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Es110 is a lot lighter. In some respects not as good but I liked that myself. Could easily have bought it instead of the P515 or the ES8.

Not sure if it has an audio in, although that itself isn't a big problem to me. It does have a decent sound.[/quote]

Yes Kawai es110 hasta aux L and R , it is a good piano. I think that I should have bought something cheaper

CLP-695GP has Grand Touch action which is very heavy in CLP-6xx series. Heavier than NWX in CLP-645 and P-515.....

I would say P-515's action is barely heavy. I was surprised when I got it, lots of reviews saying that the action was heavy... oddly enough, I put my touch setting to "Hard". I think the guy using the unweighted yamaha keyboard probably wasn't used to weighted actions and that's why he returned the P-515... because I literally started playing everything I could on a normal piano on my P-515 with no need for me to adapt to it. I haven't discussed this but if you put your P-515 by the window, as sunlight shines in it hits the keys and makes the black and white keys look very beautiful, due to the texture. The black keys have sooo much texture, and the white keys have really nice synthetic ivory. The ES8 has lighter action but that does come with a cost, the keys aren't wooden, the black keys aren't textured and apparently it's a super loud action, especially when going up after being depressed: https://youtu.be/XwaDOf568Ko?t=2646

It is possible that most digital pianos feel heavy when the reference is a Piaggero. Such a keybaord has no hammers.

Perhaps one of the ligher keyboard would be a Yahama GHS (P-125), or perhaps the Casio Tri-sensor II (I am not sure they are still made, but I really disklike them because I fell the too light. I havn't try and fell the new PX-S1000 and PX-S3000)

If you say the P-515's action is so heavy it's unplayable maybe you should resort to synth actions/unweighted actions because piano is not for you.

we could create a thread yamaha p515 owners, does anyone create a thread?

I was looking at this online.
The specs say 40 sounds but then 480 XG sounds.
Those are built into the piano?

Yes, they are. It just takes you two or three more (button) clicks to get to (and choose) them. It might be easier with the app, but that I don't know, as I don't use it.

I've noticed this on many of the Yamaha models. I read that the XG sound set is a group of instrument sounds for MIDI compatibility. Does the quality of the XG sounds differ by model, or is it a standard across the Yamaha line? And how would you rate the quality of the sounds? My mind is thinking of video games from my 1990's Sound Blaster sound card!

I've been experimenting with the touch variations available. I tried "Soft 2" and it ain't half loud! Like, dynamic too.
It's a lot lighter, though of course it ain't if you see what i mean. And the Yamaha Bosendorfer is so much better. Everything is, really; I'd tried this before and disliked it. Shrug. It happens . . .

As far as I know, Soft and Hard settings do not change the physical touch, they only affect sensitivity, i.e. velocity 'gain'.
Simply speaking, velocity shape is probably the same, but its angle changes, allowing to either easier reach the max gain (Hard settings), or reach only, say, 70% of the max gain with sledgehammer (Soft settings).

I got it wrong way round. I'm using "Soft 2" which gives a harder tone but feels softer to the touch whilst so doing. There's a huge difference between the five settings.
I think it can be safely said that "Hard 2" would not achieve max volume. On Pianoteq, too, the change makes itself felt in the same way as one might expect.

I suppose the quality of the sounds may vary from device to device or by time if all devices from the same era use a similar sound chip, but they increase the sample ROM. Dunno, really.

As for quality, you can have a look (take a listen) to some demos of devices based on the XG sound set, like e.g. the QY-70/100 sound module/arranger/sequencer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKRJTUyQbLU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN2frLhIJ9g

...or the Yamaha SW1000XG sound card:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdVIV1kVKYo

The problem could be finding more acoustic instrument oriented demos. 😐

One of the great moments watching a Merriam Music video I had when he talked about the NV-10 and said how important it is to
set the *right volume* when playing a digital instrument. Please never forget that this parameter at least exists. If you set the volume really low, for example
not to bother other people or so, you will automatically press the keys harder in order to get more sound out of it, although actually the reason why the sound
does not come out as you wanted might be that it was simply set too quiet. And
this can totally make you feel like the action is terribly heavy although it might not be.
Just the way it feels to play can be dramatically different with different levels of volume.

I have wondered about this, what IS the right volume? Really high, really low, something in between?

As for the action, there is no real answer here:
- First acoustic my parents owned was a restored, really old upright. The action was insanely heavy.
- Then they bought a C. Bechstein grand from 1930 (also restored). The action there is really light, like it will react to the slightest touch. That's really hard to play actually, when I tried that intitally my dynamics where all over the place.
- And finally they also bought a Yamaha baby grand and this one has a rather heavy action
- At my home there is a Clavinova 675 for comparison, the action ist pretty close to the Yamaha grand, but it's a little heavier

I'm used to the 675 so the action feels "normal" there to me. Switching to the Yamaha feels basically the same, though I have A LOT more control on the Yamaha (I think that's an acoustic vs. digital thing). Here comes the thing now: If I visit my parents and play on the C. Bechstein the first day it will be tiresome. It has the lightest action of them all, but is the hardest to play. That might sound illogical, but it's how it feels to me.

That goes aways after 1-2 days, but the reality is: A good action is what you are used to and what works for you.

I have wondered about this, what IS the right volume? Really high, really low, something in between?

As for the action, there is no real answer here:
- First acoustic my parents owned was a restored, really old upright. The action was insanely heavy.
- Then they bought a C. Bechstein grand from 1930 (also restored). The action there is really light, like it will react to the slightest touch. That's really hard to play actually, when I tried that intitally my dynamics where all over the place.
- And finally they also bought a Yamaha baby grand and this one has a rather heavy action
- At my home there is a Clavinova 675 for comparison, the action ist pretty close to the Yamaha grand, but it's a little heavier

I'm used to the 675 so the action feels "normal" there to me. Switching to the Yamaha feels basically the same, though I have A LOT more control on the Yamaha (I think that's an acoustic vs. digital thing). Here comes the thing now: If I visit my parents and play on the C. Bechstein the first day it will be tiresome. It has the lightest action of them all, but is the hardest to play. That might sound illogical, but it's how it feels to me.

That goes aways after 1-2 days, but the reality is: A good action is what you are used to and what works for you.[/quote]


How is normal volume?

accustom?

They are remarkably cheesy/thin-sounding to my ear. I'd be surprised to hear of someone actually using them.

To set "normal volume":

Find an acoustic piano, and hit a few chords in the mid-range, mp-mf and FF.

. . . That's how loud your DP should be.

For DP's with weak speakers and amps (just about all "slab-format" pianos like the P515), that means putting the volume control between 3/4 and full-on.

Anything less, and you'll be training yourself to pound the keyboard.

We forget, unless we play on them regularly, that acoustic pianos are _loud_.

Thanks my friend, then you recommend me the volume full-on or 3/4 perfect, and with headphone, is it the same?