Yamaha P-225 Review
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- Опубліковано 5 чер 2024
- This is my review on the Yamaha P-225 digital piano; the long awaited successor to one of the most popular portable digital pianos ever, the Yamaha P-125. The P-225 is a worthy successor; Yamaha retained the awesome basic design and features from the P-125, and then added some key upgrades in important areas: CFX Grand piano samples with virtual resonance modeling, a new action that reduces the size & weight without compromising playability, Bluetooth audio in, and a slight speaker redesign.
This is an in-depth review so it is long; there are links below to different sections if you want to skip to features that interest you. I rented the P-225 from Long & McQuade - you can check them out at www.long-mcquade.com
Here are some affiliate links if you would like to check out current prices and availability on the Yamaha P-225, or any other items I mention in the review.
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Yamaha P-225 Written Review: pianotone.ca/yamaha-p-225-rev...
Yamaha P-125 Review: • P125 Full Review
Yamaha Smart Pianist Review: • Smart Pianist Review
Yamaha Rec'N'Share Demo: • Recording HIGH QUALITY...
DAOK Triple Pedal Review: • DAOK Triple Pedal Review
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Intro: 0:00
GHC Key Action: 1:11
Sounds: 7:03
Sound Demo: 9:52
User Interface: 19:10
Effects: 24:14
Rhythms & Accompaniment: 26:55
Connectivity: 31:50
Speakers: 37:24
Speaker Demo: 39:10
Other Features: 40:05
Yamaha Smart Pianist App: 40:56
Yamaha Rec'N'Share App: 46:02
What's Missing?: 46:39
Competition: 47:38
The VERDICT: 51:07
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I tried it for a week and took it back. The keys are physically shortened, and if you are experienced you will notice that they don't have the feel of the p225 keys and much less the keys of a Roland or Kawai. Especially If you use the upper part of the white keys. The sound from the speakers lacks the fullness of comparable brands in this price range. I believe Yamaha has sacrificed in a couple of notable areas to keep the cost down. If I were buying a Yamaha I would go up a grade from the p225, you won't regret it.
In the competition section you really need to mention the Kawai ES120. If you haven’t tested it you should.
Yes I really need to get my hands on a Kawaii to test it out - music stores where I live don’t carry them so I haven’t even seen one; but I have heard good things about the 110/120!
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Great review, as usual. Thank you!
Thanks so much!
I've had the P-225 for about half a year now. I haven't been playing too much on it due to college but for a self-taught low-level player I've still noticed some things coming from a complete toy of a piano, some 61-key Casio. The first significant and ground-breaking difference is key-action. Having no key action sometimes feels monotone, and the addition of action makes the sound feel so much more genuine. Despite this rapid change, I've come to realize that the P-225's dual sensor is a bit weak and although it still works amazing and I'm very happy with my purchase, I believe it could have been a better keyboard with a more sensitive key action.
That's a big improvement, glad you've enjoyed it - if you feel like you need an even more advanced key action there's the P-515 which is at first heavier feeling but it is fantastic (or newly released P-525), or the Roland FP series which has a triple sensor PHA4 action. Many people love that action, I personally don't (I find it both heavy and a bit "mushy"/less responsive for fast passages), but everyone is different so you might like that action better.
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How is your p225 now? is the action durable? did it develop any issues? Maybe louder/clickier action? Just curious to hear a long time owner since durability is always a major factor for me
@@m3rc743 lol tbh I don't play it THAT often but it has held up fine. As far as I can tell, it's exactly the same as when I got it. The only scratches are from my cat walking on it lol, but you can make a cover for it if you want.
@@joshuakozlov4433 Thanks for the insight!
Thanks for the video. Since the P225 allows for internal track recording, are you able to record in midi and export that file to a computer?
To be honest I've never tried that; you might be able to from Smart Pianist on an iPad, but I don't think you can directly access a file on the keyboard itself. To be honest if you're just wanting a MIDI file, I would just connect the piano to your iPad/computer and record your MIDI directly in your DAW anyways.
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@@PianoTone thanks for you reply. having a daw connected is a midi controller mind-set, but when using a standalone piano, creativity can strike at any moment and you just want to be able to press record and save that performance for later. The time it takes to set up your cables and DAW can cause you to lose an idea. :)
Amazing review! Compared to Casio px s3100 which one do you recommend? Was thinking on buying a white P 225 but the px s3100 went on sale so I’m stuck on what to choose.
They're both awesome pianos; if you need battery option for portability or tons of sounds & rhythms/accompaniment then the Casio is the best bet; if you don't care about the rhythms or battery option, or if you really need/want the built in audio interface I'd go with the Yamaha.
