YAMAHA PSR EW 300 or 410

[ACGarcia]

Now I'm looking for a piano, I'm a starter so I don't want something too expensive, I was searching and I found the "psr ew 410" and I think "this is the good one" but searching more I look the EW300, the difference is 250 dollars, and I want to know if EW410 is really better than the EW300 how to pay 250 dollars more.

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

You have done well in your short list, both get very good reviews at their price point.

We have members here with an EW400 who no doubt will advise in more detail than I can.

If you are really serious in learning then the EW410 will offer you more vfm over long term ownership and use.

Now there is a difference between learning to play a keyboard and learning to play a piano, are you aware of the differences?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

One feature of the older PSR-EW400 model that was removed from the PSR-EW410 is the Music Database where you could select one of the “song name” entries and it would automatically select a preset style, voice, and tempo which are supposed to be good choices for playing that song. Of course, most of the song names are deliberately changed around to “disguise” them while still making it possible to guess them, presumably for legal or licensing reasons. Also, the Music Database on the PSR-EW400 and previous PSR-E4xx models could not be expanded by adding your own entries to it, which made it rather limited, although some PSR-E4xx owners who upgraded to the PSR-EW410 were upset to find that the Music Database had been removed— presumably to make room for the new sampling function that was added to the PSR-EW410.

The reason I mention this is because I think the PSR-EW300 has a Music Database, so if that feature is important to you then you might want to go with the PSR-EW300 rather than the PSR-EW410.

On the other hand, the 400-level models have certain features that the 300-level models do not, such as a pitch bend wheel, and two knobs for altering the sounds while you’re playing— you can change the attack and release times, the filter cutoff and resonance, and the reverb and chorus depths of the sounds, similar to what you can do on a synthesizer. There are corresponding voice settings in the 400-level models’ function menu which are not in the 300-level models’ function menu, such that you can modify any of the 400’s preset sounds (within limits) and save the changed sounds in a Registration for later recall, whereas you can’t do that with the 300’s preset sounds.

As for those Registrations, the 400 models have more of them than the 300 models do.

So you could say the 400 models are aimed more at people who want a keyboard with some (limited) synth-like features, whereas the 300 models are aimed more at people who don’t need those types of features.

 

[ACGarcia]

Welcome.

You have done well in your short list, both get very good reviews at their price point.

We have members here with an EW400 who no doubt will advise in more detail than I can.

If you are really serious in learning then the EW410 will offer you more vfm over long term ownership and use.

Now there is a difference between learning to play a keyboard and learning to play a piano, are you aware of the differences?

I'm not sure but I know the "Piano" is different to a "Keyboard/ Workstation"
If you can give me a better idea it can be great

 

[SeaGtGruff]

If you're more interested in a digital piano than a keyboard, you might want to broaden your considerations to include the P-121, which is a 73-key digital piano in Yamaha's P series.

 

[ACGarcia]

One feature of the older PSR-EW400 model that was removed from the PSR-EW410 is the Music Database where you could select one of the “song name” entries and it would automatically select a preset style, voice, and tempo which are supposed to be good choices for playing that song. Of course, most of the song names are deliberately changed around to “disguise” them while still making it possible to guess them, presumably for legal or licensing reasons. Also, the Music Database on the PSR-EW400 and previous PSR-E4xx models could not be expanded by adding your own entries to it, which made it rather limited, although some PSR-E4xx owners who upgraded to the PSR-EW410 were upset to find that the Music Database had been removed— presumably to make room for the new sampling function that was added to the PSR-EW410.

The reason I mention this is because I think the PSR-EW300 has a Music Database, so if that feature is important to you then you might want to go with the PSR-EW300 rather than the PSR-EW410.

On the other hand, the 400-level models have certain features that the 300-level models do not, such as a pitch bend wheel, and two knobs for altering the sounds while you’re playing— you can change the attack and release times, the filter cutoff and resonance, and the reverb and chorus depths of the sounds, similar to what you can do on a synthesizer. There are corresponding voice settings in the 400-level models’ function menu which are not in the 300-level models’ function menu, such that you can modify any of the 400’s preset sounds (within limits) and save the changed sounds in a Registration for later recall, whereas you can’t do that with the 300’s preset sounds.

As for those Registrations, the 400 models have more of them than the 300 models do.

So you could say the 400 models are aimed more at people who want a keyboard with some (limited) synth-like features, whereas the 300 models are aimed more at people who don’t need those types of features.

