Yamaha P-125 is one of the best-selling Portable Digital Piano which set the standard for upcoming instruments in the year 2018.
Its predecessor the Yamaha P-115 was also a wonderful piano in its budget class.
In-fact, my experience with both of the keyboards was quite identical in terms of sound and build quality.
But on a clear note P-125 is far more improved version of P-115.
Even when compared with price, feel and feature ratio, Yamaha P125 stands tall against its competitor in the corresponding budget segment.
Yamaha P Series (which stands for Portable) aims at providing compact, powerful instrument with realistic touch and feel approach. And no-doubt with every new release things are getting better and better.
The P series from Yamaha consist of :
- Yamaha P 45
- Yamaha P-115
- Yamaha P 121
- Yamaha P 125
- Yamaha P 515
- Yamaha DGX 660
With that said lets proceed with the detailed analysis of Yamaha P 125 and also comparing it with other similarly priced digital pianos.
image | Model | Keys | Features | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | P 125 | 88 | Best Model Fully Weighted Hammer Action Keys Great Feel CF Sound Engine USB-MIDI Connectivity App Integration Genuinely Priced 91% positive reviews on Amazon | |
 | P 45 | 88 | Best Seller Budget Friendly Authentic Feel Weighted Hammer Action Keys Minimalist Design AWM Sound Engine 88% positive reviews on Amazon | |
 | YDP 163 | 61 | Best In The Class Console Piano Graded Hammer Action Keys (GH 3) Pure CF Sound Engine App Connectivity Built-In Pedals 10 Voices 192 Polyphony 87% Positive Reviews | |
 | PSR EW 300 | 76 | For Beginners Touch Sensitive Keys 574 Instrument&Voices 165 Styles App Connectivity Lots Of Learning Features Lightweight 81% Positive Reviews | |
 | PSR E363 | 61 | For Beginners Touch Response Keys Yamaha Education Suite For Easy Learning Duo/Layer Mode Weighs only 8.8 Lbs PC, Mobile Connectivity 87% Positive Reviews |
Yamaha P-125 Specs and Features
Reading Reviews Is So 90's Instead Check The Video Review Of Yamaha P-125 Below 👇
Stereophonic Optimizer And What's Its Use ?
Yamaha P-125 offers a new feature which was never available on digital pianos at this price range and it is Stereophonic Optimizer.
In simple words Stereophonic Optimizer takes your headphone enjoyment while playing the board on to a whole new level.
What it simply does is make the sound of the piano feel like you are listening to the piano in a room rather than listening to it on headphone.
From my opinion using headphone while playing piano makes your experience more enjoyable.
No Doubt, the in-built speaker’s themselves are quite good and overall quality of the speaker is also improved a bit as comparing to 115.
The improved sounds come from improved tweeter.
The layout of Yamaha P-125 is also simple and straight forward.
You can control the whole keyboard with the buttons on the top of the panel.
Just like The Yamaha PSR EW 300 keyboard, these simple easy to operate interface unravel the learning curves of budding pianist.
You can easily switch between various sounds like metronome, drum tracks etc with just a push of the button.
You can also record yourself while playing. It has two-track recorder which you can change between different sounds, different voices.
Check The Sound Of Yamaha P-125
The Pianist App Connectivity :
Another cool feature that 125 offers is the new pianist app (It is somewhat similar to the Chordana app from Casio).
The app let you control everything on the keyboard from an iPad or PC's.
App connectivity provides a new way to interact with your keyboard and makes learning fun and easy.
This same feature is also available on the beginner friendly PSR E263 keyboard too.
One thing I don’t like is that you can only use iOS devices for connectivity and using the app.
There is no version of Pianist app for Android users (may be they launch soon).
Check the link for more info the features that the app provide.
The pianist app You can choose different sound option just by swapping your iOS device.
Example if you want to switch between Grand Piano and Bright Grand Piano all it needs is a swipe. Check this Pianist app review here.
