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Maybe worth adding: at first I felt the need to configure the action to be in the 'soft' mode, as I couldn't get good sound with the default setting (medium). After a week, without thinking about it too much, I reverted the setting to medium again, as it felt more natural.
You need to figure out the source of the fatigue. Try to cease the effort after the key goes down. I have very sensitive hands and injured myself pretty badly at the piano in the past, but this action feels more healthy for me.


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Thanks for your advise everyone, much appreciated.

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Why did you even buy the P-515? Its keybed is too damn heavy for no good reason. Instant failure. Yamaha is disappointing me. You will NOT be a lesser pianist if you will practice on a bit lighter action. Get PHA-50 (FP-90), Nord Grand or Kuwai MP7SE if you strictly want a piano action with more balanced heaviness. A piano keyboard should not be very light but also not very heavy - this way you get both worlds. You don't need to torture your hands with overly heavy keybed for no reason to get a better technique. Stop torturing your hands.
Get FP-90 or MP7SE or Nord Grand. If you want also synth capabilities then Kronos, Montage 8 and RD-2000 are decent options because they maintain a pianist feel and 2000 has the same keybed as FP-90. No brainer.

Even if you buy an acoustic piano, get one with balanced heaviness but even a very light one is better to get than a very heavy one. Learn to play more delicate. I don't enjoy these very heavy keybeds acoustic pianos, and i play piano for 31 years and classically trained.

Last edited by Progman123; 08/01/19 04:38 PM.
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Originally Posted by btcomm
Just curious what other P-515 owners thoughts are on the action of this digital. I have had the 515 for only maybe 4 weeks and notice my hands getting tired after playing for maybe only 30 minutes or so. Not too bad but very noticeable and my hands go back to normal soon after. I know some people like heavier actions but maybe this might be a problem for me since I have been playing for years on a Roland FP-4 which may be the lightest action digital and now the Yamaha P-515 which I'm guessing is the heaviest action on a digital piano - one extreme to another. Just wondering if I will get used to this or not. I have been taking weekly lessons on a Yamaha acoustic grand (C3) for years and the action is so much better/lighter than the 515. I hate to think I might have to depart with this digital. I like almost everything about it but the heavy action is pretty extreme. Anyone else see this as a problem?


Took me many weeks to get used to it coming from Kawai, but the dynamic control I have on this is perfect. It's not heavy or exhausting after I got used to it.


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I have not tried the Kawai MP7SE but I did play the Roland FP-90 and thought the sound was very lame -- just my opinion. I'm going to give the 515 a little more time and see, as JoeT mentioned, if I get used to it. Going from a light as feathers Roland FP-4 to the P-515 is a big difference but I've had it maybe 4 weeks and will give it a little more time.

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Originally Posted by btcomm
I have not tried the Kawai MP7SE but I did play the Roland FP-90 and thought the sound was very lame -- just my opinion. I'm going to give the 515 a little more time and see, as JoeT mentioned, if I get used to it. Going from a light as feathers Roland FP-4 to the P-515 is a big difference but I've had it maybe 4 weeks and will give it a little more time.


I won't lie, the setting period at this instrument felt like I was restarting piano again. But now I can sit down at any grand and just get rolling. My technique benefited greatly from challenging the NWX action instead of giving up. Since then I couldn't imagine playing on anything else.

I'm focused on classical piano music. Someone playing in a band might have different preferences.


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Originally Posted by btcomm
I have not tried the Kawai MP7SE but I did play the Roland FP-90 and thought the sound was very lame -- just my opinion. I'm going to give the 515 a little more time and see, as JoeT mentioned, if I get used to it. Going from a light as feathers Roland FP-4 to the P-515 is a big difference but I've had it maybe 4 weeks and will give it a little more time.

Good point. I strictly talked about keybeds. I also think the P-515 has better piano sounds than FP-90 (most seem to agree), but FP-90 has a better keybed (most seem to agree on that as well). I think especially for piano use, a likable keybed worth more than getting a keyboard with better sounds but with keybed that you may not really like. Also, you can tweak the sounds in FP-90 if you wish if i'm not mistaken.

In my opinion, PHA-50 and RH3 are the most satisfying keybeds from what i tried for strict classical piano playing. PHA-50 feels to me a bit more like playing a grand than RH3 but RH3 has that soft mechanism feel that is pretty satisfying.

With all said, yes, always try for yourself and give it a try no matter what others say.

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Judging from how many people find the fully modeled FP90 piano sound dull and uninspiring I wonder why Roland didn’t include their previous generation sound, the SuperNatural sampling in addition to the full modeling, as in their RD-2000. I doubt it would have made it so much more expensive to produce since it already includes ROM with sample sounds. It’s a huge oversight.