Thank you, you give a better idea but I have the same question, 250 dollars really can make the difference or is better for me keep the money, because I believe the EW410 is better, when I think oh the future, the idea of a EW300 who can't give me all what I can want on mi piano comes to me and i want know I take the best option price/quality, for a first time I think on audio quality and something like that, and somebody told me EW300 can untune, and tha idea scary me because maybe my ear can get used to the detune, and when you don't know too much about something you have a lot of insecurities

 

[ACGarcia]

If you're more interested in a digital piano than a keyboard, you might want to broaden your considerations to include the P-121, which is a 73-key digital piano in Yamaha's P series.

Oh I saw on a store and I love it, but my idea is play the piano on a Church (Glory to God some days I play the piano, but I really need to practice on my house) and I think maybe the Keyboard can have more utilities for me, but Now you make me think about a digital piano for me and leave the keyboard, that's complicade for someone who don't know much about that

 

[ACGarcia]

If you're more interested in a digital piano than a keyboard, you might want to broaden your considerations to include the P-121, which is a 73-key digital piano in Yamaha's P series.

Can you give me a better idea of what make the Keyboard good for somebody and what make the Digital Piano good for somebody, and some examples of pianos near of the Ew300 price?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

A digital piano is going to have more piano-like keys, especially if it's a decent digital piano that has "graded scale weighting" on the keys, which means the lower keys feel "heavier" and the higher keys feel "lighter" in their response as far as how forcefully you have to strike them, as on a real piano.

In contrast, most keyboards have either unweighted synth- or organ-style keys, sometimes called "diving board style" because they're flat with perhaps a little plastic coming down on their sides and fronts. Some keyboards have box-shaped keys which look piano-like, but they are usually only semi-weighted, so even though they might look more like piano keys it doesn't really feel like you're playing a piano.

Another difference related to the keys is that a digital piano typically has 88 keys like an acoustic piano does, although some models might have only 76 or 73 keys for people who don't have room for a wider 88-key digital piano.

In contrast, most keyboards have only 61 keys, although some models might have 76 keys for people who need a bit more than 61 keys.

As far as sounds, many digital pianos have only a dozen sounds, or perhaps up to two or three dozen, which typically include a few acoustic piano sounds, a few electric piano sounds, a few organ sounds, possibly some other keyboard sounds like harpsichord, and possibly some acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and string section sounds. Even though there aren't usually that many sounds, they are generally high quality.

In contrast, most keyboards have at least a few hundred sounds, and some models may have close to a thousand sounds. These typically include everything you'd find on a digital piano-- although the quality might perhaps be lesser than on a digital piano-- as well as electric guitars, brass (trumpets and other horns), reed instruments, saxophones, flutes and other woodwinds, a large variety of synth sounds, and a variety of drum sets.

Another difference is that digital pianos are often designed to be able to take three different pedals as on a real piano, whereas most keyboards are designed to take a sustain pedal and possibly also an expression pedal.

These are just some generalizations, and they aren't always true-- particularly with regard to the number of sounds-- so you just have to check the specifications for any particular models that you're interested in to see what their specifications are.

As far as price, most digital pianos are going to cost a good bit more than a keyboard, partly because of the number of keys (88 versus 76 or 61), but also because of the type of keybed (graded scale weighting versus semi-weighted or unweighted).

I think the only digital pianos you're likely to find that are around the price of a PSR-EW300 will probably be something like the Williams Legato III or the Williams Allegro III. I'm not sure whether they're supposed to have graded scale weighting or just semi-weighting, and I have no experience with them, but I've seen comments from "serious" or professional keyboardists and pianists who basically don't think Williams digital pianos are very good, either in sound quality or in the responsiveness and feel of the keys.

If you go up a bit more on your budget, you could consider the Casio CDP-135 or CDP-S100. However, I think those models are said to be not quite as good as the Casio Privia models, with the most affordable model being the Casio PX-160.

However, all of those Williams and Casio models have 88 keys.

 

[ACGarcia]

A digital piano is going to have more piano-like keys, especially if it's a decent digital piano that has "graded scale weighting" on the keys, which means the lower keys feel "heavier" and the higher keys feel "lighter" in their response as far as how forcefully you have to strike them, as on a real piano.

In contrast, most keyboards have either unweighted synth- or organ-style keys, sometimes called "diving board style" because they're flat with perhaps a little plastic coming down on their sides and fronts. Some keyboards have box-shaped keys which look piano-like, but they are usually only semi-weighted, so even though they might look more like piano keys it doesn't really feel like you're playing a piano.

Another difference related to the keys is that a digital piano typically has 88 keys like an acoustic piano does, although some models might have only 76 or 73 keys for people who don't have room for a wider 88-key digital piano.

