Yamaha CK Series Review - After A Year Of Usage

This is my review on the Yamaha CK Series stage pianos (CK61 & CK88) after a year of ownership and pretty heavy usage; daily at home and multiple gigs!

Here are some affiliate links if you would like to check out current prices and availability on the Yamaha CK61 or CK88:

Online Piano Training I Recommend:

[InventorZahran]

The first time I tried a CK88, I was able to quickly find a sound I liked and start playing without any prior knowledge of how it worked. That to me is proof of a good UI design!

[knuteboy]

I have my Ck61 being delivered soon and I can't wait. I for one am glad for the the narrower distance for octaves. I have smaller hands, and I like to practice these blues licks that have stretches that pianists with big hands have no problem with, but push me to the edge. So I think this key bed will be easier on my hands.

[georgeargon]

I'm returning to the piano after an absence of decades. The Yammy CK 88 crossed my radar. Thanks for an informative review, which helped me decide to go ahead with the purchase. I'll be adding a Novation 49SL MKII controller and a BOSS Kantana 60 bass amp to the (home) setup.

[kosomolsk]

@12:28 I've recently finally saw both CK61 and CK88 in my local shop, and I have to agree. From the player's position, it's actually weaker than the PSR-E373's 2.5Wx2 speakers, and comparing it to the DGX-670's 6Wx2 (also in shop) makes the importance of speaker placement clear.

The main benefit of downwards or rearward facing speakers is likely to be the audience, not the player. The DGX is already loud enough I turn it down to below 50% when the accompaniment gets busy - with the CK I can be perfectly comfortable with max volume. Hopefully the audience is enjoying it, even if the player isn't.

[dannuttle]

No joke--I was considering this keyboard again, and wondered about reliability. So I started a search, and thought, I bet Piano Tone would know, I wish he would post--AND HERE IT IS!

[zPianodude]

Fantastic review Tony! Thank you so much! I've been using a MODX8 at home to record for a while which I really love. And also an older MOX8 at church. Looking to replace the older church one because of issues and was thinking of changing out for the MODX8+ but just came across the CK88 at the store. Am really impressed with how easy it seems to adjust just like you were saying in your review and the great feel and sound. And for sharing with other players who aren't as technical, it really seems like a great way to go. Your review really helped with more insight into many of the great features. From what I can tell it has much of the same amazing Yamaha piano sound as the MODX8 which I fell in love with a while back so I think this is the one!

[stevierobertsmusic]

Another helpful review. I bought the Yamaha CK88 a few weeks back. I already have the Yamaha MODX8 which I bought 3 years ago plus a Yamaha P121 . Initial thoughts are that the GHS action in the CL88 on the model I have is slightly more sluggish. Hopefully playing it in will loosen things a little in time. I am finding though that the main piano tones sound so much better on the CK compared to the MODX. The velocity settings..key to sound relationship is perfect. Haven't gigged with it yet but will soon for commercial gigs. ( Korg Liano is being delivered soon which will cover casual jams/open mics). All the best. Stevie

[jayswitzer]

the CK 61 is so great and easy to use i sold my Nord Stage 3. I didn't buy it to replace the stage 3 i just needed something portable. and now I'm looking at buying the 88. It is the absolute most powerful intuitive fun keyboard/synth any body has been able to buy in the 40 years i've been noodling on synths, and rhodes. $1200 for the CK61 is unbelievable. You are right every patch sounds great. The layout is spectacular, and you don't need a manual to learn anything. The mic in is a bit goofy. and no music stand is really dumb. A separate slider on the surface for the mic input volume would be great. Sold the Nord stage 3 for $4500, i can buy 2 CK88's for that price and have much more fun IMO. instantly gratifying keyboard. ... Also, consider all your fav pro players doing huge live concert gigs over the years, from the 70s to present, the CK could easily fit the bill for almost everything anyone would need.

[nsns]

Thank you so much for this insightful information. Really a treasure of feedback

[jeffeason]

Another great video Tony! Love your channel. I always look forward to hearing about your insights and experiences.

I gig w the CK61. The 88 has the nice GHS and the advantages of the extra keys BUT many places we play require lugging our gear a long ways and/or up stairs and around tight spaces. In the end the smaller and lighter CK61 has been worth the tradeoffs for me. But I would be interested in moving up to a CK73/76 if that ever becomes available.

Keep rocking! And keep posting!

[giovannipepe]

Excellent review. It's extremely useful knowing about the little niggles in advance. The music stand issue, the protective case, the power cable, the downward firing speakers. These are all things that really befuddle me too. I know keeping costs down in production is an issue, but as a prospective buyer it makes me think what else have Yamaha not thought about in their design.
Anyway, great review, very useful information. Thanks 👍

[sonicgr]

The MODX/MODX+ 6 also has a similar soft case as the CK61, and the weight is just fine when used as a backpack. These are instruments meant to be moved. It only misses internal speakers of course.

[Najvrtson]

I have CK61 for short time now. The internal speakers are loud sufficiently for acoustic rehearsals etc., but you need increase gain of internal amplifier. The default setting is 0 dB, I use +9 dB and maximum is +24 dB. The instrument is excellent except of the keybed. It is too soft, narrow and becomes noisy in short time. Despite this I love my CK61.

