Yamaha Digital Piano YDP Series Review Part One :YDP 323, YDP 223 and Arius YDP 160
Today we are kicking off this first part of my YDP (Yamaha Digital Piano) Series reviews and I will talk about 3 keyboard models: Yamaha YDP 323(the one I have), Yamaha YDP 223(the top-seller) and Yamaha Arius YDP 160 (the latest one in Yamaha's YDP family). Other Yamaha YDP models will be covered in the second part of this series review later on.
My reviews are based on my 6-year working experience in a musical instrument store. with my 1st-hand stuffs, I believe they will help when you are looking for a Yamaha Digital Piano.
I picked Yamaha YDP home series to start simply because they are the most popular digital pianos today with a really wide range of accommodation, from the first-time piano player to a professional pianist.
Finally huge thanks to my lovely daughter Molly for uploading all the articles and setting this page up. (u r welcome dad ;))">
Take care,
John
johnswanson2000@gmail.com
Ps.
I received a couple of emails asking the info of my working place. Here I apologize for not disclosing the brand of my store. Because No. 1, Molly and I we are not doing this for any profit, but providing the best help with my knowledge. And No.2, you can use the information you learn from here to get yours anywhere else. And the truth is the net price online is always 2%-5% lower than in a traditional instrumental store. So I can't guarantee you a real bargain even if you come to me.
I feel the best we can do is to add a price compare box at the end of each review. It will filled with a few online stores that I did business with and trust(again none of them is mine). And Molly is going to check their latest prices and post them up for your reference.
Finally..
my dad's review of Arius YDP 140 is available now on John's Yamaha digital piano review -- YDP series part two.
sorry about the delay though :) _M
Yamaha Digital Piano YDP 323 Review
So 323 is the first review and I'm gonna write more about it here. Not only because I own it, but I also want to cover some shared aspects that would be compressed in the other models' reviews.
Yamaha YDP 323
First, Let's Open The Ears To The Incredible Sounds Of The Yamaha YDP 323
You'll get a sense what a digital piano means
Thanks to Les my little friend for sharing this video! I feel the "dual mode: combination of piano#2 and strings as you did for this song is superb!
Kiss the Rain-Yiruma (cover by Lucas)
I only played parts of it yeah I made mistakes...I played this song by ear and I also adding strings to the piano so yeah hope you like it and tell me what you think oh yeah i'm using a yamaha YDP-323 piano with stage reverb and dual layer voicings piano#2 and strings.
Yamaha Digital Piano - Yamaha YDP 323 Review
We've been using it for years without regretting
Back to year 2000 Yamaha YDP 323 was one of the most advanced models in the army of Yamaha digital piano. No fancy stuff, simply perfect sound and touch, plus the beautiful rosewood finish with a reasonable price, all these simply made Yamaha YDP 323 catch my eyeballs after we moving to New York City and looking for a "fixture" in our apartment on 76 street.
On the first day I tried it I realized it's made for people like Molly and me who were looking for a relaxing playing pleasure in the city rather than a thousands dollars bill on a spacing-occupying acoustic one. I took it down without hesitating and since then we've been enjoying it for over 7 years and we never regretted. Until today YDP 323 is still seating on the top of my favorite Yamaha digital pianos and I'd like to give my first review to it.
Authentic Sounds of a Grand Concert Piano
"How good does a digital piano sound like?" is no doubt the No.1 concern that most people have, and so do I. Now let me tell you this: the Yamaha YDP 323 does provide you the REAL SOUNDS of a acoustic grand piano, literally. And this is really making Yamaha digital piano A PIANO that apart from a traditional electrical keyboard.
This achieving is derived from Yamaha's unique Stereo Sampling with Advanced Wave Memory technology. Generally explaining, it precisely captures the most uncatchable sound waves of a tone with two microphones set up around a concert piano in studio and then store the data in a digital format So when it plays back as you hit the key, what you hear is the true sounds came out from that concert acoustic piano, but not any so-called advanced composed electronic ones.
