Monthly Archives: April 2025

Yamaha P-525: Mini review

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Yes, I played one! I want to thank Kennelly Keys in Everett, WA who let me bang away at their floor model ($1,600 USD).

Previously, I reviewed the P-515, CSP-170 and several other Yamaha digitals. I own and play the CSP-170 which has several features in common with the P-515: NWX keybed, 2017-era CFX and Bösendorfer pianos, and first generation VRM. The CSP-170 (and related P-S500) have many more sounds and features including auto-accompaniment and unlocked Smart Pianist functionality.

Thus, it’s interesting to return to the P-525 monolith after playing CSP-170 for a year and a half. I liked the P-515 when I reviewed it and I’m positive about the P-525 in its form factor at its price point. Please keep in mind that I could not A/B/C 515, 525 and 170 in the same room at the same time.

Yamaha P-525 digital slab piano

The P-525 has the Yamaha Grandtouch-S action. It’s not a step back from the NWX and it has a weightiness that I like without causing fatigue. Grandtouch-S seems well-built — tight — while the NWX is a bit thunky in comparison. Yamaha must have redesigned the key shape as I felt a bit more “cut” into my hands than NWX. I would not perform a lot of palm-swipes on Grandtouch-S.

Gratefully, Grandtouch-S is playable. The new Graded Hammer Compact (GHC) action in the P-225 is a hand-killer. Pass. The DGX-670 is an option if you want GHS in a quasi-portable form factor.

P-525 has an improved piano engine versus P-515 and CSP-170. You now get Grand Expression Modeling. The acoustic and electric pianos sound familiar (the same?), but it’s difficult to say more without an A/B/C comparison. I will say — the P-525 has a nice, playable dynamic response. I could definitely go from ppp to ff without thinking too hard about it. I’m happy with CSP-170, but I would be happier if it had Grand Expression Modeling.

The electric piano and organ offerings are familiar with respect to P-515. 525 adds a (very) few EP variants — the same basic Rhodes EP with different DSP effects applied.

Moving on to strings, pads and XG sounds, the 525 is similar as 515. However, this is where I miss the CSP-170 and its range of high quality voices. The CSP offers more EP and organ variations, too. I honestly don’t think I could go back to P-525 in this regard.

The P-525 has rhythms and a bass that will follow the harmony implied by your hands. Again, I can’t go back from CSP’s auto-accompaniment. If you want a richer experience, pass the P-525 by and go to the P-S500. It’s a CSP in a slab.

Of course, P-S500 and CSP need the Yamaha Smart Pianist (SP) app for full access and functions. SP with P-525 gives you:

  • Absolute rule and control over the acoustic pianos in Piano Room.
  • Easy access to secondary sounds and XG voices.
  • Chord Tracker song analysis and playback from audio songs.
  • PDF score analysis and playback.
  • An attempt at MIDI file playback.

“Attempt” because the P-525 displayed an error message and gave up when loading a Standard MIDI File (SMF). The SMF plays just fine through CSP. As mentioned, you don’t get Styles or auto-accompaniment. Just drum and bass is, well, kind of weak.

Certain Smart Pianist functions seemed slower than CSP. In a senior moment, I forgot to check the P-525 USB spec: USB Type C. So, I connected by 5-pin MIDI instead. Perhaps it’s unfair to criticize P-525 for being slow when I should have brought the appropriate cable. 

    Model       Amplification                Speakers
    -------   -----------------   -----------------------------
    P-515     (15 W + 5 W) × 2    ((12 cm × 6 cm) + 2.5 cm) × 2
    P-525     (20 W + 6 W) × 2    ((12 cm × 6 cm) + 2.5 cm) × 2
    CSP-170   (45 W + 45 W) × 2   (16 cm + 8 cm) × 2

The P-525 sound system got a small bump in power. The speaker box is redesigned. Volume is adequate for practice and home use, and would be adequate for personal monitoring when playing with a small acoustic group. To me, the P-525 seemed brighter than the P-515.

Redesigned Yamaha P-525 speaker box

In comparison, the CSP-170 is robust and much louder. Upper-end Clavinovas and CSPs exceed the (discontinued) CSP-170 sound system. In retrospect, I’m glad that I purchased the higher priced CSP-170 for home versus P-515. The CSP-170 is furniture, though, and not portable. If you want quasi-portability for home use and need more voices, try the P-S500 or DGX-670. Unfortunately, the P-S500 loses the Grandtouch-S and has a GHS action instead. Trade-offs, trade-offs, trade-offs!

P-525 weighs 22.0 kg (48 lb, 8 oz). P-S500 weighs 21.8 kg (48 lb, 1 oz). At 48 pounds, the P-525 and P-S500 are quasi-portable.

