I own the P125 Yamaha piano I like yamaha products I've had them for years, when the P225 was introduced, I tried it out but was not interested in buying it at the time, every time I went to GC i would sit down and play it, the more I did, the more I liked it. The key bed was quieter and I like the upgraded sound engine so I found a great deal on a brand new unit, they just delivered it. I'm impressed and I'm happy with the purchase

I've been playing a P-125a in a band for nearly three years. For the price, I think that it is a great instrument. My primary complaint, however, and the reason that I am writing this review, is that twice in the past two years a key has become stuck and failed to depress. The first time, it was the Bb above middle C, and the second time, it was the B key. As it was under warranty, I drove it two hours each way to Paige Pro, the factory-authorized repairman for our area. Steve Paige, who is very experienced and who fixed it both times, said that the keys were somehow being popped out of their containment tracks, and the cause remains a mystery. I only use the board for gigs, 25 or 30 times a year, and I have always treated it with great care. It has always been in a very nice Gator case that fits it like a hand in a glove. When not in use, it lives in a closet standing on its right end. After fixing it the second time, Steve said that there is a wiring harness that runs from the bottom of the case to the upper portion and that it passes upward directly behind the affected keys. He surmised that the back of the case is flexible enough to allow a hard enough knock or a tight enough squeeze to push the harness into the rear end of the affected key and to push it out of its track. I treat this keyboard like a baby, so a hard knock is out of the question. When carrying it from its stand to its case, I pick it up by its waist and my right hand is probably right at the spot behind the harness. I've talked with Yamaha, and they did not admit to ever hearing about this issue. I bought this board, because I had used a friend's old P-115, and I liked its playability and simplicity. That keyboard had never been in a case, and it had been used at countless events where countless players worked it over. I've always trusted Yamaha to make sturdy and very playable instruments. It's likely that if this problem were to reoccur, the board would no longer be under warranty, and, so, I am going to glue a length of 5/8-inch square steel tubing to the back of the case, thus preventing any further flexing.

It annoys me that this could possibly have happened. I don't know whether the P-225 is similar enough in design for this issue to affect it, as well, but I would caution prospective buyers to beware. If you are just going to park the keyboard somewhere and never move it again, this won't affect you. For me, however, portability is the whole point of these boards, and the idea that Yamaha might have skimped on a nickel's worth of plastic to save an ounce of weight is almost more than I can bear.

Hey you folks with P-125's--vintage is good. I have a '53 Fender P-bass. That said, I find the 225 to be one funky instrument. I'm a retired bass player, mostly soul, R&B,R&R, jingles, ad nauseam etc. I like rhythm, simplicity and attack. I can screw around, but want to learn to actually play piano now that I have the time. The 225's feel and dynamics are great, like you're playing a living instrument. It feels like actual resonance, it's got soul. It's panel is extremely accessible but switching between sounds could be cumbersome on stage. The suite of sounds is sufficiently cool for my use. Many are really nice. FYI, I also checked Kawai and Roland. The 225 feels more human. And thank you Sweetwater for your patience and ease of purchase.

As a retired professional harpist, I wanted to add some music back into my life so I tried many keyboards. Many of them did not have the features that I wanted, and the ones that did have the feature I wanted, sounded chirpy, crisp, bright and and tinny, especially in the upper octaves. This keyboard has many different "voice" selections, sounded much better then all the others that I tried, and also had the headphone jacks in the lower front of the keyboard for easy access!

This keyboard sings! Don't listen to the "players" that dun this keyboard because they must all be tone deaf. I play a Roland RS-9 Synthesizer with Roland MA8 Monitors and cannot replicate the CFX Concert Grand Piano sound of the P225.

I am a full-time professional musician, and a long-time user of the Yamaha P-105. I beat it to death for 11 straight years, and absolutely loved it. Because I had it for so long, I missed out on the incremental upgrades of the Yamaha P-115, P-125, and the P-125a. I was nervous about buying the P-225 because of the mixed reviews, but decided to take a chance.

I am glad that I did, because I LOVE it! The sound is a massive improvement over the P-105. Users who owned the more recent iterations may not notice such a large difference, but it was quite a leap for me. Various frequency ranges in different octaves of the keyboard sound vastly better and fuller, regardless of whether you are playing through the built in speakers or a sound system.

I must also say that it sounds fantastic through a sound system, and is very easy to eq. It sounds absolutely beautiful through my Bose towers.

