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Yamaha P121 73 key


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It's about time that manufacturers start thinking about putting out smaller, more portable digital pianos. Looks like a step in the right direction.

Yamaha CP-73, Hammond SK Pro 73, Yamaha MODX 7, Roland Fantom 06, Roland VK-8M, Yamaha FS1R

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It is an interesting offering at this price point.

Perhaps Yamaha caught wind of people cutting down their P series instruments for smaller/lighter travel. Its no big deal for them to make the alteration.

Less materials for about the same street price.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Its no big deal for them to make the alteration.

Less materials for about the same street price.

It's not that simple for boards that have a plastic chassis. The initial fabrication for a new mold has a significant cost. So they need to have some confidence in being able to sell x-thousand of them just to recoup the fabrication costs.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Very cool start - but not yet the destination. The P121 doesn't have 5-pin MIDI, so does not (by itself) fulfil the role of my dream downstairs controller (cheap, light, 7x keys, acceptable-or-better hammer action) to accompany an upstairs organ-style action (in my case Nord Stage 2).

 

I've played the P125 and I didn't particularly notice the action cramp my style. But that USB-midi thing is a complication that I will raise in a separate thread...

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Very cool start - but not yet the destination. The P121 doesn't have 5-pin MIDI, so does not (by itself) fulfil the role of my dream downstairs controller (cheap, light, 7x keys, acceptable-or-better hammer action) to accompany an upstairs organ-style action (in my case Nord Stage 2).

Maybe the Studiologic SL73 Studio would fit the bill, if you don't need sounds onboard (and whenever it actually becomes available)

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Very cool start - but not yet the destination. The P121 doesn't have 5-pin MIDI, so does not (by itself) fulfil the role of my dream downstairs controller (cheap, light, 7x keys, acceptable-or-better hammer action) to accompany an upstairs organ-style action (in my case Nord Stage 2).

 

I've played the P125 and I didn't particularly notice the action cramp my style. But that USB-midi thing is a complication that I will raise in a separate thread...

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

It almost makes a perfect weighted controller except for that missing MIDI jack. How difficult was it for them to add it and open up a whole new controller market for the P125?

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Very cool start - but not yet the destination. The P121 doesn't have 5-pin MIDI, so does not (by itself) fulfil the role of my dream downstairs controller (cheap, light, 7x keys, acceptable-or-better hammer action) to accompany an upstairs organ-style action (in my case Nord Stage 2).

Maybe the Studiologic SL73 Studio would fit the bill, if you don't need sounds onboard (and whenever it actually becomes available)

 

Agreed - although I'm still nervous about that TP100 action in the SL73. Its predecessor the Acuna looked perfect on paper, but had such a horrible action I had to return it. I wanted to love that board, but I couldn't make it happen.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Very cool start - but not yet the destination. The P121 doesn't have 5-pin MIDI, so does not (by itself) fulfil the role of my dream downstairs controller (cheap, light, 7x keys, acceptable-or-better hammer action) to accompany an upstairs organ-style action (in my case Nord Stage 2).

Maybe the Studiologic SL73 Studio would fit the bill, if you don't need sounds onboard (and whenever it actually becomes available)

 

Agreed - although I'm still nervous about that TP100 action in the SL73. Its predecessor the Acuna looked perfect on paper, but had such a horrible action I had to return it. I wanted to love that board, but I couldn't make it happen.

Yes, I have the same concern, and nowhere to try to SL88 or SL73 (when it's available). I'm considering the same type of arrangement as you, except (currently) with an Electro instead of a Stage. Thus, the P121 caught my attention too, until the lack of 5-pin MIDI. :(

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73 or 76 keys with hammer action - check

Not excessively wide or big - check

Weight under 12kg - check (only 10kg)

Proper audio outputs - check

Decent built in piano tone - check

Price under £800 - check (only £500)

Bonus of built in speakers - check

Midi sockets... MIDI?! Midi sockets.... anyone? Bueller?

 

Why oh why would they leave out standard midi sockets? They have just stopped a load of us from buying one

Kurzweil PC3x

Technics SX-P50

Korg X3

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Why oh why would they leave out standard midi sockets?

 

Because it's simply a repackaging of existing electronics. I get it. I don't like it, but I get it.

 

Although scoring A+ for price/weight/compass and B+ for action has got me looking at workarounds for those 5 missing pins...

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Midi? Who really needs mid in this day and age. Thats something I used back in the 80s.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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I am so sick of bad jazz Rhodes emulations and bad jazz Organ emulations. Yamaha sure sounds stuck in the mud, piano sounds nice though.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Its no big deal for them to make the alteration.

