The new 88 weighted key DGX replacement has shipped from Yamaha today and will arrive tomorrow. This model has the following:

88 Graded Hammer Standard weighted action keyboard

USB To Device terminal for convenient memory stick storage for playing Standard Midi File
and song and style storage (USB 2.0)(First time a USB to device is on this type of keyboard)

Screen displays score and lyrics

Full keyboard and Multi fingering modes (full keyboard mode was not available on the DGX500 or DGX505)

5 types of Master EQ

Music datatbase with 267 keyboard setups by song title

Yamaha Education Suite interactive lessons

500 XGlite/GM voices: 8 Sweet!, 3 LIve! & 5 Cool!

Performance Assistant

Dual and Split mode

150 Styles plus User

30 internal songs plus 70 more on CD

Backlit Display and panel lights

Pitch Bend Wheel

6 Track Sequencer

Easy Song Arranger

Two Way stereo speaker system with bass ports

Wooden Stand and bench included

Retail price for YPG 625 with Survival Kit is $1179.00 MAP price is $779.99 (What a great Value !!!!!!)

Also arriving tomorrow is the YPG225 which has all the above features except with 76 keys and a MAP price of $349.oo and without the USB to Device port.

Later this month we will receive the YPG-525 which has all the features of the Hammer Weighted key model but with 88 lightly weighted keys (like the DGX505) with a MAP price of $629.00

George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California\
818-881-5566

I need to make one correction. The YPG-225 does not have semi-weighted keys like the DGX305 which is now discontinued. It has 76 Full Size Piano Style keys like the ones on the DGX-203 keyboard. They look more like a Synth Style key.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

32 note polyphony

6w + 6W speaker system

Silver/woodgrain finish

there goes my three-strike alarm...

George,
That's great.
It seems that this model is a breakthru in the keyboard-making technology.

Judging from the discussions we had on the zone there are lots of people (including me) who have anticipated the release day of the YPG-625.

As always, I am looking forward to the first in-depth review of this keyboard, as well as comparison with the currend DGX models regarding sound quality.

Regards,
George

The YPG625 and YPG225 arrived today, very late in the afternoon.

Upon taking the YPG625 out of the box the first thing I can say is "beautiful". The keyboard looks like $3000.00, not under $800.00. The wood all around the sides and top of the keybed is beautiful Maple with a really nice rich looking grain. The buttons are totally new for Yamaha. They are shaped like light switches, white in color and the 10 numeric buttons are small perfectly round white buttons. They will take some time getting used to compared to the larger differently shaped ones on the DGX505, but I really like the look of the front panel. Most all the buttons are similar to the DGX505 with the exception for a few new ones. There is now a button called fingering mode, which allows you to select multifingered or full keyboard mode for chord recognition. When using the full mode you can play 3 fingered chords anywhere on the keyboard to change chords but playing single or duo notes does not change the chord played.
Another new feature in found in the perfomance play mode. In the DGX models you had the choice of chord mode or melody mode. This allowed you to play any notes when playing a song with chord changes and you would never play a wrong note. The fun of this is is playing anything, chords or melody and only getting notes within the chord changes. The problem with this is you could never play anything that resembled the actual song. Now, with the YPG's, you can select a mode which splits the performance play mode so that you could play any thing in the left hand as chords and not get wrong notes while playing the correct notes for the melody of the song in the right hand section. A nice touch for having some fun.
As Yamaha always does, many of the sounds having the same names as the previous models and many of the styles having the same name as previous models, have suttle changes in the YPG625. Although I haven't spent enough time yet, I did here a new "live" orchestra voice and I saw some new names of styles and when I played some of the same names I could clearly hear better sounding voices then in the DGX models.
I also want to point out that I am amazed the speaker system is only rated at 6 watts per side. I actually called the product manager at Yamaha to varify this. These on board speakers are loud but mostly, they sound much fuller with more bass and more highs than the DGX505.

