Yamaha Arius YDP-105 Review: The Entry Console With Everything in the Box

Who Should Buy It

Key Specifications

What You Get for the Money

A complete console piano: the keyboard with its three-pedal base, a wood-grain cabinet in rosewood or black, a bench and a music rest. Assembly is four side panels and a pedal board. Nothing else is needed on day one, which is the whole case for buying a console over a portable at this level.

Inside it is essentially a P-45. The GHS action, AWM Stereo Sampling engine, ten voices, 64-note polyphony and twin 6 watt speakers are shared, so if you have played the P-45 you already know how the YDP-105 feels and sounds.

Action and Pedals

GHS gives a graded weight from bass to treble with a plastic, matte key surface. It is a lighter touch than the GH3 action on the YDP-184 and the Roland PHA-4 on the RP107, but it is a true hammer action and the right starting point for lessons.

The three built-in pedals are the practical upgrade over any portable at this price. The damper pedal supports half-pedaling, and the soft and sostenuto pedals are there when exam pieces or more advanced repertoire call for them.

Sound Through Speakers and Headphones

The grand piano voice is clean and well balanced but belongs to the previous generation of Yamaha sampling. There is no string or damper resonance, so pedaled chords sound slightly flat compared with the CFX-based YDP-146 and YDP-184. Through the dual headphone jacks it is perfectly pleasant for practice.

The 6 watt speakers point downward from the underside of the keyboard, which gives a softer, more diffuse sound than a portable's top-firing speakers. For a bedroom or a small living room they are adequate; they will not fill a larger space.

Connectivity

A single USB to Host port sends MIDI to a computer or tablet, so learning apps work with a cable. There is no Bluetooth, no USB audio and no line output. For a piano that lives in one room and connects to nothing, that is acceptable; for anyone who records or streams, it is the first thing to check.

YDP-105 or YDP-146?

The YDP-146 sits one step up with the CFX concert grand sample, damper and string resonance, Bluetooth audio and MIDI, and a larger lesson library. It keeps the GHS action. If you can afford the gap, the sound and connectivity improvements will outlast the YDP-105 by several years of progress.

If the budget is fixed, the YDP-105 is still a good console for lessons, and it is a better long-term setup than a P-45 on an X-stand for a child learning pedal technique.

Assembly and Placement

The YDP-105 arrives in one large carton: the keyboard unit, two side panels, a back board, the pedal board with its cable and the bench. Two people assemble it in about half an hour with the included screws and a Phillips screwdriver. The pedal cable plugs into the underside of the keyboard before the final panel goes on, and the whole piano then stands around 32 inches tall and 54 inches wide.

Because the cabinet is shallow for a console, it fits against a hallway or bedroom wall without dominating the room. The key cover is a folding lid rather than a sliding one, which keeps dust off the keys and gives children a clear signal that practice time is over. Headphone jacks are on the front left underside, where they are easy to reach from the bench.

Practice, Lessons and Growing Out of It

For a child's first few years of lessons the YDP-105 does the job a teacher wants: 88 graded keys, a working damper pedal with half-pedal response, and the two other pedals ready for when the repertoire needs them. Duo mode splits the keyboard into two identical ranges so a parent or teacher can sit alongside, and the dual headphone jacks let both listen in silence.

The 64-note polyphony and ten voices will eventually feel limiting, typically when a student reaches intermediate pieces with long sustained passages. At that point the YDP-105 is still a sound, saleable instrument, but a family planning for five or more years of study is better served stretching to the YDP-146 or YDP-184 now, both of which carry the CFX sample and higher polyphony. Alternatively, the Casio PX-770 delivers a three-sensor action and 128-note polyphony at a similar price, without the bench.

Strengths and Limitations

Alternatives to Consider

Yamaha Arius YDP-184

Serious students and returning adults who want the most capable Arius without stepping up to Clavinova

Read the Yamaha Arius YDP-184 review →

Casio Privia PX-770

Students who want a three-pedal console with a three-sensor action at the lowest Privia price

Read the Casio Privia PX-770 review →

Yamaha P-145

Beginners who want the current Yamaha entry model with app control and a slim footprint

Read the Yamaha P-145 review →

Head-to-Head Comparisons

• Casio Privia PX-770 vs Yamaha Arius YDP-105 Compare →

Questions Buyers Ask