Of all the pianos we tested, the Yamaha Arius YDP-181 felt most like an acoustic piano. The keyboard action is firm and responsive, and the pedals have nice sensitivity. The default Grand Piano 1 sound is good with a sparkly high end; and the panel controls are clearly marked and easy to navigate. The speakers don’t envelop you in sound as much as some others we tested, and it comes in only a dark rosewood finish, but it’s the one piano I constantly go back to and would enjoy playing all day.

The YDP-181 has Yamaha’s Graded Hammer action, one of the company’s midrange quality actions. To emulate the feel on an acoustic grand piano, the key weight and response varies throughout the keyboard range. Lower-range keys have a heavier touch that gets lighter as you move up into the higher octaves. This replicates the difference in hammer weights on an acoustic grand piano, where the hammers are heavier in the bass and lighter in the treble.

Action affects playability, but—especially for experienced players—it is a personal choice. For both Liz Kinnon and I, the YDP-181 hit the sweet spot. It felt good to our fingers, and I found it to be the most enjoyable to play at length. Phil Metzler thought it played well, but it was a little stiff for his taste, while Rita Davis found the action to be too quick and didn’t have the weight she desired. But overall, it was the easiest to control chord voicing—manipulating the relative volumes of notes within chords—of any piano we tested, meaning a student can grow into understanding the nuance of touch and develop this skill as his or her musicianship blossoms.

The pedal sensitivity is impressive as well. The damper allows for half pedaling. On an acoustic piano it is possible to depress the right pedal so the dampers just lightly touch the strings and slightly alter the tone of the notes rather than creating a full sustain. When half pedaling was first introduced into digital pianos, the effect was pretty much on or off depending on your foot pedal position. With more recent pianos there are finer gradations of effect. The YDP-181 achieves this beautifully. The damper resonance is also adjustable. Turning this effect on adds the sounds that occur when the damper pedal is depressed on a piano and the dampers are released from the strings. It’s a nice touch, and allows for more advanced techniques as a student advances.

There are 14 sounds on the Yamaha YDP-181, including grand pianos, electric pianos, harpsichords, a vibraphone, organs, strings, a choir, and a guitar. Some of the samples, including the default Grand Piano 1, were created with Yamaha’s proprietary sampling system called AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) Dynamic Stereo Sampling. Multiple samples were recorded at various velocities, and those samples are played back depending on how quickly the keys are played. The Grand Piano 1 sound is comprised of newly recorded samples from a full-size concert grand piano. The result is an authentic-sounding instrument. While the piano sounds are great, some of the other sounds leave something to be desired, in particular the choir and strings. But since the primary purpose of the keyboard is to emulate a piano, we can accept the less-than-authentic chorus of ooohh’s.

The YDP-181 controls are well laid out, and selected buttons are clearly illuminated. Photo: Rozette Rago

The YDP-181 controls are well laid out, and selected buttons are clearly illuminated. Photo: Rozette Rago

The YDP-181 controls are well laid out, and selected buttons are clearly illuminated. Photo: Rozette Rago

The YDP-181 controls are well laid out, and selected buttons are clearly illuminated. Photo: Rozette Rago

The YDP-181 controls are well laid out, and selected buttons are clearly illuminated. Photo: Rozette Rago

The YDP-181 controls are well laid out, and selected buttons are clearly illuminated. Photo: Rozette Rago 1 of 4

The control panel layout is clear and easy to use. There are voice select buttons for each instrument so you don’t have to scroll through multiple instruments stored on one button. You can also press two at a time to combine the sounds. The sound buttons—for brilliance (brightness), reverb, and effects—have the options listed above them, and the selected option has a light illuminated next to it so there’s no confusion as to what is on. There is built-in data storage for recording songs. Songs can be recorded in two parts and saved to an external USB drive.

Under the console is a pair of In and Out MIDI connections for a MIDI device or interface to connect to your computer. The two headphone jacks are on the left end, under the key bed. There is also a three-way speaker toggle that turns the internal speakers off, on, or on as long as headphones are not connected. There is a headphone hanger next to the jacks to store your headphones, but there isn’t much clearance if they have a thick headband.

A bench is included, although it doesn’t have any storage for music books. Some reviews have mentioned that it’s thinner than they would like, but none of our testers had an issue. It certainly is not wide enough for more than one person. Also included is a music collection of piano pieces, 50 Greats for the Piano.

The Yamaha Arius YDP-181 comes with a three-year limited warranty. This covers parts and labor for any repairs that are necessary due to defective parts or malfunctions. If Yamaha decides the unit needs to be replaced, you will be responsible for any initial shipping charges if the piano must be shipped for warranty service. Yamaha will pay for return shipping in the United States.