Yamaha P60

Yamaha P 60 Digital Piano

Exceptional Sound and Touch The P60 / P60S puts Yamaha’s highly acclaimed piano voices and hammer action keyboard within your reach. It features an ultra realistic piano feel and a high quality selection of piano and keyboard voices you use most - without the bells and whistles you don’t need. Perfect for those who crave authentic piano sound and touch in an affordable package, the P60 / P60S is a welcome addition to the Yamaha P series line.

Realistic Piano Touch
The P60 / P60S uses Yamaha’s highly acclaimed Graded Hammer Effect keyboard, the same keyboard used in the P250 and P120. Crafted so that the keys in the lower registers have a heavier touch than those in the top, this state-of-the-art keyboard realistically reproduces the true feel of an acoustic grand piano.

High-Quality Speaker System
The P60 / P60S is ready to play whenever you feel like practicing, thanks to a powered speaker system built into its compact, stylish chassis.

50 Piano Songs at Your Fingertips
A collection of 50 piano songs is provided for your listening enjoyment. To select a song, simply press a note on the keyboard while holding down the DEMO button. Then play along, or simply sit back and listen.

Stereo Sampling
The P60 / P60S ‘ Piano 1 and Piano 2 presets feature brand new piano samples taken from a full-sized concert grand piano. These voices have been digitally recorded in stereo to faithfully reproduce the rich, spatial tone of a real acoustic piano.

A Fine Selection of Essential Keyboard Sounds
In addition to superb piano voices, the Yamaha P60 / P60S features a number of commonly used sounds, including electric pianos, organs, harpsichords and strings. All of the onboard sounds have been recorded using Yamaha’s own AWM sampling technology to achieve the highest standards of sound quality. This assures that the subtlest harmonics of the actual instrument are accurately reproduced with stunning realism. To select a voice, press a note on the keyboard (C1-A1) while holding down the VOICE button. Reverb, MIDI control and other keyboard settings can also be accessed this way.

Yamaha P60 Features:

Graded Hammer 88 Note weighted action keyboard for realistic piano feel
32 Notes of polyphony
10 Voices including Grand Piano, EP, Pipe Organ and Strings
Dual voice mode to combine two sounds
Digital reverb
20W x 2 amplifier
MIDI IN/OUT/THRU
Specifications:
Keyboard 88 keys (A-1 - C7)
Sound Source AWM Dynamic Stereo Sampling
Polyphony 32 Notes Max
Voice Selection 10
Effect Reverb
Volume Master Volume
Controls Dual, Transpose
Demo Songs 10 Voice Demo Songs, 50 Preset Songs
Jacks/Connectors Phone/Output, DC IN 12V, MIDI (IN/OUT)
Sustain Pedal
Main Amplifiers 8W x 2
Speakers Oval (12cm x 6cm) x 2
Power Supply Yamaha PA5D
Dimensions (WxDxH) 52-13/16in x 13-15/16in x 5-7/16in
Weight 36lbs, 4oz
Included Accessories Owner’s Manual, Quick Operation Guide,
Yamaha PA5D.
The matching stand for the P60 is the LP120 stand.

Yamaha P60 Reviews

Price Paid: US $749
Ease of Use: 10
The P60 is extremely easy to use. It’s a digital piano with some other preset sounds. The quality of the sounds ranges from top notch to decent, the acoustic pianos being the best. That should be no big surprise. Great non-piano sounds in a digital piano are a bonus, not a given. The manual does it’s job, and a separate one page ‘quick operation guide’ tells you how to access less-used features of the instrument. Changing sounds, setting reverb levels and layering two sounds is something you’ll only have to read once, maybe twice, you won’t need the quick-op guide for that.

Features: 10
It ain’t a ‘bug’ it’s a ‘feature’ is an old saying. Well, there’s nothing ‘buggy’ about this keyboard, it’s terrific in most every respect. Other reviewers have talked about how great the keyboard action is, and I totally agree.

My livelihood is playing piano mostly, and I get to play anything from a piano you wouldn’t want to use for firewood to a really fine grand once in a while. My own acoustic piano is a good one. I can go from my grand to the P60 and feel comfortable with the action. I also tend to disagree with a few other opinions, I realize that this may be entirely subjective, but the P60, P80 and P120 actions are not the same. The P80 and P120 actions are a bit heavier, the P60 action is more similar, if not identical, to that of the Motif 88. I like it, I can play well with less effort.

The built-in speakers are good, although I agree that you don’t get a ton of bass from them. External amplification and speakers give full spectrum sound and a clean audio signal. Headphones do the same.

I’m gonna sound like a businessman here, but I think ‘price versus performance’ is a feature and a big one. As musicians very few of us have money to burn. I think the P60 is the best value in a digital piano I’ve ever seen. Sound and Cost. No contest with anything else available.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
This is a digital piano, and I’m evaluating it on the basis of it’s acoustic piano sounds. It’s not pretending to be other than a digital piano. The sound output is nice and clean.

I do however like it’s electric piano sounds, one of the harpsicords, the vibes, one of the church organs, and the strings layered with piano. One of the harpsicords, one pipe organ and the strings standalone I don’t care for much.

I’ve owned the P60 since mid-December, but I researched it and played it for quite a while before that. I’ve owned several Yamaha electric pianos over the years going back to the YP40, then the PF85, then the P150. I’ve also had the Yamaha CS6X with the PLG150-PF piano card. I also had a YPP35 61-note digital piano.

Surprisingly, the best compatibility and useful sound came from the YPP35 keyboard which had a nice, but less wide, stereo image. The P60 seems to have similar characteristics to the YPP35, but has a more realistic sound plus weighted keys. I haven’t had the P60 long enough to be 100% sure about my assessment, but I’m about 90% sure right now. You can check back again for an update or you can email me, but my asssessment I believe is correct.

