility settings are different from that of the S80's for certain things, i.e. Reverb Send, etc. Once you spend a few hours with it though it's a breeze...

128 acoustic and electric piano patches and a few clavs, an additional 64 voices polyphony, and many built in effects.

See my overall rating.

Never heard of a PLG150 card failing!

Never had to deal with them.

I absolutely love the sounds on this board. They are my all time favorite sounding and playing acoustic piano and EP sounds...What I really like is that a few of the APs are in stretch tuning, and with an S80 and this board you can use 3 pedals simultaneously for soft sostenuto and sustain just like a real piano.

Easy to use with the interface of the host-synth (in my case a CS6x) or via the "easy editor" for XG-Works (which lacks many features though).

64 polyphony and nice effects. The reason to get this board is to increase the the power of your host-synth by adding polyphony and saving effect resources for other sounds in performance mode.

First of all: Don't get this board for classical piano voices. They are really disappointing! Even the preset grand in my CS6x sounds better. (Rather get a PLG 150-AP, a Kurzweil Micro Piano or some Roland module with a piano card).

I think the electric pianos (Clav, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, DX) sound pretty good (and that's the main reason I got the board for).

Who should be using this board? I got it for my CS6x, because it lacks piano samples (having the same synth engine as the S80, it doesn't have as many PF-elements in its ROM). I would call this board an S80-upgrade for the CS6x/r. Don't get it if you already own a S80, S90 or Motif (they have the same and better piano-sounds stored in their ROM).

One also shouldn't forget that one can make some fine sounds by editing the presets, that the board gives you extra polyphony for sequencing and that is saves you effect-resources for playing other sounds live (if you play more then one voice in performance-mode or if you layer different sounds).

I gig with it and therefore depend on it. The thing probably won't even be damaged if you drop the host-synth.

OK. But Yamaha, please make a more sophisticated software editor for it!

All in all it is ok, for what I use it for (mostly the E-Pianos for playing in a indie rock band). It's probably not that good for solo piano players...

Easy to use with the editor software or via the interface of the host-synth. The Funcions of the "Yamaha Easy-Editor" for XG-Works are very limited though.

64 polyphony and some nice onboard effects. Is good to save effect- and polyphony-resources using it in performance mode.

Classical piano sounds are very poor. Even the preset-grand in my CS6x is better. Do not get this board if you are looking for a good classical piano. Try the PLG 150-AP, a Kurzweil Micro Piano or some Roland module (which apparantely have very good pianos in them). With some editing you can make some nice pianos yourself. It is also useful to stack elements with piano sounds from the host-synth.

I personally like the electric pianos (Rhodes and Wurlitzer). I got the board mostly for these voices and to save effect resources of my CS6x. Ediding will bring enhance the sonic abilities.

Getting this board only makes sense if you own a host-synth or module like the CS6x/r, which is layed out for elecronic music and doesn't have many piano samples in it. Don't get the board if you have a S80, S90 or Motif. You will waste your money, cause they have equal or better piano sounds in their rom.

I gig with it and it doesn't seem to cause any problems.

They have a quite useful power-user-guide on the web. But please Yamaha, make an expert-editor for this board!

I dont know, if i would get a replacement. But as a plugin board it saves rackspace. The electric pianos are quite useful for the music I play (something like coldplay, muse, death cab for cutie...). Playing rock music of course also doesn't need the perfect classical concert grand. With editing you'll get some nice sounds out of the board, if you have the knowledge and the time.

10/5. Easy to install in my S80. Hard to program and use.

I've been using my S80 as my "Piano/Rhodes portion of my keyboard rig for years now and really dig the S80's "Herb Rhodes" and piano action for performing jazz and classic rock.

I plan on trying to figure out how to modify the 150's sounds through using my PC but not looking forward to it as Yamaha is notorious for having the most unfriendly manuals in the world.

