The Yamaha P515 vs. Roland RD88

[@Ceriseaupiano]

Very useful and interesting video as always. Thanks a lot James!

[@stirwins333]

p-515 vs fp90 would be an awesome comparison. I will say I somehow found a p-515 WITH a stand at a local music store to my surprise. It's backordered for MONTHS all over the internet. I scooped it up immediately thanks to your glowing review of it.

[@UmohowetYelayu]

Skullfuxxor Lucky! I was able to find a 515 myself, but they had no stand. Same experience in terms of them being backordered. Got mine in July from a local piano store here, and had to settle for the display model. All the big stores like Guitar Center, Sweetwater, etc. and even the smaller stores were saying they won’t be in until October. I had to settle for the display model at a local music store. I have the pedal unit for it (with the three pedals) but that has to be screwed to the 515 stand, so I just taped it to the regular stand I’m using. LOL!

[@ringodingo6945]

Hi all, I'm loving these reviews and I'm the owner of a Yamaha MODX8 and a Roland RD88. I love my RDs sounds and have a very difficult time trying to explain why. My MODX is fantastic of course but I lean on my RD more to practice my classical pieces. Perhaps my sensibilities are complex but sometimes I feel like the action on rolands are better than yammys or perhaps I shouldn't have both keyboards in the same room.

[@followyourpassion8378]

Well, the MODX has the same action as the P45, which you can pick up for 400€ (sometimes less). But the MODX costs 1000€ more. So yeah, the keybed could be considered a weak point. The sound definitely is not.

[@dankeaton8656]

Thank you for the comparison. I enjoy watching all of your videos.

[@yoyemama]

I love the P515.I prefer it over any other keyboard at that price range,Love the CFX and Bosendorfer sounds,Yamaha did a good job capturing the sound of those two great pianos.

[@RyanHicks306]

That’s great! I have the CP88 and I absolutely love those pianos you mentioned, plus some new pianos called C7 and Nashville Studio. Does the P515 allow you to update it to include those new Yamaha pianos? They are very different from the CFX sample with more “character”.

[@sarahmolenaar3791]

This was super useful and summarizes my exact experience! I just bought an RD-88 and am now exchanging it for a P515. I’m sure I’ll be happier 😊

[@AlainHubert]

Definitely the Yamaha, hands down. The Roland sounds synthetic in comparison. The Yamaha sounds very natural.

[@lyricnewmat7188]

Thank you very much, Guru James! I just went head-over-heels (again) with Yamaha after watching this video. Domo arigatoo, Sensei! You take care and more power to you.

[@AndreyYE]

I'm learning on P515 at home and old acoustic piano at teacher's.

[@thomasbrown7980]

Me too. My teacher has a rebuilt Steinway grand which is amazing, but I love the p. 515 as a home practice piano.

[@Awesome-si5oz]

Neither I have a teacher nor a piano at home....I borrows my friends piano to learn....🥲🥲🤣

[@MARTIN201199]

If you want to play piano then buy an actual one. You'll develope more abilities on a real piano than on an electric one. (I have both, so no biases here)

[@michaelnancyamsden7410]

Wonderful playing.... as always.

[@marcosquitopianolounge6350]

Thank you very much ! Great job !!

[@selftrue670]

James hasn't met many Rolands that he liked.

[@brucejeric6701]

I wish I had heard this video before I pulled the trigger. I’m old. I need simple. I need mellow. I commented about my choice after you played first piece. That was my first impression and I wanted to go with that. After the 51 minutes I would tend to agree with your choice. Both are good piano sounds for me. I just want for home use. With my RD300NX I need to get external speakers. That’s a drag. I would prefer internal speakers for home use. Oh well. I will use headsets a lot and see if I’m satisfied? Sure hope so. Keyboard arrived yesterday. Not set up yet. Thank you for your videos. I watch you a lot. Bruce

[@tessaw55]

Just discovered your channel - but had to come say in the few videos I've watched of yours, oh my I just Love 😍🤩 your treble piece you wrote/play!!😍 it is so Beautiful to listen to! I could listen to that for several days (if not months)! Just gorgeous😍 piece! Thank you for sharing your beautiful gift with all us.