Reliability: 10
It’s a Yamaha, so it’s supposed to be dependable. I’ve never had any problem with a Yamaha product. If I HAD to do a gig without a backup I’d depend on Yamaha to get it right. When I can, I always bring a backup, it would be foolish not to. Hey, did my mother raise foolish children? (don’t answer that)…

Customer Support: N/A
The only time I’ve dealt with them they’ve been great, but these weren’t support issues.

Overall Rating: 9
This keyboard is a major bargain at $749US, I’d buy it again unless Yamaha came out with something better in the same price/class/weight range. I’ve owned a bunch of digital pianos and researched many more, I’m a piano fanatic, and I’ve been playing over thirty years.

The technology has gone a long ways in the last few years. My Yamaha PF85 which I paid $1535 discounted NEW, and my Yamaha P150 which someone pretty much gave away to me for$l000 (when it was going for $1595) weren’t half as good as this keyboard, the Yamaha P60. The sound is better, the action is better, the weight is 36 pounds instead of over 70 pounds.

Roland and Korg offerings at any price range are not nearly as good. Personally, I think they both lack realism.

I’ve had and owned all sorts of Korg and Roland and Yamaha gear. Most of all the gear that I’ve held onto over the years has been Yamaha stuff. I only realized this within the last year or so.

Since this is the overall rating category, I’ll include what I don’t like as well, I’ve been totally positive so far.

This is definitely the best keyboard in it’s class by far. That having been said, there’s still room for improvement. For instance, a dedicated line out jack, or two (LR) would be nice. It’s nice to be able to hear your keyboard when you’re sending a signal elsewhere.

The bottom of the keyboard casing is not flush with the bottom panel beneath the keyboard. If you’re not aware of this and try to slide the P60, in certain circumstances the casing would be damaged. This is no big deal in most circumstances.

I’d give it a 9.5 in this category but that’s not available.

Submitted by michael at 02/06/2005 17:01

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Price Paid: US $1200
Ease of Use: 10
Es realmente fácil utilizarlo, no requiere memoria de mago, para combinar sonidos y aplicarle efecto, o para splitearlo o usarlo en modo dual, trae las prestaciones necesarias para un piano digital por ese precio.

Features: 10
La polifonia está bien, es más que suficiente para poder tocar cualquier pieza de piano, yo soy estudiante principiante/intermedio y por lo que sé tiene que ser una pieza muy rebuscada para que 32 notas de polifonia no alcacen, realmente son 32 notas en las muestras en estereo como por ejemplo los pianos que trae, Casio tambien trae 32 notas de polifonia en su linea Privia, pero si la muestra es en estereo, entonces utiliza el doble de polifonia, quedando una polifonia de 16 voces para los pianos en estereo, el P-60 tiene todo el tiempo polifonia de 32 voces “reales”.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10

El sonido es el más claro y “groso” que escuché, no suena latoso como los korgs esos, el teclado es el más pesado que probé, tiene las teclas mas pesadas que el piano Bluthner que tiene mi profesora con el cual tomo las lecciones de piano, por lo cual es excelente, ya que permite adquirir la manera correcta de tocar un “piano”, y no como otros pianos digitales que traen las teclas livianas, por lo cual se puede dar mucha expresión al ejecutar una pieza, sonido excelente + un teclado de martillos graduado, como en un piano de verdad.

Reliability: 10
Un piano electrónico sólido, es un Yamaha!, nadie sabes más de pianos electrónicos que Yamaha.

Customer Support: 10
Hasta la fecha nunca necesité contactarme con Yamaha para pedir soporte, solo lo hice con la casa que me vendió el instrumento,
y me pasaron todos los datos del servicio técnico autorizado,
ahi compré partes originales para reparar yo mismo mi viejo teclado PSR-500, excelente.

Overall Rating: 10
Soy de Argentina, un pais donde todo lo importado cuesta el triple tras la devaluación, asi que todo cuesta muy caro ahora, por eso busqué mucho a la hora de elegir ya que no contaba con tanto dinero,
y después de probar muchas marcas como Kawai, Korg , Kawai y hasta Roland (lo más caro del mundo!), realmente no encontré nada que pueda competirle en relación precio-calidad, el P-60 es insuperable !

Submitted by Nelson Parede at 01/18/2005 06:51

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Price Paid: US $749
Ease of Use: 10
I havn’t taken it out of the box yet, however, at the store, I was completely confused as how to change the voices. There are only two buttons on top - one says demo, the other- voices…after repeatedly pressing these and getting nowhere…I had to ask the salesman. Oddly enough, the names of the voices are located directly over the the keys. You press and hold “voices” and hit the key that corresponds to the voice written above it. I was a little annoyed by this riddle at first but once you get used to it, its simple. Another good thing about this is that because of this design, there are no gawdy buttons on top and it makes the keyboard that much more visually pleasing. I give it a TEN because if you read the manual…you wont have to solve the puzzle of the buttons on your own…

Features: N/A
The 32 Polophony worried me at first..but I couldn’t hear any notes dropping at all. It sounded great. I’m not gonna go and list all it’s gadgets as everyone else has already. I bought it for the piano sound and that’s it. Oh.. and just a word of caution…They (critics)keep drilling how it’s weighing in at only 37lbs or so… MY GOD… It’s a tank….I’m sorry, that’s still the weight of like a 6 year old boy! I had a hell of a time trying to fit it in my car… getting it up the steps was a whole ‘nother story. Granted I’m only 5′4, but I carry heavy stuff all the time, believe me..its not light.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
Here’s the deal. I was NOT planning on buying a P60…I went in there thinking I was buying a P90…because on my first visit, I didnt even think to TRY the P60. The P90 sounded and felt great to me… I loved it. Then I started reading reviews about the P60 and it got me interested. I had assumed because it was an earlier model…it just can’t be as good. Well…after playing it for a while.. and then playing the P90 against it.. and then going back to the P60… I actually liked the P60 better! Why? It has to do with the sound. The feel is the same. The P60, to me, has a more clear, natural acoustic piano sound. The lower keys I think tend to have more power then the 90 and the overall balance seems to be more even. When I played the P90 (both through headphones as some maniac was going crazy on the drums) I can actually say I think Yamaha over did it with that one. Is that possible? It sounds more like a real piano through a recording rather than hearing one as you’re standing next to one. It’s like there was too much reverb or something or loudness(only Grand P1 was on..non of the other effects) I adjusted the brightness and the volume and the sound still seems to trip over itself. So.. I happily went with the P60…who knew?