Before the YDP 323, Yamaha only provided good sounds with her more expensive series. As the classic YDP piano, 323 set up a new I standard for home digital piano which has been benefiting tons of Yamaha YDP players for years.
Real touch of a physical piano's keyboard
Besides the sounds, your finger-tip feelings should be next thing you focused on. We used to say that by touching the keyboard you just tell the class of a digital piano.
First of all I want you to keep in mind that theoretically there is no keyboard of any digital piano can produce the 100% keyboard feedback feeling as a physical piano does. Because the basic sound-triggering strategies are totally different between an acoustic piano (which passes your force onto the dampers that hit strings to produce vibrations in a natural way) and a digital keyboard (which determines the volume by detecting the speed you hit the keys). How to jump over this mechanical gap has been one of biggest problems of all the digital pianos.
I think it was in the middle of 90s last century, based on her centuries' fine acoustic pianos crafting professionals, Yamaha developed the keyboard feedback method called Graded Hammer Standard technology that was able to create over 90% percent of the force feedbacks through your playing experience. Rather than using springs and dampers like a normal electric keyboard, Graded Hammer technology bets on hammer weights and mechanical linkages to achieve the realistic touch.
In Yamaha YDP 323, it's the first time that the Graded Hammer Effect -- the upgrade version of Graded Hammer Standard was applied to home series digital pianos. You can imagine how big a improvement it was. The gap became so that players can smoothly transfer between a YDP 323 and a physical piano without notice it. I was totally amazed by this new level of real touch and I still am.
Useful Features Without Overwhelming
Yamaha YDP 323 doesn't have so many funny stuffs as YDP 223 or other console like Yamaha digital pianos do. Because that is not its expertise, not it was designed for. But the features it has are very practical and easy to use.
A few main features I often used are: (1) Damper, Soft and Sostenuto three-pedal system, which is very important for thoes more expressive performances and to gain a concert piano playing experience. (2) Build-in metronome, easy to use when you practice. (3)Tow headphone jets, so I can enjoy the dual play with Molly at midnight.
And there are a bunch of other features will be attractive to people used to play traditional electric keyboard and I also play with them occasionally: A selection of 10 Voices including electric piano, organ, strings and harpsichord; a built-in piano music library with 50 songs; a built-in recorder; digital re-verb effect; dual mode; variable touch sensitivity settings.
Beautiful Woodgrain, Lightweight Body
I do care about how things look. And this Yamaha YDP 323 doesn't let me down.
We put it in the living room of my apartment, leaning on the naked red brick wall in front of a fake fire place, and its walnut finished cabinet just looks beautifully shinning.
It has s total weight about 80 ponds. Even Molly can handle it around herself when we made the spring cleaning.
On the first day I tried it I realized it's made for people like Molly and me who were looking for a relaxing playing pleasure in the city rather than a thousands dollars bill on a spacing-occupying acoustic one. I took it down without hesitating and since then we've been enjoying it for over 7 years and we never regretted. Until today YDP 323 is still seating on the top of my favorite Yamaha digital pianos and I'd like to give my first review to it.
Authentic Sounds of a Grand Concert Piano
"How good does a digital piano sound like?" is no doubt the No.1 concern that most people have, and so do I. Now let me tell you this: the Yamaha YDP 323 does provide you the REAL SOUNDS of a acoustic grand piano, literally. And this is really making Yamaha digital piano A PIANO that apart from a traditional electrical keyboard.
This achieving is derived from Yamaha's unique Stereo Sampling with Advanced Wave Memory technology. Generally explaining, it precisely captures the most uncatchable sound waves of a tone with two microphones set up around a concert piano in studio and then store the data in a digital format So when it plays back as you hit the key, what you hear is the true sounds came out from that concert acoustic piano, but not any so-called advanced composed electronic ones.
Before the YDP 323, Yamaha only provided good sounds with her more expensive series. As the classic YDP piano, 323 set up a new I standard for home digital piano which has been benefiting tons of Yamaha YDP players for years.
Real touch of a physical piano's keyboard
Besides the sounds, your finger-tip feelings should be next thing you focused on. We used to say that by touching the keyboard you just tell the class of a digital piano.
