Yamaha YDP 163R Arius Series Console Digital Piano with Bench, Dark Rosewood

Just received this piano last night and set it up. From the moment I opened the box I was very impressed. First of it is packaged in a very thoughtful and efficient manner. The package is very dense much like how you find expensive china or crystal packaged. Not much wasted space and minimal Styrofoam. Each piece is wrapped and positioned in a manner that prevents scratching both in transit and when taking it out of the box. The box feels like one solid piece when it arrives. If i could give one tip it would be to have an extra set of hands when moving the box. It says 66 kilos on it but its every bit of 200 pounds in my opinion. I moved it and assembled it myself and now my back is screaming.On to the appearance. The piano itself looks and feels very nice. Once assembled it looks as if it cost much more than it does. Its pressed particle board of course but the finish is clean and even. There are no rough edges dings, dents, or areas that are unfinished or uneven. I cant see how anyone would have issue with this piano being displayed in their home. We got what I think they call black walnut but its just a deep basic black.Very nice to look at.Assembly was straight forward. The instructions are on the top of the box so don't throw it out or rip it when opening. It basically comes down to 8 support screws that hold the stand an main unit together and a combination of 6 other screws that attach the decorative back. All the support screw holes are metal inserts so no need to torque them too tight for them to hold.The wood screws that hols the back on are all pre-drilled so as long as you line everything up properly there's no drama there either. We got the optional Yamaha headphones (which i do not recommend) so there's a headphone hangar that needs to be installed as well. Its just two screws on the bottom, goes on very easy. As long as you have help lifting the main unit on to the stand to install it shouldn't take more than an hour to put together. Once its done it feels very sturdy. I saw a review that said the seat that comes with it wasn't very sturdy. Either they changed it or that person got a lemon. The seat we got with ours is rock solid.Lastly is how it functions. I'm not a musician so you may want to take this part with a grain of salt. I have compared this unit with a real piano and I cant tell the difference. Granted I haven't done a side by side but I'm guessing only someone with a trained ear would be able to tell. There is no detectable telltale sign of synthesized reproduction like with a Casio or other type keyboard. To me it sounds like a real piano. The keys also feel like the ones on a real piano. You get the sensation that you are moving something inside the unit when you press them. There is resistance and subtle feedback like with mechanical keys on an acoustic. I found myself pressing them over and over wondering "how did they do that". I haven't gone through any of the functions or connected my I-pad to the unit yet but the player function is nice. I could imagine using it for pleasant background music during dinner parties or something.I'll probably add a little more detail to this review once my daughter has used this piano for a while but my initial impression is very positive. I feel that I got every penny's worth in terms of quality and look forward to my kid learning to play.

UPDATE Jan/2018: The problem was real but it managed to go away right before I was going to take it to the licensed repair shop for warranty. I still don't know if it was mechanical or electronic. The one thing I did do proximal to the problem going away was I connected my IPAD to the console and used the Arius controller app (in AppStore) that can be used to config most of the keyboard controls that can otherwise be set using the analog button combinations (voice, sensitivities,etc.) Perhaps this connection triggered some reset in the system, or perhaps it was coincidentalEither way I've upgrade my initial 2-star rating to 4-star as, when it's working, it sounds and plays extremely well.Original:If it hadn't broken I might give 5 stars. If it can be easily fixed them I'm downgrading to one star. I've had my Arius 143 for 3 months. At first it sounded great and no problems at all; assembly easy and teaching my kids to use it also easy. But then it started the weird behavior. When I press certain pairs of keys a third key plays (VERY LOUDLY) as I had had played that key. If, while holding down first two keys, try to play that 3rd key, nothing happens; as if I'm already holding that 3rd key down. I have to arrange service and take it apart. I hope this goes well because it looks and sounds very nice _when it's working_.Will also contact Amazon but they may have a limited replacement for items like this. The "RETURN ITEM" button is not showing on my order list.

I am a professional musician (not a pianist) and my son is taking piano lessons. I decided it was time to upgrade the very basic keyboard I had been using for Finale entry, ear training, and to plunk out ideas for years and get something with weighted keys for my son to practice on. After a lot of research, I chose the YDP143R. It appears on many "best digital pianos under $1000" and "best beginner digital piano" lists.The sound is very good, if not outstanding. It is plenty good for non-professional use in a medium size room (living room or similar). The touch of the keyboard is also very good if not outstanding. The graded weighting gives you the exact feel you would get on a decent acoustic piano that was somewhat broken in - it actually feels a lot closer to a professional acoustic piano that the upright acoustic I grew up with. The keys have a very small amount of left-right play (most people will probably not notice this - it's pretty subtle).In my research, what I found was that in order to improve in any significant way on this model, you'll need to spend at least another $500. The 163 model has bigger more powerful speakers and a bit less of that left-right play on the keyboard. But it's a fair bit more money. Personally, I think that unless you are a very serious or advanced student, aspiring professional, or just somebody who has money to burn, the 143 is likely to be a pretty ideal choice.If you are a professional, you'll want to look at the Clavinova series or similar models of other brands, assuming a quality acoustic instrument is not in the budget. If you are a student aspiring to be a professional, I'd seriously consider doing the same. For most students, or amateur enthusiasts, this piano is right in the sweet spot - more than good enough and priced very well.All that said, a few observations: It does take a bit of set up, but it's nothing anybody with a fleeting familiarity with a screwdriver can't tackle, although you may want to recruit a friend to assist you in a couple spots during the process. The overall piano is relative light - you won't be lifting it by yourself easily, but moving it around is easy enough for one person, and two people can move it up or down stairs fairly easily. The keyboard cover seems to be in need of a little improvement; the plastic is medium quality and the sliding action is loose along part of the track and kind of tight along part - not a deal breaker at all, just a minor annoyance that may even go away with use. The pedal board could use a little reinforcement. The control buttons are not intuitive - you can plug your phone or tablet into the USB jack and use an app to control the features - I'd recommend doing this if you have any desire to switch voices, record yourself, or use the metronome.Unless you need a whole lot more instrument, this is a very solid choice.