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- Verified Buyer
I'm a musician of 15~ years (coming from guitar and vocals) but a beginner on the piano with only 3~ months of playing under my belt (learning off of a YouTube teaching series). I've been learning to play on an Alesis V49 MIDI keyboard I picked up last year (honestly, a great MIDI controller). I started to get better technique, learning more seriously, and using higher-quality VST plugins for piano sounds, I wanted something better.This is written during the COVID-19 outbreak. I couldn't go to the music shop and try keyboards out. I do recall, though, trying out some Yamaha's at Guitar Center shortly after buying my Alesis, and I was blown away by the "feel" of them. I've definitely became fixated ever since on moving up to a Yamaha! Having grown up around music, I know that Yahama is kind of a status quo in quality keyboards/pianos as well.I needed something with a good feel and MIDI output. I've been eyeing up the Yamaha P45 for a while. That model was a little out of my budget, and I also feel it should come with more features for it's price range (more sounds and stereo outputs are missing). I also considered the Yamaha PSR-EW300. But that seemed more along the lines of a synth, and not piano. I settled on the NP32. The only thing that almost turned me off was the lack of 88 keys, but, moving from 49 keys to 76 is already a huge step-up, and I doubt I'm going to miss those few extra keys that much.First impressions; this thing is huge and heavy! Okay, it doesn't weigh a ton and is definitely transportable, but compared to my Alesis, this is a serious musical instrument with a lot of hardware in it. I bought the power adapter with this as I am not using stupid batteries. I tested all the keys and they all worked great. The built in sounds are excellent as well. Not the best, but they sound great. On the PC, I am using a Toontrack's EZ Keys with the studio grand piano plugin, which uses high-quality recordings of a Steinway. The Yamaha's built-in sounds don't quite keep on par with that, but that's okay.The feel of the keyboard; I love it. It's got the feel of a serious instrument, and it's definitely a dramatic change vs. the cheap Alesis. The velocity sensitive keys are top-class (to me). It's actually a lot easier to play than the Alesis as well, I can use my wrist more and don't have to hit the keys quite so hard to get a response. I actually had to really slow my playing down to accommodate. One thing I instantly noticed was the size of the keys. That are smaller than those on the Alesis, and other users have noted this. I intend to do some more reading on this. When playing octaves on one hand, my fingers are stretched out a bit too much. Others here who are "professionals" have noted that, there isn't much difference between this and a real piano. So I'm hoping this isn't an issue if and when I move up to an even nicer instrument. Coming from guitar, I think I can adapt. Not all guitars are created equal. They have a different "feel" as well. Some have higher or lower actions, some have jumbo frets, different scale lengths, etc. So, maybe that's the case with keyboard as well.Overall, I love the thing so far, and feel there's a huge amount of bang for your buck here! It's gonna take me time to get used to this vs. a 49 key. The docked star is for a few things. The built-in sounds. They are excellent, but again, not as good as my EZ Keys plugin. It'd be nice if it came with more. The headphone out is strangely a 1/4" jack. Not a big deal for me as I produce music and have tons of adapters. But it's still strange, and as with the higher-end models, this is also missing stereo audio outputs if I wanted to record sound directly from the piano to the PC (my only option of doing that now is using the headphone out). Lastly, the width of the keys. Again, I'm doing more research on this, but it's a bit strange if Yamaha made these smaller than a standard piano key size. Again though, I'm willing to adapt being a guitar player. And maybe smaller keys isn't a bad thing for preventing strain and fatigue, something important as my day job is writing code for software!** Note: This is a review for the NP-32 76-key Piaggero. I am an experienced pianist. **There comes a point in a musician's life where he /she realizes that no single keyboard instrument can do all that's asked of it. All piano-like keyboard instruments (not thinking harpsichords or celestas here) have their inherent strengths and weaknesses.For example, a Steinway concert grand is expensive, isn't portable at all and goes out of tune if played regularly. But if you don't need portability, have the cash and it's in tune ... nothing can compare to it (except, perhaps, an in-tune Bosendorfer).I realize this is a rather long-winded introduction for a relatively cheap electric keyboard, but I think it's important because many of the low-star reviews are comparing the Piaggero to pianos that don't have to travel (such as the Steinway). No wonder people are giving it bad reviews!Instead, let's judge the Piaggero for what it is: a very portable, ultra-light, bare-bones performance electric piano (with synth action) that's extremely easy to travel with. This is the reason I purchased it -- i already have a high-end, hammer-action electric piano, thank you very much (Kawai CE220), but i can hardly schlep it to gigs!Based on what it's positioning itself to be -- THERE IS NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT ON THE MARKET. Here's why i think it's the best budget portable performance piano out there:- It's VERY INEXPENSIVE FOR WHAT IT IS. I got mine for USD 250.- It's LIGHT. You can carry it under your arm with ease.