Yamaha DGX505 Digital Grand Piano

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Looks, Sound quality, Smart media capability
Disadvantages:	Sustain pedal, keys  -  slightly "keyboard" feel

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As a keyboard player of some 15 years looking to make the step to playing the piano properly I ventured out onto the high street to investigate the products available. I have used Yamaha products all my life, including various keyboards and my guitar effects processor so naturally I looked primarily at Yamaha products (that said knowing I couldn't afford to splash out on a Clavinova yet!!)

In my local music shop I found the DGX range (currently the -305 and -505 as far as I'm aware) and tried it out for a while. I instantly fell in love with it! The sound of the grand piano is superb and the interface is extremely easy to use. These digital pianos really sound like the sort of thing you would pay thousands for.

Dont be fooled by the £500 RRP on the 505, within hours I had returned home and ordered myself one for around £360 including delivery.

Unpacking and setting up is effortless (the -505 features the built in wooden stand) and within minutes you can be annoying the neighbours with your feeble attempts at being a concert pianist! The volume control is adequate, although at times I find I have to have it at least 3/4 full to get the real effect of the dynamics of a piece to come through. There is also a range of touch sensitivities for players such as myself adjusting from keyboards.

There are multiple features on board for recording your own performance, effectively providing you with a multi track sequencer. Whilst trying to learn multiple parts I frequently record the melody so I can concentrate on playing the left hand, or an additional part to get the way the sond should sound in my head. Of course this also allows a whole part to be recorded as say, a piano, and then an additional melody played over the top with other voices.

Two features aimed at assisting with learning are the performance assistant technology and the built in lessons. The performance assistant technology is more of something to impress friends and family with although it can be useful as an aid to get the timing of notes right. It basically allows you to set up a song in various ways so that almost any note you hit will still produce the correct sound for the song. Of more use are the built in lessons. A reaonsable variety of songs are supplied with the -505 including some well known classical pieces and some more up to date stuff (I was playing a Norah Jones hit within minutes!). Lesson modes are available in Left or Right hand and 3 types. Mode 1 waits for you to play the right note before continuing, mode 2 follows along and adjusts to your tempo and mode 3 plays the song at correct speed minus the part you have selected to play. Whilst this is happening the score appears on the screen for you to follow, along with a display of the keyboard indicating the correct notes.

I will briefly summarise the other main features of the DGX-505, although most of it is all widely available in literature etc:

88 full size semi-weighted keys, 320x240 dot backlit blue LCD screen, pitch bend wheel, 121 voices, 12 drum kits, 359 XG Lite voices, 135 preset styles, 3.3V Smart media card slot, built in chord dictionary, 3 lesson teaching mode, MIDI interface through USB, 30 built in songs to practice with (more downloadable from Yamaha), dual and split modes, multiple reverb, chorus and harmony modes

The whole package comes with a CD-ROM which features drivers for connecting the unit to a PC via USB, and the Yamaha digital music notebook software, along with additional songs that can be transferred to the unit itself.

On the downside the keys still feel somewhat like a (reasonably priced) keyboard. This is however reflected in Yamaha's latest advertising bumpf as box-style, whereas for other models they go on in some detail about grade weighted hammer keys etc. The only other drawback I have found so far has been the sustain pedal. Again in the advertising material this is referred to as a footswitch - it is just that, unfortunately there is no way of slowly releasing the sustain on the keys.

There are other features provided by Yamaha, such as the digital music notebook which I have not got round to using yet, but looks extremely useful nonetheless which just underlines the quality of Yamaha products and services.

Altogether this is a superb piece of kit which represents real value for money for someone looking to get seriously started in piano playing but for various reasons cannot get a real piano or afford a high end digital one. Whilst offering the serious pianist all they need there are plenty of other features to keep the keyboard player entertained as well and I would seriously recommend this product to anyone looking to get their first digital piano.

Thanks Yamaha!!