[@jazzvent]

I love your reviews ! Thanks for being so very thorough. I would love for you to do a review on the Kawai MP7 SE. It seems to be a solid digital piano with many features that are appealing to me. I am leaning toward purchasing one, but I would like to have your opinion before I do that.

[@shrimpoffthebarbie]

I've bought a Roland as a starter keyboard (in the post). So all this geeking out is AMAZING to me. I'm hoping the 88 (stage) will be good to learn on.

[@sbherring3223]

Would love to see comparison of Yamaha 515 to Roland FP90. Thanks!

[@Jason75913]

This would be the proper comparison with P-515's competitor.

[@algarvemike]

Roland seem to be playing a marketing trick with their description of their PH4 actions. In fact there are 3 variants: Lowest: PHA-4 Standard (RD-88) Mid: PHA-4 Premium High: PHA-4 Concert Highest:PHA-50 (RD-2000) They are allowing descriptions of various products to use “PHA-4 action” to falsely imply that pianos have better quality responses than they do because the word “Standard” can be missed out. The PHA-4 Standard action is flawed, with a clicking sound that has developed in around 20% of their devices after several months of ownership (source Roland owners forum) it’s the cheap device they use to provide escapement. I’ve owned a ton of Roland stuff over the years, but the RD-88 is to be avoided. It has cheap, wobbly plastic Jack and midi sockets, the audio interface doesn’t recognise iOS (Yamaha keyboards do) ie RD-88 does not have class compliant drivers. The menu/navigation system is a nightmare, and the speakers are a joke. Additionally, Roland have switched from sliders to rotary knobs which are really vunerable to damage and easily snap off when using a transport case (as we all do when gigging). It is nice and lightweight, but heavily overpriced as Roland have cut so many corners with this. Prices are all dropping worldwide.....for good reason. (From £1065 to £915 in the UK -Dec 2020)

[@SanelKeys]

I can only tell from my experience, my RD-700GX also has this problem of sound volume discrepancies, within one category and different sounds inside category and between categories.

[@dcool2u2]

Can you manually turn the onboard speakers off on both boards? I use in-ears live and wouldn't need them on stage. Thank you.

[@BUJU2007]

Rd88 seems very geared for gigging. Would hate to have to smash my keys to get a loud sound if I'm playing for any significant amount of time.

[@Jason75913]

that's what adjustable keybed velocity curves are for

[@ryanmaestrecampo4804]

Hi James pls help me what is the title of the song @ 27:20 pls reply... thanks in advance I wanna play that song too...

[@jcwpiano]

Gymnopedie no.1 by Erik Satie.

[@KitKat-lp8gn]

The second he said "You are probably writing a comment about this" I was preparing to write =))

[@mattydemont]

Thanks a lot! Next very useful comparison would be Yamaha P-515 versus Kawai MP11SE. The big question for me is how to make the trade-off between the better action of the MP11SE versus the better sound of the Bosendorfer sample in the P-515.

[@AJmusiclovers]

Thanks for your best comparisons . could you make a comparisions between the new kawai es-920 and yamaha p515, its very difficult to choose between those. Thanks again.

[@MariaGomez-rl6tu]

is there any comparison done?? I also have the same question!!!

[@pianoman1973]

Thanks for the great comparison ! what was the first piece you played ? it was beautiful :)

[@dennisalvin77777]

great comparison !!! keep up the great work! whats ur personal favourite keyboard?

[@karolinaasd4525]

19:50 what's the name of the song?

[@jonathansteele6815]

Its a test piece he wrote that he often uses in his reviews. Offers a good benchmark when comparing a wide range of pianos.

[@blessythebrave]

This is how piano comparison should be! Actually tell viewers what the reviewer thinks.. Most other reviews these days just play bunch of routines on pianos being compared.