- It's PORTABLE. Because it features very few flashing lights, bells and whistles, the form factor has been kept very small for a 76-key keyboard, so it's just over 1 metre in length, which gives it a small turning circle (so to speak)- It's BATTERY-POWERED with 6 AA batteries, so you aren't enslaved to a wall outlet power supply (though you can buy one separately, if you so choose)- It has BUILT-IN SPEAKERS, so you don't even need to bring an amp (though it's best suited to small venues with light accompaniment - it's perfect for accompanying a singer, not so much a brass-band!)In fact- with the sole exception of a foot pedal, i have no reason to accessorize the Piaggero with anything else to bring it to a gig. You can plop it on a tabletop (so no need for a stand) and away you go,The only thing which comes close in comparison to the Piaggero is the Roland GO piano, which doesn't have all the features mentioned in the list above.Of course it isn't perfect, and here are some of the flaws (none great enough to knock off a star):- The position of the extra keys compared to the 61 key version are a bit awkward-- it would be nice to have a full C to C extra octave, but instead the additional key range extends to a bottom E in the left hand and a top G in the right hand.- The speaker could be louder. It does limit the performance to accompanying singers and light instruments. If you want to accompany a rock band you'd need a proper speaker.- There's no obvious "Transpose" button - you have to plough through the manual to figure out you have to press and hold the "Metronome" button and one of the keys to transpose up and down octaves. You'd be forgiven for thinking, at first glance, that this keyboard doesn't support transposition.Some other quick features -- USB Midi, and some standard voices (2 acoustic pianos, 2 electric pianos, yada yada...)... but let's be honest you aren't buying thing as a MIDI controller (i recommend a Novation Launchkey for that), or its wonderful electric piano sounds (they're ... ok) - you're buying it because it's highly portable for doing workhorse gigs.In conclusion... wonderful for what it is. Don't expect to be able to play Rachmaninoff on it, or expect anything other than a synth action-- but if you want something you can very easily gig with, say to play a couple of tunes out of the Real Book, then the Piaggero is an ideal lightweight gigging companion.The sound is a little tinny but if you plug it to a sound system it sounds ok.I use it to practice while watching tv although its a little large to put on my lap.Very happy with the item and size. Sounds great!High quality keys and touch sensitivity. Works great for the purpose of playing only a few sounds. Later, I found myself wishing it had more sounds.I'm a beginner in learning the piano and composition. I used to have a Nektar Impact GX61 controller, which I loved for the small size. I remember being quite inconvenient over time to have to open my laptop and load Logic every time I wanted to just practice piano. Initially I was between the Yamaha NP12 and M-Audio Keystation 61 MK3, which has a lower price and smaller size, but decided to go with the Piaggero.First of all, I must say that I love using it as a standalone piano, without hooking it up to my laptop. The sound is really nice and the keys feel familiar coming from a midi controller. I've heard people saying that the volume is too low. I found it not to be super loud, but not too quiet either. In a fairly quiet room the max volume is very comfortable for me. Hooked it up to my MacBook Pro and it worked out of the box with Logic Pro X. You just have to lower the internal speakers volume all the way down and you're good to go!The only downside was the thickness of it. The top side is thicker than I expected it to be. I think the pictures don't showcase this well, that's why I posted one of my own from the side. If you really would like something super thin, something to carry around or fit under your desk setup, then I would go for a MIDI controller instead. But other than that, I'm super happy with it.1-Super happy and surprised that the product had arrive a few days to a week earlier than expected! YAY2-easy to use and understand, fun to play, and great for pianist at any level. beginners on something easy to grasp and great for pros to practice on and jam.3-beautiful sound, elegant, and just wonderful all around. even comes with the AC adapter and music sheet stand. I LOVE that you can use a usb to hook up to devices (iPad, laptop, PC, etc...) to hook up to music apps and programs.4-its only 9lbs~!only minor downfall that I find many complain about is that the keys aren't weighted and isnt as loud as all the high end keyboards but hey you can't beat the price just hook up to an amp if performing with it.. I love it and will be using it for years to come! strongly recommend!First off, keys are thinner than standard size, small hands like me is ok. Keys have nice feel & easy roll off.Perfect for beginner's. Intermediate & up: If you play along with tracks or a band - Grand piano sounds are terrible, boomy bottom end, thin annoying highs, electric pianos are the best sounds. Rest to me is useless. I use my DAW for better sounds, best keys I could find in this price range.This product has a graded keyboard it has touched sensitivity it has reverb control you can use a 1/2 damp pedal on it if you like you can control the depth of the reverb it has layering and you can control the volume of the voices all 10 voices are premium Plus it has some other good points to it as well 6 W per speaker 76 keys plus there are other Good point worth the moneyAs a beginner, I used a "toy" piano. Once I felt that I wanted to carry on, I bought this piano. The touch of the keys, and the sound was so much better that it encourages me to continue playing. The speakers are loud enough for what I do, but they should be able to be turned up a bit louder. A very nice piano for the money.
