Yamaha YDP 160

Today we are going to review the Yamaha YDP160 88-key graded hammer piano. It Is well known that Yamaha has been building pianos for over 100 years and hence Yamaha can transfer that knowledge and experience to its digital piano line.

One of the key features of the YDP160 Arius piano is the fact that has graded hammer action which means that it is well-suited for a wide range of pianists from the classical musician up to the rock and jazz performing pianist. The reason for that is that graded hammer action allows musicians to exercise their fingers with certain intensity, strengthening them giving the pianist greater control, flexibility, and speed.

Let’s look at the features of this keyboard. One of my first observations is the realism of the sampled sounds and piano. Additionally, the keyboard response from the slightest touch to full keyboard expression is accurately captured in the range of graduated tone volumes. The volume graduations on the keyboard are really very good. The Yamaha Arius YDP160 looks, plays and feels like an acoustic piano. Even the 3 damper pedals recreate the actual feel of that of an acoustic with the half damper feature figuring prominently

This piano features a built-in sequencer and metronome. The sequencer is great for recording your practice session which allows you to review what you’ve learned and hone on areas where you need further practice.

Yamaha utilizes its own proprietary stereo sampling technology referred to AWM which stands for Advance Wave Memory which is at the heart of Yamaha’s stereo sampling technology. The technology accurately reproduces the sounds and harmonics of the piano and other onboard instruments.

If you’re using the sequencer then you should be aware that it can simultaneously record 64 notes ie 64 notes of polyphony.

The effects section has limited ability in that it only has a reverb effect. Given that the YPD160 is basically a piano then this is adequate for that purpose. If you are looking for a keyboard to arrange or lay down tracks of your compositions then other digital keyboards would be more suitable.

The sequencer itself is somewhat limited in that it only provides one track of recording and playback with 10 voice recordings and 50 preset songs in memory.

Connectors that come with the keyboard include MIDI In and out and 2 stereo headphone inputs.

For the practising pianist this keyboard is great however if you need something to give you full orchestration capabilities then consider other keyboards.