Some of the piano sounds are nice. I use number 6 for jazz work. There is a nice rhodes patch called "Tea" that is great if you are looking for a replacement to the S80's "Herb Rhodes". Yamaha in their infinite wisdom left this patch off of the keyboards released after the S80.

To be honest the clav sounds do not compare to the ones on Roland "Keys of the 60's & 70'S" which I use on my XP-30.

This really is not a great enhancement to my S80, I still use it every gig. I'm planning on getting a Roland XV-5080 abd MIDI-ing it to my S80 for better piano sounds with their SRX piano card.

I already mentioned a couple of sounds and that's all that is really good on this card. There are some nice DX and CP samples if you need to cover any 80's songs. "FullTine" sounds just like the old DX-7 INT 09 patch and would be great for Chicago's "Hard Habit to Break"

No Problems yet.

I used to work for a music store so I cheat and call Yamaha's regional rep to help me out, so I get great customer service, but I don't know what everyone else has to put up with.

I also got this card, (and my S80) for free buy selling a bunch of them at the music store I worked for in KC. So aside from $237 in property taxes for my S80, I didn't pay S#!@ for it.

If this got destroyed, I would not miss it. I find that the "Dark Piano" patch comes close to the softer , jazz piano sound I need. (don't forget to reprogram the filters on this patch as Yamaha dropped the ball and only ngot the bottom half of the keyboard to respond to filter changes).

Well, I guess it's easy enough to use....

It's got effects, half decent polyphony and ok midi support

Oh dear, here we go.

Seriosuly, what the hell were Yamaha thinking off?
The sounds are AWFUL, the effects are AWFUL and overall it's just AWFUL.

I've played piano professionaly for many years, and have used a variety of both real and electronic pianos. I was really looking forward to this board. I currently use a large sampled library, but I wanted sometime a little easier to use/carry around.

Maybe it's the fashion of today, but I really thought cheap bontempi/casio quality sounds left us last millenium. Obviously not :P

To be fair, the board DOES have some 1/2 decent sounds, just not the pianos which I bought it for.

Very dissapointing.

Yamaha stuff usually lasts, no problems there.

I got rid of it, and have ended midiing to a Fanton X6 for my main piano tone. Not perfect, but light years ahead of the Yamaha board.

i am using cubase,,,
the presets sound so bad that a person who earns very less can go into depression for buying this piece of c@#p.
there should b no use o editing patches,,a person buys this for piano samples,
the manual is easy

it has built in effects,,,but why would u need that,,u have bought a piano expansion board,,u need real good piano samples

this is a real piece of s@#t,,,real piano players dont ever thonk of buying this piece od c@#p,,u r gonna waste ur money,,
i am a classical pianist,,and i bought the yamaha es8,,i thought the piano preset was not appealing,,so i got the expansion card,,and now i am sad ,,the patches in this card really sound like a cheap casio keyboard,,,yamaha u have made a piece of s@#t,,i hope the next card the plg-150ap should b good,,otherwise i am gettin a roland sound module with a piano expansion card,,,that thing is really awesome,,roland has the best piano sound on an electronic keyboard known to man

about relaibility ,,i dont know its jst been 3 days i had it,,and want to return it ,,,,people please dont buy it,,,its a real waste of money,,,this sounds really really bad

customer support was good when i bought it,,,now as i dont like it and want to return it,,,i dont know what the scene is gonna b.

if it was stolen,,,i would b happy,i would definitely get a motif rack ,,investing some more money.
i am a clasical pianist i have been playin since the age of 10,rt now i have a yamaha motif es8,,
i hate everything about it,,
the costomer support was bad at this point,,they would not let me put the card in my keyboard and chk..
i wish it had some good piano samples as it is a piano card,,
it dosent help me at all in any way,,,for my music i need reall good piano tones,,,

Easy to install. Just plug it in and reboot the ES.

Poly is 64 voices or 32 in stereo.
Effects are very weak.
It supports MIDI control via remote keyboard/sequencer.
Very WEAK AWFUL SOUNDS that are similar to those of a cheap Best Buy Casio keyboard... only not as good.