[@felixayala05]

Very useful comparo. Tks.

[@bachcontra3606]

Does the P515 only have 40 instrument sounds (+18 drum/sfx sounds) and the RD88 over 3000 (+ VA synth engine)?

[@samuelswaminathan]

Hello James... Great video as always.. Loved the comparison!!... Can u also do a comparison between Yamaha p515 and kawai es920??

[@ThePianoforever]

Coming soon! Got an ES920 on its way, should be here in a few days...

[@samuelswaminathan]

@@ThePianoforever good to know James... Waiting!!!

[@robertmichalscheck3072]

I’ve had both,the kawaii was quite a bit better imho.

[@richardramirez3633]

Hey James, would like to see reviews of the Korg Kronos & Kurzweil Forte... thanks.

[@tlazohtlalia]

yeah, me two

[@sakurafromparis1764]

I've just sold my Yamaha P45 after 15 months practising and I'm currently hesitating between the P515 and the R88 ( God bless you, James, for this video ! ). As I'm not aiming at playing gigs outside in any case, the RD88's "speakers power issue" is not so important to me ( playing at mid-level sound on the P45 was largely sufficient for my small apt...) and the variety of sounds on the R88 might reveal useful. On the other hand, P515's heavy weight is not a problem for the same reason ( my piano will never leave my place...).Still, I don't plan to record myself before a long time -:), so that sound discrepancy problem on the RD88 is not a major issue for me neither but....as ridiculous as it could sound, how could I read parts on the Roland if it bears no music box ?...Game over....

[@smokey6455]

What did you end up purchasing?

[@sakurafromparis1764]

@@smokey6455 I ended up buying the P515 but to my ears it sounds like there is a freeze effect on every note...Therefore, I have it returned to my local Yamaha technical center to have it checked....maybe a memory card default...Wait and see...

[@scott7153]

@@sakurafromparis1764 update?

[@soapmactavish6449]

Is Casio PX 360 already phased out in your country?

[@TariganSuper]

P515 vs cp88 please

[@paulallenMacca]

Any chance of you doing a video on the RMI Electric Piano i remember Rick Wakeman used them.

[@Gangl10n]

Very very cool! I want bay p-515

[@marcelosp2976]

It is unacceptable for a piano of this value to have no memories (registration / Live Set). Missed mentioning about the ease of adjustments that the RD buttons offers.

[@ThePianoforever]

Honestly in the case of the P515 I am very satisfied with almost all of the commonly used sounds (the wurlitzer could use some improvement but it's not bad), and as such I just use the default patches instead of tweaking them and saving them as presets.

[@marcelosp2976]

@@ThePianoforever Ok, but it's not easy to adjust every time: the second sound to layer, to select it between hundreds of sounds, set the volume of the layer, adjust an effect, select the rythm, adjust the volume and tempo for each music!

[@snabors4164]

Did you write the song that starts at 18:41, if so, what is it called and can it be purchased? It is very beautiful.

[@okidoki1692]

I think he made that lovely tune himself , he composed the song for testing purposes but i would love to get sheetmusic or a tutorial like many others 🥺its so beutifulll to listen to

[@sawry1]

I don't know whether you've mentioned this before, James, but the 515 also features over 400 XG sounds attainable by pressing 'function' and 'others.'

[@germanshepherdlover2613]

So are these additional XG sounds available on the fly? Or does it need to be via a computer or USB? The lack of sounds is what caused me to get rid of my Kawai ES8. For example I wanted to play 'All my love' by Led Zeppelin, but couldn't on the ES8 because there was not a suitable synth/string sound.

[@Lianpe98]

Would you try some Dexibells and Kurzweils please?

[@MK-dg6qj]

please consider doing the new Yamaha DGX670 vs Roland RD 88. Thank you 😊

[@ThanhNguyen-oy5es]

not the same price range, RD 88 cost 500 more.