I plugged a thumb drive into the USB port with a couple of hundred midi files and in a second, songs beginning with the number 36 showed up and I could select and play midi files in a heartbeat. Now, finally, I don't have to worry about buying Smart Media Cards which are getting almost impossible to find. I went out tonight and bout a couple of 128, 256 and 512MB flash drives for between $14.00 and $25.00. I really have no need to buy 1 or 2 GB drives because standard midi files just don't take up very much memory. There is also a USB to computer (midi) port for sequencing, etc.

The action is just what I expected. A really nice weighed graded key action which Yamaha certainly knows how to do right.

So, I have this Casio Privia PX555 model which was a very good value at $799.00 with stand and pedal until Yamaha unvailed this new model. The Casio has a mic input, both have speakers built in, lyrics display, 32 note polyphony and 88 weighted keys. But the winner right now has shifted to Yamaha. Their sounds and styles do win in my opinion. The Casio Privia PX310 is still a really nice option for $599.00, but no stand, bench, 2 year warranty, headphones and not nearly enough buttons to do all the things as intuitivly as the Yamaha. Plus, the Yamaha really wins in the looks department.

The YPG225 is the first non weighted Yamaha keyboard with actual sized piano keys with boxed fronts like a real piano. Unlike the DGX305, these keys are not semi Weighted, but unlike other PSR's, they are full size piano keys. The front panel is laid out just like the bigger 88 key models, but there is no USB device port, only a USB to computer jack.

Tomorrow I will be able to play alot more with these new models. I excited to go into the store. It's been awhile since something new has come in that has got me jazzed to go into work tomorrow. I love when new, good products show up.

George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Could you do us a favor?

Could you find a scale or find SOME way to weigh this keyboard without the stand and without the music rack? Some people around here, and a couple other boards, are curious. Two sites say 44 lbs., a Japanese site says 56+ lbs., and musiciansbuy says 39.6 lbs. My money is on 39.6 lbs.

I have my order in for this keyboard, so I'm very glad you like it. It became apparant with the (much smaller!) 6W speakers in the P70, that Yamaha has figured out some new way of packing quite a bit of power into small wattage. When I compared the DGX-505 side by side with the Privia PX-555R and the Roland FP-5, with and without headphones, the speakers on the DGX were the only ones I would want for a small gig. It was much more than a volume issue. And now you say the YPG speakers are that much better.

I think the 32 note polyphony is a fair trade off to get the weight in under 40 lbs. The state of the art apparantly requires twice the oscillators or a wider bus to double up polyphony. The only keyboards lighter than the 625 with 88 keys, and 64 poly, have "semi-weighted" action" or speakers less than half the size by area.

32 poly is sufficient for players like me who are interested mainly in a performance synth. Playing sequenced material through the keyboard seems like cheating just a little. You can still hook the YPG up to a computer and sequence to software limits in that medium.

So for my money, there really is no alternative to the YPG-625 at any price. But I do wish it had real MIDI IN/OUT and audio IN. If they added those connectors, you'd have a real pro set up for under 45 lbs. and less than $900. That should shake up a few people! I also think black or rosewood would be more professional looking.

Rick

Rick,
I'm taking this right out of the YPG 625 owners manual.
"YPG-625: 39 lbs.11 oz.
With keyboard stand: 56 lbs.3 oz."

"YPG-525: 24 lbs. 4 oz.
With keyboard stand: 37 lbs. 8 oz."
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

George, thank you so much. It's tiring being right all the time, you know?

Nah, I believe you're the guy that brought the YPGs to my attention. So thank you twice!