I recommend giving the Yamaha P-525 a spin. If you like the action, sound, form factor and price, you may be digging out your credit card.

Copyright © 2025 Paul J. Drongowski

Review: Behringer Dual-Phase

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I was a Mu-Tron enthusiast back in the day, and I still am an enthusiast today. More so, after buying a Behringer Dual-Phase.

I didn’t have the bucks for a Mu-Tron Bi-phase in the 1970s and I sure as heck cannot afford a vintage original. Mu-Tron offer their own re-issue at an affordable $479 USD. The Behringer Dual-Phase set me back $100 — almost an impulse purchase.

Vintage Mu-Tron units are $2,000 and up. I have two vintage Mu-Tron pedals — Micro V and C-200 Volume/Wah. Frankly, I’m scared to turn them on, especially the AC-powered Volume/Wah. I don’t want to see money go up in smoke!

The Dual-Phase has a bit of a checkered past for a young product. Behringer called it the “Behringer Bi-Phase”, ran into difficulty with the name, and paused the product. Eventually, it was released with the “Dual-Phase” moniker. No doubt there was a legal tussle somewhere.

Used Behringer units with the “Bi-Phase” graphic are commanding a premium — like a collectable penny with a misprint. The Behringer Dual-Phase is the same electronics and low selling price, so I don’t care if they call it “Uli’s phaser” or whatever.

When my Sweetwater sales engineer warned me that the Dual-Phase is discontinued, I bought one from Perfect Circuit. If you want a Dual-Phase, act immediately.

After hearing the Behringer Dual-Phase, I’m more than happy. Here are a few quick observations.

Behringer preserved the overall aesthetic and layout of a vintage Bi-Phase. I guess Behringer naming their thing “Bi-Phase” was one step too far. I always dug the look of Mu-Tron products. Even though I couldn’t afford an original Bi-Phase, I bought a Mu-Tron T-shirt, which I still have with the rest of my 70s memorabilia and Halloween attire. 🙂

Behringer gets a bad rap for reliability and quality. Yeah, some Behringer gear is priced super-low with quality to match. I’m thinking of their plastic fantastic guitar pedals.

However, Behringer do make some rugged, well-priced products and the Dual-Phase is one of them. The Dual-Phase has a solid, heavy metal chassis with 1/4″ jacks affixed by metal hex nuts. The controls feel reliable and the foot switches are sturdy. My only niggle concerning build is the ON/OFF switch. It’s just a bit retro-flimsy.

Speaking of power, the Dual-Phase does not come with an AC power adapter (even though the spec sheet says there should be one). Stated current consumption is a beefy 700mA. Fortunately, I have an adapter for every occasion and a 1SPOT 9V power adapter does the business.

Behringer Dual-Phase (Yamaha MODX6 background)

The original Bi-Phase is an enormous beast: 13¾”W X 10¾”D X 4¼”H. The Behringer is much smaller: 7.87″W x 6.87″D x 2.48″H. The image above shows the Dual-Phase perched on the upper right corner of a Yamaha MODX6.

Since I don’t have an original Bi-Phase for A/B comparison, I cannot make claims about authenticity. The Dual-Phase does sound very good and is in the right sonic territory. I’ve seen and heard reviews which give the Dual-Phase good marks for authenticity although settings do not line up one-for-one. I’m OK with that because the Dual-Phase is meant to be tweaked and played by ear.

This is a fun hands-on effect unit. I haven’t explored the expression pedal (CV IN) input as yet.

Most on-line reviews cover use with guitar. We play keys, here. Dual-Phase adds musical, dynamic motion to electric piano and organ.

One of my first experiments is putting the Dual-Phase on a dry Hammand organ sound. I pulled up an every day MODX6 organ patch and disabled the internal rotary speaker effect. The fun really began when dialing up a Leslie-ish effect. The picture shows the settings with Phasor A feeding Phasor B in series. Sweep Generator 1 drives Phasor A and Sweep Generator 2 drives Phasor B independently. Rate, Depth and Feedback are set separately for each A and B stage.

Here is a hastily thrown together demo — put up the Roland R-07 and hit RECORD. You’ll hear me hit the pedal switches after each line:

  • First, totally dry organ.
  • Next, Phasor A alone.
  • Next, both Phasor A and Phasor B.
  • Finally, Phasor B alone.

The decrease in volume at the very end is due to the R-07 gain control kicking in.

The result isn’t half bad. Is it a Leslie? Oh, hell no! If this is the droid you’re looking for, you found it. More interesting than dry? Yes!

There you have it. If you can snap up a Behringer Dual-Phase before they are sold out, by all means, do it. Otherwise, consider the Mu-Tron Bi-Phase re-issue. You will be rewarded.

Copyright © 2025 Paul J. Drongowski