Yamaha P-145 and P-225 digital pianos - Sand, software and sound

Last week, Yamaha announced two new members of the P-series portable pianos: Yamaha P-145 and P-225. The Australians got to roll out new models first this time around. The P-145 replaces the old P-45 and the P-225 replaces the old P-125.

Both pianos feature a new slim, minimalist design with forward-firing internal speakers. Yamaha must have observed Casio’s success with slender slabs and decided to join the party. The slim design reminds me of my first electric “piano”, the Crumar Roadrunner. 🙂

The dawn of Yamaha P-225 — touch the GHC monolith!

Unlike the Roadrunner, the new P-models sound darned good. The P-225 features the CFX grand and the P-145 features the CFIIIS. The CFIIIS samples are tried and true, having finally trickled down to the entry level. The P-225 CFX is warmer and has more depth (to my ears) than the CFIIIS. The P-225 also has VRM Lite and key-off samples. Polyphony is 256 (P-225) versus 64 (P-145). The P-225 is further enhanced by “Wall EQ”, Intelligent Acoustic Control (IAC), and Stereophonic Optimizer.

Speaking of outputs, both have two stereo headphone jacks. The P-225 adds left and right AUX OUT jacks. Amplifier output is 7 Watts per channel for both models. The P-145 has two oval 12cm by 8cm speakers. The P-225 has two oval 12cm by 8cm speakers and adds a 5cm high frequency driver.

The P-225 has 24 voices to the P-145’s 10 voices. The voices cover the usual range of Yamaha tones: acoustic piano, electric piano, pipe organ, strings and pads. However, things do get interesting! There are actually four new models: the 143/145 pair and the 223/225 pair.

The 143/145 have two grand pianos, a tines (Rhodes) electric piano, an FM (DX) electric piano, strings, principal pipe organ and tutti pipe organ. The 143 has two harpsichords and vibraphone. The 145 has one harpsichord, accordian and Di Zi. Di Zi is a Chinese transverse flute. So, depending upon your region, you will be getting either the 143 or the 145!

The 223/225 pair have different voice groups and voices, too:

     P-223 Others     P-225 CLV/VIB 
    --------------    -------------- 
    Harpsichord 8'     E.Clavichord 
     Harpsi 8'+4'       Vibraphone 
      Accordion       Harpsichord 8' 
       Guzheng         Harpsi 8'+4'

P-223 has an “Others” voice group and 225 has a “CLV/VIB” group. Guzeng is Chinese zither. Strange that 145 has a flute and the 223 has a zither. Yamaha have clearly targeted models for Asia and models for “Western” regions. Gotta make a buck somewhere…

User interface on both models is the minimum. Neither have a display. Settings are made by holding down front panel buttons (METRONOME+RHYTHM) and striking the appropriate key. There is some feedback like a voice announcing “on” or “off”. Frankly, I can’t see doing this at a gig, especially a church gig when absolute silence is expected. OK, for home use.

The P-225 has a bunch of other extra features over the P-145: Bluetooth, recording, split voices, etc. Good news — Yamaha brought back the USB audio interface functionality that went missing in the P-125A. Both models have Smart Pianist and Rec’N’Share support.

The big news is the new Yamaha Graded Hammer Compact (GHC) action. GHC replaces the Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) action in the previous models. The reduced front-to-back depth of GHC allowed Yamaha to design and deliver a slimmer slab piano. (Front-firing speakers help reduce depth, too.) Since none of us have played GHC (as yet), it’s impossible to comment. However, I wonder if we will see GHC in other Yamaha products like synths or arrangers?