First of all I want you to keep in mind that theoretically there is no keyboard of any digital piano can produce the 100% keyboard feedback feeling as a physical piano does. Because the basic sound-triggering strategies are totally different between an acoustic piano (which passes your force onto the dampers that hit strings to produce vibrations in a natural way) and a digital keyboard (which determines the volume by detecting the speed you hit the keys). How to jump over this mechanical gap has been one of biggest problems of all the digital pianos.
I think it was in the middle of 90s last century, based on her centuries' fine acoustic pianos crafting professionals, Yamaha developed the keyboard feedback method called Graded Hammer Standard technology that was able to create over 90% percent of the force feedbacks through your playing experience. Rather than using springs and dampers like a normal electric keyboard, Graded Hammer technology bets on hammer weights and mechanical linkages to achieve the realistic touch.
In Yamaha YDP 323, it's the first time that the Graded Hammer Effect -- the upgrade version of Graded Hammer Standard was applied to home series digital pianos. You can imagine how big a improvement it was. The gap became so that players can smoothly transfer between a YDP 323 and a physical piano without notice it. I was totally amazed by this new level of real touch and I still am.
Useful Features Without Overwhelming
Yamaha YDP 323 doesn't have so many funny stuffs as YDP 223 or other console like Yamaha digital pianos do. Because that is not its expertise, not it was designed for. But the features it has are very practical and easy to use.
A few main features I often used are: (1) Damper, Soft and Sostenuto three-pedal system, which is very important for thoes more expressive performances and to gain a concert piano playing experience. (2) Build-in metronome, easy to use when you practice. (3)Tow headphone jets, so I can enjoy the dual play with Molly at midnight.
And there are a bunch of other features will be attractive to people used to play traditional electric keyboard and I also play with them occasionally: A selection of 10 Voices including electric piano, organ, strings and harpsichord; a built-in piano music library with 50 songs; a built-in recorder; digital re-verb effect; dual mode; variable touch sensitivity settings.
Beautiful Woodgrain, Lightweight Body
I do care about how things look. And this Yamaha YDP 323 doesn't let me down.
We put it in the living room of my apartment, leaning on the naked red brick wall in front of a fake fire place, and its walnut finished cabinet just looks beautifully shinning.
It has s total weight about 80 ponds. Even Molly can handle it around herself when we made the spring cleaning.
Molly's Price Research For Yamaha YDP 323
From trustable online resources only
Hi, Molly here! I'll be in charge of checking the latest prices online based on a short list Dad gave me. I plan to make the update twice a week but not daily :). If you find any spot listed below is out of date, please email me at molly.sws@gmail.com with your help. Thanks~ _M
here are my search results as of Sep 19:
www.guitarcenter.com/yamahadigitalpiano-ydp323
$1299.99 (/w bench) + 69.99(shipping cost) + ?(tax)
= $1369.98 + ?(tax)
www.instrumentpro.com/yamaha-digital-piano-ydp-323
$1299.99(/w bench&headphone!) - 64.99(5% off with coupon code "AFF09") - 100(mail in rebate) + 0(calculated shipping) + 0(tax ex CA)
=$1135
not in stock
so Molly is picking instrumentpro again. Its headphone is not a high-end one but useful since you can't use the ipod ear phone with the big jack. Plus the $100 mail in rebate and coupon.. i'll say this is the one!
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here are my search results as of Sep 19:
www.guitarcenter.com/yamahadigitalpiano-ydp323
$1299.99 (/w bench) + 69.99(shipping cost) + ?(tax)
= $1369.98 + ?(tax)
www.instrumentpro.com/yamaha-digital-piano-ydp-323
$1299.99(/w bench&headphone!) - 64.99(5% off with coupon code "AFF09") - 100(mail in rebate) + 0(calculated shipping) + 0(tax ex CA)
=$1135
not in stock
so Molly is picking instrumentpro again. Its headphone is not a high-end one but useful since you can't use the ipod ear phone with the big jack. Plus the $100 mail in rebate and coupon.. i'll say this is the one!
