Yamaha PSR-175AD Portable Electronic Keyboard with Adapter

by Yamaha

Product Features

• 61 Piano-size keys with 100 songs built-in
• Yamaha PA3C power adapter is included
• A special port on each speaker adds a powerful impact to bass sound reproduction
• Exclusive "DJ" function to modify sound
• General MIDI makes for great sound

Product Details

Product Manual [4.94mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 30 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0002AGMD2
• Item model number: PSR175AD
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,209 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The 61 key PSR175 may have an entry-level price, but don't be fooled; it comes with a host of advanced features--like the Portable Grand. The Portable Grand button is perfect for beginners and students. No matter what buttons and features you've been playing with (for example, the drums or DJ), one touch of the Portable Grand button instantly resets the keyboard to the finest on-board piano, top to bottom. Yamaha is known around the world for the quality of our acoustic pianos and this attention to detail is evident as you enjoy the warmth and clarity of the PSR175 Portable Grand stereo-sampled piano. And of course, the keyboard includes a Sustain Pedal jack on the back for practicing and playing piano pieces.

"DJ" function
If your kid doesn't think keyboard is cool, wait 'til he hears this! Get the world of Hip Hop, R and B, Techno and all the hottest music in your Yamaha keyboard. Push the DJ button, hold down a key with your right hand, and you're groovin'!

Metronome
Just what the teacher ordered! A fully adjustable metronome is just a button push away.

Yamaha Education Suite: Helps you learn to play
The PSR175 has 100 built-in songs with Songbook for you to learn to play, using the Yamaha Education Suite. The songs are separated into left and right hand parts, providing 7 levels of lessons plus a convenient chord dictionary.

• Three keyboard lessons for each hand. Timing mode: You can play the melody or chord by pressing any key using the correct timing. Waiting mode: Playback pauses until you find and play the correct chord or melody note. Minus One mode: Mute the left-hand, right-hand, or both parts of a song and play along nonstop.
• Lesson grading monitors your progress as you practice each lesson.
• Chord dictionary shows you how to play chords and tells you which chords you are playing by displaying the notes and chord name on the LCD screen.

Sound quality:

• Bass Boost System: A special port on each speaker adds a powerful impact to bass sound reproduction.
• Stereo (not just 2 Speakers): We all know that stereo sound adds realistic character and spatial depth. But how can you tell if the portable keyboard you're looking to purchase is stereo or not? With Yamaha, the answer is simple. All Yamaha Portable Keyboards are true stereo.

Auto-accompaniment styles
In addition to the 100 songs mentioned above, the PSR175 also has auto-accompaniment features that "follow" your playing. Simply select a style of music from the 100 built-in styles (example Rock), play a single note or chord on the left side of the keyboard and play your melody on the right side. The PSR175 will create a backup band (bass, drums, strings, guitar etc.) and "follow" you through the song. You can play your songs and try different genres of music. It's both fun and entertaining.

16-note polyphony
In computers, more memory is always better. In keyboards, it's polyphony. In electronic keyboards, the more sounds played at the same time, the more memory is needed. More polyphony is always better. 16 notes polyphony is adequate for a beginner's needs.

Voices and multipads
In addition to the Portable Grand mentioned above, the PSR175 comes with a selection of voices from you to choose from--a total of 100 in all. Just some of the great sounds you'll find in this keyboard are trumpets, violins, electric pianos, harpsichord, organ, guitars and bass guitar. You'll also find 4 Multipads buttons that access 10 banks of phrases and drum fills. Just press one (or more) of the Multipad buttons and it will play a musical phrase or drum fill that will match the music you're playing! Very cool.

Midi
The music pathway to your computer and the Internet is MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It's the way that electronic musical instruments communicate with each other and computers. With this keyboard, you have access to thousands of MIDI sources on the Internet.

Connectivity
The PSR175 features MIDI In/Out, Sustain Pedal jack and a Headphone jack for private practice.

Product Description

Yamaha PSR-175AD Portable Electronic Keyboard with Adapter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

151 of 151 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This keyboard's a toy, March 20, 2005

By 

a marx brother (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yamaha PSR-175AD Portable Electronic Keyboard with Adapter (Electronics)

I beg to differ with the previous reviews. Before I go on, let me state for the record that I have been playing classical piano for over 15 years, and I bought this keyboard for jamming and multitrack recording (both midi/audio).

First, for those who are confused with the entry level Yamaha portable keyboards, the PSR-175AD is almost exactly the same as the PSR-175 and the PSR-172. The only difference is that the PSR-172 is much more widely available than the 175s. That said, let's analyze the more important features:

Keys: You get what you pay for. 61-keys is quite all right for beginners and for those who want to do some basic multitrack recording. Better players should go for a bigger keyboard, unless you don't mind using the transpose feature. However, I gave this keyboard a low rating because the keys are not truly touch-sensitive. These keys are not sensitive to the amount of force you exert on them -- the volume for each key remains the same regardless of the amount of force you exert on it. Instead, the keys are only sensitive to the length of time that they are depressed (this should have been called a portable organ instead). By playing on this keyboard, you will never be able to develop a feel for a real piano which requires varying amounts of force applied to different keys. Thus I would not recommend this keyboard for serious beginning piano players because it only hurts your musical foundation.

As for the other features, the sound patches are adequate for most users and are rather standardized in similar entry-level keyboards. I have no complaints because most of the main instruments are there and sound decent enough (piano, organs, guitars,wind, drums,etc). There is also an automated drum synthesizer that's been preprogrammed to different music genres (e.g. soul, rock, jazz, blues, etc).

Regarding size and weight, this is a small and light keyboard and I have no trouble carrying it around to jamming sessions.

On a final note, I recommend shelling out a little more (about $50) for the PSR-273, another 61-keyboard which is just one step higher and offers touch response keys that feel and react more like a real piano. A touch response key produces a louder sound when you strike it harder, vice-versa. Further, the PSR-273 is only slightly larger and heavier.

Hope this review helps. =)

48 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great keyboard.. Includes power cord unlike other sellers, November 15, 2004

By 

stereowiz1 "stereowiz1" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yamaha PSR-175AD Portable Electronic Keyboard with Adapter (Electronics)

I bought this keyboard elswhere. Wish I had bought it here. Amazon includes the power cord. Great keyboard, great sound. The Grand Piano feature is the best!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great sound, February 14, 2005

By 

KT (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yamaha PSR-175AD Portable Electronic Keyboard with Adapter (Electronics)

I bought this keyboard on sale at Wal-Mart for about $90 after tax, as a Christmas present for my boyfriend. I was a little nervous about not being able to listen to it beforehand, but boy it sounds great! The Portable Grand feature is especially nice with a sound very similar to a real piano. It has many other features too, including many other instrument sounds, backbeats, and a built-in tutorial program complete with book of sheet music for 100 (short) songs. One very nice thing is that it comes with a power adapter so that you can start playing right away... I noticed some of the other keyboards did not include this.
My boyfriend is really enjoying this keyboard and has taught himself 4 of the songs from the book in just the last two months (playing two-handed), with no previous musical training! His sister was so impressed when she heard it that she went out and ordered the same model from Amazon for herself. I think the other reviewers are right that this would have cost a lot more money a few years ago. It has a ton of great features and is really a fantastic keyboard for the price.