Reliability: N/A
I sure hope so.. judging by the other reviews…I’m hardly worrying.

Customer Support: N/A
Havn’t dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 9
I give it a nine..because $700 bucks is still a lot of freakin’ money.

Submitted by Mike at 11/17/2004 21:27

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Price Paid: US $650
Ease of Use: 9
I find the P60 easy to use once you’ve read the manual. It’s not totally a performer’s setup if you’re wanting to use its internal sounds on the fly other than one sound per song. Then again its basically a piano with some organ and strings. It will do a dual voice setting, your choice and you can balance the volume of one against the other. Patches are not editable except for the reverb effect’s depth and type, Room Hall 1, Hall 2, Stage. Using external modules thru MIDI is my use of the P60 so extensive internal params not needed. As a modest weight controller with internal sounds and speakers its a deal. I purchased the P60 in Japan so the manual I had to download as a PDF file from the Yamaha manual library. It’s simple reading. The presets sound like Yamaha pianos. The organ patches are “churchy”, though not Hammond, strings adequate. Harpsichord, vibes don’t really need it and not distracting. I didn’t buy this unit for all the bells and whistles, in fact its simplicity is what sold me. I was looking for a simple 88 key hammer action piano controller on a budget for live gigs. This is it.

Features: 9
32 note polyphony and haven’t heard a dropped note with what I need to play on it. Reverb is the only effect it has and must be accessed through the voice button and keys. No expansion capabilities but I didn’t purchase it for such.
MIDI is basic one in/out. It has MIDI editable params accessed by sysex. No sequencer or recorder. I find those unnecessary for my needs. Let’s talk about the keyboard action as this is what I purchased it for. It is a Yamaha piano keybed hands down. It’s the same bed on the P90, P120 and may even be the same as the Clavinova. 88 graded hammer keys and only 32 pounds for hauling to gigs. The top of the case is flat so I can put my 61 key Hammond clone controller without worrying about setting it on buttons. All the controls on the P60 are on the far left and pretty much recessed. Same for the connections, on the far left rear and slightly recessed for protection. I use the P60 with other piano modules as a controller. The internal sounds add to the piano library.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
The pianos sound good to me. Have been playing professionally for many years including a Yamaha Conservatory Grand which I own. Have owned a Yamaha Clavinova some years back. I find the sounds good for most anything a piano can be played on. Use of EQ on a mixer or external amp extends the flexiblity of the internal sounds. I find the the P60 to be responsive to my style of playing and the shape of the keys is the best I’ve seen to date in a portable digital piano at this price. Velocity is fast enough. Aftertouch is for synths, not pianos. Effect being just reverb is adequate.

Reliability: 9
Yamaha has always been tops in piano building. I have just purchased the P60 a week ago and will be using it on a gig this weekend. Having been around musical instruments for some time I can tell if an instrument has some merit. It made the plane trip from Japan back home without a problem wrapped in plastic bubble wrap and its original box cut down to the exact dimensions of the unit. Plastic case is a plus for light weight and the fibreboard bottom though not puncture proof adds to the weight reduction. For fun gigging this should be all I would need for piano sounds. With proper care and a good case this should last a while.

Customer Support: N/A
Have never dealt with Yamaha for service needs.

Overall Rating: 10
If lost or stolen would definitely buy another one simply because this is the only 88 key graded hammer action Yamaha keybed portable piano controller board for $600 with no gobs of buttons poking you in the face. The extra $50 on the price listed was for Japanese sales tax.

It is definitely worth the money paid specially being brand new in a sealed box. It even came with the Yamaha wooden stand, clear plastic sheetmusic rack,Yamaha cover, sustain pedal although the sewing machine type, and cleaning cloth for the price. I’ve been playing for decades and own and run a professional recording studio. I own a Fatar Studiologic SL880 88-key hammer action controller playing through a Motif rack. I leave this in the studio.

I love that it’s simply a YAMAHA piano controller that feels like a Yamaha piano with excellent basic Yamaha sounds, speakers for instant setup to learn songs or jam, sleek styling and can set another controller on top without worrying about mashing buttons. It even has 50 classical demo piano pieces built in to entertain all by itself.

If I “hate” anything about it, it would be the weight but hammer action is hard to make light. It’s certainly lighter than the SL880.

I was looking at a used Kawai ES1 before stumbling on the P60 only because I thought I would not find a simple Yamaha board at this price and the Kawai had similar features, compact 88 key piano controller although the Kawai’s buttons are in the middle of the board. After A/B ing the P60 and a new Kawai, the key feel was a joke on the Kawai compared to the P60 and cost over $1000. Roland, Korg and Casio either had too much gadgetry, an angled control top, weird shaped keys or rubbery feeling keys to them. Their prices varied to higher and lower than the P60. But the bottom line was primarily the feel of the keyboard and the P60 has the feel.

Any instrument I invest in has to have the ability to help me make music. Thankfully, the P60 achieves this for me because of its great keyboard. For the price the quality is unmatched. Simple features help more than complicated menus and numerous buttons and switches.

Yamaha was wise to create this model for players looking for a basic professional keybed with MIDI in a portable, at a good price even though their brochures depict it as a single woman’s toy. I have the P60S in silver color.

As with most electronic keyboards, today’s sounds are tomorrow’s nightmare. The next generation of sound modules will sound fine thru the P60.

Submitted by DragonSound at 11/10/2004 07:49

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Price Paid: US $750
Ease of Use: 9
This piano is very easy to use for the basic user, and has quite a number of advanced features too. With a little bit of research into the owners manual, it’s pretty easy to use.

