Submitted 1 year ago

By Jim

From Houston, Tx

Reviewed at

Replaced a 30 year old Ensoniq KS-32... so definitely a technology jump. I actually quit using the KS-32 many years ago, have a Yamaha Baby Grand. The P525 however is a welcome addition. I love the keyboard action, the piano choices and tweaks available, the added sounds and esp the Yamaha Smart Pianist app on a wireless IPAD. The ability to store your music sheets in PDF form and then import them into the APP is a nice touch. No more paper sheet music needed. Adding a backing track while playing illuminated sheet music than can be scrolled with a swipe is nice. Unfortunately, that can't be recorded. Yamaha, for some reason, has disabled the ability to record a rhythm while displaying a MIDI or PDF file. Their Tier 2 techs confirmed this. I did have to add some stability. A double 'X' frame still wobbles too much. This is a heavy unit. Had to switch to a Z frame. Their included music stand that 'plugs' into the top of the keyboard is also a weak design. It pivots back and forth easily. Presumably if you just have a piece of paper there it's a moot point. But... they encourage an IPAD and use of the Yamaha Smart Pianist App. So now you have a fairly heavy IPAD on this attachment, and.... you are pressing on it. Wobble wobble. Playing also wobbles this with an IPAD sitting there. Solution- a piece of rubber cut into a wedge. Jam that into the center under the music holder, and that stabilizes it. Yamaha needs to include this as a quick fix, but it's easy to rig it yourself. There are a few oddities. If you turn on the unit with your foot depressing the sustain pedal, it reverse its function. Meaning you start on sustain and if you depress the pedal it stops it. Just start over and then never put your foot on the pedal when powering up. Speakers are good. I picked up a BOSE noise cancelling headset, which is either bluetooth or wired. You have to use the wired option. Overall it got me back to playing again...Slow jazz backing track for a metronome, record a few songs.

Submitted 1 year ago

By John

From Richmond, VA

Reviewed at

I have been playing piano for 50 yrs and digital keyboard/piano for past 15 years. While my current piano is Kawai RX2 grand, my preference for digital piano has always been Yamaha, although I have owned other brands as well. I wanted to update my digital piano to a higher quality unit with better key action and piano sound sample. I initially looked at Kawai ES920, Roland FP90X and Yamaha P-515. While all three are excellent digital pianos, I have issues with all three. While I like the key action and the piano sound sample of Kawai, the overall build quality feels plasticky for the price point. While many people praise Roland's PHA-50 key action, its escapement feature feels artificial and rubbery for me. While I really liked P-515, I felt that its key action was tad heavier than what I preferred. I knew P-515 had been out for a while and was due for an update. Therefore, I waited to see what Yamaha was going to bring to the market place. I am glad I waited because I find the Grand Touch-S key action of P525 to be lighter and better overall than P515's natural wood X (NWX) action and much more to my liking. As far as I am concerned, this is currently the best digital piano for under 2K for home and practice use but I would not recommend this piano for gigging. There are better models for that but most are over 2K.

Submitted 1 year ago

By IanM

From Michigan

Reviewed at

I really like the P-525, the keyboard feels great, has a nice dynamic range. The speakers are good enough for the price of the piano. The interface is a bit confusing, not intuitive, most of the time. The sounds of the CFX is great in binaural when using headphones, sounds just like you're sitting in front of the piano. There is one glaring omission: a binaural upright (that would have been brilliant!), or even a regular sampled U1 (even the CK series has this).

Submitted 1 year ago

By John

From Southbury, CT

Reviewed at

I recently bought a new Yamaha C2X and wanted a digital piano to practice without driving my significant other crazy, practicing the same pieces over and over. I bought the P-525 on day one availability based on Yamaha's description. Action was the most important feature and this delivers way above my expectations. As I have been using it, I find that when using quality headphones like the Beyer DT 900 pro X, the playing experience is truly heavenly. I actually find myself playing the P-525 more than the C2X. The touch is a littler easier on my fingers and allows me to practice for longer periods. The only thing I would like to see is that the built in audio device would support 48khz. Other things I like are 1. The piano room quick access to settings like the reverb depth. 2. Smart Pianist app. 3. USB-C - works perfectly with my USB-C iPad 4. Rec and Share app 5. Multiple Pianos 6. Organs, 7. Nice to have the XG sounds 8. Quality construction. What I don't like are the speakers. They are just not good enough for my ears so I mainly use headphones. If I do use the speakers , then after a short period of time I get use the their low-fi sound and it is ok. Thank you Yamaha -- I know that I have to wait about 5 years for the next generation but I will certainly buy that on day one as long as the Action is the same or better. #sweepstakes

Submitted 1 year ago

By Bob

From Los Angeles

Reviewed at

Everything as expected, nice feel.