In contrast, most keyboards have only 61 keys, although some models might have 76 keys for people who need a bit more than 61 keys.

As far as sounds, many digital pianos have only a dozen sounds, or perhaps up to two or three dozen, which typically include a few acoustic piano sounds, a few electric piano sounds, a few organ sounds, possibly some other keyboard sounds like harpsichord, and possibly some acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and string section sounds. Even though there aren't usually that many sounds, they are generally high quality.

In contrast, most keyboards have at least a few hundred sounds, and some models may have close to a thousand sounds. These typically include everything you'd find on a digital piano-- although the quality might perhaps be lesser than on a digital piano-- as well as electric guitars, brass (trumpets and other horns), reed instruments, saxophones, flutes and other woodwinds, a large variety of synth sounds, and a variety of drum sets.

Another difference is that digital pianos are often designed to be able to take three different pedals as on a real piano, whereas most keyboards are designed to take a sustain pedal and possibly also an expression pedal.

These are just some generalizations, and they aren't always true-- particularly with regard to the number of sounds-- so you just have to check the specifications for any particular models that you're interested in to see what their specifications are.

As far as price, most digital pianos are going to cost a good bit more than a keyboard, partly because of the number of keys (88 versus 76 or 61), but also because of the type of keybed (graded scale weighting versus semi-weighted or unweighted).

I think the only digital pianos you're likely to find that are around the price of a PSR-EW300 will probably be something like the Williams Legato III or the Williams Allegro III. I'm not sure whether they're supposed to have graded scale weighting or just semi-weighting, and I have no experience with them, but I've seen comments from "serious" or professional keyboardists and pianists who basically don't think Williams digital pianos are very good, either in sound quality or in the responsiveness and feel of the keys.

If you go up a bit more on your budget, you could consider the Casio CDP-135 or CDP-S100. However, I think those models are said to be not quite as good as the Casio Privia models, with the most affordable model being the Casio PX-160.

However, all of those Williams and Casio models have 88 keys.

I think the way is the keyboard

What you think about the difference of the PRS EW300 and 410, 250 can give me a really better piano? Or is better price/quality the Ew300

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I have the PSR-EW400, the model prior to the PSR-EW410, as well as the PSR-E443, PSR-E433, and YPT-400 (another name for the PSR-E403). I started with the PSR-E433, which I chose after carefully considering the features and prices of the various PSR-E and PSR-S models that were available at that time. The specific features that I wanted were the ability to edit the voice parameters-- especially attack/release and cutoff/resonance-- and save the "new voice" for later recall. The PSR-E433 was the least expensive Yamaha model that could do that, plus it had a Pitch Bend Wheel, as well as two "Live Control" knobs with assignable functions-- something the much more expensive PSR-S models didn't even have (assignable knobs), although the current PSR-S models do.

If I were shopping around today and focusing primarily on Yamaha models, I would probably go with the PSR-S670 because it's the least expensive model that lets you actually load in new sounds, plus it has most of the other features that interested me in the PSR-E433. The PSR-S670 also has better-sounding voices than the PSR-E463 and PSR-EW410, as well as a Modulation Wheel.

But having said all of that, the PSR-EW300 is still a fine keyboard if you don't really need to be able to play around with the attack/release and cutoff/resonance settings of the voices. Actually, Yamaha makes an iPad app called "Sound Controller" that works with the PSR-EW300 and other models. Among other things, that app lets you alter the attack/release and cutoff/resonance settings of the voices, and it also adds a virtual Pitch Bend Wheel and virtual Modulation Wheel. So if you have an iPad, you can use that app (which is free) with a PSR-EW300 to add some of the same functionalities found on the PSR-EW410.

EDIT/Addendum -- If you don't have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, Yamaha does not make Android or Windows versions of the "Sound Controller" app, but you can still use other MIDI "virtual controller" apps to do the same sort of thing in Android, Linux, Windows, or macOS-- as long as you're able to connect the keyboard to your computer or smart device via USB-MIDI. Note that some Android tablets and phones weren't able to do that, although I believe that later versions of Android include built-in drivers for "USB On-The-Go" or "USB OTG" connections, and the PSR-EW300 is class-compliant so it doesn't require Yamaha's proprietary USB-MIDI driver as earlier models used to. In other words, if you happen to have a newer Android tablet or phone-- as opposed to an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch-- then you should still be able to use a MIDI "virtual controller" app to change the voice parameters on a PSR-EW300.

The bottom line is, you should always try to find a nearby store that carries whatever keyboards you're interested in, and if possible see if you can spend a bit of time trying out the keyboard in the store before you decide whether you think you'd be happy with it.