Yamaha YDP-113

[Tim]

I am an enthusiastic adult student of piano, in the common situation of living where I can't use a real piano.

My Yamaha PF50 died on me, and I have bought a Yamaha YDP-113. The instrument feels and sounds great to me, but it cost $1000. So I want to be sure I'm doing the right thing...

I only play a real piano once a week at a lesson, so I'm not completely confident that the action of this instrument is as I really need it to be: a reasonable approximation of the action of a real piano.

Is there anyone familiar with the YDP-113 who can give me any words of warning or encouragement? I have 30 days during which I can return it for any reason.

Thanks,
Tim

[modest0]

Dear Tim,

I am a satisfied owner of the YDP-113. My wife and I are both physicians and to keep her happy, I opted for a piano that I could practice on while she sleeps.  This turns out to be the best part of the piano- I often sneak a piece in right before bed, or if I wake up at night.

1)  This might help you find a good price:  I bought mine for well under the retail by asking GuitarCenter to price-match.  I told them I was offered the CLP110 (the same as YDP-113 except through Yamaha dealers) for $800 and GuitarCenter came down to $780 without even checking (the quote from the dealer was true even so)

2)  The tone:  I am satisfied with the tone of the instrument.  I primarily play the violin and am very sensitive to the tone quality including pitch, clearness of the tone as well as the evenness of how it sustains.  I was surprised to find, when I went pianoshopping last week, that no acoustic piano could match the tone quality except for the CFIII which the YDP-113 was recorded from. I was initially very unhappy because I had thought for a while I would be investing in a C6 by the end of the year.   What my ears were telling me were that anything less than a CFIII would sound gutless to me.   Instead of investing in a 70-100,000 used CFIII, I've decided to keep what I have and just be happy.  

3)  The pre-recorded pieces: the YDP113 has 50 classical pieces that you can play along with at any tempo.  I originally thought this would be useless, but have since learned Claire de Lune as well as Arabesque II by listening to the pieces in slow tempo.

4) Volume:  When playing loud pieces, the piano doesn't sound as good as an acoustic unless you are using headphones.  It rattles when I'm hammering the bass notes.  You may opt for the more expensive models or you can also buy Yamaha speakers to bring out the sound if you are planning on playing for others.  It doesn't matter to me because I only care to play for my wife and two cats.

5)  The action:  I was pleasantly surprised when I went to the Yamaha dealer to play their acoustic models.  I had predicted that playing the Moonlight third movement would be a bunch of stumblings on an acoustic after having played the YDP-113 for 4 months.  Not so.  I had to warm up a little, but found the keys on the acoustic to be slightly different- not heavier, not lighter, but less buyoant. The keys also felt more real to me since the YDP-113 keys have a plastic sensation. Thus playing the acoustic was not technically more difficult but more satisfying as far as the physical feel.  

6) Comparing to the YDP-223: I looked into how the polyphony may be better on the YDP-223.  I found it not to be the case when playing the most cluttered passages of the Moonlight third movement.

The YDP113 has been the best investment in my quality of life so far.

Hope you find your way.


Modesto