Features: 10
Most people don’t realize that this piano has as many fatures as it does, since only two features are labeled on the keyboard itself (”Voice” and “demo”). If you take a look in the instructions manual or at the quick operation guide, you can see a number of extra features hidden in the 88s, such as transpose, MIDI Transmit channel,Tune up and Tune Down, etc.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
The piano sounds are some of the best piano sounds you can get at this price, bar none. The electric piano sounds are both quite good, as are the Harpsichord and vibes. The church organs are both very very believable, but I wish that they would have included a rock organ, like a hammond or something. The strings are good at best. Nothing too spectacular, but not too cheesy.
This is all based on the on-board speakers. It sounds even better recorded or out of a keyboard amp.

Reliability: 10
I’ve owned it for a couple of months so far and have had no problems with it.

Customer Support: N/A
I have yet to contact Yamaha for any reason.

Overall Rating: 10
Recommended for any type of user, beginner or advanced. Great action and great sounds, can’t go wrong.

Submitted by Dan at 09/08/2004 21:19

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Price Paid: US $400 used
Ease of Use: 10
The P-60 is a very basic digital piano. The manual adequately explains things.

Features: 4
Very few features, which is why I bought it! 32 note polyphony may become a problem, since I intend to practice some classical pieces, but it’s mostly adequate. It has only reverb, which can thankfully be turned off or adjusted (amount of reverb). The 88 key weighted keyboard is velocity sensitive only. You cannot adust the touch sensitivity, which is too bad, because sometimes I’d like to make it a little lighter. It takes tremendous force to hit 127 on the velocity scale, so if you’re controlling another synthesizer, you may find the sounds not as loud or as bright as expected (as I found out when I tried playing some piano sounds on my Roland XP-30). Only one audio output; a stereo 1/4″ jack. There is a sustain pedal input, MIDI In/Out, power adaptor jack, and that’s it. It has built-in speakers. Okay, here’s the deal. This keyboard has a very fine feeling keyboard, and a more than decent piano sound for this price range. Of course, I paid only $400 for it used, so that was another factor as well!

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
I bought this keyboard just as a piano only, so I could care less about the other sounds. There are two pianos, both of which sound very similar except that Piano2 is a little brighter. EP1 is an FM style sound, with two velocity switched samples. EP2 is a Rhodes (?) style sound, again with velocity switched layers. Harpsi 1 is decent and is not velocity sensitive, in keeping with the instrument. Harpsi 2 adds an octave. Vibes has a tremelo. C. Organ1 is a pipe organ (8+4+2 rather flutey sounding). C. Organ2 is a brilliant pipe organ sound which sounds truly awful. Strings also is pretty bad.
Ok, back to piano. The piano samples are very good for this price range (and even more expensive models). I find the release a little too long for my taste (even with the reverb turned off). The sustain pedal sometimes catches the release and thus muddies the sound. Now, that feature (sustain pedal catching the release and sustaining it) is considered an advanced feature and in some ways does mimick a real acoustic piano. But in this case (other synths are also at fault) it’s too much. When my pedal catches the release, instead of a faint ambience, I hear a loud continuation of the sound, which is not right. You can also hear the loop part of the samples (not in an obvious and nasty way, but you know it’s looping when the sound sort of “freezes” - some of you will know what I’m taking about) At this price range, and short of getting gigastudio, it’s to be expected. Anyway, let me end by saying that this little keyboard really has a nice and expressive feel and sound.

Reliability: N/A
Haven’t the faintest clue. But Yamaha makes quality product, so I’m sure it’s reliable enough. Don’t know about using it on a gig without a backup, but I can definitely say I could haul this thing to a gig without breaking my back. At 36 lbs, 4 oz, it is light. Yeah!

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 9
At $400, a great value. But even at higher prices, the action on this little thing is very good compared to other keyboards. Yamaha did not skimp out on that to save costs (they skimped on everything else That’s the main reason I bought it. I’m actually replacing my S-80 with this, if you can believe it. I decided to downsize, since I already own a Roland XP-30 and Kurzweil K2500RS.

Submitted by Zingrin Shishak at 08/26/2004 18:05

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Price Paid: US $830
Ease of Use: 9
Since there are not a lot of options, it’s pretty easy to use - altough some functions are accessed with the keys themselves. These functions are not apparent if you don’t read the manual. (So the interface is not so intuitive, bit simple to use once got the know-how)

Features: 9
Actually, if I could afford, I would have bought at least a 64 polyphony model, but incredbily enough 32 voices are more than just fine for the piano sounds (not enough if you layer strings+piano, though) - in fact, I was unable to produce a note drop, no matter how hard I tried. At one point I even started to wonder if that’s really just 32 voices. Either that, or yamaha uses a very intelligent software for dropping notes.
I am disappointed by two missing features: selecting different velocity curves and changing the transposition _while playing_. (transposition can only be changed by pressing some of the 88 keys, which produce sound or MIDI events at least) And an octave shift feature… that would be nice to have… I use this as a master keyboard most of the time, I would appreciate a second midi in port… But as a digital piano, I think it’s perfect. And it looks great, too. You almost feel that you’re playing on a _piano_. Personally, I very much dislike digital pianos with a lot of buttons and flashy LCD screens. It kinda ruins the overall feel.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
One word: perfection. Altough the ’strings’ intrument is not quite state-of-the-art, I think in case of a digital piano I should focus on the piano sounds, which are EXCELLENT. And I mean the acoustic piano sound. The loop portion of the samples are pretty short though, this is only apparent in the lower ranges, where sounds do not evolve and resonate over a long period of time. But I think Yamaha sound engineers did their job well enough, a BIG THUMBS UP!
On the issue of “ringing” mentioned by others: I think my model has that too, but such a technicality does not have a negative impact on my listening/playing experience. It’s the resonance of the metal encasing the microphone they used while recording I guess. For those who are scared by this: I still rate it as ‘pristine sound quality’. It’s almost impossible to notice - only when you’re paying attention to that, not the music. I consider it part of my piano - as you could hear a singer breathing or you hear pages turning during a pianissimo passage.
The speakers: I am satisfied with them. I wouldn’t call them a “joke”.
Don’t expect big basses coming out of them, but apart from that, they excell. And one more thing: when using speakers, those short-looped low notes start to become more lifelike. Maybe that little resonance the body of this digit piano can produce is enough to do some magic.
Expresivenes: perfect match between the action and the sound volume/harmonic content. That simply.