Voices :
Another great add-on which can also be controlled via the app is voices. Yamaha P-125 comes with 10 new different voices.
As Yamaha P-115 has 14 voices total but on P-125 you will get total of 24 voices.
Via app you can cycle through all those voices by just touching the required voice.
The Parent category of the voices are Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Strings and Clavichord and Vibraphone.
Each of these has lots of other option under the parent category.
Example the Piano parent category has 4 different voices of Grand Piano, Live Grand, Ballad Grand (more mellow kind of piano basically used in ballets) and Bright Grand to choose from.
Layering Mode :
Yamaha P-125 also allows you to layer sounds over one another.
Example if you want to layer piano on top of a synth or any other sound you just had to click the layer option and then select the sound you want to layer in the app and you are ready to go.
The layer functions opens a whole new level of creativity to explore, only the sky is the limit.
In-Built Songs :
Another notable feature that can also be tweaked from the app is Song option.
Basically, what the song option provide is that you can bring in songs from your device and manipulate it on different ways.
It comes very useful when practicing or recording a mix of songs with your tones.
One thing that I personally really liked is the Song option generate a chord chart just by loading the song file.
It will also play along in time with the recording. You can also be able to edit the loop according to your wish.
It offers all type of editing options you need like if you want to change the key, transpose, increase or decrease song tempo and much more. Which can easily be controlled via the app.
Connectivity Options :
The I/O options of Yamaha P-125 includes two headphone outputs, power supply, Stereo Aux out, pedal unit (the great new feature of pedal unit is that if you attach a pedal with the keyboard you can not only use the three pedals with the piano sounds but you can also use it to control the rotary on the jazz organ)
Sustain Pedal and the USB out (which is used to connect the keyboard to the pianist app or from your computer and use it with music creation software).
Yamaha P 125 Vs Yamaha P 115 (Differences)
There are lots of similarity between Yamaha P 125 and Yamaha P 115 but they also have a fair share of differences too.
As we all know P 115 is one of the best selling Yamaha Keyboard and ruled the industry for many long years.
But everything comes to an end, No doubt 115 is still a good digital keyboard but lacks features that Yamaha P-125 offers.
The concept of P 125 is quite similar to P 115. But in short 125 is the newest incarnation (2018) in the Yamaha P series family. And is now the new face of the brand.
So these are some notable differences I personally felt. Some of the minor technical differences between P 125 Vs P 115 are as follows
Yamaha P 125
Yamaha P 125 Power Consumption : 9w
Does Not Have Dedicated Pianist Style
Yamaha P 125 Is Preloaded With 21 Demo Song
20 Rhythms
No. Of Preset Voices : 24
Yamaha P 115
Yamaha P 115 Power Consumption : 6w
10 Dedicated Pianist Style
Yamaha P 115 Is Preloaded With 14 Demo Song
14 Rhythms
No. Of Preset Voices : 14
Yamaha P 71 Vs Yamaha P 115
The other model from P series which is quite similar to P 125 and P 115 is Yamaha P 71. Yamaha P 71 is one of the bestseller P series keyboard on Amazon.
So how could we miss the comparison of P 71 and P 115. Lets have a look at their differences for the moment.
(Another entry level similar model in the series is Yamaha P 45, P 45 is exactly like P 71 so have a look at it too. The Price of P 45 and P 71 are both under $500 but P 115 cost bit more)
Yamaha P 71
- 10 voices
- 64 polyphony
- AMW stereo sampling
- tempo range - 32 -280
- 1 headphone
- No AUX out
- Speakers - 12cm * 2
Yamaha P 115
- 14 voices
- 192 polyphony
- pure cf sound engine
- Tempo Range - 5 -- 280
- 2 headphone connectivity
- AUX Out - [L/L+R][R] -
- Speakers - 12 cm * 2 + 4 cm * 2
Yamaha P 125 Alternate
The Best Alternative Of Yamaha P-125 is Casio PX-S1000. The Price is almost same so don't forget to check it.