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Yamaha Digital Piano YDP 223 Review
I think Yamaha YDP 223 came out 2 years later than YDP 323. So it've got everything 323 has, plus an upgraded
electric feature control system. Which makes YDP 223 a console digital piano.
Yamaha YDP 223
A Closer Look At Yamaha YDP 223
Thanks to my friend mark, now you can experience the main advanced features of the Yamaha YDP 223 via this video.
Yamaha Digital Piano - Yamaha YDP 223 Review
The top selling console piano
Okay, in this review, let's talk about the Yamaha digital piano "star" -- 2004-2007 America's top-selling digital piano -- Yamaha YDP 223.
In 2003, 3 Years after I bought my YDP 323, Yamaha made another big move. That was the lunch of YDP 223, the top console digital piano in Yamaha's YDP series. And it's not hard to imagine what is driving people to it. Here are the 2 main reasons:
Perfect Playing Experience: Sounds, Keyboard and Pedals
For us who are looking for the alternative of an acoustic piano, the Yamaha YDP 223 gets the same score -- might be a little bit higher than a YDP 323 does. Sounds, Keyboard and Pedals are the three things you can only get from a acoustic piano, and this makes them the best ruler when you're "measuring" a digital piano.
Sounds -- the stereo Sampling and AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) technology captures and presents the true sound of a grand piano. Touch -- the highly featured Graded Hammer Effect gives you the real finger force feedback as a real keyboard (somehow I feel the 223's keyboard is designed slightly lighter than the 323, so its more friendly to beginner players in my opinion). Pedal -- the three-pedal system behaves the same way as of a Baldwin concert piano.
Pleasing Additional Features to Enjoy
If you are comparing YDP 223 to 323, at the first glance you will notice that 223 has a wide console stage right above the keyboard which 323 doesn't has, and from where you can easily access its decent functions. For 323 you need to use the combination of function buttons and keys to control its settings.
My customers who used to play electric keyboard always prefered to take this advantage of YDP 223's console. So they own the amazing sounds and touch of a grand piano, and a bunch of highly entertaining features as well.
Let me give you a sense about what you can do with the console stage. You can set up the volume, the speed of your metronome there; select on song from its build-in 50 songs library there; choose a tone from a wide choices of 14 voices there (GrandPiano, Electric Piano, Harpsichord, Vibraphone, Church Organ, Jazz Organ, Strings, Choir, and Guitar etc); turn on the Dual Voice mode that allows you to combine two voices at once there (Yamaha YDP 323 also has this feature, Les' video above shows how it sounds); control the touch level there (Hard/Medium/Soft/Fixed), etc etc.
And Last but not least, this Yamaha digital piano has a very handy build-in 2-track recorder (YDP 323 only has 1-track) which stacks 3 layers of your play together -- like a mini-studio. Lots of professional pianists use it to record their work pieces. And for players it simply brings a lot of fun.
In 2003, 3 Years after I bought my YDP 323, Yamaha made another big move. That was the lunch of YDP 223, the top console digital piano in Yamaha's YDP series. And it's not hard to imagine what is driving people to it. Here are the 2 main reasons:
Perfect Playing Experience: Sounds, Keyboard and Pedals
For us who are looking for the alternative of an acoustic piano, the Yamaha YDP 223 gets the same score -- might be a little bit higher than a YDP 323 does. Sounds, Keyboard and Pedals are the three things you can only get from a acoustic piano, and this makes them the best ruler when you're "measuring" a digital piano.
Sounds -- the stereo Sampling and AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) technology captures and presents the true sound of a grand piano. Touch -- the highly featured Graded Hammer Effect gives you the real finger force feedback as a real keyboard (somehow I feel the 223's keyboard is designed slightly lighter than the 323, so its more friendly to beginner players in my opinion). Pedal -- the three-pedal system behaves the same way as of a Baldwin concert piano.
Pleasing Additional Features to Enjoy
If you are comparing YDP 223 to 323, at the first glance you will notice that 223 has a wide console stage right above the keyboard which 323 doesn't has, and from where you can easily access its decent functions. For 323 you need to use the combination of function buttons and keys to control its settings.
