Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Yamaha P120 high-pitched ring on certain notes

I recently purchased a Yamaha P90 and after a few weeks, one of the keys broke (came loose). I then exchanged it for a P120.

I have noticed that both the P90 and the P120 have a high-pitched ring on the same notes when I am on the Piano 1 and 2 patches (all variations of it). Mainly the F, F#, and G in the octave ABOVE middle C.

I have heard people complain of a "ringing" sound, but I am not sure if this is the same sound, because often i hear them talking about more than the 3 notes that I mentioned. This is a very high-pitched ring that appears when I hit the key hard and sustain it (whether with the pedal or with my finger). I have changed the sustain depth resonance to zero to no avail. It makes my ears pretty uncomfortable after listening to it for awhile. This occurs whether I use cheap or nice headphones, running it through my PA system, or my home stereo, or even on the onboard speakers on the P120.

I really like the P120 and want to stick with it. The action and sounds (except for those few notes) are really perfect, and I like it better than the Kurzweil's, Roland's, and Korgs that I've tried.

Also, from a musical perspective, it really doesn't bother me that much. It is the discomfort to my ears that makes it something I might not be able to live with.

Does anyone else experience this? And have any of you found a solution to it?

Thanks for any information or advice you can offer.

There you go...

Just curious, but how much are you selling your P120 for? I'd like to know what the resale value on those things are... apparently they seem pretty popular.

////Digital pianos are still in their primitive stages of developement.///

I'm guessing you didn't grow up playing concerts with a RMI electric piano or play weddings with a Wurlitzer electric piano where you had to keep playing or the sound would just die.

Let's see, the newer electric pianos have the half pedal feature, the samples sound the same as an acoustic piano (not literally side by side of course but on a recording I would be hard pressed to tell which was which), the actions are not bad, the added resonance layer is a new feature on some (more of a selling point than an audible benefit, but it's the thought that counts) - I personally think the companies are doing an excellent job.

What are the improvements you think still need to come?

I noticed (probably) the same "ringing" sound with my Clavinova CLP-130. (As far as I know, it uses the same samples as the P120).
Unfortunately, I didn't hear it until I had bought and played it for several days. It is not very loud, but once I noticed it is there it always disturbs me, but maybe I will get used to it after a couple of months.
I doubt if there is a way to remove it, I also tried to reduce sustain sample intensity without much success.
First I thought it was a defect of my individual piano, but I tried 2 or 3 CLP in another store and they had the same sound.

Kind regards

Uwe

Uwe, that's unfortunate that your Clavinova suffers the same thing. Yamaha keyboards sure feel great, and I am most likely going to stick with the P120, but it's a pity that they left that ringing sound. I would be okay if it wasn't so high pitched and piercing. I found that even the Brilliance slider has little effect on this ringing. A 10-band EQ also didn't help. I am thinking the only solution is a very sophisticated frequency filter.

It may be a characteristic of the sample, in which case solutions are limited. Have you tried disabling the effects? Cheap digital effects are often the culprit in these cases.

Yea, tried disabling the effects, and played around with the damper resonance as well. i think i'll just have to get used to it. I wish the feel of the Yamaha wasn't so superior to everything else i have tried, because otherwise i would just exchange it for a different brand and be done with it!

You may want to try the Kawai MP9500. The keyboard action is, IMO, a hair better than the Yamaha's, and no strange ringing.

I dunno... make them sound even just a little bit like a real piano???

Ryan

I have heard that ringing and as far as I can tell it is in the FF sample layer. I hate it. The problem is that Yamaha pianos ring, especially when you really nail the notes. I don't know how flexible the P120 is, but you might try to find a patch or setting that doesn't make that FF sample layer kick in so easily.

Ryan

ryan,
the P120 seems to be the most difficult in terms of making that ringing sound more subtle. Even the P90 was voiced in a way that made it possible to make it less irritating. The P250 has so much flexibility that it is not a problem at all. I am considering exchanging it for the P250 but the weight of it is holding me back.

Actually, the P90 has different samples than the P120. They made them darker, which helped hide some of that ring.

Yea, there has been a lot of misinformation going around about the P120 and P90 having the same sounds. I thought perhaps they were just voiced differently, but i would also believe they are totally different samples. Either way, they are DIFFERENT, and that's what people need to know. I was really surprised when i exchanged the P90 for the P120 and plugged it in.