Tag Archives: Yamaha P-515

Yamaha P-515: I played one

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I’ve been toying with the idea of a digital piano at home in order to improve my meager piano skills. Too many years of organ, synths and lead sheets have let my piano skills go to seed. I want an instrument that provides a comfortable transition to the acoustic grand at the church. [After trying the P-515, I played the Petrof grand at church and the P-515 experience translates very well.]

I always like Yamaha’s top of the P-series line (P-150, P-200 and beyond). The flagship piano slabs are just portable enough (45 pound-ish), have built-in speakers, and decent action. The built-in speakers are good for practice and pass along physical vibrations as though you’re seated behind the real thing.

Yamaha P-515 digital piano

The latest model in this venerable line is the P-515. In terms of features, comparing the P-515 to the P-150 is like comparing an electronics-rich BMW to a 1990s Toyota. The P-515 communicates to the outside world through 5-pn MIDI, USB, Bluetooth, WiFi and good ole analog audio. The P-515 has MIDI and audio recording similar to a contemporary arranger. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of Genos quick and multi-track recording; P-515 is not too far behind. And, the Smart Pianist™ app keeps getting better and better.

Yamaha NWX (natural wood with escapement)

Then there is the keybed action. Yamaha equipped the P-515 with the NWX natural wood with escapement keybed formerly available only in the Clavinova line. The NWX is a solid step up from GHS. The only thing GHS has over NWX is lighter weight. After playing NWX, forget GHS.

The great stuff

If all you want is great acoustic piano from a $1,600 (USD) digital instrument, buy this. The P-515 has all of the acoustic sweeteners missing from Genos, Montage (MODX), CK, and even the current CP stage piano. The P-515 sound engine implements Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM): damper resonance, string resonance, Aliquot resonance and body resonance.

Playing this piano satisfies thanks to the NWX action and excellent hand, key, ear connection. The CFX is very good and the Bösendorfer is even better. I prefer the darker sound of the Bösendorfer over the CFX, but still!

The electric pianos are not bad. The Rhodes might be a little too laid back and the Wurli might be a little too aggressive. However, you can get sweet tones out of this machine.

The not so great stuff

After picking me up with the piano sounds, Yamaha disappointed me with many of the non-piano voices. After playing Genos and MODX (Montage), I know that Yamaha can do better. Yamaha’s new stage piano series (CP and YC) have raised my expectations of secondary, non-piano voices.

Quite frankly, I find the string, pad and organ voices to be dated. The string voices are bad and not up to current standards. The dark pad seems useable in church; I cannot think of using the light pad in liturgical music.

The jazz organ sounds are long in the tooth and the pipe organ voices have been around a long time. The organ principal voice is useable. The “Phantom of the Opera” tutti is not generally useful in church. Further, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is not a simple piece and I wonder how many home players really use this voice? The newer CLPs have added “Grand Jeu and pipe organ flute registrations. That’s a good move and I hope they are added to the next iteration of the P-515.

Yamaha and everybody else in the home piano space needs to drop the crap choir voices. [There, I said it.] These sounds are clichéd and utterly useless. Harpsichord is on the bubble, too. There are better uses for waveform ROM.

The P-series non-piano sounds need a drastic update. Yamaha engineers need to break out of their product silos, walk over to the synth group or whoever, and ask, “Hey, what are your absolutely go-to sounds?” and adopt them. My suggestion: Cop Seattle strings, VP soft, and Genos pipe organs. Ditch a few harpsichords and add more clav or EP.

Is it hopeless?

Not entirely. The P-515 has an XG sound set. Yes, XG is dated, too, but it is comprehensive. The P-515 user interface requires a little menu-diving to find the XG sounds. The P-515 does not have a way to store your set-ups directly on the keyboard — another minus. The Smart Pianist app comes to the rescue, letting you create and store set-ups.

Yamaha, maybe add a few on-board memory storage locations in the next iteration of the flagship model? While we’re talking improvements, 1.4 Megabytes of internal memory is absurdly small, too. In this day and age, potential customers will think this a typo or a joke.

If you absolutely require a wider range of non-piano sounds, then Yamaha’s CP or YC series stage pianos may be the answer. Of course, you will spend more money.

        MAP 
Model  Price  CFX  Bösen  VRM  Keybed 
-----  -----  ---  -----  ---  -------------------------------- 
CK88   $1500   Y     N     N   GHS graded hammer 
P-515  $1600   Y     Y     Y   NWX Natural Wood escapement (X) 
CP88   $2600   Y     Y     N   NW-GH Natural Wood Graded Hammer 
YC88   $3150   Y     N     N   NW-GH3 Natural Wood Graded Hammer

The CK88’s GHS keybed is out of the NW league. The price is attractive, though, and a little bit lower than P-515, so I included the CK88 for comparison. The CP88 and YC88 lose VRM and the YC88 loses the Bösendorfer, too. The P-515 is positioned in Yamaha’s piano family (simple front panel and Smart Pianist) while the other instruments are positioned in the stage keyboard family (interactive, intuitive front panel and in-built patch memory),

You put your money down and make your choice.

Conclusion

I really want to end on an upbeat note. So, again, if all you want or need are great acoustic piano tones, buy this. With its connectivity options, I can rely on MODX or Genos for non-piano voices [at home, anyway].

