Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am absolute newbie with sight-reading experience from my former choir signing days! I wanted to learn to play a piano but did not want the tuning and expense of owning the real McCoy and then find i didn't want to play it. Especially living in an apartment there were the neighbors to consider as well as the premium floor space. Then I came upon the digital piano and this form solved all my problems in one quiet swoop. You get what you pay for, so do some research on your must have and budget. I just knew that i wanted a brand name in the world of music so the yamaha was a given. Now I was deciding between the 161 and the 141, both new models released on 2010. I finally went with the 161 for the better hammer action and that it offered the 128 notes polyphony. These might be minor issues for you, but my passion to learn made me decide that rather than upgrade later, I would splash out a little bit more now and have the piano for a lot longer. If you live in an apartment like me, the bigger speaker offered by the 161 was not a huge selling point as I practice most of time with the head phones. Only when I wanted to show piece a well practiced piece do I unplug the headphones. The size of this piano is awesome and compact in depth and with the 88 keys, you have the grand piano sound without taking up a lot of space.
Other features include a metronome than can adjust for different time signature like 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, etc; 50 preset songs were you can mute either the right or left hand and you can practice with it (this is really for the intermediate player, but nice to look foreword to! The piano defaults to the grand piano output, but you can switch to outputs that include the organ sound, harpsichord, strings. Also nice are the options to set various digital reverb ranging from hall, room, stage or off, which is the default setting. You could also manually set the reverb effect, which is worth doing as it does change the output quite considerably.
The piano also records up to two tracks, which for a beginner is a great way to learn which part of the score that you need to practice the timing a bit more!
The 161 has two headphone plug INS to allow for a second listener. There is midi that allows you to record more of your own music onto a computer (for composition) or you can down load music to the piano too.
The weights of the keys are superb and I am loving the experience, the sound and the accessibility the digital format offer me.
For the price it is reasonable. It is worth shopping around for competitive bundles. I did not end up buying my piano here. But I am so happy with my experience that I really highly recommend this model for beginners who are looking to progress to play full scores. For beginners, I recommend the Alfred's adult all in one course. It is by far the best series out there. For a novice in the world of music theory, My husband is really impressed with the progress that I have made in less than one week.
For those who have wanted to fulfill a dream, don't hesitate any more, this is the best option and you will love yourself for buying it. Happy playing.
Update: September 2010: Try the piano and keyboard software! it is another fabulous tool for those who are teaching themselves to play the paino. It is a great supplement to the Alfred's all in one adult course. read my review on the software. I even more happy with the purchase of this piano!
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