Reliability: 10
I have been owning it only for 2 month now, and we hade a 400 km bumpy ride from the store (and digital pianos don’t especially like bumpy rides). I think I won’t have any issues with it. Absolutely robust. Dependable. It’s a Yamaha.
Definitely would gig without backup. Could be a bit lighter, though

Customer Support: N/A
Uhm, no experience yet. I think that depends on the country. But I suppose I will not be dealing with them any time soon

Overall Rating: 10
It is certainly worth its price. I was looking primarily for a hammer action keyboard, but what I got is something more, an _instrument_, which has a ‘life of its own’. I can turn it on any time if I want to play. No ‘turn-on-the-computer-and-load-some-softsynths’ fooling around. I have a masterkeyboard/DAW pc/sound modules system, so this is my first ’standalone’ unit. I can take it anywhere, anytime. The overall feel: the looks, the sounds, the action is incredibly inspiring. I recommend for everyone looking for a digital piano:
altough it does not have string and soundboard resonance, key-off samples, half-pedaling effects, I would still call it a _complete_, robust, perfect, beautiful digital piano.

Submitted by Zoltan Nyari at 08/26/2004 11:31

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Price Paid: $1450 (CAN)
Ease of Use: 9
It is very easy to use once you get the hang of it. Once you understand what all the buttons do, it’s a really neat keyboard.

Features: 8
This keyboard could have a TINY bit more features. I’m a composer so it would be nice if it had a recording feature… but other than that it has some nice features, but it could use some more sounds (instruments).

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
This keyboard has amazing sound for a keyboard, it doesn’t really have any soul though. But then, nothing can really replace the real acoustic piano. I think it said in the manual that it had digital recordings of a Yamaha Grand Piano? Whatever it has, it sounds good!

Reliability: 10
Yeah I play this keyboard alot out in Markets and It’s never done anything wrong.

Customer Support: N/A
Don’t know

Overall Rating: 8
I definatly wishit had recording

Submitted by Sorry at 08/02/2004 16:06

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Price Paid: 799 (€)
Ease of Use: 8
This stage piano’s user interface consists of two buttons, called ‘voice’ and ‘demo’, and a volume slider. To some this may seem very limited or confusing, but for others (like me) this type of simplicity is the end of the world, it just doesnt get any better.

Features: 6
polyphony is 32 notes, wich is enough for me, since im not a very good pianist. There is a possibility to connect the sp to a computer of something by use of midi, but i havent tried it yet.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
The piano sounds are very good, they sound realistic, and although theres only like … 8watts per speaker in it, it can easily sound louder than my stereo.
it is very clear that this instrument is intended for piano use only.

Reliability: 7
i will depend on it for the rest of my life, and feel very confident about this.

Customer Support: N/A
havent needed it yet, probably never will.

Overall Rating: 8
its a great and cheap replacement for a acoustical piano. if you dont wanna disturb you neighbours with your not yet developed talent, than this is what you need.

Submitted by semmie at 07/20/2004 06:43

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Price Paid: US $750
Ease of Use: 10
I like that this piano doesn’t have a lot of buttons. Uses the keyboard for switching voices and choosing demo songs.

Features: 10
I wanted a good piano for learning. This keyboard is tops in that respect. Feels like a piano, sounds like a piano, hooks up to my computer. The PSR-270 I was using before this, feels like a toy after using this keyboard.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
Sounds great to me.

Reliability: N/A
Looks and feels solid. Only had it for a week

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I was really tempted to buy a more expensive Yamaha P- series, like the P90 or p120. I am glad I did not. I hate to buy something that I feel has been downgraded. However, after using this keyboard, I feel that this is a solid product. While some might want additional features, if you are like me, and just want a good piano, you will be more than happy. If I ever wanted to upgrade to more feature filled piano (doubtful), I would be happy selling this piano second hand, knowing that I was providing someone with a quality musical instrument.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/24/2004 14:05

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Price Paid: 1500 (singapore dollar)
Ease of Use: 10
This doesn’t use any software or os. The instrument switching is requires you to hold a button and strike a piano key and its the same for playing a preset song or setting a dual instrument etc… Just think what can you do with a acoustic piano you wouldn’t need any keys in that just the pedals switch it on play and switch it off thats it

Features: 10
polyphony is 32 and I don’t need anything more I am not a good pianist. It does have one builtin reverb effect. No expansion capabilities but it can be used for controlling other keyboards. After I bought this one I don’t feel like that playing in thatplasticky touch s30. I use p60 to control s30. Midi capability is normal no need to get any instrument definition for cakewalk because you can’t. Lack of sequencer is a major drawback I would admire that but still one can use sibelius or cakewalk it blends well with them.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
Believe me the sounds are awesome when compared with a korg digital piano sp300 or sp500. I don’t understand how can korg sell something at a higher price when it is inferior to a p60. The action IS THE BEST compared with all other digital pianos and it resembles a grand piano to 99% yamaha did their homework on this touch and feel. I tried a kawai digital piano the sounds are ok but the action is somewhat rubbery. p60 has the feel of playing a real piano. p60 is clear winner hands down in that. All of its cousins p90 p120 have the same sounds and action but on the price aspect p60 rox again. There are 50 good piano preset demos, all are quite good but you don’t get a midi output if you play the presets. If you are a beginner and want to practise piano buy this one don’t buy anything else it is all waste of money. My humble opinion is that all other brands sell inferior stuff for a higher price in the digital piano category.