[@gerdakodak]

Roland's last good piano was the RD700NX(GX).

[@peaceofkake1085]

I will admit to extreme bias but Yamaha is king. I'm not suggesting that every keyboard is perfect and you can certainly quibble about this or that but I think that overall, they're just better.

[@pygmy_twylyte]

are all keys on 515 wooden? or not

[@jean-gabrielclermont-tonne2475]

Only the white keys are wooden.

[@TariganSuper]

Rd 88 vs p125 pls. Just piano voices comparation

[@SuchaDoofus]

Yamaha P515 vs Kawai ES920 please! :-)

[@twentism2488]

hey James, how about Krome 88? some people believe that Krome is better than Kronos, so I came here to request it.

[@ΑΘΗΝΑΚΑΤΣΑΝΤΩΝΗ-β3δ]

Roland RD88 VS Kawai mp 7se it's the same category but very different in sound and action. I love Kawai but the RD 88 makes me wonder

[@Gangl10n]

4:40 I hear that top panel on P-515 is wood.

[@urak0653]

I have a p515,it has a wood texture and I’m pretty sure that it’s painted wood, I’m not entirely sure, either way, it feels solid

[@arturportella]

Congratulations for this deep comparison, James. They're both great pianos. I agree with all your appointments, too sad they have an insane price tag here in Brazil. I'll stick with my p125 for a looooooong time.

[@elgrupocachedallas9685]

Both sound good but the top keyboard better to me. Less muffled in the lower register ?

[@sillyfunforeveryone7605]

It is just awesome

[@margaritagraeber6291]

We love your videos! You are so very talented and we wish you much success in all your endeavors. Have fun on your new journey at the university. The treble piece you use on your videos is that Clair de Lune?

[@ThePianoforever]

I wrote the treble test piece for testing out pianos.

[@margaritagraeber6291]

ThePianoforever That piece is absolutely beautiful! We love it! If you ever have it published or copyrighted, we would love to buy the sheet music for it! In my golden years, I decided to learn the piano. I always loved music as it touches my soul. Music can touch so many lives and you are a very special person who has the ability to do that. Many blessings!

[@NURREDIN]

WHY would a gigging musician want a keyboard with speakers? I don't even want a keyboard with speakers in my studio.

[@mbvglider]

Quick setup and teardown. With my Casio PX510M, it's really nice to be able to, with one trip from the car, load my digital piano and go to someone's house and work on some songs with singers or acoustic instruments without needing an external speaker. And then when I'm on stage, I can turn off the speaker, so as long as it's not adding a lot of weight, I like having built-in speakers. If you have a set rehearsal space and you go to gigs and that's what you're doing 100% of the time, then speaker is undesirable.

[@haroldwolffe2165]

What about a speaker that has a keyboard?

[@Gangl10n]

What about why better - RD88 or Juno-DS88?

[@paulbogan3400]

You'd have to try them out in person; I found the DS-88 to have a really wonky and sluggish keybed feel, whereas the RD-88 uses the same keys as the FP-30, which have a much better feel. That said, the Juno's also a workstation, not a digital piano, which means more bells and whistles as Fernando mentions.

[@akira8522]

always plays piano choose RD but if you play with band as a keyboardist choose DS

[@jml7916]

I have owned the Juno DS and although it is great, the MODX 8 is a cut above and well worth the extra $$ over the DS.

[@briansun6336]

I think I’ve watched this before. Is this the video you took down earlier?

[@ThePianoforever]

Yes, the first upload was only up a hour as some files were corrupted and others were missing.

[@KM1980Music]

I recently bought the RD-88 and I returned it. I didn't like the piano sounds at all and a lot of the other sounds were ok not great. I was really looking forward to it but was really disappointed.

[@ViralTuber]

24:43 Mr. Blue Sky

[@joeyscooter2618]

How does this compare to the Roland RD-88?

[@charleslaspinas6469]

Your reviews are very long but informational.

