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Musical Instruments : Yamaha YPG225 76-Key Portable Grand KeyboardBrowse or Search and Buy Online our Best Sellers Shopping Sales of Musical Instruments and Yamaha YPG225 76-Key Portable Grand Keyboard. Rating:  - Nice for informal learning and practicing but...I took 16 years of classical piano training and bought this keyboard to record accompaniments to vocal music for use in vocal training. My review consists of initial impressions on how the product measures up to my particular need: Ease of use - as with other all-in-one electronic keyboards, the keyboard works when you turn it on with no adjustments. If you want to do ANYTHING other than use it in default mode, then the user guide must be consulted. Similarity to an acoustic piano - keys are not weighted, 12 keys are missing as compared to an acoustic, and the keys are mighty slippery. I find my fingers slipping off the black notes quite a bit. Features - the features of this piano seem geered toward a novice learner. The auto accompaniment feature and the many teaching components seem to point to this. What is really annoying - the "Survival Kit" DVD is really horrible and has a lot of people doing role-playing that is just a waste of time for the user who is just trying to find answers quickly. The AC power adaptor is not included with the keyboard and you have to buy the accessories kit to get that and the sustain pedal. These are essential (especially the AC power adaptor) and Yamaha is only packaging the adaptor separately to force people to buy the accessories set. What is missing for me in particular - Two main things: (1) the ability to store more than 5 songs that I have recorded, and (2) the ability to copy or transfer files I have recorded (MIDI files) to my computer. Descriptions I read of the product seemed to indicate that transfer from keyboard to computer was possible but the user manual does not describe how this is accomplished nor did several hours of fiddling by my husband and me yield any positive results. I checked blogs and Q/A websites and no one has been successful with file transfers in this direction so I conclude that the product does not support it despite marketing descriptions that indicate it does. Why I still think this might be a good product for some people - for the $300 or so that this keyboard costs, it is a good value and the keyboard is a lot of fun to play. For someone seriously trying to become an accomplished pianist this is probably not the best choice because it lacks the acoustic piano type of action and feedback and I doubt that skills learned on this keyboard would transfer well to an acoustic piano because of the big difference in key weighting. Weighted keys would be required to develop the proper touch and hand ahd finger strength. Rating: - Great For What It IsOverall I am happy with my purchase. I should preface my remarks by saying that I am no piano or keyboard artist, but I do play trombone in a big band, sing in an a cappella group, and do some arranging and writing as well as perform in many community theater musical productions, so I am no stranger to music. I own a grand piano in addition to this keyboard. I was dissappointed that you cannot find out the contents of the survival kit without buying it. (It has no sustain pedal or adapter, so it is only somewhat useful. Thankfully I had a universal adapter, so I did not need to rely on batteries when it arrived.) I got this to replace an 18 year old Clavinova that finally died after hours upon hours of usage, and constant misuse by four children. The action on this keyboard is not just like a piano, or even the Clavinova it is replacing, but is passable. I am still having some computer connectivity issues, in that when I transcribe to FINALE, I cannot seem to get the bass clef to register, but that may be in part due to my haste in trying to make everything work, and then read how to do it after hooking it up. I got the Yamaha sustain pedal FC-5, and have tried it on several surfaces. It is okay, but I expected something more realistic from Yamaha. Do not have your foot on it when you turn the keyboard on, or it will work just the opposite of how it is intended. The voices and styles are very fun and surprisingly accurate in sound. I am expecting to have a lot of fun with the polyphony when I sit down and get serious again in the fall. I would buy this again, as I think it is a great value for the money. It was about what I expected, and Yamaha has always been reliable for me. Rating:  - Great portable piano replacementAfter taking lessons for 10 years, and then taking about 5 years off from playing, I finally realized how much I truly enjoyed playing piano. Unfortunately, it's at a time when I am across the country from my lovely Yamaha digital piano and live in a tiny studio where a full size piano just wouldn't work, even if I could afford it. After much research and trying out different models at local stores, I chose the YPG-225 based on the touch sensitivity of the keys (not as great as a digital piano or regular piano, but perfectly adequate for say the hobbyist or amateur), the 76 keys (still small enough to fit in my apartment, but big enough to not cut off too much from my music) and the sound quality (very, very good for a portable keyboard). I haven't tried some of the features yet, such as the compatibility to my computer (connects via USB- how convenient!) and various sounds and mixing different beats, etc. to a melody. The pre-loaded lessons are kind of fun, especially for someone like me who hasn't played in a long time and needs a lot of practice. Overall, I have been very much enjoying playing this keyboard and reigniting my love of music. I highly recommend it! (On a side note, I'm not sure what this survival kit package (Survival Kit SK88) includes- I purchased my keyboard through a different vendor with Survival Kit D, which included the AC adapter, a foot switch, headphones and some rebates. The keyboard bought alone only includes the music stand.) page 1 of 1
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