Yamaha P-115B SN7315

EXCELLENT CONDITION AND WORKS PERFECTLY

INCLUDES MUSIC REST AND POWER SUPPLY

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Touch, tone, and technology

As a pianist, I've long appreciated Yamaha's digital pianos for their natural, realistic feel and rich, balanced piano sound. Such instruments at affordable prices don't grow on trees. Most mid-priced digital pianos offer, at least to the player who craves a pianistic experience, unacceptable compromises. Maybe the acoustic piano emulation is credible, but the action is poor or cheaply constructed. Perhaps the playability is good, but none of the piano patches are satisfying and there are too many unusable sounds on board. Or you might find that the instrument is a good, all-around workstation, but just doesn't shine as a piano.

Yamaha's digital pianos consistently address the needs of the acoustic pianist, first and foremost — no matter how many other features it has. Sound quality and playability are what they're all about. Their P115B piano, the Japanese giant's current entry at the thousand-dollar price point (nicely discounted to $600), is no exception. And the additional sounds and features are suhweet. Bonus!

Playability

For me, playability is the most important element in a portable piano. It has to feel good under my fingers and it has to be responsive to my touch. The more I enjoy playing it, the more inspired I'll be, and the better performance I'll turn in for the audience. And yet, I believe this factor is even more important for a beginner, who should always feel comfortable behind the keyboard. The second-quickest way to turn off a new music student is to give her a difficult-to-operate instrument (the first being a lousy teacher, of course).

Graded action for a natural feel

Yamaha knows that playability is determined by key size, weight, and action. The P115B's full-size keys look and feel like a real piano's, and play like one. As is true with an acoustic piano, key resistance decreases as your hands travel left to right across the keyboard. Low notes will require a heavier touch than high ones — a must-have feature for experienced pianists and students alike.

If you're a pro using the P115 on a gig, you want your onstage experience to feel as close to playing your beloved acoustic piano as possible. By the same token, if you're a student who practices at home on the P115, you need the instrument to be preparing you for playing that grand piano at your school recital. In the “devil's in the details” department, I appreciate the black keys' matte finish instead of the usual slippery ones you'll find on most other keyboards in this price range. It's more realistic, and much less fatiguing to play.

High-fidelity sound

Yamaha has been making grand pianos since 1902, so they well know what it is they're trying to emulate in a portable axe. The sounds that drive this piano come from meticulous sampling of their CFIIIS 9' concert grand — a detailed capturing of a world-class instrument's complex tones at varying volume levels. When a killer sample like this meets a mechanical action also derived from world-class piano technology, you get an instrument with expressive capabilities that make it a sheer delight to play. Play lightly and coax a warmer, sweeter sound; hit the keys harder and gain brightness and fullness.

EQ boost

For those of you who plan to use this piano onstage with a band, Yamaha added an EQ boost feature that will help you cut through the mix, by taking out some of the bottom end and adding a little compression. The guitars don't always have to win.

Built-in reverb

Four adjustable reverb settings allow you to add a little more body and presence to your piano voices – very helpful when trying to impart the sense of an acoustic instrument through speakers. The judicious use of reverb can help bring your sound to life.

14 selectable voices

Covering acoustic and electric pianos, organ, strings, bass, and more, the P115 gives you 14 selectable voices in a presentation so simple, you won't have to consult the owner's manual (not that I thought you would, anyway). Just sit down and play!

Manipulating the presets

Split the keyboard into two voices in any way you want. Put an upright bass in your left hand and vibes in your right, or organ in the left and piano in the right, and so on. Add in a drum set rhythm and have an instant jazz trio. Or layer sounds together: piano and strings, electric piano and organ – you name it. All of this is easy to do from the keyboard itself, but for even deeper control of voice selection, splits, effects, and all available features, you can download Yamaha's Digital Piano Controller App to your iOS device and enjoy its clear and intuitive user interface.

Player-assist features

Learning to play, or looking for a fun way to stimulate your ideas? The built-in duet partner plays along in one of 10 “pianist” styles. Hold a note or chord down in the left hand, and the machine creates an accompaniment in a particular style of music. The onboard drummer plays up to 14 patterns you can practice with or even take with you to the gig. Of course, if all you need is a metronome, you can have that too.

You can play along with 50 built-in songs, and you can record a track of your own (up to 11,000 notes) and store it into memory.

Accompanying a singer and need to change key on the fly? You can do that with the press of a button. Until, of course, you learn how to transpose the old-fashioned way. (Apologies to piano teachers everywhere.)

Onboard amplification

Yamaha is famous for building amplification into many of their digital pianos, and you'll find it here, too. That means you don't have to plug the instrument in to an amp and speakers just to practice. On stage, however, you'll want to connect to a more powerful sound system. Connect to an external amp, and the built-in speakers go quiet. Recording a piano/vocal demo using headphones to monitor? No worries, you can simply switch the internal sound system off so your vocal mic won't pick up the piano sound.

Product highlights:

• 88-key digital piano
• Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) weighted action
• Yamaha's CFIIIS 9' concert grand piano sample
• 14 piano voices, including organ, harpsichord, strings, bass, and more voices
• built-in stereo amp (7 watts x 2), two 4-1/2" speakers, two 1-1/2" tweeters
• includes foot switch, AC adapter, and music rest
• MIDI output to computer or iOS device (via USB)
• 192-voice polyphony handles full-on pianistic playing with sustain, including use with layers, splits, and drum patterns
• Sound Boost uses compression and EQ to cut through a live mix
• speaker on/off toggle lets you disengage the internal speakers

Features:

• 14 built-in drum patterns give you a groove to play with
• 10 pianist style accompaniments help you learn to play
• keyboard splitting for assigning a different sound to left and right hand
• voice layering allows you to play 2 sounds together
• Digital Piano Controller app lets you use your iOS device to control the piano's features

Specs:

• outputs: USB, left and right 1/4" jacks, headphone jack
• dimensions: 52-3/16" x 11-5/8" x 6-7/16"