Rick

I loaded up a flash drive today with hundreds of standard midi files and they play beautifully without any lag in calling them up and pushing the start button. I also like that I don't have to go into the "function" screen as I did on the DGX505 and select "Smart Media" instead of "Flash" from the Media Select menu and then hold the function button down to store this new setting if I was using the Smart Media Card. Many of my customers didn't understand this feature and couldn't get their midi files to be read until they thought the keyboard was broken and called my store for me to explain what they needed to do. Now, just install the drive and a USB light shine on the display and your ready to play right off the plugged in device.
Many potential customers came into my store today and when I showed them the new Yamaha, all were impressed with it's look, sounds, features and price.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 06-05-2006).]

Do you know what the feature called "easy song arranger" does?
When you first select a song, and if there are chords programmed with the song, the tracks of any selected style becomes your accomp. for that standard midi file. If there are no chords, just the drum track changes. This way you can change the genre to play like any style you like.

George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Dear George ,
Thank you for enlightening on the technical datails of this fine keyboard. It seems that you are going to 1000s of 625.
However, there is still one thing that is unclear to me (maybe due to my limited knowledge of technical English).

What does "5 types of Master EQ" mean?

Is this a 5-band equiliser or just 5 eq. presets?

Regards,
George V

Reading your post George makes me want to work at a music store...seeing all the new cool music gear coming in. That's really cool.

By the way, how has George Kaye been doing? It's great to see you again out here on the forums!

Thanks for asking about my store Ryan. The past year has been an interesting one for music stores. I'm selling more and more lower priced chinese made products which means less dollars in the cash register. Customers can get really good gear for much less then things cost 5 years ago. Higher end arranger keyboards are still my forte and continue to do quite well. Lower priced digital pianos and arrangers are still very strong. The models that have really slowed down are things like Motif ES's, Fantoms, Tritons, etc. Thank goodness for many of my customers from the Synthzone who will purchase products from me.
After 36 years of owning my store, I find myself working more hours then in previous years and with less help because of economic times. However, my passion for my business and enjoying my customers is still a driving force for me.
If you sense my excitment for new products arriving you are right. I still feel like a kid in a candy store when something new arrives and I try it out.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, Ca.

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 06-05-2006).]

George V,
The 5 Master EQ settings are provided to give you the best possible sound when listening through different reproduction systems-
the instruments internal speakers (1 and 2), headphones (3) and external speakers (4 and 5). This is a good addition because headphone/lineout single jacks don't always sound as good as dedicated line outs.
In my testing, setting 1 and 2 accentuate the bass so that the internal speakers sound really full, which I already reported on. Now, with my outputs plugged into a pair of powered monitors, settings 1 and 2 are very bass heavy but when I go to 4 and 5 the EQ curve sounds great. I also confirmed the headphones sound better when using setting number 3 compared to the others. Yamaha did us all a favor here!
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene

George V,
The 5 Master EQ settings are provided to give you the best possible sound when listening through different reproduction systems-
the instruments internal speakers (1 and 2), headphones (3) and external speakers (4 and 5). This is a good addition because headphone/lineout single jacks don't always sound as good as dedicated line outs.
In my testing, setting 1 and 2 accentuate the bass so that the internal speakers sound really full, which I already reported on. Now, with my outputs plugged into a pair of powered monitors, settings 1 and 2 are very bass heavy but when I go to 4 and 5 the EQ curve sounds great. I also confirmed the headphones sound better when using setting number 3 compared to the others. Yamaha did us all a favor here!
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene

1) If the YPG225 doesn't have a USB to device, does it have a disc drive instead? (Connecting a computer to the keyboard every time I want to xfer a file wud be inconvenient for me).
2) Is there a website with specs? I would like to know what are the sweet, cool, and live voices.
3) Does it have 2 variations only?
Starkeeper

Manuals available online!

You can't get them on the US site, yet, but you can get specs for the whole Portable Grand series here: http://music.yamaha.com/products/categoryProducts.html?groupId=24

The manual for the YPG-625/525 is here: http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/emi/english/port/dgx620_en_om.pdf
And for the YPG-225: http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/emi/english/port/dgx220_en_om.pdf

All your questions can be answered here. The 225 has 3 Cool! and 5 Sweet! voices, but no Live! pianos and orchestra.

