The Yamaha P95 electric piano is an extremely popular model from the Yamaha digital piano range – a range of products with a proud reputation of excellence in sound. This article is intended as a high level review for those interested in this particular digital piano. I will look at some of the features that make the Yamaha P95 as popular as it is.
Attention to detail
The ultimate experience for the majority of piano players would have to be playing a Grand Piano. Some of us never get the opportunity but it is an experience to aspire to. In the meantime, we can make do with the far more accessible option of playing an electronic piano designed to sound like a Grand Piano and, importantly, feel like a Grand Piano to play. The Yamaha P95 achieves this just as well, if not better than any other models in a similar price bracket and indeed better than some electric pianos that are more expensive.
The Yamaha P95 does this via its 88 full-sized, weighted keys featuring Graded Hammer action. The Graded Hammer action actually makes the keys have different resistances depending on whether they produce a low or high sound. In a genuine piano the low keys are connected to big thick heavy strings and the high keys to much smaller finer strings. This means low notes have a subtly heavier resistance compared to high notes and this is what the Graded Hammer action within the Yamaha P95 simulates very well. The result is a better playing experience and a much better platform for learning to play the piano. You can even adjust the sensitivity of this resistance for a more personal experience.
An electric piano could feel as smooth as a velvet glove but if the sound is no good then it would be all for naught. Thankfully this is not a problem for the Yamaha P95, it simulates the sound of an acoustic piano very well and the speakers are powerful enough to deliver that sound without distortion. This Yamaha digital piano only comes with a small selection of alternate sounds but includes two types of acoustic piano along with eight other sounds including pipe organ and choir.
Additional features and benefits
With the key details of playing sound and feel covered, Yamaha then went and included a couple of extra useful features in this electric piano which effectively puts the icing on the cake. People owning a Yamaha P95 appreciate the 50 tracks pre-programmed into the keyboard to let them see how good the keyboard can sound and maybe inspire them to learn new pieces. There is also the ability to record your performances for review and there is an in-built metronome so as to get your timing just right.
More than these features though, users remark how user-friendly and intuitive this Yamaha digital piano is to play and this means there will be little need to constantly refer to the Yamaha P95 manual. The other excellent thing about this keyboard is that it is very lightweight and thus portable. Whether you need to take it to gigs or friends homes, there is every likelihood you will be able to support the weight of this keyboard in one hand.
Some small oversights
No Yamaha P95 review would be complete without mentioning a couple of things that could be improved upon. One of those things is that this electric piano does not have USB ports to connect to a computer. However with a midi-adapter you can overcome this limitation. The other aspect which causes some comment is that there are other keyboards that come with more ‘bells and whistles’. These keyboards tend to be more expensive though,or lack the attention to detail around simulating the piano’s touch and feel.
Conclusion
At the end of the day this keyboard is a quality one with a good price point. If you are seeking Yamaha attention to detail that won’t break the bank then the Yamaha P95 is definitely worth the investment.