Yamaha Keyboards (4 Boards) > Yamaha Keyboards - General

New Yamaha Digital Piano, P-515

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SeaGtGruff:
I just found out about Yamaha's newest model in their P series, the P-515, which was unveiled at the Summer 2018 NAMM. It has nearly twice as many (40 vs. 24) high-quality "main" voices as its predecessor, the P-255. Plus, it has 480 XG voices and 18 kit voices (drums and SFX). If I'm not mistaken, it's the first P model to include XG voice compatibility. It's like a marriage of the P and DGX lines, but with XG voices rather than XGlite voices.

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/pianos/p_series/p-515/index.html

pjd:
Hi --

Thanks, Michael!

The P-515 looks like a terrific instrument. I always liked the eye, hand, key, sound connection in the P-2xx series. Looks like a very nice extension. It supports Smart Pianist.

A bit of a shame that they left out the PSR/Tyros voices (including a few SArt) from the CSP series. In Yamaha-land, a piano is always a piano.  :) At $1500 USD street, it's a heck of an instrument even without the extra voices, etc.

All the best -- pj

SeaGtGruff:
I likened it to a marriage of the P and DGX lines, but it might be fairer to call it a step from the P line toward the CLP/CVP lines. There's still no word on whether there will be a new DGX model soon, if ever.

From what I heard in the Bonners video about the P-515 that I watched last night, it sounds like the XG voices can't be accessed from the panel controls, but must instead be accessed by connecting an iPad and using one of Yamaha's apps to browse through the list of XG voices and select one. I can already imagine we'll be hearing Android, Linux, and Windows users screaming bloody murder about that, but I'm fairly certain that the XG voices can be selected via any MIDI application.

pjd:
Hi Michael --

I think Smart Pianist is needed to reach all of the voices in the Clavinova CSP, especially the good ones.

I search for Smart Pianist and found it in the Google Play app store. The Android version is 1.0.0, dated May 31, 2018. It supports the CSPs and the review section is already accumulating complaints about lack of support for the NU1X and P-125. Yamaha just barely made their commitment to deliver Smart Pianist for Android ("by the end of May.") But, they probably made schedule by not supporting the newest keyboards.

No Data List for the P-515 yet.

Take care -- pj

gogo:
Yamaha are regurgitatung the same stuff. That’s actually the well known CLP-585 in a new cabinet. Besides, at 22kg it’s barely portable, I mean, one can easily move it within a room but it’s not something I could easily disassemble and put in my car. Does P stand for “Portable”? The amplification is very limited compared to the CLP models. It will fit nicely in a home where the Ikea furniture is preferred.

On the positive side, the keyboard is good, it is not the lesser GHS, GHE, GH, GH3 or whatever the marketing team has come up to. The “Natural X wood” (another lovely term) is actually playable which is a strong + for the model. And there is a handful of other marketing terms - “escapement”, “smooth release”, “virtual resonance modelling”, “key-off samples”. I am yet to see Petroff releasing an acoustic piano with “escapement” and “smooth release”. The digital era needs these terms to confuse the buyer and upsell the more expensive model.

Bearing in mind that the speakers of my “high-end” CLP-575 are a total disappointment for a Yanaha product, I would not consider the modest amplification a problem - one is going to buy external speakers for a better sound anyway.

A strong - is that there is not a keyboard cover, the keys will catch dust.

Regarding the inability to select the XG voices from the panel - why would anyone want to play them? This is just a low-quality set of samples from the 20. century. They are there just to provide some possibilities for backing tracks. I mean, the player can download a midi file and play along.

I am positive about the product. Looks like a nice instrument for exercising, a very good option for a beginner, a preferred choice in a small flat.

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