I did notice a difference in the keys. These Yamaha keyboards are famous for the physical hammers built right into the keyboard for a realistic effect, and I could tell they had made some changes. At first, I thought the keys felt a bit stiff, but after a few minutes of playing decided that was probably because it was brand-new, and because my old keyboard was so worn out.

After several weeks of concert performances, I stand by that calculation. The keyboard is now broken in slightly, and while it still feels slightly stiff compared to the old one I believe it is because I was playing on a worn-out one for so long.

I play very fast, loud, and aggressive music, and the response from these keys has been perfect. Does it feel like Yamaha changed things a bit from their old keyboards? Yes, but on the whole I'd consider it to be an improvement. I feel that the mixed reviews from other users are misjudging what this keyboard has to offer after a short break-in period.

I know some users have complained that Yamaha moved the speakers from the top of the keyboard to the front, but that has not been an issue for me. I believe Yamaha did this to help the player be hear better in small gatherings. It hasn't been an issue for me when playing through the speakers, and I actually like it waaaaay better when plugged into a sound system. Turning the built-in volume down low and then jacking it up from my mixer board allows me to hear it almost entirely from my sound system, which is how I prefer it.

Overall, I'd rate this keyboard a 9.5 out of 10. Well-done, Yamaha!

I tried this piano and found it hard to believe Yamaha considered this an upgrade from the P-125. Gigging, I run my 125 through EVs and use the upward facing speakers as a combination of monitors and to enhance the mids for audiences of 40-120 or so people. The 225 is so muffled by comparison... sooo disappointing. I had planned on replacing both my studio and gigging 125s with two 225s. I thought the 225 action was fine, maybe even a bit better than the 125. But come on Yamaha... enable layering the upper voices AND a split! Next, add breaks to the 20 rhythms, maybe add
a couple more rythyms, KEEP the 125 speaker setup!, and keep it under 30 lbs, and I'll GLADLY pay $1,100 each for for 2 of them. I'll bet lots of others would as well. Is it time for a Roland switch? I hope not.

I was looking to upgrade my aging P125 workhorse which I enjoy and use daily. But has many miles on it since 2019 and now and getting a bit tired. I figured P225 was the logical replacement and would be a fairly nice upgrade. Unfortunately, was so sad and disappointed when I got my hands on the P225. I guess I was expecting it to be better or at least as good as the P125. I did everything to try to like it and demoed it several times over a few months. Im very open-minded, but I still left disappointed every time. I just can't force myself to like it.
Why did Yamaha ruin a great thing with the well-established and loved P125? Forget the new sleek aesthetic, although very nice, but who really cares what it looks like? I need the same solid and proven quality and player experience as the P125 offered, and yes, add the nice stuff as you did with CFX and some other powerful features that are appealing to the buyer. Happily pay a reasonable premium for it if it's just designed properly to engage the player. Maybe it's the new GHC keyboard and the backward-facing speakers that are such a miss to me. GHC feels adequate at best and the sound is so muffled it gives the player such a disconnect. It's sad and so disappointing.
Maybe a focus group of piano players would help Yamaha with the next design based on the P125 pros and pretend the P225 never happened. Im begging you Yamaha. Please make it right as you are arguably the best digital piano manufacturer to date.

I was able to compare the p125 to the p225 in a music store, I have a p125 and thought if the 225 is all that I would buy one, but alas that's not the case. Yamaha s big selling point seems to be it sleek, it's more compact, more modern looking, well not by much at all! Who are they targeting with this advertising? it's not a fashion statement is it? Most people will use this at home any way. The keys feel stiffer and the speakers are facing away from the player and sound muffled, I don't care about sleeker and modern looking, it's the sound and the feel of the keys that matter most, Im not going to wear it, ill keep my p125 as for me it's all around BETTER!

It's my own fault. Let me explain: I tried a few digital pianos in this price range and really liked them (Roland and Kawai to be exact). I also really liked the Yamaha P125 for many years and still do. Like many others I find Yamaha to be the best in the digital piano and synth business. So I thought the p225 would be a no-brainer assuming it would be far superior in every way to the competition as well as its own P125. I bought it without trying it, my own fault. When I received it, it was in perfect condition and looked very appealing to the eye. I plugged it in and it sounded and felt somewhat unsatisfying. I thought for sure it was just me and I needed to acclimate myself to the feel and sound. I gave it a few weeks and just could not embrace or connect with it. Yes, the CFX was a great addition and sounds nice with quality studio headphones, very good in fact. The action is ok for the price range, not nearly as good as the others in my opinion. The GHS on the P255 seems different than the P125 unfortunately in a non-favorable way. Somewhat slightly toyish and hollow. But I really have no idea what Yamaha was thinking with the speakers. They had it right on the P125 on top facing the player as well as projected nicely to a small audience. Why relocate them to the back and lose that connection with the player. I just don't get it. It kind of feels like playing a plastic PlayStation with 88 keys and loud transistor radio speakers. It works, but not inspiring whatsoever.

