REVIEW - Yamaha YDP-C71 Digital Piano - Polished Ebony version of the Yamaha YDP161

UPDATED REVIEW - April 10, 2013 - The Yamaha YDPC71 is now discontinued and has been replaced by the new YDP162. The YDP162 is a significantly better piano is terms of piano sound quality and digital functions including an added USB output to computer & iPad. Go to the following link for a review of the Yamaha YDP162: Yamaha YDP162 review.  The review below is on the YDPC71 - Recommended but somewhat overpriced. 

The 2012 polished ebony Yamaha YDPC71 digital piano ($1799 internet price) is an attractive piano but overpriced in my opinion considering it is otherwise the same piano as the older YDP161. I really like the Yamaha brand and own a couple of their pianos myself. I have also played many of their digital pianos and keyboards throughout the years and I always look forward to seeing new Yamaha models. Yamaha has been producing their current line of Arius pianos for about 3 years (with the exception of their YDP135R which is newer) and I was hoping to see new electronic and/or feature improvements in this YDPC71. However, there are none and that was a bit disappointing to me considering all the other new technology out there.

The only thing that Yamaha came up with is a new polished ebony cabinet finish of their YDP161 for the YDP-C71PE at $1799 internet price (upper left pic). The YDPC71 is otherwise the identical digital piano to the Arius YDP161 ($1499 internet price) which has a nice piano tone and fairly nice and solid upright piano key action (GH). However, this model is somewhat basic in most every other way when it comes to many things including its control panel which is minimal, limited instrument tones & educational technology, and no USB output to iPad or computer or USB flashdrive input unlike other digital pianos in this price range which do have some of these upgraded features and functions. In other words, for $1799, other than getting it in the attractive polished ebony finish (which I admit costs more money to produce and is nice to look at), there are better new digital piano choices out there that are more advanced including piano sound & key action realism. In fact going up just a bit to the Yamaha Clavinova CLP430 in the standard cabinet finish would be a much better choice as a musical instrument goes in my opinion, and for not much more money.

As I mentioned above, this model has the same specs as the YDP161 including 10 total instrument tones (the piano tones sounds real nice but the others are just OK), 128-notes of polyphony (which is very good), a 2-track 1 song MIDI recorder (does not play or record General MIDI format), 40 watts of stereo audio power (OK), and all of it in a very basic cabinet aside from the attractive polished ebony finish. The piano sound coming out of this model is actually a bit thin and mid-rangy and lacks fullness in my opinion. However, if you were to plug in a good set of stereo headphones, the sound is MUCH better. For $1799 internet price, the built-in audio speaker system could have been improved to really sound like full, dynamic piano for not much more money, but Yamaha kept the basic speaker system of the lower priced YDP161.

In the lower price range right now I believe the new 2013 Casio PX850 at just $1099 internet discount price, completely knocks out the Yamaha YDPC71 in every way (except for the polished ebony finish) and it's $700 less too! This new Casio has 256-note polyphony, 40 watt 4 speaker sound system, synthetic ivory & ebony keys, and many other cool features including high speed USB direct connection to iPad for educational apps. As far as Yamaha is concerned, in the US they have not come out with any new technology in their Arius cabinet pianos for about 3 or 4 years, and although they may be making some changes next year sometime, it's not here yet. So for now, I would go with the newer and more realistic piano technology (for better key action & overall piano sounds) available in the new Casio PX850 and save yourself some money in the process...which is always a good thing. Yes, Yamaha does have the more popular name in pianos (they make great acoustic grands & uprights), but the name isn't what you will be playing...it's the piano itself and with that in mind, check out the new Casio models because I think you'll be impressed. Go here for my Casio PX850 review: Casio PX850 Review

Also, another new digital piano that has caught my attention is the Kawai CE220 ($1899 internet price in satin black, left pic). What makes this piano a great choice is a few notable things such as a real full length wooden key action that, in my opinion, comes much closer to duplicating an acoustic piano upright key action than any other piano in this price range. Wood keys is a very big deal and not available on digital pianos until your at $3000 or more. The CE220 also has 192-notes of polyphony (it's the same overall sound chip from their $3000 CN43 digital piano) with very high definition sound sampling that gives this piano more fire-power in reproducing an even better acoustic piano sound and something that really sounds like a grand piano. The wood key action and grand piano sound reproduction alone is worth the price of admission:). On top of that, the Kawai has 100 realistic drum player patterns to help with rhythm & timing which is great for music education, 4-hand duet play, it can layer and split any two of its 22 impressive instrument sounds with relative volume balance, it has USB output to computer and USB flashdrive input for downloading music into the CE220 as well as saving your recordings off the piano into the flashdrive. Beyond that, it has stereo audio 1/4" outputs & inputs for great audio connectivity and an upgraded front control panel with direct access buttons and intuitive features. I also like its cabinet design, satin black color, panel layout, and sturdiness. I have done a review of this model so take a look at it and see what you think? Kawai CE220 Review

With regard to the Yamaha Arius model YDPC71, the up side to this instrument at this price is if you want to keep it very simple with minimal functions, and you really want that polished ebony high gloss look in a digital piano (and you don't mind spending the $1799 to get it), then this piano may be just perfect for you.

At the end of the day it really doesn't matter which piano you get because you'll be able to make great music and have a nice piano that should last you many years. But for my money and considering I would want the biggest bang for the buck, I would choose the new Casio Privia PX850 any day over the Yamaha YDPC71 and save $700 in the process.

If you want more piano info and LOWER PRICES than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.