This product should be removed from the market. It sounds absolutely awful. Don't waste your money unless you are composing a music number that sounds like a Commodore SID chip on valium.

It will never break... which is a shame because it sounds better not being used.

The return policy is a joke at Yamaha. You buy it, you keep it. The local dealer will charge a fee to return it. If it was broken or DOA, they will replace it free.

If it were stolen, I'd send a 'get well' card to the theif.
I played it for 5 minutes and then reboxed it.. but Yamaha won't accept the return w/o a fee.
It sounds awful.
Better off getting a few CDs w/ samples and a CDROM drive.
A new Piano board is coming out called the PLG-PF150... it is supposed to be better. It won't be worse.

Very easy to install in a MOTIF ES8.
Difficult navigation of parameters.
Presets sound AWFUL!! The piano is better in a Casio electone than in this board. The ES8 piano is much better.

64 poly - Good.
Effects - Grainy and cheap behringer sounding.
2 boards = 128 voice poly
Midi capability = acceptable
no onboard sequencer.

The absolute WORST sounding acoustic piano ever.
OK electric pianos.
OK clavs.
Feel is average.
Envelopes are too long... resulting in grainy sounds.

I don't know --- I sold my card the day after I bought it.

Yamaha is a great company... but this board SUCKS!

Junk... get the analog or XG card --- they actually have better pianos!?!?!?

Presets sound useable mostly for layer rather than solo. Try patch #6-8 for solo work. The "Power Grand" is recycled even for the Motif/S-90. Editing is not needed. Manual is basic and simple it's fine.

Think of this board as 64 voice add on to the host keyboard. Simple tweeking on the PLG150-PF board (not just the host) is useful.

Mostly 2 layer/or velocity swithing.
Sounds good for Pop R&B or Rock,
Not so good for Classical or Jazz styles.
Rhodes, DX/FM, Wurly, Clavinet are all good.

I owned for around 2 years and is perfect.

Not good.

Some of the reviewers give very low points in this category. But I would like to remind the readers that this card holds the Yamaha P-150 sample! Just like the P50M Module. Copied from the stats:
P-150 : 8.7 (6 responses)
P50-M : 7.3 (9 responses)
P50M : 8.0 (3 responses)
PLG150-PF : 7.3 (6 responses)
So why these differences? It could not be the main piano Sample itself. But the keyboard the sample is in, or played with. Food for thought.

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This is my second review sent of this item. I'm the guy below who sent the negative review. After reading Mr Anonynous's comments, I thought I would reply.

I'm really getting bored with immature people who bash others who try to project an onjective opinion. All you're doing is wasting people's time. Are you sure you have a life?

I can assure you that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to pianos. As a matter of fact I'm a semi-professional piano player with 25 years of big and small stage experience. I've also done plenty of studio work. All I can tell you is that the piano card does NOT sound like pro quality in my S80 To me, it is not a replacement for a P80 or higher. It sounds OK and decays very unnaturallly. IMO, it is marginnaly better than the stock S80 piano. It sounds good in the mix (not great), but not solo. I've also had comments from vocalists and other musicians. I also have a Kurzweil PC88 in my living room and an Roland XV88/SRX - and I feel that they are in a different league.
I couldn't say how good the PLG sounds in your $3,000 keyboard. I do find it confusing that you say it's 'THE expansion card for solo piano performing' while you are using a 76-key SYNTH action keyboard - HARDLY an interface for expressive piano playing? Sounds like the difference of opinion between a real piano player and a synth player.

As well, could y'all please say what you're installing the PLG into? Maybe the results vary from different Yamaha products.

Mr Anonymous - Please try to express opinons that help people - not insult people. Everyone's entitled to their opinion - piano and synth players.
People - try BEFORE you buy - that's all I'm saying.

No problems

64 voices. nice.