Let's be fair that my comments are subjective and not factual. It's my opinion only. You might disagree 100% with me and love this piano. I am not an amazing pianist by any means, but I am very good on piano with over 20+ years of playing and teaching. So I somewhat qualify to give an honest opinion. All I wanted was a decent stage piano for practice and some upcoming small gigs at an affordable price. This simply did not check the boxes I was hoping for like the other ones I demoed. Your miles may vary, but I will certainly exchange this for one of the competitors in this price that sounds and feels exceptionally superior to the P225.

I still love you Yamaha like many other reviewers and understand what you are trying to do in this price range, but this is not a win. It's really not let's be honest. You should have enhanced and improved the P125 template and taken it to the next level. You would have blown your competitors right out of the water. @ Yamaha R&D, you know you are way better than this! I look forward to seeing what you come up with to replace this disappointment.

Really nice CFX sample with realistic action. I've noticed some complaints about the smaller size, but I love the size: low weight, and easy to fit in tighter spaces either against a wall or on a desk with a DAW. Backwards facing speakers don't seem to effect sound negatively for me even against a wall (when pulled back a couple of inches). Of course my sample library will win on sounds, but if I need to deep dive, I just use my DAW (if recording), or MainStage for live. For me this is just a very compact lightweight basic keyboard for gigs, or quick studio midi that has a really great piano sound and some other very usable keyboard basics.

My main rig weighs almost 80lbs and takes two guys to put it on a stand/back in the 70lb case. Safe to say I needed something light and smaller for 15 minute setup/teardown festival gigs as well as solo gigs where I wouldn't have help. First and foremost, They action is better than I expected from a $ piano, I find it very similar to the P525; Along with the small but mighty onboard speakers the vibration response enhances the feel greatly. One big thing for me is the weight, you can't beat 25lbs when you're by yourself doing quick setup/teardowns. Lastly for the things i like are the patches: the organ, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and clavichord patches are all very clean. The CFX sounds really good in a system it just has two small problems: the output volume is not near as hot as my CP-300 or a CP4 i've used in the past and what really nags me is that the CFX is EQ'd somewhat poorly, i have to pull most of the lower frequencies and push the highs to clear it up but once I do, it's more than worth $.

I was highly anticipating the P225 with CFX piano to replace my P125 for small gigs. What a big disappointment. I wish I did not sell it, but had a lot of miles on it. Why did they move the speakers, change the body, and change the action? I understand some of the nice upgrades with VRM, CFX, IAC, and the idea of a slimmer body, but overall it's just not worth it to trade off most everything that is perfect with the P125. It kills me to write a bad review about a Yamaha product as I think they are probably the best digital piano manufacturer in the running. They really nailed it with some great new offerings at a higher price, but Yamaha missed the mark on this particular one in my opinion. It will be returned with a heavy heart as I was really hoping to like it and I even tried forcing myself to like it. It's a no-go for me only on this particular Yamaha board. I'm still a huge Yamaha fan and plan to demo their next tier-up to see if it makes sense for me.

Although this is not a favorable review, you still need to try it to be fair to yourself. You might find a connection with the P225 that I could not find - I really tried. After all, the only opinion that matters will be your own.

I bought a P225 for my church because a P125 was unavailable. It is supposed to be an upgrade to the P125, of which I own one and like very much, but boy was I disappointed in this keyboard! Yamaha "miniaturized" the action and eliminated the upward-facing speakers of the P125 in order to make a "sleeker" cabinet. As a result, the action feels stiff and unresponsive and the sound is muffled to the player. The cabinet buzzes when the volume is turned up and just feels cheap compared to my P125. Other players may respond differently to this piano, but I strongly suggest that any interested player try it out before purchasing. Honestly, I think Yamaha blew it in response to criticism that the P125 looked "dated." Looks aside (I think the P125 looks just fine), I'm more interested in playability than in "sleekness." The only improvement I can see is that the P225 has bluetooth, whereas the P125 does not. For me, that is a non-issue. In fairness to Sweetwater, a very good company that I have dealt with for many years, they readily agreed to exchange the P225 for a P125 when one became available.