The Yamaha P71 is a super popular model from the Yamaha ‘P’ line, which stands for portable design. This digital piano has been receiving a high rating on Amazon and it has become one of the best sellers in the digital piano department.
The model combines realistic sound quality, authentic weighted action, portable design, and affordable price make it shines in the digital piano under $500.
Additionally, Yamaha P71 offers high-quality functions and provides an excellent playing experience that perfectly fits for beginners.
In this article, we’ll take a look at every aspect of Yamaha P71 digital piano, including the primary attributes the model offers and additional functions you need.
An Overview of Yamaha P71 Digital Piano
Yamaha P71 Specs
- An 88-key fully-weighted hammer-action digital piano
- Weighted action: Yamaha’s GHS (Graded Hammer Standard)
- Sound: AWM sound engine (Advanced Wave Memory)
- Touch sensitivity: 3 levels and off (Fixed, Soft, Medium, Hard)
- Polyphony: 64 notes
- Voices: 10 instrument sounds
- Modes: Duo, Dual
- Sound effects: 4 Reverb types
- Metronome: Built-in Metronome
- Connections: USB to Host, Sustain jack, headphone jack,
- Speakers: 12cm x 2
- Amplifiers: 6 W + 6 W
- Weight: 25 lbs
- Dimensions: 52.2″ wide x 6.0″ high x 11.5″ deep
- Accessories: AC Adaptor, A sustain pedal, Music Rest
General Review of Yamaha P71
Yamaha P71 is an 88-key fully-weighted digital piano which is a solid option for beginners.
The main attribute of Yamaha P71 is that it’s equipped with high-quality pianist essentials yet no bells and whistles to distract you. The manufacturer put the highest priority on authentic piano feel. Together with its portable design, it’s great for beginners to practice anywhere.
The model has a clean board without endless buttons to confuse you. It’s easy to operate and kids-friendly.
It’s loaded with 10 instrument voices, allowing you to play songs in different instruments. Additionally, chances are you want to explore different instrument combinations. You can layer two voices in Dual Mode.
As for connectivity, it has a USB port to connect any smart devices you want and a sustain jack as well as a headphone jack.
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Features of the Yamaha P71
We’re going to review Yamaha P71 in detail. Let’s start looking at special features Yamaha P71 offers to you and some aspects you may struggle with.
Outstanding Features
Sound Quality
We know that sound quality can be considered to be the most important factor of any pianos, or at least the second important.
Yamaha P71 is equipped with AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) sound engine, which recreates the sound of an acoustic piano. The sound engine is aiming at providing rich, deep and spacious sound for players to enjoy.
As for touch sensitivity, the keys of Yamaha P71 are touch-sensitive. It includes 3 levels of touch sensitivity and a button to turn off as well. Touch sensitivity means the sound is not volume-controlled. The harder you press the key, the louder sound you’ll hear. So, you can feel melodies going up and down by hitting the keys harder or lighter. It’s important for players from all levels because every piece of music has weak tones and strong tones to express certain emotions.
In addition, Polyphony number is another aspect that affects the sound.
In music terms, polyphony means the maximum number of notes a digital piano can produce simultaneously.
It usually works with sustain pedal and sound effects. When you use sustain pedal, the notes need enough polyphony number to keep all the notes sounding as you continually add more notes.
However, the polyphony number of Yamaha P71 is 64 notes, which is enough for beginners to play most music pieces. But you may struggle with playing more complex classical pieces with this number of polyphony notes.
Key Action
Yamaha P71 is equipped with GHS (Graded Hammer Standard) weighted action.
Well, if you’ve had some research before, perhaps you’ve seen Yamaha’s GHS weighted action many times. It’s marketed as an entry-level weighted action. But it has been used in lots of entry-level digital pianos and many mid-range digital pianos. Basically, every Yamaha’s digital pianos under $1000 use this weighted action.
Weighted keys are that when you press the keys, there is some resistance responding to your finger and you can feel some natural weight while pressing.
GHS weighted action allows you to have heavier touch in low registers and lighter touch in high registers, simulating the real feel of an acoustic piano.
