Yamaha P60 Digital Piano Customer Review
Feature:
What features? You press the power button in the back, and you start playing. Perfectly fine with me. I've only had limited experience hooking it up to my computer via the MIDI port, but I will say that this works pretty good for playing back piano MIDIs, and for sequencing.
I would get a bug, though, where after I stop the MIDI, the note that was playing just rings out forever, until I play some octaves in the bass to max the polyphony. I have no idea if this is an issue with the board itself, or with my soundcard.
Quality:
Sometimes when I play, I notice a very slight rattling in the board, somewhere around the C5 octave. But, usually, when i'm playing beautiful music at a decent volume, I can't hear it. :)
I will say that the action in this board feels EXACTLY like a decent upright. I can say from experience that studying hard on this thing for a public performance (weddings, parties, etc), and playing an upright will feel just about exactly the same to you.
The only thing that's weird is the volume curve. . .It's fine for what it is, but you have so much mor econtrol over dynamics on a piano, compared to this board. Not enough to throw you off, it's just you appreciate it all the more when you actually sit at an acoustic.
Also, on the subject of the quality action, when you have the board about halfway up or more, you actually feel the vibrations going through the keys, just like on a piano. I am very impressed by this, and I always appreciate feeling the subtle, yet very noticeable when missing, feeling under my fingers.
You won't get that vibration from Roland, Kurzweil, or Korg.
Desirability:
When I played this keyboard in the store, I definately wanted it. It doesn't look very great at all. . .black box, with keys on it. Simple, light, and effective.
I give it a 10 just for being easy to carry, and for the great action.
Sound:
Alright, there's good and bad news regarding the piano sample:
Good news: It sounds just like a grand piano.
Bad News: It sounds just like a Yamaha grand piano.
But aside from that personal preference, i'd have to say that this has a very good sound from midrange, to high. The low-end just seems to kind of, well. . .suck for anything more than "filler" octaves. . .Again, exactly like a Yamaha piano.
Support:
I've never had to deal with Yamaha, because I haven't had a problem with this board. At least not yet. . .
I will say that there was a yamaha rep at the Guitar Center this baord was purchased from, and he was very nice and helpful. He got the store to throw in a bench, and a P4 Yamaha pedal at no additional cost.
Overall:
Even though I plan on getting a quality, hand-made European upright (Fell in love with a Chickering in Cherry finish. Has a sound better than 100,000 dollar grands i've played), i'll definately keep this keyboard just for playing at the occasional small gig, and music editing .
Submitted: 9/12/2005
Style of Music: Classical, rock, oroginal compositions, etc etc etc.
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"Pro piano sound for small gatherings, at a very, very reasonable price. Sets a new standard by which budget digital pianos can b"
Feature:
I only wish that this board had a "variation" feature like some other boards of Yamaha's do, so that perhaps there would be a pipe organ with some massive rumbling in it, like the P90 has. Other than this, I don't have a problem using the keyboard keys to switch reverbs, adjust octaves of the dual voice, etc. The only thing I dislike is that there are no labels inscribed on the board for accessing these features; thus, I've had to put sticky tape labels on the front to remember which keys activate the features.
Quality:
High quality construction. The unit itself is constructed of a hard plastic frame and body similar to a Kurzweil synth or PC88, for instance. Keys move accurately, neither stiff nor too flimsy or fast, and feel like a real piano.
Value:
Considering what it does for the price, this is an unbelievable value. I can't believe that they managed to make it produce decent quality sounds for this class of retail price. I've compared it side by side with some much more expensive acoustic pianos and I hate to say it, but the P-60 is actually acceptable as a substitute if you are on a budget. Sampling technology is advancing by leaps and bounds these days.
Desirability:
The P90 looks better and is lighter in weight, but this product is a nice one as well. Nothing's perfect and keyboard players should not expect an ultralight titanium surfboard for under $1000! ;-)
Sound:
As good as you can possibly get in a budget digital piano without paying much, much more. Useful only for the first two grand piano voices, which are really splendid (especially compared to the p90, for some odd reason that I cannot fathom), and maybe the strings for mixing w/pianos. Everything else voicewise is mediocre, especially the weak organ sounds (unlike the incredible, deep pipe organ sample in the p-90) but that's not what you buy this board for. Built-in speakers are very nice to have, a little lacking in bass but otherwise very accurate and crisp. What a gem! I played this board and a p90 side by side for over an hour and I still can't justify a trade-up. The salesman kept trying to convince me that the piano samples sounded better on the p90 but my mother and I are semi-concert pianists and I can hear the difference quite easily. The P-60's piano sound is rich and full compared to the light and weaker P-90.
Support:
I have no experience with Yamaha technical support (yet).
Overall:
The problem here is that many keyboardists want 1) good pianos 2) good organs 3) a few good strings & choirs to mix in with 1). I think that I will be upgrading as soon as I can do it, because this keyboard does not have the features I really wanted. However, it gave me great piano sounds at a great price. As long as I am financially constrained, I'll keep this board, then I will probably move up to a P-90-type unit, for no more than $1200-1400. I'm hoping that by that time, the best of both boards will be available in one unit. Yamaha should really devote a little more research into putting all the best representative sounds of each class of instrument into one keyboard rather than making some models good at only piano, and others good at only the organs, etc. This brings to mind the TG33 module back in the old days. It was a relatively short-lived product whose main claim to faim was an excellent organ sample and some synth sounds, out of hundreds of available voices. Yamaha products are typical for having hundreds of near-useless XG voices when only 8-10 of the voices are really beautifully constructed. The lesson here should be: focus on quality, not quantity!
Submitted: 12/21/2003
Style of Music: New Age & Pop
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