Table of Contents
Introduction
You might be looking for a Yamaha DGX-660 review if you ever wonder what are the features and specs of this digital piano. You’ve come to the right place – in this article, we bring you some of its benefits as a music maker, along with its list of pros and cons that might help you to decide whether you’ll want to buy it or not.
Digital pianos like the Yamaha DGX-660 can be a great alternative to having a large and bulky grand piano at home, especially if you only live in a small apartment or if your house is not big or spacious enough (and also since grand pianos cost a fortune). Therefore, if you are greatly interested with this 88-key piano keyboard, we’d be happy to help you decide with our guide below.
The Features and Benefits of the Yamaha DGX-660
Here are some of the important stuff about the Yamaha DGX-660 that might interest you:
Features
Let’s get to know some of the basic things there is to know about the Yamaha keyboard:
- Weighted Action – It has GHS (Graded Hammer Standard) weighted action.
- Display – There’s a score display on the screen for easy reference on the notes.
- Keys – There are 88 keys in total.
- Voices – There are more than 300 voices available. This includes 151 for drums and sound effects plus 388 for the XG Lite mode.
- Accompaniment – There are different Accompaniment Styles. You can select up to 205 different presets to add more spice to your music.
- Pitch Bend – like most digital keyboards, it has a control wheel for the pitch bend.
- Polyphony – It has a max polyphony of 192 notes at once.
- Data Capacity – you can record up to 30,000 notes in one song or about 80 minutes.
Benefits
Now, we’ll look at some of the benefits and typical usage of the Yamaha keyboard we mentioned:
- Preset Songs – Learning is easier with 100 preset songs.
- Recording – You can record stuff through its AUX input.
- Different Styles – There are many piano styles and acoustic settings.
- Beginner-friendly – The Smart Chord feature is great for learning.
- Add Effects – there are awesome effects like reverb, chorus, DSP, and EQ that you can use.
- Multi-track Recording – You can record up to 6 tracks simultaneously. Songs that get recorded are saved in WAV format.
- MIDI compatible – You can also record in MIDI format so you can use it for your music production on your computer.
The Pros and Cons of the Yamaha DGX-660
While it has its features, it also has both good and not-so-good sides as a musical instrument. In this section, we list down some of the pros and cons of the Yamaha DGX-660.
The Good Stuff (The Pros)
These are the things that we found positive about the Yamaha DGX-660:
Play Realistic Sound
Because this keyboard has a realistic sound due to it being sampled from a Yamaha CF concert grand piano, you only get pure acoustic sounds from it – and maybe even better if your room is acoustically treated (or if you are playing in a recording studio).
What’s more, as we mentioned above, there are many settings that you can play with. For instance, by using the Piano Room function, you can tweak the sound and make it more natural-sounding like a real acoustic piano.
Record Layered Tracks
The multi-track feature is a big plus to the Yamaha DGX-660 – you can easily record layered instruments, from bass to the keyboard piano to some strings and other instruments in between. You can also back it up with rhythmic drums if you want so that your music will become livelier than just an acoustic performance.
Layered track recording can be useful if you want to either produce your own music or play live with just one keyboard piano to do it all. While your string loop plays in the background, you can already make your own piano solo to go along with it – very convenient for most musicians!
Great for Beginners
Aside from intermediate players, even beginners will be delighted to see the functions that will help them to learn more about playing the piano better. For instance, there is a chord guide function that lets you know how to make which chord and with which fingers or keys. There are also 100 preset songs that you can use to learn different piano pieces from or use as a guide in creating your own songs.
The screen also displays the notes so that you can easily follow them in case you don’t know what comes next in the music piece. Having backing tracks or accompaniments can also help beginners to learn more about being in sync with the tempo even without having to stick to a boring metronome sound.
Add Awesome Effects
With the four effects mentioned above, you can add a nice reverb to your piano for a more ambient or subtle feel, or you can add chorus to your strings so that they sound more crisp and lively. These effects are at your disposal – you can easily make your signature sound with these simple tools while you are playing or recording.
Being able to add effects is not something that you can see in most piano keyboards out there. Even if they do have a lot of voices or tone programs, not all of them have these reverb and chorus effects to help you tweak your sound better. This may be useful if you want to emphasize a certain instrument when you are recording or playing something live.
Be a One-Person Band
Basically, the tools mentioned above, such as the layered track recording and the addition of effects, can help you to become your own band or artist even when the band is missing. You can easily perform anything even if you don’t have a backup drummer at hand or if your guitarists aren’t going to be around for the gig.
True enough, keyboards like these can be lifesavers in the event that one performer goes missing since you can easily use the different voices to add more depth to your music.
A Lot of Octaves
Having a lot of octaves in one keyboard eliminates the need for you to transpose and use buttons or switches to move to a higher or lower octave when you are playing any music. This lets you focus more on your music rather than on button operations. What’s more, having more octaves also puts you into an advantage when trying to come up with a new song or adding dynamics to your song.
It Comes with a Stand
There’s no need for you to purchase a piano stand anywhere – this keyboard piano already comes with its own so you can use it right away. Having a custom piano stand is important so that you don’t have to buy it elsewhere or place it on a table, which can be a little awkward if you’re using the table for something else other than the keyboard.
Has Ports for Pedals and Headphones
These ports can help you to practice and record with dynamics. Sustain pedals are great for emulating the realistic experience of playing a grand piano while having headphones while practicing eliminates noise in your room so as not to disturb other people.
MIDI Compatible
If you want something that is MIDI compatible for your DAW or digital audio workstation, this is a must-have, since you can use it to program or sequence your music using the keys. This makes your notes editable so you can place different instruments for them while you are producing your music.
The Not-So-Good Stuff (The Cons)
Here are some cons that we found on the Yamaha DGX-660, but not entirely deal breakers:
The Stand Can’t be Folded
While it is true that it comes with a stand, unlike other stands, it cannot be folded. It is not entirely a deal breaker, but it might not be a con at all if you just prefer to place the Yamaha DGX-660 in just one particular spot all the time.
The Price
Strictly speaking, the price of this keyboard may not be as economical as other Yamaha keyboards, most likely because it is MIDI compatible. If your budget is not really a concern then this may not really be a deal breaker at all, especially if you really want all of its neat features.
Conclusion
While the Yamaha DGX-660 is a little more expensive than other Yamaha keyboards, it packs a lot of features in one. It is both MIDI compatible and great for beginners with its various learning modes. You also get quality sound that makes you feel like you are playing a real concert grand piano.
So, are you interested in knowing the current price of the Yamaha DGX-660? Why not check it out on Amazon for yourself?