Reliability: 10
If you play classical pieces alone this is highly useful. Its just an electronic replacement of a piano only difference is it doesn’t need any tuning like a normal piano. The bottom is wooden cork based material that is funny. Still its ok you can live with it.

Customer Support: N/A
I haven’t dealt with yamaha at all

Overall Rating: 10
Yes I would buy it again if it was stolen and if I am short of cash. I have set my eyes on motif es 8 so I would buy that next time. I have had a psr510 s30 this is my 3rd one. I love the action very much in this I hate that wooden cork bottom. This is too much for the price you pay. I compared this with korg and kawai digital pianos and found this to be extremely good. I wish it had a sequencer and a inbuilt metronome.

Submitted by senthil kumar at 05/26/2004 09:45

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Price Paid: US $750
Ease of Use: 10
There’s not very many ways to mess up on this thing, I mean unless you can’t play worth crap. It’s really pretty basic, you’ve only got a few sounds, but no one is buying this to be some whacked out synthesizer with hundreds of voices; you buy it for the awesome piano sound and the feel.

Features: 8
I’ll have to give it an eight, because of the fact that you don’t have the buttons directly on the top of it, thus you can’t switch instruments mid-song. But, I’m buying another Yamaha keyboard later for different sounds. This is just an awesome basic piano.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
UNBELIEVABLE!! This thing is awesome, I was hooked the moment I first played it. Feels so real, similar to a yamaha grand…wow…just AWESOME. The sound is awesome too, at least the piano sounds. I didn’t really care for the strings too much, but like I said, I’ll get a keyboard later for all the extra bells and whistles.

Reliability: 9
It’s a yamaha, it should be awesome as far as durability and stuff. I’d gig it (and probably will) with no hesitation.

Customer Support: N/A
Wouldn’t know

Overall Rating: 10
Freaking awesome. I wouldn’t even touch the other digitals this is awesome!

Submitted by Anonymous at 05/03/2004 15:40

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Price Paid: 550 (pounds)
Ease of Use: 10
The Yamaha P60 is very easy to use. Just plug in a play. Changing instruments is easy with the reference sheet. I does not have any buttons for changing instruments, you have to use the keys while holding the ‘voice’ button down. Dead simple.

Features: 8
The keyboard action is superb. It is inspirational to play. It comes with a sustain pedal. The midi output port is useful for connecting to the computer. It works without any hastle. Velocity is excellent

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
The piano sounds are excellent. Piano1 is for your classical stuff while piano 2 is a bit brighter. The strings sound quite poor. Dont use vibraphone,harpsichord,church organs. Its a stage piano and the piano sounds are excellent.

Reliability: N/A
Havent had it too long. It feels solid.

Customer Support: N/A
Havent needed to deal with them yet.

Overall Rating: 9
I love this piano. It sounds great and feels great. I would definately recommend to beginner or pro. Its very reasonably priced as well. It would have been nice to have some more sounds, hammond organ, clavinova.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/30/2004 07:06

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Price Paid: US $700
Ease of Use: 10
Software versions do not apply with most (if not all) digital pianos.
The presets: stunning. Seriously.
Cannot edit patches.
Manual does the job.

Features: 10
32-note polyphony. The keyboard action is exactly like an expensive piano. Baby grand, upright, whatever. The keys feel so real. Close your eyes and you’re playing the real thing. Yamaha’s “hammer action” gives an accurate pressure.. more on low keys, less on the higher ones, just like a real piano. Amazing.

Built-in effects– only reverb. But it sounds awesome. No expansion capabilities, but that’s not why you bought this, anyway.

No on-board sequencer (MIDI though… no problem connecting it up to a sequencer).

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
The pianos on this P60 are absolutely fantastic. Seriously. I’ve played many, many digital pianos and nothing comes close to the warmth and realism of the Yamaha P-series pianos (P-80, P-60). It feels perfect. My bandmate has a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-560 (original price about $3000– she got a great deal on it)… let me put it this way: I played the P60 side by side with her Clavinova and it’s EXACTLY THE SAME. To say it sounds great would be an absolute understatement. That’s why I bought it. For the piano. Plus, the other sounds are really good, too… harpsicord is excellent. Vibes KICK ASS and if you’re looking for that Thomas Newman “American Beauty” score-style sound…. that’s what he uses on most of the tracks. Velocity is awesome. Play light, it sounds gorgeous. Play heavy, it sounds like it should- ballsy, like a real grand.

Excellent. Seriously. For the price? You can’t get a better digital piano.

Reliability: 10
It weighs in at about 40 lbs, and that’s not bad. It’s definitely portable, though kind of awkward to carry due to the length. Seems pretty reliable. I wouldn’t pound on it, making noise, though. If you want to do that, you shouldn’t be playing a digital piano… you should be playing a piece of crap Casio consumer keyboard.

Customer Support: 10
Never contacted Yamaha, but I know they’re awesome and supportive. All their products are awesome, and stand by them faithfully. I also use a CS1x control synth, which I love.

Overall Rating: 10
If this thing were stolen, I’d cry. I would then seek out the thief and proceed to beat them senseless. Then I’d take the piano back.

I hate nothing about this piano. It’s everything I ever wanted. You want real piano sound (which is hard to come by) and real piano feel, this is the way to go. Without even thinking twice.

I’ve compared this piano to digital pianos (new ones) by Roland and Korg, and I laugh at the sound of both of those brands (and I love and use Roland synths, like the Juno-60). The Yamaha takes the cake in every category. Plus, it looks sweet. Simple, black, with a nice red strip running along the top of the keys. Looks great, plays even better.

The only thing that is kind of annoying (but not that much) is you have to change patches by holding the patch button and then pressing a corresponding key. Oh well, you can’t do fast patch changes. So what. I use it in the studio mainly, so it’s not like I have to frantically press buttons. That’s about it. Some of the other features (MIDI channel setup, reverb depth, reverb style) are a pain to edit, because again, you have to press a key to get the desired setting. Oh well, I like the default verb. I’m easy to please, especially when a piano sounds this good.