I have read a lot of articles, threads, etc... for the last two years and have listened to everything imaginable. the piano on this chip is not only the best all around piano but the best that i have heard. Forget the rd-700. cheap sounds and all. kuezweil too $$$ and made like s**t. i have played for 30 years professionally and have recorded several albums.

it is a yamaha

I installed this in a Yamaha 9000 Pro - no sweat, no problems.

It has 64-note polyphony which is as much or more than many keyboards. That's great for my 9000 Pro because it added another 64-notes of polyphony on top of the 128 my keyboard already had. That's the main reason I bought it actually. The PLG150-PF can be played from the keyboard or from the internal or external sequencer. It has it's own effects also. It comes with an editor that only works with Yamaha's XG works seuqncer (no longer sold) and my biggest fault with this card is that Yamaha needs to get off their butts and make an OPT or free-standing voice editor for this card.

Wonderful! Some of you people that don't like this card's sounds need a life and a new pair of ears to go with it. I've owned and played Kurzweils for many years and the PLG150-PF compares very well with PC88's and PC2's that cost thousands of dollars. It's warm and full, particularly in the upper midrange where many keyboards thin out. As for soloing, I perform solo on my 9000 Pro five nights a week and this is THE expansion card for solo piano performing. It's studio-quality all the way, top to bottom. Nice velocity sensitivity too.

I've had my PLG150-PF for a couple of months - no problems and none are expected. Yamaha builds solid stuff.

Well I added the PLG150-PF to a $3000 keyboard and I think it improved it so that should tell you something. Not only does it sound great but since it has it's own effects and 64-note polyphony, it's bound to add a lot to any keyboard it is used in. If you aren't serious about piano, you don't need it - if you are then you shouldn't be without it. Now where's some new voice editors for this baby, Mr. Yamaha ?

I installed this board into my S80. Easy install but you need a computer. Editing patched is easy beaause you basically have no control over the preset patches on it. I give it 6 because you need a computer and midi interface to install the presets.

I give it very low marks for features because
- there is very limited control over editing the patches pre-progammed on the unit
- you cannot assign plg patches in amongst other user patches in the S80. This causes unneeded button pressing to select banks when playing live.
- you don't have access to all of the patches on the module...there are more patches on the PLG board than are assignable in a plg bank.

I give this very low marks because the sounds in it are really only marginally better than in the S80. It some ways they are worse because they are basically unprogrammable. The decay on the piano notes are very very unrealistic. The notes seem to stay bright and decay in a very unnatural way. The sounds are also very harsh and brittle This board is absolutely NO GOOD for solo piano work. I basically don't use the board because I have programmed better piano sounds using the S80 waveforms. Yamaha has produced very deceiving marketing about this unit.

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I am rating this product very low because it is basically of no incremental value to an S80 owner. If I had some other Yamaha product that had a weak piano sound, it may be of more use to me. But it doesn't even come close to the level of their P80 piano. I have a Roland XV-88 with the SRX piano which sounds very good. In fact, worlds ahead of the PLG board. I ordered the PLG-PF because I wanted to start not carrying around 2 heavy keyboards. I need the midi player in the S80, and a good piano sound. Guess what - I'm still carrying around 2 heavy keyboards! And, if I take only the S80, I use the better sounding patches I've made, not the PLG board. I'm VERY dissapointed. I feel like I got ripped off. Try BEFORE you buy.

I'm using the board in a CS6R module, part of Yamaha's 'Modular Synthesis Plug-in System' like the CS6x, S80 and probably the Matrix stuff. 64 Yamaha patches derived from the presets can be loaded from the included floppy. These and any presets can be messed with and saved/stored in one of these same 64 patch locations. I don't believe owners of 'XG Plug-in System' devices have it as easy, it's worth looking into.

Ease of use has a lot to do with the host device. Editing with my CS6R is pretty straightforward. The included 'Pf Easy Editor'is a joke, editing from within my module offers more flexibility.

If you're not familiar with Yamaha terminology or you've been a long time away (as I have) you might have to read things a few times, but since there's nothing much to this manual (it's more like a booklet)it's pretty easy.