That being said if the sale price for the 3100 is really good, might be worth jumping on that. They are both great choices! Hope that helps; and thanks for checking out the channel, feel free to subscribe
Thank you for your review. I had P-225 for almost four weeks and I decided to return it. The heaviness of the action close to the fulcrum matters to me a lot. It is not personal preference (as you always say) but it very much depends on the repertoire you play (I only learn and play classical pieces). What also impacted my decision is my experience playing Yamaha C7 grand piano on regular basis - there was too much difference of the feel of the action. PHA-4 is much closer to the acoustic piano action.
Yamaha weighted action does not have wide gradation: C2 is 53 g and C7 ~ 50 g (C4 is ~ 52g).
I should also point out that headphone amplifier of P-225 is a downgrade from P-125 as far as loudness and quality of sound is concerned. CFX tone is worse than for P-515 and definitely inferior to Garritan CFX VST.
What I liked the most about GHC was how quiet this action is. I do not think that you have mentioned it.
Michael
Ps. There is no doubts that our preferences of digital piano features differ quite significantly 😊
Thanks for sharing all of that!
Have you had a chance to test the Kawaii ES120 - can you give some comparison with other key actions?
@@e0236 I've yet to see a Kawaii in person actually; no stores where I live stock them :( Would love to do a review on the ES120 if I can get a hold of one!
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@@e0236I unfortunately missed your question.
Here it is
ES120
Middle C (C4) - ~52g
C7 -
Thank u!!!
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@@PianoTone thank u so much ! I subscribed!☺️
Thank you for detailed review, comparisons to other pianos were especially interesting. As for the front ports I like this design in general -- this way it is less risky to damage the port itself, rather you bend the cable. First time I saw this (not the first hand though) was in Atari 520 ST and I am still impressed with it. As for the price, Roland FP-E50 (which you reviewed previosusly, thank you again 🙂) is more expensive but in similar price range (of course the story "just add $$$ more and you get..." never ends 🙂). One question -- right at the start you say the keys are weighted and graded "like in real piano". Recently I learned that at his price level the keys are not graded "like in real piano", but zoned. I checked already Korg PH3 (4 zones), Roland PHA4 (4 zones AFAIK and also my late discovery, the have shorter/closer pivot point). So considering the price my guess would be this keybed is also zoned, so unlike the real piano. I am not catching you on words, but since manufacturers are not helpful here it would be good to clarify this when possible.
To be honest I don’t know for sure about the 225, but it would be pretty safe to assume it is weighted in zones, most entry to mid level pianos are - I believe the PHA4 from Roland is individually weighted (but since actions are totally a personal preference you still have to try them all out to find what you like).
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Digital pianos in this range do not have actions with individual weighing. At the best, it is done in zones. P-225 weighing is almost non-existent. PHA-4 has a longer pivot length than GHS or GHC (~20.5cm). Even Yamaha NWX and GrandTouch-S (in the new P-525) have a 21cm pivot length. PHA50 is ~22cm and Roland Hybrid Grand action is 26 cm (close to the pivot length of smaller acoustic grand pianos.
@@PianoToneNeither Yamaha nor Roland have digital pianos with individually weighted keys in this process range. It starts at the price range of close to $5000. I suggest that you check some digital pianos with acoustic piano action weighing set.
Michael
@@mfurman Saw a review on the FP-30 (possibly FP-10) when they were released where a Roland rep said the PHA4 is individually weighted; I assumed she would know. ua-cam.com/video/Pt0H8ZUT3Dk/v-deo.htmlsi=wTz6xDyo75Kqn7aI&t=96
@@PianoTone She was WRONG. I even found a comment on Piano World discussion group that said: “There's no way the PHA4 keys are weighted "individually." That's either a term of art or she misspoke.”.
Tony, I stopped trusting most of the reviews and I test the piano actions (every key) with weights set. You will be surprised how many keys have some extra lubrications that makes them either heavier or lighter than adjacent keys. If you check specs of higher end Yamaha digital pianos, you will see that CLP775 has “GrandTouch™ keyboard, 88-key Linear Graded Hammers” and CLP785 “GrandTouch™ keyboard with counterweights, 88-key Linear Graded Hammers”. All the lower model actions are weighted in zones.
Michael
Thanks a lot for your review!
Im a beginner trying to learn piano and have access to the the Yamaha p145 for 405€ while I have to pay 666€ for the p225.
Is it worth spending the extra 270 for the sake of learning and playing piano for years to come value wise? Also planning to use it for midi purposes.
