Yamaha P70 Digital Piano


Overall User Ratings
| Overall: | 6.9 out of 10 | Features: | 7 out of 10 | ||
| Quality: | 10 out of 10 | Value: | 10 out of 10 | ||
| I Want It: | 10 out of 10 | Sound: | 9 out of 10 | ||
| Ease of Use: | 8 out of 10 |

Individual User Reviews
| Overall: | 9 out of 10 | |
| Features: | 7 out of 10 | |
| Quality: | 10 out of 10 | |
| Value: | 10 out of 10 | |
| I Want It: | 10 out of 10 | |
| Sound: | 9 out of 10 | |
| Ease of Use: | 8 out of 10 | |
| Support: | 8 out of 10 |
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"Doesn't do a million different things, but the few important things that it does it does better than anything I've used so far."
Feature:Not a lot of instruments and there really aren't many features on the thing. Since all I care about is MIDI output, an authentic feel, and a piano sound for when I just feel like playing, I have no complaints. Other people might find the feature set below par, though. It has a decent number of instrument choices that sound pretty good, but nothing spectacular. The one thing I would like to be able to do is transpose. It might be possible, but I don't see an option. Since I can do this in the sequencer, I don't really care that much. I generally don't transpose beforehand anyhow. It's odd that it isn't around, though.
Quality:
The piano feels like a piano, for the most part. If I went back and forth I'm sure I'd notice a difference, but when playing it exclusively it feels exactly how I want it to. Granted, I learned on a Yamaha, but the amount of force to play each key is just right. I used to own (technically I still do, but that's going to change soon) an M-Audio ProKeys 88 and I just never got used to how it felt to play it. The minute I got this I felt so much better. This is the piano I wanted back then. It's really sturdy, too. It also comes with a sustain pedal. You should note that not all pedals work with it. I bought an M-Audio sustain pedal for the ProKeys 88 and it has the opposite effect on the Yamaha (as in, when you press it you get no sustain and when you release it you get sustain). While the one that came with it isn't as nice, I was so glad I didn't have to make another trip out to the store after work to get a pedal. It's not necessarily close and I work late so I'd much rather go home and just play :). It also comes with a music stand, which is really nice since the ProKeys didn't and I'd been getting tired of taping sheets to the wall. I'm very, very satisfied.
Value:
You can't get a better piano for the price. You can get a better piano for more money, but not for this price. I haven't seen one better and everyone who uses these things tells me the same.
Desirability:
It looks like a piano. I can't vouch for the silver one, which doesn't look so great in the pictures, but the black one is nice. It looks like a piece of a grand piano. It has that nice red strip too. No complaints about the looks at all. It's very nicely put together.
Sound:
The speakers are pretty good and the piano sound is as good as I've ever heard from one of these things (then again I haven't owned any of those $2000+ keyboards but having used them they don't sound any better to me). I use this as a MIDI controller mostly and so the samples being played are generally nicer but the piano sound it comes with is definitely work-able.
Ease of Use:
Switching between instruments is kind of weird as you have to hold down a button and press a key, but I figured it out without the manual so it can't be that difficult. As for doing anything else
Support:
I haven't dealt with Yamaha support yet because I've never had a Yamaha product that's broken (and I had a DGX-500 for quite a while). I have heard very good things about their support, though.
Overall:
While the P70 isn't perfect for everyone, it has been for me. If you don't need an extremely versatile and feature rich instrument but rather a keyboard piano that feels like a piano, sounds like a piano, and has a near-perfect velocity response, this is the way to go. It makes a great instrument for playing and a great controller for digital composition. I'm very, very pleased with it and am so glad I bought it.
User: a customer from toasterdog.com
Submitted: 4/20/2006
Style of Music: Progressive Symphonic, Soft Rock, Alternative, and a few other things
Location: Boston, MA