[Instrumental-Covers]

I'd like to provide a little bit of insight into the speaker design of the Yamaha CK88 and Yamaha P125. Both keyboards have downward-facing speakers. The CK88 has oval (12 cm x 6 cm) speakers, and the P125 has (circular) 12 cm speakers. The area of a 12 cm (diameter) circle is 113 squared cm, and the area of a (12 cm x 6 cm) ellipse is 56 squared cm. So, basically, the CK88 speakers move half the volume of air than the P125 speakers at the same wattage.

A common design of speaker systems in digital pianos is that speakers are not always enclosed in boxes. For example, the Yamaha P125, Roland FP30X, and Kawai ES120 have speakers inside the digital piano case, but they don't have individual boxes. Other models, such as the Yamaha DGX670, Yamaha P525, Yamaha P-S500, Roland FP60X/90X, and Kawai ES520/920 have speakers in "ported" boxes (a hole with a pipe inside the box to enhance the low frequency response). Each design has its advantages and drawbacks: placing a speaker without any box inside the digital piano case allows the back wave of the speaker to fill the cabinet with sound, for a more natural piano tone... a bit similar to open-back guitar speaker cabinets. Ported designs provide a tighter, more accurate sound, better bass response, but at the expense of a more expansive natural sound, somehow similar to a closed-back guitar speaker cabinet. Oftentimes, both approaches are mixed into the design of some digital pianos, such as the Yamaha Clavinova CLP-745, which has 16 cm downward-facing woofers (no box) and 8 cm speakers contained in individual boxes facing the player.


When speakers are not contained in individual boxes, the sound fills the entire cabinet and leaks through any hole. In the case of the Yamaha P125, the sound comes not only from the speakers facing downward, but also from the keyboard itself! Do the following experiment: play a demo song on the P125 and cover the keyboard (without covering the speakers) with a thick blanket... the sound becomes very muted. This is because the separation between the keys allow sound to disperse, and this is one of the most important sources of sound in models such as the P125, FP30X, and ES120. While these models may have "sound ports" (for example, the P125 has a number of holes on the back), the separation between the keys is arguably the most important source of sound dispersion, in conjunction with the speaker holes.

The CK88 has the smaller speakers located on the back of the case, whereas the P125 has the speakers under the keyboard. This allows more sound to leak out directly through the keyboard, where the CK88 speakers have the top plastic panel over them. While sound can still get out through the CK88 keyboard, it must do so using a less direct pathway.

In addition, the P125 has two big holes on top of its case. You might think these are "speaker" holes... they are not. There are no speakers there: the sound comes indirectly from the main 12 cm downward-facing speakers. The CK88 doesn't have any dedicated holes on top. This means the P125 has more ways to allow sound to come out of the case.

The P125 has two tweeters on top, located toward the inner portion of the "speaker" holes, but their effect is minimal for piano sounds. In fact, if you cover the tweeters completely, the piano sound is almost not affected at all. You lose a bit of the brilliance, but not that much. The tweeters are much more important when using the built-in drum patterns, since drums easily reach the 20K hertz, whereas piano sounds are pretty much done around 6K-7K hertz for all practical purposes (this can be easily shown using digital filters in piano recordings), and even less (around 3K hertz) for warm piano samples. In other words, the 12 cm speakers handle most of the piano sound by themselves. This is why the Roland FP30X and Kawai ES120 can get away with not having dedicated tweeters. Or the P45/P143 for that matter.

To summarize: both the CK88 and P125 have downward-facing speakers in box-less designs that fill the entire cabinet with sound. However, the P125 has, at least in design, some advantages:

1) upward-facing holes that allow the downward-facing speakers to breathe

2) tweeters on top, but they are not that relevant for piano sounds, particularly for people in the audience. The 12 cm full range speakers can easily handle most piano frequencies, within reasonable understanding of the term "full range" (more like 100 Hz - 10K Hz).

3) 12 cm speakers move twice more air than oval 12 cm x 6 cm speakers, which may impact overall volume and roundness of tone. They might also have a higher sensitivity (how loud they play at 1 watt, typically measured at 1 kHz), as larger full range speakers usually have higher sensitivity values than smaller ones.

4) 12 cm speakers are located under the keyboard, which serves as one of the most important sources of sound dispersion.

Covering the keyboard with a thick blanket and playing a demo song reveals how important the keyboard slots are: you will get a very dull, tiny sound. The CK88 speakers are located towards the back, which makes more difficult for the sound to reach your ears via the keyboard slots.

[cinepost]

Velcro is amazing, try some. And I am glad you went with the 88, the action is great.

[metanoiax]

My complaint is on the transition of the live sets, when i change a live set while a string for example is sustained, the volume either goes loud or softer.

Another is when turning off the voices while playing, it shuts off completely even with the sustain on, this issue is not present in the dual feature of the psr series, it could be better if the sound goes on until the sustain pedal is lifted or a gradual fading out of volume.

[tonyr.]

Just bought the 61 and a power bank. Now to tweak some sounds.

[robertsaunders]

Tony, I know your musical life is very busy and just hoping that you will be able to find the time to produce some more of your exceptional DGX670 videos.

[mfurman]

Tony, as you said Hammond digital organ have a standard octave width
(XK-4: Octave width: 16.5cm; white key length ~13.5cm)

Yamaha YC-61 on the other hand has:

Octave width: 16.1cm; white key length ~14cm

I like YC-61 very much.

Michael

[FormulaXFD]

The 'boom' is a digital artifact from the sound engine. There is a power-up default value in software, and then when the signal chain starts up, establishes a new value. The change in value is both fast and large, which is effectively an impulse; the effect chain operates on that data which propagates through, causing that 'effect.' [You'll see this a fair bit in the effects world]