Rickid

George and Rick,

Thank you for your input. I downloaded the DGX-620 manual and already read it.

I am curious to try on such keyboard.

Starkeeper, the special voices are:
Live! Grand Piano
Live! Warm grand piano
Live! orchestra
Cool! Galaxy elecric piano
Cool! Suitcase electric piano
Cool! Electric piano
Cool! Organ
Cool! Rotor organ
Sweet! Tenor Sax
Sweet! Soprano Sax
Sweet! Clarinet
Sweet! Trumpet
Sweet! Trombonoe
Sweet! Muted trumpet
Sweet! Flute
Sweet! Pan flute

There are a few XG voices that are not present on the DGX-305/505.

The styles, like the older DGXs, have only 2 variations.

I hoped for a sweet harmonica or oboe voices, or a spanish guitar voice. Such voices would enrich my compositions. It seems that yamaha have (still) reserved them for their more expensive boards.

Regards,
George

Just to clarify, the 225 that Starkeeper is interested in has fewer Cool! and Sweet! voices, and no Live! voices, compared to the 625/525.

Also, sorry, the 225 has no disk drive.

R.

Not much different then my PSR550 (and it has full XG and a disc drive).
No disc drive and no USB makes it way to inconvenient.
76 keys though, would have been nice.
Starkeeper

Anyone know when this gets to the UK?

Right now. It's called the DGX-620 in the UK. Just do a google of:
Yamaha DGX-620 price
http://www.dv247.com/invt/33483/

R.

WOW! £488.00 incl VAT (~700 EUR) what a deal! I can only dream about such price in my country!

Really? Where do you live, George? :wave:

That's about $911 in US dollars. I ordered my YPG-625 for $735, including the survival pack. Not sure if it will include the bench, but I really don't need another bench.

There might be a better UK price. I didn't try to pick the lowest.

Rick

Thanks for the pointers. Most interesting.

But why change the product number for different markets? Won't this increase the cost of the product slightly?

This price isnt so bad either: http://www.singingchicken.co.uk/item5313.htm

They've done it before. Maybe they want to keep the option of making changes in the specs for one model and not the other. Or hey! Maybe a few of the sounds already ARE different. Maybe they figure European horseys have a different gait from American horseys.



Maybe a nickel?

R.

Hi Rick,
I live in Bulgaria, a small country in the South-East Europe, there is only one Yamaha dealer in the country.

I expect the 620 to be priced in the 800-900 EUR range. The funny thing is that one can get a real acoustic upright piano for less than 500 eur (second hand).

George

Hi George

Thanx for the great review and info as usual. It doesn't surprise me what you are saying about the Chinese instruments. Heck even the Tyros 1 was made in China.

I'm curious what the big name sellers are in Chinese instruments. I'm wondering if it's the names we all recognize or if new ones are emerging that are worthwhile. I suppose it's arranger type keyboards below the $200 mark for them or are there other contenders?

Just curious, I guess you know I used to work in music stores and also owned one in the 70's and 80's in Wisconsin until the northern recession of the early 80's. I said I'd never get back into the music business and found myself in Florida doing that for almost another 20 years in mostly home organs which is very popular in a lot of areas here.

It's just kind of interesting to me to see how the music business has evolved and continues to at what seems to be a faster and faster pace.

Best
Scott

The YPG-625 and 525 are now on the Yamaha's US site. I'm not sure the following link will work, so you might have to navigate from the home page:
http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/List/ModelSeriesListLE/0,,CTID%253D205200%2526CNTYP%253DPRODUCT,00.html

George, my grandmother used to say she was from Bulgaria. She wasn't -- she just thought it sounded funny. Don't ask me to explain.

Rick

I know. Because very few people in the U.S.A. know where Bulgaria is. Its exotic place.

Anyway, I hope that video and sound clips of the 625 will appear soon.

