As a young child, my love for piano playing grew on a simple little Casio keyboard my parents had bought for me. It was a joy of mine, and it was the closest thing I had ever known to the grand pianos I scarcely had an opportunity to play on, whether they were in my school’s hall or at a music store. My little Casio keyboard had everything I needed, and I didn’t know there could be something so much better.

One summer weekend while vacationing with my uncle I had a chance to visit his church. I’ve always been a music junkie, so after the service was over I finagled my way up to the stage to try out some of the instruments. There, right in front of me, sat a kind of piano I had never seen before. It looked very fancy, had a lot of buttons and knobs, and sat in a big cabinet. It sounded like a grand piano, but it didn’t look like one. It was a Yamaha Clavinova digital piano. I was in awe.

And just like the Clavinova blew me away, console digital pianos have been blowing many others away with their capability and price compared to real, authentic pianos. Yamaha has a number of different console digital piano series, and Arius is one of them, along with Clavinova Grands, Clavinova Ensembles, MODUS Designer Pianos, and more. They have the look, feel, and performance of the real thing, and the Yamaha Arius YDP-V240 is no different.

Piano Buying Guide

Below, please enjoy the interactive guide that was created to make your piano purchase easier. Compare the amazing Yamaha YDP-V240 to other great, higher end digital pianos:

Photo	Model
	Yamaha YDP-145
	Yamaha YDP-165
	Casio PX-870
	Casio AP-470
	Yamaha YDP-184

Yamaha YDPV240 Review: Beautiful

The Arius YDP-V240 is truly a sight to behold. In fact, when I first came in contact with it, I was shocked that this was a machine which can be assembled out of the box. It beautiful, solid, wooden frame makes you think it was cut and built straight from a factory. The wood has a nice, dark rosewood finish all throughout. After assembly the piano will have an encasing for the console with a music rest on top and connecting legs with a wooden back piece to form the cabinet. A three-pedal unit will also be installed along the lower board, and a bench of the same consistency will be included with the set. It even has a sliding key cover panel that will protect the piano from dust. It’s a piano player’s dream.

However, this piano in no way has any kind of portability. At about four and a half feet long, and almost three feet high, you’ll definitely need to clear some space in your room, foyer, or wherever you plan to place it. The V240 has a list weight of 108 pounds, so if you decide to purchase it you can either get a dealer to deliver it already assembled, or predetermine a place for the piano and set it up right there.

Along with all the controls and buttons you’ll surely notice the nice 4.5 inch LCD screen implanted into the middle of the interface. This screen brings a definite sense of luxury to this digital piano, and with its monochrome color is easy to see and navigate.

Below, take a look at some of the best selling digital pianos that are on sale online:

BEST SELLERS
1) Casio PX-770
2) Yamaha YDP-145
3) Roland RP-701
4) Yamaha YDP-165
5) Casio PX-870

Yamaha Arius YDP-V240 Features

This Arius has Yamaha’s Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) technology which features the wonderful hammer action which you would find in actual pianos. This is the keybed you’ll find in a lot of Yamaha’s higher end products, and the YDP-V240 puts it to good use. It’s not as strong as what you may find in some of the Clavinovas, but it’s still pretty comparable and I thought it played beautifully. Some people complain about GHS being noisy at times, but I didn’t experience any of this.

The V240 also has Yamaha’s Advanced Wave Memory Stereo Sampling technology, which takes three different layers of exquisite grand piano samples and utilizes the technology to match it exactly with the response of your fingers. Whether you’re playing pianissimo or fortissimo, Yamaha’s AWM system allows the machine to keep up with you and produce an amazing sound.

Once you start playing around with the sounds on this machine, you really begin to understand what sets some of these console digital pianos apart. Many of the digital and stage pianos I’ve experienced come with a very limited set of sounds, some even having as low as only eight sounds. Not so with the YDP-V240. This bad boy has over 500 instrument, synth, and drums sounds, so even if it seems like you’re sitting behind a big clunky machine you have a world of options at your disposal.

The grand piano sound on this machine is nothing short of amazing. The speakers are powered by 20-watt amplifiers so there really is no problem in hearing the time that went into developing it. As my fingers glided over the keys I could hear each and every note being sustained perfectly, without any notes being dropped. The 64-note polyphony was able to handle anything I could throw at it. I experimented with the layering function, and put the concert piano sound on top of a string section. It truly sounded like heaven.

Along with the instruments provided on this console digital piano is the extensive digital effects system, which comes in the form of their Digital Signal Processor, or DSP. There are already 35 types of reverb and 44 types of chorus effects aside from the DSP, so there are plenty of ambiances and room effects that can be achieved even without it. But you can create a whole new world with the options afforded by the DSP. There are 238 different types of effects to experiment with, and they can be applied to all the main and dual voices.

The connectivity for the V240 is great as well, providing USB capabilities that will let you connect easily with other devices or computers to transmit recorded data or use the piano as a MIDI controller. The piano also comes with Yamaha’s Easy Song Arranger and Performance Assistance Technology, which will enhance your live performance, and allow you to play the perfect song every time.

Bottom Line

The mood about this piano only changes when you start talking about the price. It’s a wonderful piece of machinery, so there’s no doubt it will cost a pretty penny. However, many consumers researching console digital pianos are actually looking for an alternative to a real acoustic or upright piano, so $2,000 sounds a lot better than $20,000 to $50,000 for most people. Depending on the store and the bundle package, you should be able to find the Arius YDP-V240 from around $2,000 for the entire package, or even down to $1,000 for just the piano without the ensemble cabinet.

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