My Experience With Yamaha P 125
One of the most important thing about Yamaha P-125 and all the rest of P series instrument has that they are all very portable and lightweight which is one of the Key USP of the instrument.
It is quite easy to move around and if you regularly travel for gigs, practice, performance or on vacation than you will surely love the compact and lightness of the piano.
Overall the Yamaha P-125 with 88 weighted keyboard is a great option if you are serious about learning piano or taking your experience to a whole new level.
All of the features like authentic feel, touch, weight of Yamaha P-125 is great and even the price of the piano is also genuine.
The app is also really helpful for beginner and a couple of tricks under the sleeve for experts too.
With Overwhelming (89%) positive reviews on Amazon, conclusion is clearly no-brainer that P-125 is still one of the bestselling keyboard and for all the good reasons.
Yamaha
Digital Pianos / Keyboards
So, as I said above if you are serious with your music then Yamaha P-125 is the instrument you need to put your hands on.
That's all from our end hope our review of Yamaha P 125 helped you in making a better decision.
Till then,
Keep Playing and Spread Love.
Do P-115 has reverb effects ? Do a beginner needs reverb effects.
Hey Terre,
Yes it has reverb effects and the best part is that it has 4 reverb types.
Is it better than Yamaha P 515 ?
Yamaha P 515 is an advanced level piano whereas P 125 is an entry level digital piano
Do the optional pedals operate the rotary speaker sound on the organ?
Yes they will, but you need to set them.
Casio cdp 350 vs Yamaha dgx 660 which is better
As for the sake of this review, I still prefer P 125 over both of these digital pianos. But as far as your question is concerned I would have chosen CDP 350 over DGX 660.
Can I tweak the pre defined accompaniment styles in the P125 ? Does it support transpose feature and is it better to opt for bundle or not as I heard the stand are not good enough to keep it intact.
Hey Lisa , First of all you can’t tweak the pre-defined accompaniment style which by-default comes with P-125. But I wonder ???? why you need to do this. There are more than enough accompaniment styles to cover most of the genres as per my experience. However, if you still want to tweak some root sounds then you should go for arranger keyboard like CT-X5000 from Casio.
Secondly, Yes It does have transpose feature to use accordingly.
And Lastly, If you already have everything from what a bundle offers then you are should opt-out that option but generally it would be much better to choose bundle as it saves you few extra bucks. And Yes if the keyboard is heavy then a single X brace stand will hinder your perfomances. If you want to use the pedals then you must need to buy the dedicated stand of the model.
Hope this helps. And thanks for staying by.
Can you suggest some other alternate for p 125. I don’t want to buy dgx 660. Something in +-$100 price range as of 125.
As far as feature / price ratio concerned I can suggest you these 3 options
1) Casio PX S1000
2) Casio PX S3000
3) Roland FP 30
What is the tempo range of P 125 ? Is it a good piano for intermediate level players (for my wife) as she knows how to play the piano?
Hello Abdul you definately made a wonderful choice for your wife. The tempo range of P 125 is 5-280.
Hello, Daniel I recently bought the P 125 and I am quite happy with my purchase. Thanks for your detailed overview and I would like to share my thoughts on this piano as an appreciation token of your work.
If anyone is in doubt about the performance of P 125 then let me tell this. You can go ahead and grab it and I am sure you will be happy that you took the decision.
With considered price point you will get very well rich and dynamic sound ???? full with life. The Piano sound are sampled beautifully from the iconic pianos.
The key action is also very close to acoustic pianos and weighted keys give a perfect realm like a masterpiece.
The virtual resonance feature is a cherry on top. If you are looking for some good piano with all the features and not so high price I think you are looking at the right spot now.????
Thanks, Melvin for your words. Glad my blog helped you in making a better decision. Feel free to share your future experiences too.