Regards,
George

George,
don't feel alone, at least I know where Bulgaria is!!!!!!

Your southern neighbour,
Theodore

Got it!

I picked up my YPG-625 Monday evening. It came faster than I expected. I have some minor issues, but basically, it's pretty much what I expected.

The action is superb. Except for the fact it adds 15 lbs to the kbd (grumble mumble...) I can't imagine anything better. Sensitivity default is 2 (medium) and I haven't had any desire to fool around with that yet. Maybe for some instrument other than piano.

Grand Pianos 1 and 2 were both very nice. I think I like 2 slightly better, but it's nice to have both options.

I'm no expert on synth organ sounds, but I thought the organ sounds, and electric (galaxy, etc.) pianos were all useable.

The sweet sax's and flute are superb. Trumpets are good. Trombone sounds more like a tuba. (Maybe an EQ setting will help that.) Harp needs a little help too.

Violin is HORRIBLE. Seriously. Sounds like a cross between a harmonica and a clarinet. No stringiness to it at all. And they could have left out the Live! Orchestra. The slow, wide vibrato makes it dead on arrival for me.

These are just initial impressions. I'll put up a longer review in a week or two.

R.

are the headphone/output usable for connecting to a mixer/monitors or are they noisy or unstable? i'm thinking about using it to record songs. how are the drum sets

I'm probably the last person to ask about this. This is the first digital keyboard I've ever owned. I've played on a few digitals through the years, but I've never hooked one up to a mixer or anything but other people's sound systems.

I just now tried listening through the little $20 headphones you get with the survival pack. I didn't notice anything I'd call noise noise or distortion. I did hear some very subtle differences. For instance, I can't hear any difference between piano1 and piano2, with the headphones. Through the speakers, I can hear a little more reverb with piano2. Also, the harp sounds better with the headphones than through the speakers.

This may all relate to the master EQ settings. I haven't tried fooling around with that yet. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the headphones. I thought for sure I'd have to buy a better set, but maybe not.

The violin is still bad through the headphones though. The violin sound is just terminally bad. String ensemble is OK, though.



I'm not competent to judge. Snare sounds like a snare, I guess. Timpani... church bells... the few things I've tried all sound good to me. But again, I've never used the drum sets on any other keyboards.

Take that back -- I used the drum roll for Miss Hometown pageant once. Sounded like a drum roll to me.

Rick

Hi Rick,
Congratulations on your new keyboard. I wish you many happy hours plaing it.

The way you described your first impressions of the YPG recalled me of my initial feelings of my DGX-305 which were exactly the same.

Regards,
George

"Trombone sounds more like a tuba."

I can't be sure because I'm not there with you , but in over 30 years of teaching and selling keyboards and organs, my guess is that you will need to play it an octave higher.

That was almost always the fix for my students and customers who didn't like a particular instrument.

I'd be curious to find out if that helped the issue with that or any of the other instruments you weren't thrilled with.

Best
Scott

are they 1/4 outs or regular headphone outs?

the outputs are a 1/4" stereo headphone output, just like the DGX series. The improvement is in the Master EQ setups. Yamaha has done a good job of having settings that optimize what you source system might be, headphone, internal speakers or powered monitor or amp system. I've have tried them all and there really is a big difference between the set ups.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Thanks very much, George!



Except I wouldn't be able to work with the action on the 305. I'm very happy with my action, and also with the speakers. I can't be sure, playing here in my little apartment, but I think these might be all right for a large hall! When I turn the volume up too high, I'm afraid I'll scare the neighbors.

R.

No, not exactly. I'm very aware of the ranges of various instruments. You should vertainly be able to play C below middle C on a trombone!

Maybe I forgot about the Bass trombone. Maybe Yamaha was going for that, or maybe a cross between bass and tenor trombone?

To make it sound like the tenor trombone we all know and love, I can't play louder than mezzo piano on D below middle C or lower. That helps a lot. For some reason, I've noticed trombones get softer in the low range, while a tuba gets fat and loud.