Submitted by skip from beauty’s confusion - http://beautysconfusion.net at 12/02/2003 15:59

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Price Paid: 549 (£)
Ease of Use: 7
yamaha have skimped on the buttons meaning you have to use the keyboard itself as buttons to select different voices and features - this is fine most of the time but you can’t do quick patch changes while playing - it’s not the best piano for gigging.

Features: 7
it’s not bristling with features but that’s not why you’d buy it. You buy this for the piano action which is very good, and the piano sounds which are good for the money. Annoying lack of a line out socket - have to use the headphones socket and this switches off the speakers so can’t use them for monitoring.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
I love the two acoustic piano sounds though they are very similar. I also like the Rhodes piano . Disappointed there’s no Hammond organ sounds.

Very expressive keyboards, well matched to the voices.

Reliability: 9
it’s not got the most robust case - you can’t throw it about. No key cover. But I doubt it’s going to go wrong unless you are very silly with it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 9
there is nothing on the market for the money that comes close. A musician’s piano. Very enjoyable to play with headphones.
I have a Yamah upright and the key touch is similar (although the sound is quite different.)

Submitted by ken richman at 09/08/2003 07:11

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Price Paid: US $650
Ease of Use: 10
only a few buttons. hold a button and press a key to access functions.

Features: 10
features, features, whatever. it’s the feel of the keys that makes this more than worth the paltry sum you’ll pay for it. graded hammer action (lighter @ top, heavier @ bottom end) perfect touch sensitivity for dynamics control. it’s got a MIDI port; that’s all i need.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
great sound for the money, 2- and 3- way velo switch samples, not complex but usable and great for practice. you can stack 2 sounds and add a bit of reverb which can make for somegood sound. you’re buying this for the keyboard, anyway. get a good giga piano lib and you’re in heaven.

Reliability: 10
feels solid. at least, i stubbed my toe on it and it hurt a lot.

Customer Support: N/A
never talked to ‘em. don’t think i’ll need to.

Overall Rating: 10
the best playing keyboard action you can get for < $2000, an amazing value! built in speakers (sounds pretty good, considering) for fun,

Submitted by pianoMan at 08/30/2003 16:03

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Price Paid: US $750
Ease of Use: 9
Manual is short and clear.

Features: 9
I love the action. This is the first digital piano I have ever considered, and I was wowed by the feel. I don't use MIDI, so no comment there.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
I play classical at the intermediate level, and it's been a very good practice piano. The only negative is with pieces with a lot of sustain it tends to start sounding a bit electric/zingy after a while.

Reliability: 10
I've been using it for 3 months about 1 hr a day and no complaints. Just remember if you have the sustain pedal down when you turn it on, things get reversed and everything is sustained when the pedal is off.

Customer Support: N/A
Never had to deal with the company.

Overall Rating: 9
I would definitely buy it again/recommend it to others. I played for about 10 years till I was 16, then quit and came back 20 years later. Love that I can plug in the headphones and practice til the wee hours without bothering anyone and still get the sound and feel of a real piano.

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/20/2003 19:10

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Price Paid: US $600
Ease of Use: 10
Just plug and play. I note the manual is very clear. Bought it as a practice piano, so not interested in the other features.

Features: 7
I think the polyphony (32) will be fine. Again bought as a practice piano and the features are fine for this application.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
I like the piano 2 voice. My wife likes 1 the best. We are both amazed at the sound within the volume constraints of the little onboard amp and speakers. Definitely a boost to the richness of the sound if you place it projecting towards the cormer of a room. The keyboard feels very close to the real thing with the ability to express touch nuance.

Reliability: N/A
No experience but reliability reputation is good.

Customer Support: N/A
I have never delt with Yamaha, but hear they are good

Overall Rating: 9
I would buy again. Looked at many different brands and I thought the Yamaha was by far the best value. Also I got a great deal at guitar center in Chicago. Typical price is $750. However currently there is a $100 instant rebate and I got an additional $50 off for an open box. With Extreme bench, Yamaha stand and cover it was $770 out the door. Very good buying experience.

Submitted by VG at 06/28/2003 12:03

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Price Paid: €850
Ease of Use: 8
Everytime you turn off the piano custom settings are canceled. Apart from that , this piano is very easy to use.

Features: 5
It contains 50 demo sampler (50!!!!)but not separate connections for output and headphones.
No alternative tunes for Harpsichord.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
Two great sounds of Piano, warmly and tuned right.
Harpsichord are beatiful too (sensivity keyb are disabilited)
Church Organ 1 sounds well, very realistic. Church Organ 2 (Ripieno) is less affective but always good.
I don't care about Electric pianos, anyway i think they aren't good.
Strings are awful.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
I'm proud of me for choosing this piano instead of other products of the same price range. My ears work well at first sight!

Submitted by phil$pector at 06/26/2003 03:41

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Price Paid: 1450 (Canadian)
Ease of Use: 9
Simple and effective. I use it for just a piano. It's good to own if you're on a tighter budget.

Features: 8
Keyboard action is the heavier type, more like a 9' concert grand.
It's definately MIDI compadible but limited that it has no modulation/pitch wheel knobs. It's great for taking around town to do quick weddings or gigs.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
You can definately have a wider expression if you know how to control the keys with your hands. The velocity sensitivity is way better than those early PSR models. The speakers are small, 15W i think, so you might want to plug it into an amp.

Reliability: 8
So far so good, i only had it for a week.

Customer Support: N/A
haven't had it long enough, however i heard there is a 1 yr waranty on defects.

Overall Rating: N/A
It's definately worth the dollars put into it. It is limited in the sense that it's only a keyboard with no bells or whistles but then, i'd have to shell out a couple extra grand to get those anyway. The feel is good and it does it's job well.

