  8 out of 10
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"Glen Gould, Cole Porter or Thelonius Monk might balk at buying it, but a good workhorse piano if you want portability and basic"
Feature:
Includes sustain pedal, music stand. As others have noted, it is a deficit that it does not have a built-in MIDI interface. The "to host" port for hooking up directly to a PC without a MIDI interface is a less-than-honest feature, because Yamaha has discontinued the special cable required. I only use a computer hookup for composing piano music (writing to a score with the piano keyboard), so for me the purchase of a $40 "UNO" interface, which is little more than a MIDI cable set with a plastic bulge, solved the issue. It plugs into my laptop's USB port, and that is that. Depending on your point of view, it may or may not be a deficit that the P90 has no onboard speakers. You need to buy another model for that. You can record your performance on one or two tracks, which can be useful for evaluating your performance or for creating a four-handed piece by playing and recording along with yourself on the second track. But working the play-record buttons can be tricky; it takes getting used to. It might have been nice to include a stand; one should be aware that if you do not have a keyboard stand you need to shell out more money (sixty bucks or so for a basic stage stand). This instrument does not allow the addition of more voices via a disk or other method. I couldn't care less, but some people would and should be aware of this.
Quality:
I agree with the other reviewers who feel that the P90 is built like a tank. It seems very solid. I've only played it about a month, but I play every day and as of yet it has not crossed my mind to worry about breakage. I'm not a pro but will be taking the instrument various places, and with a gig bag I am sure that it would be a great road instrument, which is what it is designed for.
Value:
This piano is great for its price. If you are willing to live with its deficits, none of which for me are very onerous, it is a bargain.
Desirability:
Handsome looking, but since I am used to the look of the beautiful Steinway Model M I had to give up due to a move, I can't say I "lust" after its looks! Maybe it's my age (52). A younger guy's hormones might respond more, I suppose. It annoys me that the Yamaha logo is painted on in giant letters. I am tempted to paint over it, or ask Yamaha for a fee for serving as a billboard for them.
Sound:
I play classical, blues and jazz-style. I use the P90 with a Roland KC-60 keyboard amp and/or Sennheiser headphones. I play for myself at home, but hope in time to form an informal group or band.
The sound quality (by far the best with the earphones) is more than adequate for the first grand piano voice. For the second grand piano voice, sharper and best suited for pop or blues, there is a problem that other reviewers have reported, a ringing when a tone is sustained that sounds more electronic than real. I am not terribly bothered by this, but it is a deficit. The ability to half-pedal is a nice extra, though it might have been nice to provide a second pedal jack for an extra "soft" or "sustenuto" (sustain one note at a time) pedal. But I can't say this bothers me very much. The other voices don't concern me nearly as much; they are fun but, for me, not serious musically. People who want many voices, drum machine effects and so forth should buy a keyboard and not even consider a P90, which is primarily an electronic piano. One extra voice I do use regularly is acoustic base with a "split" keyboard so that I can play a "walking bass" along with piano blues. Now and then the jazz organ voice is nice for me. The others--church organ, , guitar, choir, etc.--are for me just toys. Honestly, what kind of serious music are you going to play with a sampled choir singing "ah" or a buzzy-sounding synthetic piano?
Overall:
Thus far I am mostly satisfied and do not anticipate looking for another electronic piano. If it breaks somewhere down the line I would try to get it repaired before replacing it. It does meet my goals. If it were lost or stolen I might consider one of Yamaha's slightly more fancy portables, but then again I might just get another P90. I considered some Roland pianos but chose this one for its great price and because a band musician recommended it. Basically, I paid for what I needed and not for gewgaws.
Submitted: 5/27/2005
Style of Music: Classical, blues, jazz (as best I can) and, on occasion, a little Latin.
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