Last edited by CyberGene; 08/02/19 05:17 AM.

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Having come from only playing semi-weighted synth type keyboards for many years I found the P515 absolutely fine. I was going to buy a VPC1 but DID find that too heavy. I chose the P515 over its peers based primarily on it's action.

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This makes sense- to have this heavy action in the arsenal. You never know when you show up somewhere with a "real" grand piano" with a heavy action, and you are trying to play it. My 2 cents.

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I have a Clav ... heavy action. (That sounds like two teenagers in the back seat of a Chevy, doesn't it.) smile

Anyway ... the downweight of these pianos has been posted here a number of times, and the Yamahas always come in as heavyweights compare to other digitals.

More importantly, they come in heavier than grand pianos. The latter are often spec'ed at 50 grams. The Clavs and other Yamaha digitals come in at 80 grams or more.

So I don't see how a Yamaha digital prepares a person for a heavy acoustic grand. Rather, a Yamaha digital will make you surprised when you subsequently feel the lightweight touch of a grand.

Incidentally, the heaviness of my Clav is what made me interested in the Kawai line of pianos. My dilemma stems from conflicting wishes. I want a lighter action (Kawai), but I want a trouble-free piano (Yamaha). It seems I cannot have it both ways.

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I don't find the action of the P515 heavy at all. On the other hand, some digital pianos have an action too light for my taste.

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Mac, my Kawai MP11SE definitely feels lighter than my Kawai GL10 grand, even though the touchweight of the MP11 is 10g more. My one complaint about the MP11 is that it feels lighter than my grand, so I would actually prefer it if Kawai made their digital actions heavier to match the feel of their acoustic grands. I haven't played a P515 much, but from what I'm reading here, it sounds like it may match the feel of a Kawai grand better than Kawai's own digitals.


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I had to return my P515 after about 2 weeks of playing. My hands were always hurting after playing (and I found it close to impossible to play softly).

Too bad, otherwise very much enjoyed the sound (after tweaking).

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Originally Posted by Emery Wang
Mac, my Kawai MP11SE definitely feels lighter than my Kawai GL10 grand, even though the touchweight of the MP11 is 10g more. .


The only way that can happen is if the touch curve of the digital doesn't match the equivalent progression on the acoustic. If you had a VST with adjustable curve, you should be able to match closely the two actions.
Maybe the MP11 has an adjustable curve . . .would've thought so.


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You need to distinguish between static weight and dynamic weight.

If you put 1000kg on one side of the key pivot and 1000kg and 1g on the other side of the pivot you need only 1g to balance it and that’s 1g of static key weight. Good luck pressing that with high velocity though smile It’s an enormous dynamic weight and it will feel much heavier than your “50g piano”.

So no, it’s not the velocity curve.

Last edited by CyberGene; 08/02/19 04:00 PM.

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Originally Posted by CyberGene
You need to distinguish between static weight and dynamic weight.

If you put 1000kg on one side of the key pivot and 1000kg and 1g on the other side the pivot you need only 1g to balance it and that’s 1g of static key weight. Good luck pressing that with high velocity though smile It’s an enormous dynamic weight and it will feels much heavier than your “50g piano”.

So no, it’s not the velocity curve.


So much this. This is exactly why I have a problem with my Casio action. The dynamic weight is very low and it is too easy to make a key move with high velocity.

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Originally Posted by Emery Wang
Mac, my Kawai MP11SE definitely feels lighter than my Kawai GL10 grand, even though the touchweight of the MP11 is 10g more. My one complaint about the MP11 is that it feels lighter than my grand, so I would actually prefer it if Kawai made their digital actions heavier to match the feel of their acoustic grands. I haven't played a P515 much, but from what I'm reading here, it sounds like it may match the feel of a Kawai grand better than Kawai's own digitals.


The VPC1 comes closer to your Kawai Gand... I think the lighter MP11 is made more for Jazz/ Pop Pianists that are using not only piano sounds,,,


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I own a 515 since November. I got used to the action pretty quickly and now I practice three hours each day. I start slow and easy every time. As my hands get warmer I ramp up the speed. After a little while I don’t even feel it’s heavy anymore. And all this coming from a non-weighted Korg Microkey Air 49.

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Originally Posted by lorez
I own a 515 since November. I got used to the action pretty quickly and now I practice three hours each day. I start slow and easy every time. As my hands get warmer I ramp up the speed. After a little while I don’t even feel it’s heavy anymore. And all this coming from a non-weighted Korg Microkey Air 49.

Exactly, you either man-up or stick with synths or a Casio...😋

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