Submitted by Alfred at 06/23/2003 09:29

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Price Paid: US $750
Ease of Use: 7
The manual is short, but appropriately so, as this thing is easy to use. No problems.

You get ten voices. Yamaha's website isn't very informative, at least not with the P60, so I'll list the sounds here:

piano1
piano2
electric piano1
electric piano2
harpsichord1
harpsichord2
vibes
church organ1
church organ2
strings

I like piano1 the most. Church organ2 has a nice full, powerful tone, good for Bach-ish type stuff. The strings are ok, but they sound kinda thin to me. The electric pianos are nice, but I'll never really use them. I do have one question though...what the hell are vibes? It sounds like some sort of electric xylophone. Whatever it (or they) is, I can envision using the vibes for cheesy xmas songs.

Features: N/A
It is midi compatible, but I'll probably never use it. There are four reverb types: room, hall1, hall2, and stage (or you can turn it off completely). Each reverb type can be adjusted from 1 to 20 to control the reverb depth.

Me likes the reverb.

You can also layer two voices and adjust their respective volumes. Piano1 and strings sound nice together.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
I've only owned this thing for 5 days now, so maybe my review is a bit premature, but I've played it for several hours each day. Anyway, the best thing about this keyboard is, well, the keyboard. It has an excellent feel and it's quite responsive. I was originally just gonna buy a dgx202 or something similar to entertain myself, but after trying the P60, there was no way I could go back to playing a non-weighted synth-style keyboard. Besides, the dgx202 et. al. have all that extra crap that I don't need or want.

I play through headphones most of the time, but the speakers seem adequate.

Reliability: N/A
So far, so good. I don't gig as I suffer from intense bouts of neurosis.

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 8
I've played off and on for about 15 years, and after buying this thing, I'd like to start taking lessons again. It's made me want to play more. The P60 comes with a power adapter and a sustain pedal. There are also 50 preset songs on here - this I could do without. I'd much rather have a few more choices in sounds than the 50 pieces of pre-fabbed music, but apparently Yamaha sees things differently. There's also a stand made specifically for the P60 (same as the p120), but I just bought a generic stand for it since Sam Ash didn't have the right one.

I tried the P80 and P120, and a few Korg models...and there was Kurzweil too, but I thought the P60 had the best feel and the best price.

I'm satisfied.

Submitted by Jason at 06/13/2003 11:46

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Price Paid: US $750
Ease of Use: 9
If all you want to do is turn the thing on and play piano, it can't really get a whole lot easier than this. The connections are on the back instead of the side. This is pretty much a preference issue. I would prefer to be able to switch between earphones and the built in speakers without unplugging the earphones. Getting to more advanced functions such as transposing is less than intuitive and means consulting the reference card or the manual.

Features: 6
This is a very basic keyboard. It has 32 note polyphony. It has a graded action keyboard that to me feels very good with a full 88 keys. It does have the ability to layer two of its sounds together. The relative loudness of the layerered sounds can be adjusted. It does have built in reverb again with the ability to adjust the settings. Be aware however that if you turn off the unit, your previous settings are not retained.

Among the things it cannot do and which might matter to someone:
1) Layer sounds
2) Adjust the sensitivity of the action
3) It only has an input for a sustain pedal
4) Retain settings upon poweroff
5) It only has 10 sounds so you better like them
6) It has no built in sequencer
7) It has no built in drum machine
8) It has no easily accessable program change buttons etc. so it is limited as a midi controller.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
I think that for the 750$ it cost the sounds it does have are very good. In particular with the piano sound looping is much less objectionable than on units I heard that cost literally twice as much (from another manufacturer). I find the action great and very easy to control. If I want ff I can get ff and if I want pp I can get that too. Sustain seems natural to me which again I can't say for some other units that cost twice as much.

It is limited to those 10 sounds it comes with. If you want eye popping lead sounds, you better go elsewhere. If you want a very nice piano sound on a weighted keyboard with 88 keys, this has it.

Reliability: N/A
Who knows. Ask me in 10 years.

Customer Support: N/A
Again, ask me in 10 years.

Overall Rating: 10
I think this is a fantastic value for people who can live without the many features it doesn't have. When I went shopping I was willing to spend up to 2000$. My requirements were:

1) Excellent piano sound
2) 88 key weighted action that felt right to me
3) A sustain pedal
4) The ability to turn it on and be essentially instantly ready to play.

I checked out much more expensive Yamahas, Korgs, Rolands, and others. By nature, I tend to overbuy. In otherwords I would usually rather spend a bit or even a lot more money to get something that actually does exactly what I want. I ended up going with this. To me it ended up being a choice between this and the Yamaha S90.

On the otherhand, my requirements were very basic. There is a whole lot this keyboard will not do. Be sure you can live with that. It is a niche product. It would not be right for a whole lot of people.

I would absolutely buy this keyboard again.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/29/2003 13:43

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Price Paid: US $700
Ease of Use: 10
This Keyboard is a breeze. Perfect for someone who wants a light weight graded hammer weighted keyboard with excellent piano sounds.

Features: 7
Graded Hammer 88 Note weighted action keyboard for realistic piano feel

32 Notes of polyphony

10 Voices including Grand Piano, EP, Pipe Organ and Strings

Dual voice mode to combine two sounds

Digital reverb

20W x 2 amplifier

MIDI IN/OUT

The 32 poly might be a drawback for some but I use this board only for piano. I have an S30 for organ and synth sounds etc. and sequencing. It is the 32 poly version of the P120. The on-board speakers are small but I use it with a Peavey KB300 so that is not a problem for me.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
The Piano sounds are what I bought this board for. It sounds as good as the P120 and much better than the P80.

Reliability: 10
It's a Yamaha, need I say more. Yamaha builds products that last.

Customer Support: N/A
I have owned a DX7, a S30 and a couple of acoustic guitars by Yamaha and I have never had any reason to contact cutomer support.

Overall Rating: 10
I love this Keyboard! Where else can you get a great sounding Digital Piano for $700?

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/19/2003 13:05