They're both fine for MIDI; as far as spending the extra $ the biggest things in my opinion that you're getting are the rhythms and accompaniment (if you hope to play modern music this is a massive extra feature; fantastic for practicing and WAY more fun than a metronome); but if your goal is classical music then the rhythms don't matter as much. And the other biggest difference is the left and right line outs which if you ever plan to perform, join a band etc - these are far better than just a headphone out for connecting to amps, PA etc.
So basically; if you want to play modern music, I'd recommend spending the extra now; if it's classical only, you probably don't need to.
Hope that helps! Either one is a great piano! Thanks for checking out the channel, feel free to subscribe.
@@PianoTone Wow I wasn't expecting such a detailed spot on answer!
I was planning to learn the piano and music theory to play some favorite mix of classic/electric/rock songs is what I would call it. Eventually i'd like to transition to music production with a daw on a computer.
Initially I was planning to buy a digital piano for learning the piano and then a seperate midi arranger/synthesizer functioning as a controller if necessary once I transition.
I likely would just play at home/studio and not do too much live perfomances or travel too much, just upload the songs/works on a youtube channel mainly for myself.
Would the dgx670 be better suited or would all the extra functions of the dgx670 be kinda void if I'm going to use a daw anyway and mostly play with my computer and daw in hand reach. As I understood it theres a lot of plugins and vsts which would basically replace the extra sounds and functions im paying for in the dgx 670?
@@Riku9361 The DGX is pretty amazing and has great songwriting and recording features (16 track MIDI recorder built in). So it kind of depends whether you'd want to start a recording using the onboard rhythms, etc - if so you can record up to 16 tracks on the DGX (track for main voice, another for left, another for layer, then more tracks one for each rhythm instrument, then some extra tracks you can dub in more instruments). Then once you get it to a certain point you could export the whole thing to a DAW and continue working with it there with the DAW voices/sounds. If instead you would rather just START right in your DAW using the keyboard to trigger MIDI, then the DGX wouldn't be worth bothering with if you're not going to use all those features.
I have a whole playlist on DGX how to videos (which includes my initial review if you haven't seen it) if that will help you decide: ua-cam.com/play/PL_W0EMCT9oNbuGdwmq8-zPMmyIzxCuEYM.html
I would just start right in my daw, can the same argument be used for deciding between the p145 and the p225? Or is the improved on board sound worth the extra money. I'll mostly be playing with headphones on to be honest. @@PianoTone
@@Riku9361 You could also make the same argument between the 145 and 225 if you're starting in your DAW; but for pure practicing/learning modern music the convenience of the onboard rhythms on the 225 is a massive extra feature in my opinion
Is there any indication that they will offer a 73-key version (similar to the P-121)? I find 73 keys so much more practical than 88. It fits in a normal trunk. It fits on any stage. It covers the entire range I need for rock/pop music. etc.
I’d love to see that too but no indication so far; keep an eye on Yamaha Australia’s website-new products are always announced there first.
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Can anyone explain why they make 73 keys half an octave at the edges - why couldn’t they make three full octaves for the left hand and three full octaves for the right? This seems more logical, because there would be exactly three octaves for each hand and in this case it would be much easier to transpose an octave higher or lower if necessary.
In bass I would often like to go lower into the counter octave, but the fourth octave is practically not needed. But all manufacturers repeat one after another and make these strange 73 keys.
@@e0236 I never really thought about that - interesting! Thanks for checking out the channel, feel free to subscribe
@@e0236 Center key of P-121(73keys) is E4(Yamaha called E3). Midi note number(0 to 127) of E4 is 64. E4 is middle midi note.
i liked your review very much. Have no clue what 80% options do, since i'm only testing the waters of learning piano idea. But do i like this 225 a lot. And smart penis app sounds amazing.
Thanks so much glad you enjoyed the review - and yes Smart Pianist is an amazing app!
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Tony, I've just replaced my old P-80 with the P-225, and am looking for an App that can simply recognise and tell me what chord I'm playing at any given moment. I don't think Smart Pianist can do it, but I'm sure there must be an app that can. Many thanks...
On a pc or a mac you can look at Chordie (did a review here) ua-cam.com/video/y8NPOenWtEk/v-deo.html; it shows notation and chords, doesn't make any sound though. On an iPad look for the free version of "Midiculous" (I haven't reviewed that one yet but it works well). They both also show the light up keybed
Hope that helps!
@@PianoTone Thank you for the reply. Chordie is exactly what I'm looking for, but unfortunately I was wanting to use it on an Android phone. If you come across something similar that runs on Android, please let me know. Many thanks again...