Whether you’re a beginner who just starts learning to play the piano or an advanced player who has been playing for years, finger techniques matter a lot. It’s vital for players from all levels to strengthen fingers and build hand muscles with weighted keys.
Though GHS is not the best weighted action, it’s great for players to practice and train finger techniques, especially for those who dream to transfer to a real piano in the future.
Find out more about weighted keys here.
Portability and Compact Design
Yamaha P71 is from ‘P’ line, and the most outstanding aspect is their portable design.
Weighted keys can add certain weights to digital pianos. But for a digital piano with fully-weighted keys, Yamaha P71 is only 25 pounds. It’s super easy to take it with you to travel or gig.
This digital piano is very compact as well. The dimension of Yamaha P71 is 52.2″ wide x 6.0″ high x 11.5″ deep. If you are a college student that needs to commute a lot from home to your college, you can easily put it into a padded bag.
Additional Features
Voices
Yamaha P71 is loaded with 10 instrument voices:
- 2 Grand Piano voices (Concert & Bright piano sound)
- 2 Electric Piano Voices (Vintage & FM Synthesis electric piano sound)
- Strings
- 2 Pipe Organ Voices
- 2 Harpsichord Voices
- Vibraphone
Each of the voices can be used in playing certain music styles, such as classical music, pop music, sacred music, and baroque music, etc.
Also, these voices are great for getting inspiring new playing experiences. You can explore different instrument combinations in Dual Mode. For example, the combination of strings and pianos is the most likable one. You can play the string on the left side and play the piano on the right side in the same octaves at the same time.
Sound Effect
Yamaha P71 is equipped with 4 types of Reverb, including Room, Small-sized concert hall, Large-sized concert hall and Stage.
You can customize the sound by adding these effects to your tunes.
Metronome
The Yamaha P71 comes with a built-in Metronome, which is a very useful tool while practicing. It’s very beneficial by allowing you to set a beat and practice your pieces with an accurate tempo.
At the initial stage, you’ll find that it’s hard to control your fingers and you’ll play faster and faster. By using Metronome, you can train your rhythm and time-keeping skills.
Connectivity
The mode is equipped with USB port and necessary jacks for you to connect smart devices, headphones, sustain pedals and DAWs on computer.
As for MIDI, you can transfer MIDI data to your computer or other devices by USB port. And you can use it as a MIDI controller to operate on various music editing software.
Things You May Struggle With
Sustain Pedal
The digital piano comes with a sustain pedal, but the quality is not solid. It looks a bit cheap. You may need to upgrade it by purchasing a heavier one.
The feel of the keys
The model does not come with ivory and ebony key surfaces. So, you may find the feel of the keys is a bit plastic. But benefit from its great weighted action, you can still have a realistic feel while playing.
Yamaha P71 vs Yamaha P45
Yamaha P45 has always been a very popular model in Yamaha ‘P’ series and it’s a digital piano mainly for beginners as well. So, what’s the difference between these two digital pianos?
The only difference between the Yamaha P71 and Yamaha P45 is the price. Yamaha P71 is $50 cheaper than Yamaha P45. Except for the price, they have no difference in any functions and features.
However, you can find Yamaha P45 in most retailers whereas Yamaha P71 is an Amazon-exclusive digital piano.
Yamaha P71 Digital Piano Review
Yamaha P71 Overall Score: 7.5
- Realistic sound quality
- Authentic key action like a real piano
- Very affordable
- Compact and lightweight
- Easy to operate
- Kid-friendly
- Keys are a bit plastic
- No recording function
- The quality of sustain pedal is not really good
Final Words
Overall, Yamaha P71 is an 88-key weighted action digital piano, which stands out for its simplicity and reasonable price.
Authentic weighted action and realistic sound make it a perfect fit for entry-level players. You can practice finger strengthen and techniques with this weighted digital piano.
Yamaha P71 is a portable and compact keyboard piano, allowing you to put and take it anywhere without worrying about the size and the weight.
If you’re a beginner and looking for a weighted digital piano to practice, Yamaha P71 is well worth investigating.
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