Yamaha P-225 - Anyone buy/play one yet?

[Floyd Tatum]

Anyone buy or play one of these yet?   I did a search, and didn't find much.    I just got a P-125a, but thinking I might try a P-225, and if I like it a lot better, I might upgrade.

 

[CHarrell]

@pjd wrote up a really good review that my fingers agreed with last year when I tried it myself. The keybed was surprisingly "springy", at my local GC the 125 and 225 were right on top of each other so I got to immediately A/B them and found myself preferring the 125.

[Kawai James]

1 hour ago, Floyd Tatum said:

I just got a P-125a, but thinking I might try a P-225, and if I like it a lot better, I might upgrade.

 

This doesn't answer your question, however the P-125a is the version of the P-125 *without* the useful USB audio interface.

If you wish to connect your digital piano to a computer or phone/tablet and have the sound from the device output through the instrument's speakers, the USB audio interface is a really useful feature.

 

Kind regards,

James

x

[Floyd Tatum]

1 hour ago, Kawai James said:

This doesn't answer your question, however the P-125a is the version of the P-125 *without* the useful USB audio interface.   If you wish to connect your digital piano to a computer or phone/tablet and have the sound from the device output through the instrument's speakers, the USB audio interface is a really useful feature.

Kind regards,    James    x

Thanks.  I was aware of that going in - the P125a has USB, but not audio-over-USB.   That's not a big enough concern to me to make a difference.    It will still do MIDI-over-USB, although, I'm not even making use of that at the moment.   If I need to record the P125a's audio, there are other ways to do it.

 

[CHarrell]

4 minutes ago, Kawai James said:

 

This doesn't answer your question, however the P-125a is the version of the P-125 *without* the useful USB audio interface.

If you wish to connect your digital piano to a computer or phone/tablet and have the sound from the device output through the instrument's speakers, the USB audio interface is a really useful feature.

 

Kind regards,

James

x

 

The weirdest 4th quarter switch-up of a product I've seen (I know professional courtesy will prevent you from commenting much on this). I'll be in a GC and I hear people constantly believing the "a" model is an upgrade, and I have to butt in to let them know that it's actually a downgrade, and the GC associates are surprised too. The 225 has USB Audio, so it's not like it was a permanent gear shift in feature set, either.

[drawback]

25 minutes ago, CHarrell said:

The weirdest 4th quarter switch-up of a product I've seen (I know professional courtesy will prevent you from commenting much on this). I'll be in a GC and I hear people constantly believing the "a" model is an upgrade, and I have to butt in to let them know that it's actually a downgrade, and the GC associates are surprised too. The 225 has USB Audio, so it's not like it was a permanent gear shift in feature set, either.

It’s one of those “what were they thinking” when Yamaha dropped USB Audio. I think once they included it in any model, it should be standard going forward.

[LarsHarner2]

I have had a P-125 for close to 6? years now since it came out. I tried the 225 and actually might see it again in NYC this weekend, I thought once it gets to $750; it is a little high for the type of action it has. At that point I would rather be looking at the $1200 PX-5000 or if it were for home use the P-525 which to me felt a little lighter and more manageable than the 515 

 

From my experience, if you like your  P-125 and it works, I would stick with it

Fast forward back to an earlier point in time-

 

I had  a P-95, I connected it to the stand with the pedals and loved playing it but the speakers werent great.

I decided to get the P-105, got 2 lemons, didn't connect with the stand as well and the units rattled. So I learned if something is good, just keep it.

I use the P-125 to travel with, and at 6 years old I don't worry as much about it.

 

Not to go off topic, but the only thing I am slightly conisering turning it in for would be a PX-5000/6000 and more to use as a midi controller. 

If I play it this weekend is there anything you want me to check on  it for you?

[stoken6]

11 hours ago, drawback said:

It’s one of those “what were they thinking” when Yamaha dropped USB Audio. I think once they included it in any model, it should be standard going forward.

Rumo(u)r has it that the 125a model was a temporary stopgap to cover shortage of a particular semiconductor component during the pandemic.