It's nice to know that there are many other acoustic piano sound source fanatics like me out there. My overall impression of this board is very positive even though the PLG150-PF is far from perfect.

Like many others, I consider good sounds other than acoustic piano a bonus, not crucial. Definitely some of the EP's, and maybe the Wurly, the Clav and the Harpsichord can be edited enough to be useful. There's a ton of useless garbage though.

In my opinion, Yamaha has the ONLY realistic sounding sampling technology for piano, in hardware form. Gigasampler/Gigastudio instruments are almost undoubtedly better, but carrying a cpu around on gigs is not for most of us... Yet.

There is one overall good acoustic piano patch on the card, and two somewhat useful ones. Even so, on that 'StrchRichP' patch there are several wonky notes between G5-A6 that have abrupt cutoffs (negligible sustain) and/or odd attacks. Also, if you play and sustain a two-handed chord within 2-2.5 octaves anywhere below C6 you'll hear a very unnatural and static sustain.

So why do I like this board? Well, because it's the best sounding, most realistic single choice now available for playing both live and in the home/studio (although the jury's out on the P120 right now). Very often I can forget it's shortcomings and immerse myself in playing- that's the ultimate measure of it's value to me.

It gets a 9 because it's the best, most realistic piano source available right now, warts and all. But there 'ain't nothing like the real thing'.

It's a circuit board, give me a break!

They'll get back to you. Clunky, but it works.

Unless I knew of something better I'd get it again.

Here's the part that kills me about this product. Installing it is one of the worst nightmares. I have a CS6x, so I have to install the card underneath the unit. Once you've opened the bottom, getting this delicate card into the four plastic thingees that hold it in place is a friggin' mystery, even with the instructions that came with my CS6x. I have another expansion card from Yammie that I installed months ago, and I had the same problem. There has to be an easier way to snap this puppy in and start playing, but Yammie hasn't quite figured it out. Anyway, look forward to sweating a while as you wonder how on earth you're going to secure this delicate board into the hard plastic holders without busting it. Once secured, it's fairly easy to operate and scroll through the preset sounds.

64 note polyphony. On board effects are just what you'd need (for piano, anyways--chorus, reverb, 2 band EQ)

Piano is amazing. Full-bodied and meaty in the mids, light and tinkly in the highs, thunderous in the lows. I swear, I woulda bought this card for the acoustic piano sound alone--beautiful. Another surprise was the clav sounds, especially the basic clav. I just got rid of a wonderful sounding Hohner E7 clavinet and I missed it--until I heard these samples. Ballsy and expressive, just like like on the Motif. As for the other sounds, the harpsicords are nice. However, there are about 30 or 40 ridiculous acoustic piano "variations"--you know the ones...where the piano is married to a synth pad or string sound. There are just a ton of uselessly tweaked acoustic piano sounds. And, unfortunately, the good, expressive ep's are few and far between. There are a handful of great DX pianos. There's, like, one mellow Rhodes sound that is a keeper. But the rest kinda bite. They are a good addition to my CS6x ep sounds (which I thought was kinda lacking), so I'm not disappointed there. I just don't recommend this board to anyone expecting a whole mess of stellar ep's. I'll give it a 10, however, for a ridiculously good piano and clavinet!

My fingers are crossed that it won't flake on me.

Don't know.

Well, it was kinda expensive, but I wanted an internal expansion to cut down on the MIDI spaghetti in my studio. It was worth it in that respect. Since I didn't expect a whole lot in the way of other sounds, I consider those a bonus. Highly recommended if you have a CS6x and miss having a decent piano sound. For those non-CS6x users out there, be warned: that keyboard has what has to be THE WORST piano sample ever, hands down. It's a great synth in other respects, but boy did they ever purposely cut corners on that sound! They knew that schmucks like you and me would have to run out and fit their board with a good acoustic piano. They were right. It was genius marketing. Those bastards.