The harp is the opposite. With the harp voice, you have to play high notes pianissimo. I've played a little harp (very little) and if you pluck the high strings as hard as humanly possible, you get what you get on the Yamaha at about mp. Any harder than about p on the Yamaha gives you a very hard, piano-like sound. Punching up the reverb a little helps the harp too.

I think I can work with the trombone and the harp. I should probably not play them now for a week, then try again. I might be getting used to the Yamaha sounds.

The violin I can't work with. The YPG violin sounds almost (not quite) exactly like the YPG cello played an octave higher. The problem is a cello, when played way up in the stratosphere, doesn't sound anything like a violin. It gets strained and unstring? like. Tremelo sounds more like a breath instrument (more AM than FM). And there's a breath attack between middle C and G when you play the violin too loud! The violin does SOMEthing when you bow too hard, but it's not a breath attack!

I'll have to go to GC and try the violin on their DGX-505. I can't believe it was THAT bad... Seems like I would have remembered.

I also have an issue with Yamaha's "support beam." It might come down to their use of the word "portable" again. I'm going to start another thread about that. I'd be glad to hear your reaction, and George K's.

Rick

I just bought the YGP 625 yesterday. I liked the keyboard action and all the different features it came with. What I'm very disappointed with is the quality of the piano sound. In the store it sounded OK. But, that was in a high ceiling room, and some guy 2 rows over was going nuts on a drum set. Once I got it home where I could really hear it, I winced. The best way I can describe it is muddy. On any of the Grand piano settings, you get what I feel is a muddy sound. I havent found a way to get a sharp and clear tone out of it, even messing around with the Master EQ options. Now I'm faced with either eating a 15% restocking fee from Sam Ash, or finding a way to get a better sound out of what I've got.If I could feed the output into something that would give me a better sound, I'd be willing to do that, at some point. (as long as it doesn't cost me more than freakin piano itself.) What are my options? Would I be better off to eat the restock fee and buy a keyboard and sythn combo?

I'm surprised.

The two Live! grand piano sounds are really superb, to my ears. Also, I have to say that EQ settings greater than 2 are definitely too bright when heard through the onboard speakers, IMO.

The comment I've heard in the past is that Yamaha pianos are too BRIGHT, compared to Roland and Korg. I haven't heard the muddy comment.

There is a tiny lag -- you'd measure it in milliseconds -- on a grand piano, compared to an upright. It comes from the fact that the sounding board isn't staring you right in the face, as it does on an upright. I can hear this on the YPG-625 -- a bit of realism in their sample that doesn't bother me at all. Might you be reacting to this?

Make sure both speakers are working, as most of the low sound comes from the left speaker. Also try different volume settings. The acoustics in your practice room might also be a factor. Try listening through headphones. Also make sure the keyboard has exclusive use of one electrical outlet. The manual warns that failure to do so could harm sound quality. I didn't find that to be true in my apartment, but the quality of electricity varies in different cities.

But when all is said and done, if you don't like it you don't like it. Options? The store where I bought my 625 has a policy that you can return a keyboard within 30 days for full store credit. This means if I hated the YPG, I could return it and have them order a Roland FP-2 or whatever, and just pay the difference. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

Since this is apparantly your first post here, welcome to the forum!

Rick

I went out and bought a nice Koss headset to use with the Keyboard. WHAT-A-DIFFERENCE!!! All of a sudden I've got this wonderfully clear grand piano sound. For the $750 I paid for the keyboard, it's astounding to me that Yamaha would cheap out on the friggin external sound system. Maybe mine is defective, but I dont think so.

I'd have gladly thrown in another $25 for them to put in a better sound output.

Of course, this is the same company that cheaped out and didn't supply a USB cable with the unit either. You have to go buy that separately.

Otherwise, so far, I'm loving the thing. The keyboard is responsive and easy to play. Many neat features and sounds to work with. All and all, for the price I just don't think you can beat it.

