Review Yamaha Digital Piano YDP-164 Arius. Where to buy it?

Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, mainly musical instruments and electronic devices. Today we are going to talk about a very interesting digital piano whose price is usually around €990/$1200/£899. The Yamaha YDP 164 is a digital piano that tries to imitate an acoustic piano and is intended for people who want to study classical piano or a classical technique. Of course, it is designed to be studied at home and not to move the piano.

Digital pianos of this type have the advantage that they weigh much less than an upright. They can weigh up to 150 kg. Otherwise it is quite suitable for most houses. However, below I will compare it with other models of the same brand, which are cheaper and have smaller dimensions, such as the YDP S34

• 88 hammer-action notes Graded Hammer 3 (GH3) with synthetic ivory and ebony key tops This keyboard imitates the weighted keys of a real piano and its hammer mechanism. The GH3 weighted keys is top of the range on the Yamaha and is the cheapest in the Arius range that has this type of weighted keys. The cheapest ones have the GHS
• Yamaha CFX piano sound. The sound samples have been recorded with a superior quality system to the AWM standard. This makes the digital sounds of this piano even better.
• Three factors that help improve the experience of playing this piano and make it more like playing an acoustic piano:
  • Intelligent Acoustic Control: When you turn down the volume on a digital piano, the lower and higher frequencies are not heard well. IAC helps balance this frequency imbalance so that they sound even.
  • Acoustic Optimizer — Detects speaker connections, measures distances from the listening position, and automatically optimizes speaker settings, such as volume balance and acoustic parameters, to suit the room
  • Stereophonic Optimizer: Interesting feature that adjusts the distance between you and the piano when you play with headphones so you have the feeling that the sound is coming from the piano and make the experience of playing the piano even more real.
• 192 notes of polyphony. These are the notes that can be played at the same time on a piano including the accompaniment. With this polyphony you can play everything.
• 10 high quality piano sounds
• 4 types of reverb (Reverberation effect which is a reflection effect of the sound)
• Dual or split function to divide the keyboard into two different instruments and duo mode (to play at the same time with your teacher)
• Metronome
• Key-Off Samples
• 2 track recorder (1 song)
• 10 demo songs and 50 piano songs
• 3 pedal. The most important is the sustain pedal. The others are usually important in advanced scores.
• Keyboard cover
• USB host connection. USB MIDI connection that allows you to connect to your computer and do such wonderful things as recording what you play on a MIDI track and then exporting it from one click to a score as the MIDI track stores the note information.
• 2 headphone jacks
• 2 x 20W speaker system. This is its strong point. Very powerful speakers that even allow you to install it in a restaurant although it is not the most common option. Or they allow you to practice with other instruments that are amplified or sound very loud like a drum kit.
• Dimensions: 1357 x 849 x 422 mm About this comment that now we will see them smaller too.
• Weight: 42 Kg
• Color: Black

This digital piano is very good for intermediate students who need a higher level piano and unfortunately do not have a budget of more than 1000 euros. Many teachers always recommend studying with an acoustic piano for as long as possible but the price of one of these pianos easily exceeds 3000 euros. The perfect option in this case may be this piano. Of course if you study 3 or 4 hours it is the minimum quality you need.

Also if you have read more articles in my blog you know that I like to be realistic. Not many people can study 3 or 4 hours a day and most of the musical goals can be achieved by studying much less. Even be professional. Not everything is studying for a philharmonic orchestra. In fact, most people who study piano don’t study for that purpose.

For those of you who study classical at the upper-middle level, the GH3 weighted keyboard is much better than the GHS

Let’s go with a video review in English where you can hear how their sound sounds and see live many of their features. There are also some very interesting apps to manage their functions.

It must be said that this Yamaha is the new model of the Yamaha YDP 163. It doesn’t make much sense to compare them with the 163 you can’t buy anymore and the Yamaha 164 is at the same price. There is very little difference, improvements in the usability, the electronics and the apps that come with it.

 

Related post you can be interested in

• Ranking with the best digital pianos
• My selection of cheap musical keyboards.
• Basic concepts you need to know about digital pianos.
• The best resources to learn to play the piano by yourself.
• The best Yamaha Digital Pianos.

Now let’s compare the Yamaha YDP 164 with its more common alternatives. Also at the end of the post you will find a section with the best shopping possibilities for this digital piano. But you can go directly to that part of the post by pressing the following button.

Yamaha YDP-164 Arius vs Yamaha YDP-144 Arius

The Yamaha YDP-164 Keyboard is usually about 200 euros more expensive than the YDP 144 which is usually around €777/£715. The truth is that the Yamaha YDP 144 sells for more than the 164 because the price difference is significant while retaining many of the features that the Yamaha YDP 164 has. The main differences between the two are

• The price as we said before.
• The Yamaha YDP 164 has superior weighted keyboard to make it look more like a real piano. The YDP 144 has the GHS system
• The YDP 164 has much more powerful and better balanced speakers, although the YDP 144’s 8W isn’t bad either

Otherwise they’re pretty much the same. If you have a beginner’s or intermediate level, buy the Yamaha YDP 144 because you don’t need to spend that 200 euro difference. If you are already at a higher level and have the budget, the Yamaha YDP 164 is the right choice.

The problem with studying for 4 hours and buying the YDP 144 is that you will wear it out very quickly. But it can also work for you.

