YAMAHA P-45B Digital Piano - Light and Portable Piano for Hobbyists and Beginners, in Black

This is an incredible digital piano. I've had it for 18 months so far and it's one of the best things I've ever bought. This is a great piano for someone looking to take piano playing seriously, with the benefit of not needing to get a grand piano. It's pretty heavy, so you will need to purchase a solid stand to go with it, but it's portable enough that you could transport it to use for performances if you wanted to.Playability is excellent. It's a bit different feel from playing a grand piano, but the weighting of the keys here makes for a vastly superior experience to a non-weighted keyboard, as the weight means you can play dynamically with volume which is essential for learning good technique and for playing pieces the way they were meant to be. The weighting feels great here with different weighs from the lower to higher octaves. There's a lot of range to be found here.Sound here is also fantastic. From the grand sounds of the bass notes to the dainty trebles, Yamaha deliver a top of the line quality. Volume is very adjustable and you can plug in headphones with a 6.25mm jack for the convenience of private playing. This does come with a small pedal for sustaining. It's decent as a basic but you may prefer to upgrade to a more substantial one as the default does move around a bit. You can also plug the piano into an audio interface with the right jack if you want to record yourself.There are options for changing the default sound to a few basic synthesised options like electric piano sound etc. These are fine but I don't use them personally. They're a nice option to have if you're into that sort of thing, but they aren't a big selling point.This is a fantastic piano. The sound is great and playability is top of the line. You get the full range of a piano with a degree of portability. For the quality you get here, the cost is well worth it if you're looking to take learning/playing the piano seriously and need something you can set up anywhere.Highly recommended.

Usual Yamaha quality. Nice voices. Grand piano and strings are my favourite!Nice upgrade from my Yamaha np-12. A smart instrument and great value.Light and portable? 11.5 kg, may be compared to others?

Just what I needed. I'm somebody who has played in bands on other instruments, but just wanted to develop some keyboard skills. I'm finding it really useful to understand the Western music scheme more than I did. It plays well and the sound is fine. Not many other sounds, apart from piano, but I doubt I'd every use them anyway. Very good for learning and developing.

This was a gift and absolutely fantastic item. Arrived on time, easy to set up. It has amazing features

Good quality, safe delivery, nothing to worry about with this purchase! Used to play baby grand and real grand (white) in a hall and manor house, this is pretty much (for the price) the best you will get for sound. Stick to the first piano sound not the second

It sounds good and the keys feel just about ok.The graded hammer action does not feel "real" at all. For the price, is a good buy for a beginner, but when it will be the time to prepare for the ABRSM Grade 6 and above I'll probably replace it with something that has a better feel.I will take some time to explain in detail:I played on the following keyboards and piano in a very short time span, and with not much experience in playing piano here were my impressions on keys-action (and some sound considerations).A cheap Casio digital keyboard: it sounds cheap, no hammer action, very disappointing and I would not recommend to use it to learn piano even if it was free.A Yamaha upright piano: it's a real piano, the keys-action felt weird, like the key had to travel a much longer distance to produce a sound. Also, like most if not all upright pianos, the key need to come completely back before being able to sound again. It is what it is.A Yamaha grand piano: when I pressed the keys for the first time I was wowed: they felt really reactive and pleasant to press! That's the feel I'd love to have!A Nord 2 stage keyboard: the keys felt way better than the upright piano, much better than the P45, although a bit less realistic than the grand piano. The sound was also very dynamic: soft touch=very low volume, hard hit=very loud.Now, the P45 key "feel" is way better than a cheap digital keyboard, but much worse than the (much more expensive) Nord 2. The p45 keys just have some resistance, good to develop strength and to not be totally surprised when playing real pianos, but that's it.The worst part is that even when setting the maximum sound-sensitivity (FCN+C4), the dynamic range is there, yes, but the notes tend to sound louder than they should (my teacher has a short memory: every time she tries to play it, she's disappointed by the sound response and asks me if I can adjust to have a more dynamic sound).Bottom line: I will consider investing in a better keyboard if you are serious about learning. It can only benefit the development of your skills and overall enjoyment, when playing an instrument that feels right (with a concert piano as a reference for "right"), and have a realistic acoustic response.For me the extra features, memory, different sounds, etc etc are just smoke. The meat is simply the key action, and dynamic range (and use external speakers if you're not happy with the built-in ones).Analogy: do you want to learn how to pilot a plane using a simulator? Then it better be a good simulator!