 

Cheers, Mike

[mrk7421]

I tried it and decided to  go with a Roland FP30x instead....as mentioned in another thread. Yamaha digitals in this price category tend to sound a bit edgy to me in the upper harmonics and I am able to tailor Rolands....FP 10,30 and 30x to sound a little warmer. Yamaha comes close but not quite there in this price range . That is just my taste perhaps not yours.

[Floyd Tatum]

10 hours ago, LarsHarner2 said:

If I play it this weekend is there anything you want me to check on  it for you?

Well, since you're offering...  🙂

Nothing specific, but it would be great if you could report back your impressions, and compare it to P125.

Thanks!

[Floyd Tatum]

2 hours ago, stoken6 said:

Rumo(u)r has it that the 125a model was a temporary stopgap to cover shortage of a particular semiconductor component during the pandemic.    Cheers, Mike

That sounds plausible.   I remember hearing about how car manufacturers were having a hard time getting certain semiconductors at that time.

As I mentioned before,  it's not a problem for me.  During the 12 years I had my P-105, I never once plugged into the USB port, so it's not likely to happen now.   If I do get the urge to use the USB, it still does MIDI, which is why I would use it, and there are other ways to record the audio, so it just didn't seem like a problem worth worrying about, to me.

[stoken6]

31 minutes ago, Floyd Tatum said:

That sounds plausible.   I remember hearing about how car manufacturers were having a hard time getting certain semiconductors at that time.

As I mentioned before,  it's not a problem for me.  During the 12 years I had my P-105, I never once plugged into the USB port, so it's not likely to happen now.   If I do get the urge to use the USB, it still does MIDI, which is why I would use it, and there are other ways to record the audio, so it just didn't seem like a problem worth worrying about, to me.

There's a specific use case, which is as an iPad controller. A single cable transmits MIDI to the iPad, and audio back out through the Yammie's speakers. Without USB audio, it gets more complicated (you need an audio interface, with MIDI capabilities, and you need to power it, etc. )

[Floyd Tatum]

17 minutes ago, stoken6 said:

There's a specific use case, which is as an iPad controller. A single cable transmits MIDI to the iPad, and audio back out through the Yammie's speakers. Without USB audio, it gets more complicated (you need an audio interface, with MIDI capabilities, and you need to power it, etc. )

I see what you mean.   It's worth knowing that if that's what a person intends to do, the P125a is not for them.

 

[drawback]

On 2/8/2024 at 3:16 PM, Floyd Tatum said:

Anyone buy or play one of these yet?   I did a search, and didn't find much.    I just got a P-125a, but thinking I might try a P-225, and if I like it a lot better, I might upgrade.

 

Did you check L&M? It’s in stock locally.

[Floyd Tatum]

Just now, drawback said:

Did you check L&M? It’s in stock locally.

I plan to.

[pjd]

On 2/8/2024 at 3:47 PM, CHarrell said:

@pjd wrote up a really good review that my fingers agreed with last year when I tried it myself. The keybed was surprisingly "springy", at my local GC the 125 and 225 were right on top of each other so I got to immediately A/B them and found myself preferring the 125.

 

Thanks for mentioning that! The link is: https://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-p-225-review-its-not-for-me/

 

I was searching for a piano to have and play at home (i.e., furniture OK). I eventually bought a Yamaha CSP-170 on close-out and I'm pretty happy with it. It's kinda like a furniture P-515 (NWX) with a better sound system. There are still close-out CSPs around -- Yamaha got caught with extra inventory when the world economy tanked.

 

All the best -- pj

 

[TWB121234]

I own a P 225. I bought it primarily as a light weight piano for a monthly (big) band rehearsal and occasional gigs that simply require piano. I also own a Kawai ES 520 (currently at a bass playing friend's house for weekly get togethers to make jazz history 😀) and a Kawai ES 920 (my main practice digital home piano). Though the Kawai pianos are manageable weight wise, the shedding of 10 plus pounds makes a big difference at my advancing age. (I no longer buy green bananas!) Anyway, I find the action to be better than I anticipated and Yamaha pianos always seem to work well in a live situation. It's been a good purchase for my particular use. I did not wish to put too much money into a third 88 key digital piano. I find the main Rhodes patch to be sub par, to be kind. If I ever needed better Rhodes and/or B3 I could use the USB audio/midi with my iPad, but it's obviously not an ideal controller board.