As we all know piano sounds are very subjective. Some to my ears sound great, while the same paino to another person sounds "muddy" or something along those lines.

However, one thing is clear--a poor internal speaker system can reduce the sound quality. If that's the case then I'd would only assume Yammaha would use a better quality speaker and amp for the YPG "especially considering these are designed for home use". It would be different if it was for stage use, and had good quality outputs.

You may find that simply hooking up to a better speaker system (sometimes a good stereo sysem makes a huge difference).

For me I think the biggest let down on the new models isn't sounds, keys, ect. Rather I find it unacceptable that Yammie didn't include simple midi jacks on any of the models. That YPG 625 would make a very nice controller if it had simple midi in/out jacks and not just USB.

Personally I think Yammie didn't want the YPG sales to take away interest in the new CP33. That board is a digital, but it's also advertised as having "comprehensive midi functions"--basically making it a great controller as well--However, that board sells for $1,299, and the YPG is going for less than $800. With the YPG you'll get great graded hammer action, some nice Yammie sounds with a few extra goodies, and boy wouldn't that board also make a great controller???

I can see someone buying one of these over the CP33 if it had midi in/out. I could be wrong, but that's a reason I see why Yammie didn't include that basic feature.

Squeak

Forgot to add this... Even though I have an 88 key weighted synth I strongly considered the new YPG-625, but I know I'd eventually want to midi it to something (not just a computer either)--I'm talking about drum machines, samplers, external hardware sequencers and so on.

It's the lack of midi jacks that stopped me from buying the YPG. Some may consider this a minor missing feature, but there are just as many who feel it's a major missing feature as well

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 07-03-2006).]

In my opinion and from what I've read, the YPG-625 is basically a DGX-505 with graded hammer keys and 4 more voices, and the 505 itself is a let down to DGX-500 having 120 less voices, no midi and no floppy drive.

The YPG - 625 is certainly a good first keyboard but I am not paying 800 euros for the same low-end voice set just to get a hammer action. It's a pity that for the 2nd time they offer us the same product with very small improvements.

But who cares, after all this is a consumer product and one is expected to upgrade every time they come up with the newer model. It's the same as with digital cameras. I'm wondering how many people are playing their game.

George.

George,
Exactly my friend! It's all in upgrades, and fancy advertising. Yammie at the heart is a business. They're here to make money! If they give you what you want.., you won't buy the next keyboard (that's most often just a re-pack of the original with minute changes, and a bigger price tag).

For me I'm done buying keyboards that offer very little from one model to the next. I'm saving my pennies for the Mediastation. For less than the Tyros 2 I can have a keyboard that won't require me to shell out $3,000 for the new lemon fresh model. In today's market it makes more sense to me to have a keyboard like this, and it's easier on your wallet Again just my opinion.

Squeak

One more thing to try.......
Hit the Function Button.......
Push either the arrow up or arrow down buttons (just under the data wheel) until you see "Master EQ Type"......
Use the + or - buttons to select one of the 5 different pre-sets. These will drastically change the way the pianos sounds coming from the internal speakers.
I found when the keyboard first came into my store that I heard way to much bass coming from the lower keys and by changing the settings to a different pre-set, I liked the sound much more when playing the piano sound.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

That is not the case. According to the French saying:

L'apetit vien an mangean, Apetite comes as you eat.



[This message has been edited by George V (edited 07-03-2006).]

The speakers in my YPG-625 are absolutely superb. In fact, I think they might be adequate to gig in a large hall. And I can hear very little difference through headphones. You either have a defective unit, or electricity inadequate to power the speakers, or very strange acoustics where you play, or ... something.

I don't think they could have improved on the speakers with another $250, let alone $25.

Rick

My fiance and I just got one of these, we love the score display on songs downloaded from the net, but we can't figure out how to change which intruments score is being displayed? Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance!