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Hi my name is Verniel Cutar and in this blog post, we’re going to review the Yamaha P-125 digital piano keyboard. But unlike other reviews out there, this is going to be more in-depth and insightful because I personally own and use a Yamaha P-125 piano (color white). I can give you an unbiased, first-hand information about this instrument that will help you decide whether this piano is right for you or not.
So without further delay, here we go:
Basic Features Of The Yamaha P-125 Digital Piano
So let’s start with the obvious features. This will hopefully give you a deeper idea of what to expect with this instrument, and what it offers right out of the box:
88-Keys
It’s a full 88-keys. So this means, if you are using an average sized sedan car to bring this digital piano from the music store to your home, you’ll have some trouble fitting it in. I remember when we bought the Yamaha P-125 Digital Piano from the music store, we fit it diagonally from the right front seat all the way to the left side of the back seat. We had to recline the right front seat all the way down to make this happen. Quite a bulky instrument to carry.
Weighted Keys
The touch and feel of the keys resemble that of a real acoustic piano. In fact, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I found the Yamaha P-125 keys “too weighted” at first. Coming from a background of learning keyboard through synthesizers with non-weighted keys, I found it very difficult to adjust to the hard keys of the P-125. I did take piano lessons on a real acoustic grand piano when I was little but that was a long time ago. Again, I don’t know if it’s just me, but the P-125 keys felt more weighted and harder to press than an acoustic piano.
In fact, I asked my sister-in-law (a classical pianist) to try out the P-125 and she told me the same thing. Those keys are so darn hard at first. LOL. Well, what I found out is that if you actually play softly, the P-125 is easier to play, but the strong attacks are what took me a lot of time to adjust.After playing it for a few months though, it’s all gravy.
Touch Response
This is a standard feature of all digital pianos nowadays. In fact, if a performance piano doesn’t have any touch response, I don’t recommend that you invest in it at all. One thing I noticed about the Yamaha P-125 is that the keys in the higher octaves tend to sound sharper and louder. You don’t need a lot of force to produce a strong attack for higher notes.
But the lower notes? Boy, I tried to record it, but the lower notes don’t really provide a rich bass sound. You would need to exert more effort to make it sound richer. This is a personal experience here. I am not a formally trained pianist, and I played with synthesizers for more than 15 years. So it’s possible that my finger technique is the problem. Just an honest take.
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Functions, Controls and Capabilities of the Yamaha P-125 Keyboard
One of the problems that keyboard players usually face after buying a piano is trying to figure out its functions and controls. You won’t have that problem with the Yamaha P-125 Digital Piano. In fact, it looks very minimalist in its controls. No frills. You can master the functions in one sitting.
Here are some of the most important knobs and functions:
Master Volume Adjuster
The master volume adjuster for this instrument comes through a slider button on the left side of the interface. It’s hard to miss. You can instantly see it, unlike in other complicated keyboard dashboards where you need to bend over just to find where the master volume is.
Built-in Speakers
This is one of my favorite features. It actually has a built-in speaker system. So there’s no need for you to connect to a sound system or amplifier every single time. Even if you’re just in your room or studio, you can play this instrument for practice purposes. No extra wiring needed. Just plug it in to a power source, then start playing. I like it.
Demo Songs That You Can Play Along With
There are some default demo songs in there. Actually, while at the music store I selected the jazz piano demo and then played along with it. The sales person was blown away (or at least tried to look impressed, after all, he wanted to sell me the item..LOL).
After some time though, you eventually get bored of the demo songs. I don’t really play them anymore now. They’re just there. Sometimes my son, niece or nephew would climb up to the piano seat and play the demo songs. I guess that feature was really made for them, not me 😊
This is me testing out the Yamaha P-125 for the first time at the music store:
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Metronome
It’s great that this instrument has a built in metronome. I like this feature but there is one basic problem to it: it’s very difficult to regulate the tempo for the metronome beat. You can’t even pinpoint a specific BPM to play along with. Later, I’ll tell you why it’s difficult to use the metronome. For now, we’re just dealing with the basic features.
Drum Rhythms
Don’t get me started on this. It suffers from the same problem as the metronome. Hard to regulate the speed, and hard to choose the proper beat. Later I’ll tell you why!
Sound Recorder
Being able to record your own playing is a very good function to have. You can use it for your practice sessions. Play your piece and then listen to it later to critique yourself. I use this a lot. In fact, if you’re doing any form of public speaking, video blogging, or anything like that, you can use the P-125 to record your background piano sound in advance, and then play it during the time you speak in public or record your talk, or something similar.
Yamaha P-125 Voices and Sound Choices
The P-125 has six (6) different voice categories, with a total of 4 variations or choices for each category:
Classic/Grand Piano
This is the default sound of the Yamaha P-125 Digital Piano, and frankly you’ll spend majority of your time playing this sound compared to the others. The Yamaha piano sound is among the best in the world, in my opinion. So I have nothing negative to say here.
One thing I noticed though, is that the default piano sounds have too much of an acoustic feel. As a synths guy, I prefer my grand piano sound to be a bit jazzier and more electronic. The Yamaha P-125 has a more classic and acoustic feel. Another thing I noticed is that the hall sound and decay effect of the grand piano voices are a little bit too much. But you can always edit that if you use the Yamaha Piano app and connect to your P-125.