As much as I want a P-515, I likely will wait for its successor. P-515 was released in 2018 and it’s due for an update. Yamaha, please?

Other reviews and comments about digital pianos:

Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski

“P” is for “piano”: Yamaha P-S500 digital piano

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While we’re distracted with “CK”, “AN”, and whatnot, Yamaha sneaks out a new P-series digital piano in Europe: the Yamaha P-S500.

Natch, you can read all about the P-S500 at Yamaha’s European web site. Physically, it’s a minimalist slab that’s designed primarily for the home or small studio market segments. Cost is about 2,100 Euro and I would expect it to retail for about $2000 USD in the States.

Yamaha P-S500 digital piano

Basic features [courtesy of Yamaha] are:

  • Compatible with Smart Pianist app installed to a smart device
  • Stream Lights feature helps you perform even if you can’t read music notation
  • Enjoy playing along with the 403 preset Songs, covering a wide range of genres from pop music to classical music
  • Audio To Score function converts your favorite audio songs into piano accompaniment scores
  • Authentic Yamaha CFX & Bösendorfer Imperial concert grand piano Voices
  • Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM)
  • 88-note weighted GHS keyboard
  • Huge variety of 660 high-quality instrument Voices, including Super Articulation Voices
  • Built-in Auto Accompaniment features with 370 Styles
  • Microphone input and automatic Vocal Harmony

Auto-accompaniment, styles, Super Articulation voices? We’ve seen these features in the DGX series, notably, the most recent DGX-670 model. The table below compares the P-S500 against the DGX-670. The DGX-670, by the way, goes for considerably less dough: $850 USD.

                DGX-670           P-S500 
                ----------------- --------------------------------- 
Main piano:     Yamaha CFX        CFX, Bösendorfer Imperial 
VRM:            Yes               Yes 
Key-off sound:  Yes               Yes 
Action:         GHS               GHS 
Piano Room:     Yes               Yes 
PB wheel:       Yes               No 
Dual/layer:     Yes               Yes 
Split:          Yes               Yes 
USB audio:      Play/record       Play/record 
Bluetooth:      Yes               Not built-in (optional)
Amplification:  2 x 6W            2 x (20W + 6W) 
Speakers:       2 x (12cm + 5cm)  2 x (12cm x 6cm oval+2.5cm dome)
Display:        480x272 color     80x16 mono LCD 
Weight          47.2 pounds       48.1 pounds

Here’s the decoder ring for Yamaha acronyms: Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM), Graded Hammer Standard (GHS), Super Articulation (SA), Cool (velocity switched), Live (stereo), Organ Flute (drawbar organ).

The P-S500 looks to be the upscale, uptown sibling of the DGX-670. At 48 pounds, I don’t think you’ll want to schlep the P-S500 out of the house very often. In terms of styles and voices, the P-S500 is superior:

                          DGX-670  P-S500 
                          -------  ------ 
Total voices              601      660     
    VRM voices            9        13     
    SA voices             49       111     
    Natural voices        11       25     
    Sweet voices          26       27     
    Cool voices           53       47     
    Live voices           68       58     
    Organ Flute voices    0        29 
Total styles              263      370     
    Pro styles            215      328     
    Session styles        19       25     
    Free Play styles      0        3     
    Pianist styles        29       13 
Drum Kits                 29       29

The P-S500 factory voice set includes many of my favorites. If you’re looking for a more than decent, mid-level keyboard with auto-accompaniment and a graded hammer keyboard, the P-S500 is worth a look. Versus a mid-level arranger keyboard, you’re still giving up a pitch bend wheel, multi-pads, style control buttons, MIDI record/edit, etc. If you just want to play and have a good piano experience, I’d go with the P-S500 in a heartbeat. (The DGX-670 is no slouch, either.)

There are many other differences that I’ve glossed over. So, if you’re trying to decide between DGX-670, an arranger or the P-S500, be sure to dig into the manuals and data list files. Yamaha doesn’t always make it easy to compare, especially as to your specific musical goals and use cases.

One enormous difference needs to be emphasized, however. The P-S500 front panel is utterly minimalist. If you want to exploit the P-S500 to its fullest, you must use the P-S500 with the Yamaha Smart Pianist app on a tablet (Apple or Android). In this respect, the P-S500 is more like the CSP series of digital pianos for the home. It’s like a CSP without the furniture. The CSP models have enhanced GH3X or NWX keybeds which improve the piano playing experience. Given that the Smart Pianist is almost a necessity, it’s kind of weird (cheap) to omit built-in Bluetooth.

Yamaha are certainly giving us choices!

A final, electronics nerd comment. While studying the internal design of current arranger, synth and digital piano products, the designs often seem like a deconstructed tablet connected to a keybed, tone generator and MIDI/USB interface. The digital electronics are remarkably similar. With the P-S500 and the CSP series, it’s like Yamaha said “Aw, the heck with it” and moved functionality out of the piano (arranger, synth) chassis into a stock, commercial tablet like iPad or Google Pixel tablet. I don’t think we have seen the end of this approach to instrument design…

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Copyright © 2022 Paul J. Drongowski