Recent blog posts on Yamaha digital pianos

[pjd]

Hi --

I'm finally venturing out of my cave and trying digital pianos. Here's a few posts about my experiences:

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-dgx-670-do-you-love-me/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-p-515-i-played-one/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-ck88-yes-i-played-one/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/p-is-for-piano-yamaha-p-s500-digital-piano/

The DGX-670 is an insanely great value. One of the local stores was willing to discount down to $750 USD. Thank goodness my spouse was with me and reason prevailed. 

All the best -- pj

[richkeys]

Excellent reviews.

I still have a DGX-640 from back in 2010  (my cat uses it now as a bed). The grand piano sample (not CFX) was actually quite nice and natural when just testing out individual notes, however it is quite weak sounding when playing, and the built-in speakers are plenty loud. But sample technology on a 2010 budget instrument is forgivable. The worst thing about it is the keys have a very noisy echo, and when they keys are pressed hard there is a hideous creaking plastic sound from the chassis. The instrument weighs a lot and build quality seems good, so this is really unacceptable. We joke at home that these are all just special Yamaha "effects" they included in this model. My point here is that even though this is an instrument from 2010, I would certainly hesitate to buy an updated keyboard from the DGX line based on this experience.

Rich

[pjd]

Hi Rich --

Thanks!

You raise a good point -- product durability. Funny, I think about durability of my car, furnace and refrigerator. Keyboard? Not so much.

I've seen comments in piano forums about issues even with high-end digital pianos. All that bashing must have an effect long-term!

Take care -- pj

[richkeys]

Hi PJ,

The DGX-640 was lightly used over the years. So I don't think in this case it's a durability issue. The noises probably were there from the start, but I don't remember for sure.

Rich