[@sammyfrenkel]

this is the most morally neutral statement ever haha

[@papadopp3870]

@@sammyfrenkel 😂. Good point. It would be a completely different statement if he had written, “Your reviews are long AND informational.” Fun with language.

[@dynamicdissonance4016]

Hey, you said you review every comment, so you will probably see this. I have a short question, but want to tell you that your videos helped me big time. I'm a professional (Guitarist) and had no clues about keyboards other than now and then playing one. (simple stuff) Thanks for that. I'm just wondering about one thing which you dont seem to care so much about, but its important for me. Internal Speakers! I'm basicly looking for a practice piano which will pretty much never be moved. Price rang I'd say is max the Yamaha P515, not much above. Which woud you actually take just for the sound it makes from the speakers? That woud be really helpfull!

[@ThePianoforever]

Yamaha P515 is best in class!

[@dynamicdissonance4016]

@@ThePianoforever Thanks for your answer - I coud test an ES8 today and the speakers are indeed worse than the Yamaha ones, for the basic sounds I like both pretty much the same, however the yamaha is better for the other sounds all the way I'd say. The only thing I now want to try is the ES-920 by Kawai - have you tryed it? Dosnt seem to be a video arround. Greetings.

[@guitargirl7452]

The P515 by a country mile. 👍

[@Jason75913]

RD88 is discontinued and outdated anyway.

[@florianchoquet8679]

@@Jason75913 The rd-88 is not discontinued, it was only released march 2020. You must mistake it for the rd-800.

[@alexjenner1108]

Thanks for the review. RD88 seems to be same dimensions as Roland FP10 (smaller than FP30) so not expecting great speakers. Use a monitor or headphones. Nice and light, but those volume differences might put me off getting one.

[@stevejames9261]

Hi James Great video as usual :) which digital would you consider to be an upgrade from the p 515? as an acoustic is out of the question for me, due to space considerations, and wanting to stay on good terms with my neighbours. Thank You.

[@ThePianoforever]

Kawai MP11se

[@DihelsonMendonca]

Looking from here, I notice that Yamaha seems to have a havier action, sluggish, you employ more force to get the sound and this is not good, because it prejudices agility. I need a piano keyboard which is somewhat light, have an extremely fast response for repetition and escapement. I don´t like to play heavy pianos, which I employ a ton of force to make a fast scale or arpeggio. Roland RD-800 looks almost fine. Has a light mechanism.

[@ThePianoforever]

The initial weight needed to set the Yamaha's keys in motion is a bit heavier than the Roland's, but like I said in my other comment to you, the Yamaha action snaps back into position very quickly and feels tight and dialed in, which I don't feel with the Roland. To me the Roland feels more sluggish, although this particular action seemed a little lighter to me than other PHA-4 actions I've tried.

[@DihelsonMendonca]

@@ThePianoforever I don´t know if you have tested Roland RD 800, but I tested one and find his action excellent. As a suggestion, please make a comparison between RD 800 and RD 2000. Here in my Country, Brazil these digital pianos are very expensive. U$ is equivalent to R$ 5,00 so, adding the profit, we purchase an MP-11 as if it costed 7 time more. Imagine you pay 7 times more, U$ 40.000,00 for an MP-11.

[@HarryLewinASR]

The Korg seems to lack head room and I thought it sounded like it was overdriven.

[@taituara]

The KORG lack even its presence in this comparison between a Yamaha and a Roland 😂😂😂

[@SuchaDoofus]

@@taituara At least the Korg was better than the Kurzweil. Just awful!

[@DuroSamples]

The RD88 sounds more processed; EQ - The Yamaha sounds more Flat and Natural.

[@Jason75913]

RD-88 will cut through a mix better, though, so better suited to stage piano duty.

[@annatiarec]

Super helpful! Thank you!