Less materials for about the same street price.

It's not that simple for boards that have a plastic chassis. The initial fabrication for a new mold has a significant cost. So they need to have some confidence in being able to sell x-thousand of them just to recoup the fabrication costs.

 

This!

 

Yamaha already has 76 note keyboards in other parts of their line-up (Piaggero/PSR/Genos), but to invest in a 73 note frame that directly supports their GHS keybed is a significant step, and may have other future implications. I actually like the GHS keyboard for this part of the market segment. And it also implies that they may be looking at additional instruments in this form factor down the road as well?

----------------------------------------------------------

 

Gig: Yamaha MODX7, NumaX 73 Piano  Studio: Kawai ES-920; Hammond SK Pro 73; Yamaha Motif ES7 w/DX,VL,VH; Yamaha YC 73; Kawai MP-6; Numa Compact 2x

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between the p125, p515, and p121, thats three new yamaha digital pianos in the last 3 months....

 

im hoping for the possibility that a CP4 replacement is imminent!

 

 

 

.... Jeff /// Yamaha P515 /// Roll Tide
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So will the USB to host not talk to the USB MIDI in of the Nord Stage?

Correct. Almost no keyboard accepts MIDI over USB from another keyboard. It needs to be a MIDI host. One exception is Kronos, but it's based on a PC running Linux, so the infrastructure for it was already there.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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One thing that is slightly bewildering is the size of the edge bezels. If they want to cut down on width, it strikes me as that would be one of the first places to shave off. Yamaha tends to have fairly wide bezels. They could fit at least 2-3 more keys on each side with that width.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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One thing that is slightly bewildering is the size of the edge bezels. If they want to cut down on width, it strikes me as that would be one of the first places to shave off. Yamaha tends to have fairly wide bezels. They could fit at least 2-3 more keys on each side with that width.

the hips are a little wide....

might fit one more key a side. :)

 

i did notice that as well!

same thickness as the P125 88 key, but more noticeable on the P121 73 key.

i thought they could do a little better than 22 lbs....

 

 

 

.... Jeff /// Yamaha P515 /// Roll Tide
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[same thickness as the P125 88 key, but more noticeable on the P121 73 key.

i thought they could do a little better than 22 lbs....

P-125, 88 keys, 26 lbs

P-121 has 17% fewer keys, and correspondingly smaller chassis. A 17% reduction in weight gets you to 21.6 lbs, but some elements wouldn't reduce at all, i.e. the weight of the speakers and the electronics. So, not surprised at 22.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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i thought they could do a little better than 22 lbs....
No complaints from me at 22lb. As Scott calculated, that's only 0.4lb over the theoretical minimum relative to the p125.

 

One thing that is slightly bewildering is the size of the edge bezels... They could fit at least 2-3 more keys on each side with that width.
This is an adaptation of an existing design, with the same width of bezel as the p125. That was presumably designed that way for structual reasons, or to hold certain components, or whatever.

 

I have no issue with the weight, size or price of this thing, and I'm "ok" with the action. Only the lack of 5-pin MIDI is disappointing, but there are (slightly clunky) workarounds for that at least. You can't work around price or action, or (typically) weight or size.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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For what I can gather from listening to YouTube videos, I'm liking the piano sound on these recent Yamaha DPs quite a bit. Next step, of course, would be to check the action...

 

Well, the P-125 (and presumably P-121) seem to be based upon the sound set of the P-255 which has been out for several years now and is a much more expensive DP with (heavier) GH action, both USB & 5 pin din MIDI & external analog audio input, among other things. The newer pianos seem to have a couple of sonic differences, such as a "Rock Organ' voice addition and slightly modified Rhodes voice, but are otherwise relatively similar sonically. Whether or not the samples are identical, well, only someone from within the company can confirm that! Given that, the size, weight & cost reduction value of these new pianos is quite remarkable. For those who really need the 5 Pin MIDI the P-255 is still available, at least for the moment. But the newer pianos also support audio over USB according to the manual, so at least gigging with something like Korg Module or an unlocked version of Yamaha's own FM Essential iPad app could be possible with the P-121/P-125.

----------------------------------------------------------

 

Gig: Yamaha MODX7, NumaX 73 Piano  Studio: Kawai ES-920; Hammond SK Pro 73; Yamaha Motif ES7 w/DX,VL,VH; Yamaha YC 73; Kawai MP-6; Numa Compact 2x

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