Product Review: Yamaha Arius YDP-165 – Entry-Level Home Piano

The electric pianos of the current Arius generation offer enhanced sound characteristics, particularly when compared to their predecessor models. The most interesting model is certainly the Yamaha Arius YDP-165, with which Yamaha combines quality with an attractive price.

In looks and dimensions the new 165 Arius matches its predecessor model YDP-164 exactly, the same goes for the weight of 42 kilos. Available currently for around 1,300 euros, one immediately recognizes the typical inexpensive look: Thus, compared to more expensive home pianos, no front legs are offered on this piano, the rear panel is shorter and the stand comes with plastic feet.

Digital piano for the living room

The Yamaha YDP-165 is a classic electric piano for the living room – its high quality stems from rock solid workmanship. The YDP-165 doesn’t have to do without small details like clips on the music stand, a felt strip behind the keys, an aluminium strip on the keyboard cover or a headphone hook.

Further is it available in four color variants: Rosewood and White Ash are offered alongside the black and white versions. As always, those who buy it still have to assemble it, which Yamaha recently demonstrated in an assembly video.

Modern, slim design

If you prefer a modern digital piano instead of the classic home piano design, go for the slim version Arius YDP-S55. From a purely technical point of view, it is identical to the Yamaha YDP-165, only it is built a bit more compact. Another very practical feature is that the keyboard lid also serves as a music stand when opened. Once the keyboard lid is closed, the piano can also be used as a small desk.

Tip for beginners: Yamaha YDP-165 Set

Whether it’s the home piano or the slim version, beginners who are buying their first digital piano should take a look at bundle offers from online retailers. Here you can get the instrument as well as necessary accessories such as a piano bench and headphones for the best price.

All the functions

With ten sounds, the YDP-165 focuses on the essentials, and any two sounds can quickly be layered. The polyphony performance of 192 voices is fairly high for the entry-level class, but a bass sound and the split function have been omitted. However, the Duo function for piano lessons is on board, which makes the grand piano sound playable on two separate keyboard halves. Correspondingly, there are two headphone jacks in standard jack design.

While the power switch and the volume control are located to the right of the keyboard, the other buttons of the control panel are placed on the far left. In the absence of a display with menu buttons, the majority of the piano keys are used for operation. An enlightening overview can be found on the back of the included manual.

Connections of the Yamaha YDP-165

An Android tablet or iPad can be docked via the USB-to-host port, then the Yamaha “Smart Pianist” app can be used to operate it. It’s a real convenience booster. As is the USB audio/MIDI function, which – as with the Clavinova series – is also found in the Yamaha Arius series. USB audio/MIDI is an advantage for anyone who wants to connect their digital piano to mobile devices or audio computers in the easiest way possible, e.g. for online lessons, recording with a DAW or playing with piano apps.

Grand sound

The selling point of the Yamaha Arius YDP-165, as well as of the entire current YDP series, is the sampled piano sound of a Yamaha CFX concert grand, which originates from the manufacturer’s more expensive Clavinova home piano series. In the Arius series, “CFX Grand” sounds first-class and distinctly realistic. It can be played very dynamically, from pianissimo up to a great fortissimo.

For string, damper and cabinet resonances, so-called virtual resonance modeling (VRM) works in the background. The difference to the Clavinovas: While there are usually different VRM parameters available, using which you can still change the grand piano sound character, the VRM on the new Arius pianos can only be switched on and off. Yamaha therefore refers to this as “VRM lite”, which works with fixed basic settings. However, it is important that these subtleties can basically be dynamically reproduced by the piano sound, as it promotes realism in the playing behavior.

The nine remaining sounds of the YDP-165 form further strong timbres. Besides two grand piano variants (“Mellow” and “Pop”), electric piano sounds from the Fender Rhodes and DX7, a successful harpsichord with “Key-Off” samples, a full-bodied vibraphone, good church and Hammond organs as well as great strings in stereo width are pleasing.

The keyboard – a highlight

You immediately feel at home on the YDP-165’s keyboard. This tried-and-true “Graded Hammer 3” (GH3), familiar from the previous model, is quite heavily weighted, with four graded sections across the entire keyboard. A three-sensor technique in the tone release ensures that repetitions are possible without having to cover the entire key range, thanks to the third sensor making keys fall more easily.