[@juan345salga6]

love boosendorfer patchhhhhhhh

[@moldenburg909]

For me the p515 stole, already a while ago, a little piece of my hart So every comparison between the p515 and another keyboard is not really fair. That said the rd88 got some decent sounds and it’s a pity that the sounds are so different in loudness. I had the chance to play with one a while ago and because I like the rd2000 I wanted to hear it but something didn’t work for me. I couldn’t figure out if it was the speakers or something else and I still don’t know. So for me the rd88 isn’t the keyboard but now I could hear it without the noise of the shop played by someone who knows what he is doing. Thank you for sharing and playing.

[@alwaysuseless]

Less than halfway through the review it was already clear that for $300 less the RD88 gives you A LOT LESS in quality than the P515. I watched the whole video, of course, because the details were still interesting, even though the overall verdict was already clear. I appreciate the effort you put in to make this a fair comparison. Your comparison a month ago between the Yamaha P515 and the Kawai ES8 had me hanging on every comparison to the end, because those are real competitors, in general and for my money, in particular. :-) I just now discovered that you made some tutorial videos in the past, before I decided I want to resume learning to play the piano and discovered your channel. I haven't watched any of these videos yet, but I'm looking forward to going through them! MY QUESTION IS: Would you recommend how an adult can best get helpful instruction and learn to play piano (ultimately with an emphasis on musicality appropriate to an adult, and in my case, mostly classical) without going to someone's house for instruction? So presumably this would be recommending specific channels, online instructor(s), and other online resources, books, DVD's, etc. The main reason I haven't yet bought the Yamaha P515 is the uncertainty about how I'm going to learn to play it, once I have it. Love your work. --John EDIT: I leaped into watching this video without reading James's video description first. So I didn't know it was a favorite vs. a least favorite. :-)

[@ThePianoforever]

You can purchase lesson books geared for adults. I think you will find the tutorial series on my channel helpful as well as I remember I also included scales in the series. I was going to do more, but for some reason they have been slow to take off. If the time comes that they start doing better I could do more of them.

[@alwaysuseless]

@@ThePianoforever Thanks for the reply. I'll go through your tutorial videos in the next few days, including the ones that aren't labeled "Tutorial," but from their description still appear to be tutorial in nature. Coincidentally, or not, the big ad that popped up when I just reopened this video is from a company called "Playground" offering the sort of thing I'm looking for. So I'll watch their advertising videos as well. Any chance you know about this company? I assume the ads that appear with your videos are in no way vetted or endorsed by you personally. Anyway, I'll eventually have more questions, and perhaps you and others reading the comments will have more answers or some further ideas on this subject. I went through 2 piano instructors, when I was living in a real city years ago, before finding a 3rd instructor, who was perfect! But then he finished his degree in piano and left town, and I stopped playing.

[@Lianpe98]

The slow strings sound nicer on the Roland

[@hardworkoutmusic6003]

I was waiting for you for to long to review the casio px360 and px560.. I've seen a lot of reviews for them but I'd love to see them reviewed by you

[@ThePianoforever]

I plan on reviewing every keyboard out there, but it will take a little time to get to all of them.

[@hardworkoutmusic6003]

@@ThePianoforever that's totally understandable , keep up the amazing job and it will be great to see you reviewing those two keyboards next 💜

[@ThePianoforever]

I have hundreds of reviews planned and I will be getting to all of them as soon as I can.

[@hardworkoutmusic6003]

@@ThePianoforever no matter what you're gonna upload next I enjoy every video you do.. I have a couple of videos of yours in my phone studio I listen to them almost every day💜

[@Kougeru]

@@ThePianoforever wow! Sounds like you're gonna be a busy! But we appreciate it! Thanks so much

[@krasko78]

39:09 :)

[@diegodalt]

Hi! I'm a piano student and I want to buy one of these pianos. I want one with the best action and best piano sound quality. Which one should I buy?

[@Gangl10n]

is there something better that P-125? i find first piano for children

[@noitnova]

the P515 is match more expensive. like 500 euro. and only 40 sounds.

[@hazzy77]

first

[@bustanorms2028]

Think yamaha sound better,