Is the P-80 a good choice?

[dissident]

I'm a 20 year old swedish student and I will soon be moving from home to a small appartment. I am looking for something to play piano on. I've been playing piano for over ten years and I have a acoustic piano at home so you could say I know what a real piano feels like. I've found that the Yamaha P-80 is a cheap semi-portable piano that seems good. I will of course try one before bying one but I'm wondering if I should consider one. I heard good reviews from many people who don't play piano very much. Any other stage pianos in this price range I should consider?

thanks

[EricG]

Hi !

I think the P-80 is a really great piano. In it´s price range there are not many good alternatives.

 

One alternative cpuld be the Korg SP-200. It is an OK piano, but in my opinion the piano sounds are not as good as on the P-80. But the other sounds on the Korg is very good.

 

Another alternative is the Roland FP3, it has some cool features like the "practies friend", kind of auto comp, controled by left hand cords or pre programed chord changes and some cool sounds like the velocity controlled scat sound But here again the acoustic piano sound is to weak. (The FP-3 is also more expensive than the P-80)

Roland also have the RD-XXX (don´t remember the number), but it is not near the P-80.

 

Kawai has one portable piano, but I haven tried it so....

 

One thing Yamaha always have is a great feeling Keyboard.

 

So as you already may have guessed I would recomend yoy to go for the P-80 (If acoustic piano is the most important feature for you.)

 

In my opinion a better alternative would be the Yamaha P-120. It is amazing.

 

Keep in mind that this is my personal opinions, and piano sounds tend to be a very personal matter, so get out there an d check them out if you can.

[EricG]

My spell check did not get applied to my post above, but I hope you understand,... sorry.

(I guess you could have read it if i wrote it in my own language (Norwegian) since you are from Sweden, but it would not be fair for all the rest out there, but nice to see some Scandinavians here.)

 

by the way: Gikk ikke saa bra for dere i OS... :-)

[Bronzee]

hello dissident Iam thinking that the P-80 is nice but, I went with the Pl20...I tried the Roland RD 150, P80, P120, in this price range and others that were a little over my price range and its not alot out there to pick from. The reason I went with the P120 its the big brother of the P80 and it had more features that I wanted to hear..like it had guitar, and basses along with other ones..its a littler bigger I think then the P80....I thought the feel was more..important to me and the p120 gave me the feel that I wanted..so I just decided in the future I would select a nice Kurz..piano module and different instructment in the future after i select a bigger amp. I hope this helps.

[RABid]

If you just want piano the P80 is a great choice and one I almost made a few weeks ago before setteling on an 88 note controller with no sound. Just realize you have no speakers as you do with the P120. Sometimes it is nice to take the headphones off and play. Until you get up to the Roland RD700 the Yamahas are the best choice.

 

Robert

[skynare]

Hi.

I too was going to buy p80.

But I didn't buy it because I heard it has velocity problem.

People complaining about it that it has velocity range 0-100, not 127. So, you can't expect p80 control modules good.

DX7 also had velocity range 0-100, but I don't know why yamaha keeps making p80 with oldstyle velocity range...( I guess DX7 was developed before GM was set.)

Anyway, besides 0-100 velocity range, I think p80 is good.

But also consider buy studiologic sl990 with gigastudio if you have computer with good audio interface--price range will be almost same.

[RABid]

Originally posted by skynare:

Hi.

...But also consider buy studiologic sl990 with gigastudio if you have computer with good audio interface--price range will be almost same.

That is exactly how I practice piano now. Hardware units cannot compare to GigaPiano.

 

Robert

[guestuserguestuser.com]

I think P80 is a good choice, especially if you're only interested in the piano sound. You might want to also look at the P120. It's a newer version of the P80. It has many similar features, but also a few differences. One difference is the sound has more high-frequency content. Personally, I like that. Another difference is that the Rhodes sound on the P120 is much much better than on the P80. The P80 Rhodes had a bad (i.e., way too obvious) velocity switch. The P120 has a velocity switch too, but it is more subtle. Another difference is that the P120 has built-in amp and speakers. They're not very good quality, but useable in a pinch. To make it sound its best, you need to put the P120 through a good sound system, same as the P80.

 

Portability-wise, the P80 weighs 39 lbs, and the P120 weight 43.

 

I've owned a P80 since it came out (what was that, 2 years ago now?), and I've had a P120 for a couple of months. A guy I know wants to buy my P80, but I haven't been able to part with it yet, although I prefer to use my P120.

[rjghosehotmail.com]

As a student, I love my P-80. It is small, so it fits in my apartment perfectly and it's light! It's really easy to take to jams and gigs. If a good basic piano is what you're looking for, the P-80 is great! The other sounds aren't that usable though. I use soft synths and my Alesis QS6 for other sounds. It's also pretty affordable (at least here in Canada).

[Bobro]

The P-80 is aimed more at the Norwegian market.

 

Haha! Just kidding, I was talking to a Swedish friend one day and a Norwegian friend the next, I just thought it was funny.

 

Anyway IMO, the 80 and 120 are better than the competition from other manufacturers I've heard in the same price range. It's just my opinion but I think you have to pay quite a bit more money before you can really say, yeah, this is definitely better.

 

I had a piano so I must warn you, even the best electronic piano is never really the same. The feel is probably more important than the sound on an electronic piano, because you can use a stage piano as a controller for very nice and expensive software sampled pianos someday, too.