Electric Piano
I like 3 out of 4 electric piano sounds in the P-125. The first is the classic bell-like “DX7” EP sound. The second one is rhodes, and one of my favorite voices to use for soft playing and neo-soul/gospel feel. The third one is also a Rhodes kind of sound, but the voice effect fluctuates, so I don’t really use it. The 4th one is also good but negligible.
It’s a shame though, that the remarkable bell piano sound of the P-125 has a very short decay time! The attack sounds great, but the decay, not so much. Even if you use sustain pedal or play long notes, I just think the sound dies off too soon.
Organ
The only sound that matters to me in this category is the sound of the Hammond organ, with a rotary speaker effect. I use it as a secondary layer to the classic piano sound, and it adds a really good texture to the chords. As a standalone voice, the Hammond organ sound in the P-125 can also be a good background voice for a rock or upbeat song.
Clavinova / Vib
I don’t really use this sound category. I guess it’s good if you are providing effects to an already existing sound score or recording. But I have no use for this in any live performance. Maybe you have better ideas.
Strings
The string voices in the Yamaha P-125 are decent, but not really divine. Like the EP sounds, they decay too soon and somewhat sounds artificial. While I would choose Yamaha piano sounds any given day of the week, I’d have to hand over the strings to Korg synths. They have the best strings (aside from the Nashville string machine, of course 😊 ). But that’s a topic for another day.
Bass
You can use the bass sounds to split the piano in half – bass sounds on the lower end and any other voice you prefer on the higher end. Usually the best combination is bass and piano, but you may also use bass and EP or try other combinations.
Recommended Yamaha P-125 Accessories and Items
The following accessories are not always included with your purchase of a Yamaha P-125, so please check with your music store or Amazon seller. I highly recommend that you use these accessories to maximize your playing experience with this instrument:
USB to Connection Type B Cord (USB to Host)
You’ll need this to connect your piano to a laptop or tablet. Once you connect to a device, you can use the Yamaha piano app to fiddle around with the sounds and even edit the characteristics of the voices. If you’re using an Apple device, you would need an additional female USB to male lightning connector. It costs a few bucks on the Apple store.
Sustain Pedal
In my case, my P-125 purchase came with a free sustain pedal. However, it is a box-type “switch” pedal that I’m not too fond with. I prefer a real damper pedal with iron foot rest that I can fully step on. You may visit your local Yamaha store or search on Amazon for compatible damper pedals to use along with this piano.
Aux Out Cable
To connect to an external sound system, you will need a line-out/aux out cable. This will enable you to connect to a mixer, and let the sounds of the P-125 come out from a loud speaker.
Digital Piano Stand
This is normally not included in the purchase of this digital piano. But there are some music stores and online offers that bundle this together. Make sure the stand you choose is sturdy enough to support the bulky weight and sheer length of the Yamaha P-125 Digital Piano.
Yamaha P-125 Pros and Cons
So let me give you a quick rundown of the pros and cons of this digital piano. I’ve already mentioned some advantages and disadvantages, so I’ll just summarize all the good and the bad, and add some more:
Pros
- Easy to learn all functions in one sitting, doesn’t have a complicated dashboard with hundreds of functions and features that you’d be intimidated to use.
- Piano sounds are top-notch – as to be expected from any Yamaha performance piano
- Has demo songs that you can enjoy playing along with
- Sound characteristics for the voices are editable using the Yamaha Piano app
- Clean elegant design with a minimalist dashboard – I especially prefer the white model.
- Has a sound recorder that enables you to record your playing
- Contains the essential sounds you need for a digital piano – no need to wade through thousands of voices and effects that you don’t actually need
- Built in speakers with sound boost feature – perfect for individual practice and no need to connect to an external sound system to start playing
Cons
- The interface has no control screen! This makes it quite challenging to set parameters for various functions such as the metronome, rhythm, tempo, etc. This, for me, is one of the major drawbacks.
- Can only record one sound track at a time. If you create a new one, the old recording will be overwritten
- Keys are heavily weighted than usual. Takes a lot of getting used to. But it helps strengthens your fingers
- Bulky instrument that is quite difficult to fit into an average sized sedan. Not ideal for travel.
- Some sounds/voices tend to decay too soon and sound too “raw”
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Yamaha P-125 Price
The price for this digital piano may vary, depends on the country or state you are in, and whether you buy brand new or used. You can always do your own due diligence to look for options online. In some cases, you can save more money and effort by buying online. This way you won’t have to deal with additional expenses like gas, etc. Just have the stuff delivered directly to your doorstep.
The Final Verdict: Is The Yamaha P-125 Worth Having?
As someone who personally uses the Yamaha P-125, I can definitely say that it is a very good instrument to have. But just like any other piano, there are some strengths and weaknesses. Learn to love the instrument for what it is and what it can provide, but also appreciate its limitations. Overall, I can say this is one of the better instruments I’ve played, as it is my first weighted keys digital piano. If you are the type of piano player who wants to stick to the essentials of playing and doesn’t want to bother with extremely complicated functions and features, then the Yamaha P-125 is definitely for you.