Yamaha P115 Digital piano - a very satisfying experience

[rajarshi Kar]

This is for those who would like to make decisions regarding purchase of a digital piano


Recently i bought Yamaha P115 digital piano.I will discuss the following points

Design and ergonomics: very pleasing to the eye with full length keys and matte finish black keys.Weight is amazingly light and one person can lift the keyboard(11.8kg)

Tone and sound output : Comes with very high quality stereo speakers for extreme bass and treble responses.....Overall has 14 voices that can be changed on the fly by selecting onboard buttons without note "cutting off" between voice-changes.Has 3 piano voices ,sampled from cf3 yamaha concert grand piano....Very rich and authentic sound reproduction....Only 5% deviation compared to acoustic grand in terms of timbre at low volume....I did compare that with a concert grand yamaha piano at showroom.......In a nutshell very rich and amazing sound as good as vstis

btw polyphony is 192

In addition there are metronome and plenty of other accompaniement styles


Keybed and action:It has full length keys.Although they said it has GHS or graded hammer sensitivity ,meaning bass keys are heavier than treble keys ....i did not find any variation of weightage or heaviness of keys across various registers.....Otherwise the travel of the keys or how far the keys can be depressed is comparable/identical with the concert acoustic piano,that was kept in the showroom.


Output using Headphones and External Speakers : The sound quality is just as great throgh external speakers or headphones,as they are through the internal built in speaker sets.

Personal comments: I would highly recommend this to anyone who would want to embark on a journey to learn and enjoy the piano ,yet cannot afford to get acoustic grand piano.......I have personally tested the fantom x8 and had played korg m50 ....but I can say from my personal experience that this is one hell of a product which has a significantly improved tone generation system over fantom or korg m50

 

[CowboyNQ]

I have personally tested the fantom x8 and had played korg m50 ....but I can say from my personal experience that this is one hell of a product which has a significantly improved tone generation system over fantom or korg m50

Good review Rajarshi and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Just a word of caution to those reading, I'm not sure a comparison to a Korg M50 or Roland Fantom is particularly helpful. The Yamaha P115 is a dedicated digital piano, while the other two are keyboard workstations. In other words, they are intended for completely different purposes.

 

[rajarshi Kar]

Good review Rajarshi and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Just a word of caution to those reading, I'm not sure a comparison to a Korg M50 or Roland Fantom is particularly helpful. The Yamaha P115 is a dedicated digital piano, while the other two are keyboard workstations. In other words, they are intended for completely different purposes.

Yeah truly said they are for different purposes.But the3 piano voices available inside p115 are way superior than those 15 or20 piano patches available for use in 88 keyboard models from korg /roland.....i just wanted to mean this....otherwise p115 has none of the functional capabiliies of an workstation like m50/fantom.

 

[happyhacker]

I bought a P-115 couple of years ago and am experiencing key noise (I have seen this also mentioned in Amazon reviews and on the Yamaha site). When playing the keys rattle somewhat. Taking the case apart I see that the key balance weights (metal rods) hit upon a foam strip when the key is released which actually tends to make the keys bounce hence the rattle. The downstroke stop is more like a traditional piano thick felt which in fact does cause a "thud" when the key is hit harder, not good if you are playing on a suspended floor as the sound transfers that way. Unfortunately it's too complicated to fit a different type of stop and I guess it might change the key dynamics as well. I play at home and the key noise is probably more noticeable in a smaller room. Although it's probably par for the course for weighted keys I would have thought eliminating key noise on non acoustic pianos a desired design aim. I will be researching to get another piano so will be looking at this aspect carefully. Wondering if anyone else has a view on this. Many thanks.

 

[happyrat1]

You can purchase self adhesive felt strips online from Piano Repair Supply Companies.

Not a big deal to replace a worn out felt or foam strip in a modern keyboard really.

http://howardpianoindustries.com/felt-cloth-leather-parts/

I'd say at least try a refurb yourself before you give up trade in on a newer model that will end up doing the exact same thing again in two years.

Gary

 

[happyhacker]

Sure but my strips are not worn I think it is just a cheaper design and looking at the further dismantling I would have to do for now anyway I have given up. Also it would take too much experimenting to get a satisfactory solution.