Let’s put the characteristics of these pianos on a chart so you can compare

And then a video of the Yamaha YDP-144 digital piano to hear how it sounds. Actually, the quality is the same as on the 164, but the speakers on the latter are better

If you want to know more about this option click on the following link to see the Yamaha YDP-144 digital piano file

Yamaha YDP-164 B Arius vs Yamaha YDP-S54 B

The Yamaha YDP-164 and S54 Keyboard cost about the same and are almost the same. What is the difference? Well the size and this can be important if you have little space at home. We can say that this is your reduced version.

If we look at the table we see that the YDP S54 is more than 10 cm shallower than the YDP 164 and this for some people can be very important.

Otherwise they are the same. They have the same GH3 weighted keyboard and the same features already mentioned.

I put the dimensions and weight as the only difference in the table:

And as always a video if you want to listen to it although there is no difference either in the speakers with the 164. Both pianos have 20 W of power.

Here’s the review of the Yamaha YDP-S54 digital piano.

Yamaha YDP-164 B Arius vs Kawai KDP-110

Now we will make the comparison between digital piano teeth: on the one hand the Yamaha YDP-164 Arius which has a price of €990/$1200/£899 and on the other hand the Kawai KDP-110 which has a price of about £850. Having a difference of approximately £150 in the price of both, we will have an expensive face with their similarities and differences:

• Both digital pianos have an 88-note hammer-action keyboard, the Yamaha uses GH3 technology with synthetic ivory and ebony keys, the Kawai uses Responsive Hammer Compact Action technology, which is not bad, but the Yamaha’s is better.
• When it comes to sound, the Yamaha offers its Yamaha CFX sound engine with 10 different sounds and 192 polyphonic notes. The Kawai has the Harmonic Imaging sound engine which has 15 sounds and 192 notes of polyphony, plus 100 styles or rhythms.
• In terms of effects and functions, the Yamaha offers Optimizers: acoustic and stereo. It offers four types of Reverb, dual function and duo mode, an intelligent acoustic control, and the metronome function. While the Kawai offers: 13 virtual technical parameters, which can be modified through an application called Virtual Technician, to review them further you can find it here. It also offers six types of Reverb, Brilliance, Dual and Four-Hand modes, Bluetooth connection and the metronome function.
• Both of these already digital offer a recorder, three pedals or triple pedalboard, keyboard cover and USB connection to host, which allows them to be connected to a computer to be used as a MIDI controller in a composition or music production program.
• Call has two 20 watt speakers, a weight of 42 kg and measures 1357 × 849 × 422 mm. The Kawai has two 7 Watt speakers, a weight of 37 kg and the measurements of 1,312 x 286 x 820mm.

We found good digital pianos for the first years of study of the piano, with very similar characteristics, however the Kawai has slight advantages; Five more sounds in their repertoire, functions that can be modified by an application that helps the simulation of a real acoustic piano, and the function of Bluetooth MIDI but also has disadvantages such as less power in their speakers. We invite you to watch the Videos so that you can hear the quality of sounds offered by both pianos.

I’m putting dimensions and weight as the only difference on the table:

We will now have a video of the Kawai KDP-110

Yamaha YDP-164 B Arius vs Kawai CN29

Finally we have the comparison of the following digital pianos: the Yamaha YDP 164 Arius with a price of €990/$1200/£899 and the Kawai CN 29 which has a price of €1.259/£1,177. Having a difference of approximately £270 between them. We will check their similarities and differences in the following face-to-face:

• Both digital pianos have an 88-note hammer-action keyboard, the Yamaha uses GH3 technology with synthetic ivory and ebony keys, the Kawai uses Responsive Hammer III technology with ivory touch and “Let-Off” simulation that recreates the same smooth feel of grand pianos.
• When it comes to sound, the Yamaha offers its Yamaha CFX sound engine with 10 different sounds and 192 polyphonic notes. The Kawai has the Progressive Harmonic Imaging sound engine with 19 sounds and 192 polyphonic notes.
• In effects and functions, the Yamaha offers Optimizers: acoustic and stereo, offers four types of Reverb, dual function and duo mode, an intelligent acoustic control, and the metronome function. While the Kawai offers: 17 virtual technical parameters, which can be modified through an application called Virtual Technician, to review them further you can find it here. It also offers six types of Reverb, Brilliance, Dual and Four-Hand modes, Bluetooth connection and the metronome function.
• Both already digital offer us a recorder, three pedals or triple pedalboard, keyboard cover and USB connection to host, which allows them to be connected to a computer to be used as a MIDI controller in a composition or music production program.
• Call has two 20 watt speakers, a weight of 42 kg and measures 1357 × 849 × 422 mm. The Kawai has two 20-watt speakers as well, a weight of 43 kg and the measurements of 1360 x 405 x 860 mm.

As we can see we have two good digital pianos, with great performances for our first years of study in the piano and for live performances. However, due to its price difference and as we had mentioned it is £270, the Kawai surpasses in certain specifications of the Yamaha: with a greater amount of sounds and a greater amount of functions that bring its simulation closer to that of a real acoustic piano.

I put dimensions and weight as the only difference on the board:

Now a video of the Kawai CN29:

Here’s the review of the Kawai CN29 digital piano.

Where to buy Yamaha YDP 164

Amazon

• Free Shipping and possibility of shipping in one day with Amazon Premium.
• Full Guarantee but they are no experts in music equipment.
• Sometimes better price.
• He’s got worse stock than Thomann.

 

Thomann

• Free Shipping.
• Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
• 100% reliable payment.
• Leader in trouble-free shipping.
• Usually Best price.
• Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalogue and information.