I grew up falling in love with Jazz, so you might not find it surprising that I have learned to play the piano. Piano plays a big part in my life; it is my passion as well as my livelihood as I happen to be a piano teacher. So, I am always in search for best piano to fine-tune my craft, and at the same time use it to teach my wonderful students. So, you can guess that Yamaha P45 digital piano raised my curiosity as everyone could not stop raving about it. But, is it worth spending my hard earned cash on this digital piano? To provide a clear picture, here is my honest review of the Yamaha P45.
Table of Contents
P45 replaced the long-beloved by everyone and well-established P35 digital piano and of course has some improvements. The first innovation is the polyphony – it is doubled in comparison with the previous model and now is 64 voices. That made the sound of the instrument more saturated. P45 also has improved piano sound, and USB to host port (against DIN MIDI in P35).
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P45 exterior
A distinctive feature of all P-series Yamaha pianos is a simple and convenient design. The design of this digital piano is kept simple which gives it an elegant feel. If you look to the front panel of the instrument, you will see only the power button (with accidental pressing protection), the volume control, and the Function button, which allows you to access all the functions of the device by pressing it and one of the keyboard keys. I found it to be quite a neat way to design this 58.2×16.1×11.7 inches piano.
Weight is one of the main advantages of this tool. The weight is only 25 pounds (11.5 kg), which is very little for the weighed keyboard. P45 is a very compact instrument, so it will be of interest to stage pianists. I can easily carry this piano if I need to go to a student’s home or to a concert.
Great option for gigging musicians would be some universal X-Style or Z-Style keyboard stand. But if you are buying piano for your home and it should look good in the interior, then there is an L85 furniture-style stand available as an option. It is sold in black or white colors, depending on the color of your P45. With it your instrument will definitely look like a more expensive and stylish piano.
Sound
I was shocked to experience the realistic and natural sound of this one; thanks to the digital audio sampling feature. In fact, I’m quite certain that the sound of this one is just like a Yamaha’s real grand piano. As promised, P45 did have 10 different voices:
- Grand Piano (x2)
- E. Piano (x2)
- Pipe Organ (x2)
- Strings
- Harpsichord (x2)
- Vibraphone
All voices support layering (playing two voices at the same time). Also there is a Duo mode, which allows two different players (for example a teacher and a student) to play simultaneously on the same keyboard – one on the left, and the other on the right, over the same octave range. The instrument features several reverb effects.
Built-in speakers of P45 allow you to enjoy your music without the use of external speaker system. There are 2 speakers by 6 Watts, which is absolutely enough for the average room. You can also play in your favorite headphones or connect external acoustic system for more powerful sound.
Keyboard
Any piano player, may he be into traditional mode of piano playing or just trying out keyboards for fun, knows the very importance of weighted keys. Yamaha has provided 88 fully weighted keys with this model (Graded Hammer Standard), making the playing experience a much more enjoyable one than other similar pianos. I recommended this digital piano to my students for this reason as this feature helps in training their fingers to get stronger, and also more proficient.
Moreover, P45 keyboard has 4 levels of touch sensitivity, you can adjust it or even turn it off.
Connectivity
The device can not boast of a large number of connections, because this is the most budget Yamaha model, but it has all the minimum connections you need. You will find the following connectors on the back of the piano:
- Headphone/Audio out (Stereo jack)
- Sustain Pedal jack (optional FC3 half pedal can be attached)
- USB to host
You can also connect P45 to your iPhone or iPad with the optional adapter and control your piano with special Yamaha app.
Pros and Cons
- Pros
- The price is very affordable and makes P45 perfect for beginners to buy and try without any hesitation, even for those who always thought that electric piano is a very expensive tool
- The weight is only 25 pounds (11.5 kg)
- It comes with sheet holder, power adapter and sustain pedal
- Keyboard is similar to real piano
- Cons
- The piano does not come with LED screen
- The sustain pedal included is the one that does not have a half-pressing function, it is either pressed or not
- The timbre of the voice doesn’t change depending on the velocity you press the key, only the volume changes
- The headphone jack is not very convenient to connect
But, compared to all the advantages, these setbacks are minor and I would recommend that you get the Yamaha P45 for you as well. This digital piano is definitely worth it!
Yamaha P71 vs P45
One more thing I should mention is that if you want to save some money then look for Yamaha P71 on Amazon. P71 is equal to P45, there are no functional differences between them, but P71 is made exclusively for Amazon, so Amazon sells it cheaper and you can save about 20% that way! Click here to see current prices.
Conclusion
P45 is the most affordable compact Yamaha digital piano. It has minimum functionality, but at the same time it has everything you need both for home music playing, for performances and for learning.
Nearest competitors: Casio PX-160
This piano is number one in my Best Digital Piano under $500 list.
Yamaha P45 Video Review
User reviews
Tags: 200-500 USD, 88-key, Graded Hammer Standard, onboard speakers, polyphony 64, weighted keys, Yamaha
A wonderful piano, there are all the necessary functions (it is better to print a leaflet from the manual with a list of all the function keys – it is on page 22: https://jp.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/8/333228/p45_en_om_a0.pdf ). If you set the reverb and its depth (without this setting it is not audible) – the sound is almost equal to the acoustic sound. “Grand piano” sounds very worthy, in comparison with Casio, where it is very similar to the synthesizer with a metallic hue, and it’s audible even on very expensive models. Personally for me, the severity of the keys is not enough. But It seems to me that it is not bad for beginners.
Want to write down your music? It is not necessary to buy an expensive Yamaha with recording functions – everything is perfectly recorded via usb directly to the computer, and there is no need to purchase an additional midi connector, as it was previously with the p-35, the cable from the printer here is useful:)
In general, the model is worth buying, without unnecessary bells and whistles and, accordingly, price wrap.
The pedal is badly felt, it’s probably a matter of habit, but it’s better to buy a more advanced model for example fc4
Excellent sound, weighted keys, touch sensitive. A lot of useful settings are described in the manual. I used the OTG adapter to connect my P45 to a smartphone. After that the Synthesia app was very useful to help learning to play.
Everything is very open with a precise description of the
issues. It was truly informative. Your site is
very useful. Many thanks for sharing!