My customers who used to play electric keyboard always prefered to take this advantage of YDP 223's console. So they own the amazing sounds and touch of a grand piano, and a bunch of highly entertaining features as well.
Let me give you a sense about what you can do with the console stage. You can set up the volume, the speed of your metronome there; select on song from its build-in 50 songs library there; choose a tone from a wide choices of 14 voices there (GrandPiano, Electric Piano, Harpsichord, Vibraphone, Church Organ, Jazz Organ, Strings, Choir, and Guitar etc); turn on the Dual Voice mode that allows you to combine two voices at once there (Yamaha YDP 323 also has this feature, Les' video above shows how it sounds); control the touch level there (Hard/Medium/Soft/Fixed), etc etc.
And Last but not least, this Yamaha digital piano has a very handy build-in 2-track recorder (YDP 323 only has 1-track) which stacks 3 layers of your play together -- like a mini-studio. Lots of professional pianists use it to record their work pieces. And for players it simply brings a lot of fun.
Molly's Price Search For Yamaha YDP 223
From trustable online resources only
My search result on Yamaha YDP 223 as of Sep 19:
www.guitarcenter.com/yamahadigitalpiano-ydp223
$1599.99 (/w bench) + 69.99(shipping cost) + ?(state tax)
= $1669.98 + ?(state tax)
www.instrumentpro.com/yamaha-digital-piano-ydp-223
$1599.00(/w bench) + 50(shipping cost) + 0(tax ex CA)
=$1649.00
www.zzounds.com/yamahadigitalpiano/ydp223
$1599.95(/w bench) + 19.99(ground shipping) + 0(tax except NJ)
=$1619.94
So zzounds offers the lowest shipping cost and 0 tax in most of the states. Molly's pick is zzounds! _M
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----------------------------------------------------
www.guitarcenter.com/yamahadigitalpiano-ydp223
$1599.99 (/w bench) + 69.99(shipping cost) + ?(state tax)
= $1669.98 + ?(state tax)
www.instrumentpro.com/yamaha-digital-piano-ydp-223
$1599.00(/w bench) + 50(shipping cost) + 0(tax ex CA)
=$1649.00
www.zzounds.com/yamahadigitalpiano/ydp223
$1599.95(/w bench) + 19.99(ground shipping) + 0(tax except NJ)
=$1619.94
So zzounds offers the lowest shipping cost and 0 tax in most of the states. Molly's pick is zzounds! _M
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Yamaha Digital Piano Arius YDP 160 Review
Yamaha Arius YDP 160 is the latest Yamaha digital piano you can find. It was resealed this may, and it is just as fresh as a daisy. It looks like YDP 323, but is making a killer solid improvement inside.
Yamaha Arius YDP 160
Yamaha Digital Piano - Yamaha Arius YDP 160 Review
The newest Yamaha digital piano
One of the most exciting parts seems to me this year is the launching of Yamaha Arius YDP 160 - the brand new model in YDP family.Powered by a higher-level performance core, this new born is standing on the shoulders of YDP 323 and Arius YDP 140 and even bypassing the existing 223 king%u2026 I actually feel that Arius YDP 160 is pushing YDP series Yamaha digital piano into the next level.
Why would I say that? What kind of improvements deserve us so be so excited about?
Remember what I mentioned about the two key factors of any digital piano? One, Keyboard feeling and two, sound.
In the case of Yamaha Arius YDP 160, for the keyboard part it's just using the best GHE(Graded Hammer Effect) one that also used by YDP 323 and 223, which guarantees the real finger-touch. I feel it is a little bit lighter than YDP 323 and about the same as YDP 323, some players may find it is more friendly%u2026 but hey, this benefit is still far from the point am going to talk about.
The real answer is the updating of 160's sound engine!
Let me explain. Yamaha YDP 323 and YDP 223 use the classic AWM Stereo Sampling technology to achieve the amazing imitation of the sounds of an acoustic concert piano. It works perfectly to represent the nature sound wave of any tone of the 88 keys on the keyboard, but%u2026 only for a medium strike -- that's how the grand piano was played when the recording was getting done in the studio.
