I’ve got a Yamaha P70 digital piano. Since I was a kid, I’ve always enjoyed playing a family German upright piano, but I’ve been an on-off player all my life. I wish now to “put things in order”, and I’m working toward my grade 5 (enjoying it immensely). I’ve got a Yamaha P70 digital piano, to practice, which I bought 3 years ago. I liked its flexibility and the fact I can kill Schumann or Bach in silence with the headphones.
Despite the P70, I'm not satisfied with its sound, and neither with the touch, which I find a bit on the light side (maybe I'm just a bit fussy). I’m now thinking about upgrading it to an acoustic piano ( I have to admit I don’t really NEED it…). By the way, I’m thinking about a Yamaha b1 with the silent system, to have the best of both worlds. I’m reading online some reviews and opinions about the b1, and my understanding it is a piano that might lead to problems down the line due to cheap construction and mechanics.
Moreover, the silent system might affect key touch, and might be old in 10 years, so you end up with an acoustic piano with some old electronic in the middle….
The budget would be around £3K (so really I cannot afford an U1 with silent), and a used U1 would not have the silent system Has anybody have experience with new Yamaha b1 pianos? And with upright silent system? How is the tone-generator? Any happy user out there? I’m wondering what would be your opinions on these topics!
Thanks!
Yamaha b1 silent. Any opinion?
Moderators: Feg, Gill the Piano, Melodytune
Re: Yamaha b1 silent. Any opinion?
Electronically, the b-series silent pianos are the same as the more expensive models, except they don't have MIDI.
Re: Yamaha b1 silent. Any opinion?
Hello,
I did something very similar. Had a P120 for a number of years, then got a B1 (and took grade 5). Nearly, 4 years later and given the same limitations (space primarily), I'd do the same again. There is just no comparison between a digital and even this budget acoustic. The touch of digitals still seems dead to me. That said, I am a bit fed up of the harsh sound in the middle. Yes, it's a yamaha and you can (and I have) had it voiced softer, but probably due to the cheaper materials, laminated sound board etc, the middle just sounds rough. I'm lucky in that I have a B1 which is very good for the last third of the keyboard (top end) but they're not all like that. Also, tuning stability isn't great so far. Recently, practice rooms at my evening class college swtiched from n112, U1, U3 to a horrendously awful B3. Now, that really does sound harsh.
Why not keep the P70 for evenings and drop the requirement for a silent system so you can maybe go for a U1 instead?
The practice pedal will reduce volume of the acoustic which is useful, although you wouldn't want to play like that all the time.
I did something very similar. Had a P120 for a number of years, then got a B1 (and took grade 5). Nearly, 4 years later and given the same limitations (space primarily), I'd do the same again. There is just no comparison between a digital and even this budget acoustic. The touch of digitals still seems dead to me. That said, I am a bit fed up of the harsh sound in the middle. Yes, it's a yamaha and you can (and I have) had it voiced softer, but probably due to the cheaper materials, laminated sound board etc, the middle just sounds rough. I'm lucky in that I have a B1 which is very good for the last third of the keyboard (top end) but they're not all like that. Also, tuning stability isn't great so far. Recently, practice rooms at my evening class college swtiched from n112, U1, U3 to a horrendously awful B3. Now, that really does sound harsh.
Why not keep the P70 for evenings and drop the requirement for a silent system so you can maybe go for a U1 instead?
The practice pedal will reduce volume of the acoustic which is useful, although you wouldn't want to play like that all the time.