 

-Bobro

[dissident]

The velocity problem could actually be a problem for me, cuz I plan to use it with a computer and cubase eventually. Has anyone had problems using the P80 with cubase and modules? Is this a reason not to buy the P80?

[Superbobus]

The P80 piano is great, really cool for a piano that cheap. But pianos are the only useable sounds in there. E.g. the Rhodes and EPs suck big time. The Rhodes has a SERIOUS velocity switch problem so I wouldn't recommend it to use with Cubase and go for the P120 if you don't want to spend too much money. I see the P80 as a good, light and simple piano for gigging and you can use it as a controller for better Rhodes patches from another synth or rack module.

Of course the only fantastic Rhodes patch is coming from a real Rhodes.

[skynare]

There is a product called "velocity converter" from midisoulutions.com (I guess)

You can draw velocity curve with their software and the velocity converter will read that curve so p80 can reach velocity range of 0-127.

But I haven't used the product, so I can't guarantee it.

[dissident]

I the P120 considered a digail piano or a stage piano, in the picture in yamaha.com it looks a lot more like a digital piano with the speakers under it. I'm not too fond of the wooden legs or whatever you call em. Is the 120 as suitable for frequent transports as the p80?

[dissident]

Is the tremlo effect usable on the P80 and the P120? it doesn't seem very efficient to have to hold down the effect button and then pres + or - to change the depth of the tremlo.

[guestuserguestuser.com]

Originally posted by dissident:

I the P120 considered a digail piano or a stage piano, in the picture in yamaha.com it looks a lot more like a digital piano with the speakers under it. I'm not too fond of the wooden legs or whatever you call em. Is the 120 as suitable for frequent transports as the p80?

Those wooden legs in the picture are an optional accessory. They don't come with the basic P120, you buy them extra if want them. Form-wise, it's about the same as a P80, but weighs a couple of pounds more.

 

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** The only good velocity-switch is an inaudible velocity-switch **

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[orangefunk]

I've had 127 out of my P80 but only when I switch to "Soft" Touch..

 

The P80 is the best piano out there, people complain that the P120 doesn't have as good a piano sound as the p80 even thought the other facilities are way better..

 

http:\\www.lancs.ac.uk\ug\loughran\music

 

has an improv I did with the P80 with no overdubs.. its certainly not a great piece of music just me messin'

 

Peace

Orangefunk

[Superbobus]

The P80 is the best piano out there, people complain that the P120 doesn't have as good a piano sound as the p80 even thought the other facilities are way better..

Nah, only the piano patches are great. If you need it for piano only then it's a wise choice. The rest of the patches is just not usable. The P120 piano patches are somewhat brighter than the P80 piano patches. I can imagine it could be too bright for some ears.

Why don't you guys just go and listen to these instruments? It sometimes seems that you want a confirmation from somebody else to go for a certain piece of gear. Test them, play them, hear them, feel them, smell them and let your heart decide. This is not meant to be offensive. I'm just amazed about all those "keyboard advice" questions.

[Bucktunes]

Originally posted by Superbobus:

Why don't you guys just go and listen to these instruments? It sometimes seems that you want a confirmation from somebody else to go for a certain piece of gear. Test them, play them, hear them, feel them, smell them and let your heart decide. This is not meant to be offensive. I'm just amazed about all those "keyboard advice" questions.

Well, I agree that when it comes time to spend the money, it's really nobody's call but yours. The problem is, the local GuitarMart isn't necessarily the most conducive environment for getting to know an instrument, for several reasons;

1. The salesman who makes a better commission from one model than another, or is getting pressure to move more of one particular model.

2.The guy 10 feet away who's trying out a groovebox at 100 decibels while you're listening for sample loop points.

3. The floor model's been beaten up by every passing hack who knows the first few chords to "Louie Louie" or "Lean On Me".

4. Love blindness. Sometimes when you try out a keyboard in the store, you may be so overwhelmed by a sound or feel that you like that you won't notice the sonic or functional shortcomings. At least not until you've bought it and spent a few weeks with it at home or on the gig. When the infatuation wears off, you may find yourself wondering what you ever saw in this POS.

 

Sometimes it's handy to gather a few objective opinions on a piece of gear before you allow yourself to fall in love with it. (and spend your money on it.) Even subjective opinions are helpful as long as you take them with a grain of salt. I believe that's why most people ask for advice here.

 

OTOH, some people just want to own whatever is fashionable at the moment, then dump it for the next fad. Oh, well. Like they say, a fool and his money...

 

Peace all,

Steve

[Superbobus]

1. The salesman who makes a better commission from one model than another, or is getting pressure to move more of one particular model.

2.The guy 10 feet away who's trying out a groovebox at 100 decibels while you're listening for sample loop points.

3. The floor model's been beaten up by every passing hack who knows the first few chords to "Louie Louie" or "Lean On Me".

4. Love blindness. Sometimes when you try out a keyboard in the store, you may be so overwhelmed by a sound or feel that you like that you won't notice the sonic or functional shortcomings. At least not until you've bought it and spent a few weeks with it at home or on the gig. When the infatuation wears off, you may find yourself wondering what you ever saw in this POS.

!!!

I still keep on wondering why so many cats are posting the same old triton/motif/fantom threads or unbef**kinglieveablerealisticpiano threads. Maybe that's just my problem.