You are right. The question remains behind the corner. People used to play a physical piano may have noticed that the sound of each tone gently varies if you hit the key with different forces -- from soft, medium to hard. It is so subtle that you have quite a chance not to aware it. People used to think it's just the difference caused by the volume, but scientific experiment is showing the tiny shift of the sound waves is also going on there.
I'm not a professional pianist and I had enough fun with my YDP 323, but a couple of my friends are well-trained musicians. They told me the digital sounds somehow went unreal or shallow during a wide range song. And this actually drove the YDP Series of Yamaha digital pianos out of their list and asked me about the other more expensive high-end models of Yamaha or other brands like Korg or Roland --that's going to be another story. But the reason that those top performance Yamaha digital pianos can satisfy even the most peaky guys is because a feature called --
Dynamic Stereo Sampling
Yamaha sophisticated Dynamic Stereo Sampling is about taking recordings at different 3 levels of soft, medium and loud of each key and comprises these multiple stereo recordings of an actual grand piano. Depending on how hard you play, there is not just the change of the volume, but the sound waves are accurately represented as well. Thus you get the full control over the sound.
I used say this sampling technology is a killer as it sews the gap between a digital sound and a physical one. Arius YDP 160 is the first Yamaha YDP one embodies this technology and this makes it stand out of the line. Just a personal feeling that it seems unfair to me for the other Yamaha YDP models or other brands' keyboards within this price range to compete with Arius YDP 160. I would think of going for it if I do not have my YDP 323.
Until today as I'm writing this review Arius YDP 160 has been released in the market for about two months and it is getting so hot that it's just out of stock soon after the new ones are shipped in. And when more than half of the customers are hunting for it what I see is the best selling winner of the year of 2008 here.
Oh btw, there is another thing I love about Arius YDP 160 is that after getting rid of the full size console stage, it looks more comfortable to my eyes and some how gives me a more piano-like feeling. It is 99% percent like YDP 323, except for the material of the sheet holder is changed from glass to solid rose wood which I do appreciate.
And all its electric features are just the as same to YDP 323, nothing more nothing less. I'm not going to repeat it again here. You can check my earlier review for that information.
Molly's Price Search On Yamaha Arius YDP 160
From trustable online retailers only
Here are my search results as of Sep 19:
www.guitarcenter.com/yamahadigitalpiano-ydp160
$1299.99 + 69.99(shipping cost)
= $1369.98
not in stock this time
www.zzounds.com/yamahadigitalpiano/ydp160
$1299.95 (/w bench)+ $19.99(Ground shipping)+ 0 (Tax Except NJ)
=$1319.94
zzounds rocks!
_M
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www.guitarcenter.com/yamahadigitalpiano-ydp160
$1299.99 + 69.99(shipping cost)
= $1369.98
not in stock this time
www.zzounds.com/yamahadigitalpiano/ydp160
$1299.95 (/w bench)+ $19.99(Ground shipping)+ 0 (Tax Except NJ)
=$1319.94
zzounds rocks!
_M
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dad,
we need 3 reviews on this page
1.ydp 323 the one we use
2.ydp 223 The most popular seller
3.ydp 160
as you're done any of them, send me via email
m
Here is the blog I found on the net about Yamaha digital piano
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byDo you have any thoughts on Yamaha Digital Piano?
If so please share them!
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autocadr14
I love playing piano when I was a kid. Now I am about to pick it up with a digital one. Posted August 13, 2008 |
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internhead
Your review is awesome. I was lucky enough to have a YDP 223 in my life and I had a great time. Keep up the good work. Posted July 21, 2008 |
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fatelove
I can't believe I haven't stopped by before! My husband, Greg, is a huge yamaha digital piano fan and we're looking for our 2nd stage piano and just learned a lot from your reviews. Thank you for the great information John! Posted July 20, 2008 |
Yamaha Digital Piano on Ebay
Ebay is a place you sometimes can get the real big deal. Molly used to buy everything there. So we'll put this part here to see if we can get anything interesting.
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
