Yamaha has made many p-series
(“portable”) keyboards over the years, and it’s pretty confusing. I
play a p-85 at home, which I’m unreasonably fond of, but when I travel
I’m often playing other people’s keyboards. When someone says they
have a p-NNN available what does that mean?
Within the p-series there have been tiers, and within each tier Yamaha
had many years when they’d make new versions that were very minor
changes. Currently, the p-series tiers are:
Higher tiers cost more, but generally give you more or better
features: physical response (“action”) closer to a real piano, more
voices, more pedals, more realistic voices, better interface for
choosing voices, more simultaneous notes (polyphony) etc. Here’s my
attempt to make sense of the historical lineup. I’ve marked them with
their release year, and in cases where they have a fancier action than
GHS I’ve marked that as well.
Go back to the 90s and there’s also the p-100, p-150, p-200,
p-300, and p-500, which are all old enough that it’s harder to get information on
them, and you’re much less likely to run into them.
Personally I’m happy with any of these; the features distinguishing
the fancier models aren’t ones I need. I like the built-in piano
sounds (Piano 2 and Electric Piano 2 on my p-85) and at least from the
p-70 onwards, use external midi for other voices, don’t use the
pedals, don’t need more polyphony than I have fingers, use external
midi for most voices, can handle either USB or 5-pin MIDI, and I like
how light the GHS action is.
Yamaha P-Series Overview
Link post
Yamaha has made many p-series (“portable”) keyboards over the years, and it’s pretty confusing. I play a p-85 at home, which I’m unreasonably fond of, but when I travel I’m often playing other people’s keyboards. When someone says they have a p-NNN available what does that mean?
Within the p-series there have been tiers, and within each tier Yamaha had many years when they’d make new versions that were very minor changes. Currently, the p-series tiers are:
Low: p-143
Mid: p-125a
High: p-525
Higher tiers cost more, but generally give you more or better features: physical response (“action”) closer to a real piano, more voices, more pedals, more realistic voices, better interface for choosing voices, more simultaneous notes (polyphony) etc. Here’s my attempt to make sense of the historical lineup. I’ve marked them with their release year, and in cases where they have a fancier action than GHS I’ve marked that as well.
Entry
p-35 (2012)
Low-mid
p-60 (2002, GH)
p-70 (2005)
p-85 (2007)
High-mid
p-80 (1999, GH)
p-120 (2001, GH)
p-90 (2003, GH, a p-120 no speakers)
p-140 (2005, GH)
High
p-250 (2003, GH)
[gap where their higher-end portable digital pianos were in the CP-series, starting with the CP-300]
Go back to the 90s and there’s also the p-100, p-150, p-200, p-300, and p-500, which are all old enough that it’s harder to get information on them, and you’re much less likely to run into them.
Personally I’m happy with any of these; the features distinguishing the fancier models aren’t ones I need. I like the built-in piano sounds (Piano 2 and Electric Piano 2 on my p-85) and at least from the p-70 onwards, use external midi for other voices, don’t use the pedals, don’t need more polyphony than I have fingers, use external midi for most voices, can handle either USB or 5-pin MIDI, and I like how light the GHS action is.
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