 

If you are looking for home use, I think the next level up P 5xx would be more satisfying if the budget allows. Good Luck 

[LarsHarner2]

I played the P225 again yesterday- personally I would stick with the 125 if it works.  Casio PX5000,6000,7000 have nice actions, but to me the sound is a little thin .

I agree the P525 would be an upgrade.

@TWB121234 - I have a similar setup- I use the P125 to go out with and the Kawai ES8 at home.

[Floyd Tatum]

4 hours ago, LarsHarner2 said:

I played the P225 again yesterday- personally I would stick with the 125 if it works.  Casio PX5000,6000,7000 have nice actions, but to me the sound is a little thin.  I agree the P525 would be an upgrade.  @TWB121234 - I have a similar setup- I use the P125 to go out with and the Kawai ES8 at home.

Thanks for your impressions.   The town I moved to recently does not have a Yamaha dealer, unfortunately.   A month from now, I have an appointment in nearby Nanaimo (famous for Nanaimo bars!  - do you Yanks get Nanaimo bars down in Yankville? Is that a thing in the US? 🙂 ), a city that has a decently large Long & McQuade (really good Canuck music store chain), so I plan to do all my keyboard auditioning then.   Or, if I get too impatient, I might drive over there before then.

After reading PJD's article, he's kind of got me interested in the DGX670.  I wasn't looking for a Yamaha arranger, but it has the P-125 keybed, a good piano sample, and all those Yamaha arranger "Sweet!" and "Cool!" goodies! 🙂  It might be fun.   If I can't play with other people, at least I could play with myself (ooh, how naughty! 🙄)

I'm not doing hardly any gigging these days, so if by some miracle I started gigging again, I could cross that bridge when I get to it - either suffer thru schlepping the DGX (47 lbs), or buy a lighter gigging slab, at that time.   But, this is just daydreams, I have to try them out first, and I'll probably just either stay with the P125a, or maybe get the P225.

By the way, here in Canayadayada, the DGX670 costs $1200, whereas the P225 costs $900, so there's that.

[Dockeys]

I was doing some research on a lighter board to cover most piano type gigs (musicals, jazz etc) but that I could hook up the iPad to if I needed extra sounds. The P225 looked good on paper but wanted to try out the newer action. I used to have the p115 which had the GHS action that I always found a compromise, especially in my MODX8 which I sold as the action was a dealbreaker over time. However in my P115 I thought it was better implemented, dunno why, just felt better. I’ve read similar feelings online about the P125. 
 

After much trawling through the woefully stocked shops here I found a place that stocked the 225 and tried it this morning. My immediate thoughts were the GHC is noticeably shallower when playing. It’s feels like it only depresses to 75/80% of the way before bottoming out. This was very disappointing as yet again it would be a major compromise. Yes, Im sure I could get used in time to it but I said that about the MODX8 but eventually I couldn’t live with that action. I really like to gel with the action rather than buying something and hoping I’ll learn to live with it. 
 

Pros: the sounds were really nice. The CFX is a noticeable upgrade in terms of sound, works beautifully and the dynamics you can get especially in the quieter region were very impressive. Not many sounds overall but the ones they had were nice, other pianos were tasty, strings were very rich, Rhodes was ok, wurly had too many baked in effects, usual DX voices too. 
 

I plugged in my iphone and tried a few apps. Seamless as I expected. Audio coming though the P225. I tried turning off local control to only hear the apps but it didn’t work,  not sure what I was doing wrong? Anyway the usb interface is a major plus. 
 

While I was there I also tried the CK88 action and I have to say that action was much looser. Still don’t like that GHS as it felt like the implementation in the MODX8. They also had the Montage 8X, which I didn’t bother playing as it would have only depressed me with such a nice action. 
 

Not sure where to go now, maybe a used P125, one of the Casio Px3000/3100? I found the Casio action much better than the 225. Man getting a nice action in a lighter board that keeps me happy seems to get harder every time.