An Ivory/Ebony coating for better grip is featured on both the white and black keys. In conjunction with this keyboard, the CFX-Grand really plays great and controllable right off the bat. The keyboard’s basic response can be adjusted with three dynamic curves.

Good speaker system

The YDP-165’s internal playback system continues to work with two twelve-centimeter speakers and 2×20 watts of power, as known from the predecessor. New, however, are slots on the back of the cabinet, which make the sound seem more three-dimensional and also influence the sound character depending on the position – on the wall or in the middle of the room.

The manufacturer refers to this as “Tone Escapement”, to give it a technical name. The overall sound is quite balanced for a piano of this class and can get fairly powerful and voluminous. Equally exemplary: The built-in speakers can be turned on or off at will, even when using headphones.

Practicing the piano with the YDP-165 …

The Lesson section of the new Arius models has been expanded compared to the previous generation. In addition to the 50 piano pieces, for which a music book is again included, there are now also 303 integrated Lesson songs – behind them are piano etudes by Hanon, Czerny and others, i.e. practice pieces from classical piano lessons. When using the “Smart Pianist” app on a tablet, you can reproduce all these pieces including notation and tone tracking, and using playback practice them yourself.

… and Smart Pianist app

The Smart Pianist app also lets you integrate audio songs from your mobile device and play them back through the speakers or headphones connected to the piano. Even a chord recognition function for audio songs is built in, allowing you to create your own leadsheets in a snap.

While the piano also offers a built-in metronome and a simple two-track MIDI recorder, you can alternatively record yourself playing in MIDI or audio song format via the app and then save it to your mobile device.

In addition, the app comes with convenient, graphic-based controls for all YDP-165 settings, as well as registration memories for layer sounds, which are not available at all with the Arius itself. The Smart Pianist app is therefore a real gain.

Yamaha Arius YDP-165 in comparison

Yamaha YDP-165 vs. CLP-725: The toughest competitor of the YDP-165 comes from Yamaha itself: The CLP-725 of the Clavinova series was launched in 2021 already, and is available for almost the same price as the newer Arius at the time of testing –  although the originally set list prices of both pianos are 400 euros apart.

Advantages of the CLP-725 are a second elaborate grand piano main sound (Bösendorfer Imperial) next to the CFX and even more polyphony performance (256 voices), a more three-dimensional CFX binaural sample extra for the headphones, a somewhat more upscale look with front legs and a more sensitively responding keyboard (Grand-Touch S with let-off mechanism). What the smallest CLP lacks, on the other hand, are the 303 internal piano pieces of the YDP-165.

Otherwise, both instruments are almost equally equipped. Admittedly, there is also a luxury variant in the form of the CLP-725 with black high gloss finish, which the Arius series does not offer. But this one is considerably more expensive. The white ash finish is only available on the Arius model. The same applies to the speaker sound slots on the back of the cabinet (Tone Escapement).

Yamaha YDP-165 vs. YDP-145: If you want to save some money compared to the YDP-165 and buy the little brother at the current price of under 1,000 Euros, you will have to make a few concessions: On the Yamaha Arius YDP-145, these mainly concern the keyboard, which lacks the top layers with synthetic ivory and ebony imitations as well as the third sensor; furthermore, the playback system has less amplifier power and does not sound as rich as that of its big brother. You also have to do without a headphone holder and the music clips on the console.

Conclusion: Solid in sound and features

The Yamaha Arius YDP-165 is rock solid in its class: An instrument for little money with some limitations, but whose sound and playing characteristics can inspire beginners and advanced players alike.

With the sophisticated app connection, Yamaha takes advantage of the fact that most households today already have a tablet or at least a smartphone. Thus, the operating comfort, which is always limited on an inexpensive piano, nowadays almost becomes a secondary matter. The YDP-165 stands out from its predecessor with the CFX Grand à la Clavinova as well as the Tone Escapement feature and more MIDI practice material. Sounds ideal!

Yamaha Arius YDP-165 – Overview

Available since: 05.2022
Keyboard: 88 keys, Graded Hammer 3 (GH3)
Polyphony: 192 voices
Piano app: Smart Pianist, free of charge for Android/iOS
Special features: 303 practice exercises, remote control via „Smart Pianist“ app
Manufacturor/Distributor: Yamaha

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