@@kevinhaynes9091 Does MIDICulous work on Android?
After experiment 225. Is DGX still your best?
Depends what it is for - for playing in a band or solo performing, the P-225 (more portable, line outs for connecting to amps, PA etc); for writing music and recording or “just at home” practice the DGX
I'll give them the new piano voices as an improvement, but relocating the speakers to the back was an incredibly bad move (in my view) that should be pointed out clearly. This makes wall placement near impossible. Speakers at the rear may be okay for a stage piano, where they typically will point towards the band or the audience, but for a typical home piano that will be placed at the wall more often than not, it's brain-dead IMHO. Speakers pointing to the floor (Roland, others) are bad, but placing them at the back is the worst. Casio also does this in some of their pianos. Rules this thing out for me instantly.
EDIT: Now that I revisited the video I realized that you covered this point more broadly than I first noticed. I kinda skipped back and forth between the written review and the video and must have missed some of it. However, I still stand by my reasoning. Wall-facing speakers are a horrible idea in a home digital piano, "Wall EQ" or not. The concept of EQing out the problem is flawed, since the correct setting, if such a thing even exists, would depend on the material of the wall, the width of the gap between the piano and the wall etc. Downward facing speakers share these problems to some degree.
Yeah i agree - I miss the player facing speakers - the theory of “the sound bounces off the walls / floor” sounds wonderful but it’s not how it actually is.
To be honest I rarely use my speakers anyways - it’s always headphones or full amp/PA at band practices. For home, any digital piano will sound far better with some studio monitors than any built in speaker.
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So it comes with 24 sounds, does the app add even more and how much? Does the app also add more accompnaiments to play with?
No the app doesn't add any sounds or accompaniments, but since the P-225 has a built in audio interface, you can hear sounds from any MIDI sound bank app through the piano speakers, headphones and line outs without any lag.
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@@PianoTone thx
I have given P-225 another chance 🙂 I tested GHS (DGX-670) and GHC actions at a L&M store again yesterday. They were indeed very close as far as the feel is concerned. I decided to rent P-225 and they gave me a new one as a rental. I may actually keep it. I have to get used to the action but it is definitely light and responsive (perhaps too responsive 🙂). I recorded a Bach's piece on P-225 using its Digital Audio Interface (directly to my iPhone). You can find it searching for J.S Bach - Prelude No.1 BWV 846 (Yamaha P-225). I made a few fingering mistakes - I am still getting used to the action.
Michael
LOL you're like me - always switching things up :) Keeps it fresh & fun! Hope you end up ok with it
@@PianoTone 😆 The problem was that (to my great surprise!) PHA-4 action of my FP-10 ACR started to get heavier in time - C4 downweight reached 75.5g! I called local Roland service guy and he simply refused to deal with my problem. I called Costco and they accepted (after almost three months after I bought it) the return.
I have finally given up on PHA-4. You were right (again) 😄
I do not think that I will be ever happy with any digital piano action but I need to compromise for my own sanity.
Thank you,
Michael
Curious - how old was your FP-10? Was watching one of Stu’s more recent videos on it and he said Roland has corrected how they apply grease at the factory in recent models. I guess there were issues that contributed to the clicking noisy key issues; supposed to stay better lubricated for longer. Not sure if that also could be the issue with your keys getting heavier …. Just a thought
@@PianoTone It was FP-10 ACR (Costco model) so it was probably made within last year. The action noise was indeed less than the PHA-4 actions I tested at L&M.
Interestingly Costco stopped selling Roland digital pianos recently.
@@PianoTone Strange, I've heard of it too but apparently not all recent units are like that? Or maybe it just differs by country considering I got myself an FP30x and the clicking issue was already present. I'm from a hot climate country so maybe it doesn't matter if they upgraded the grease application. In any case I'm considering switching to the Yamaha p225. Thanks for the review!
Do i need a usb to connect it to the smart pianist app or is bluetooth fine
Bluetooth is only audio, so you will need a cable to connect to Smart Pianist.
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@@PianoTone thanks!
Why would someone want the p225 over something like the ck88 ?
If you mostly play piano and are ok with only a handful of sounds (as opposed to hundreds), if you don't need all the fancy features like 3 way layering, 3 way splits, full organ functionality (drawbars, rotary etc), tons of control over effects and EQ, mic input, and also - the P-225 is less than half the price.
Lots of gigging musicians used the P-125 and would use the P-225 as well, if they are ok with all of the above.
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It’s a shame you didn’t talk about the audio interface more.
Totally agree