yamaha dgx 620 lcd screen factory
My respect! this is the truth, My repair lasted a few month and finally I changed the screen module to a new one, it"s cheap in aliexpress. I can see some improvement and so far so good, 3 years already.0
This Tuesday I opened the DGX620 and checked the display. I saw no way to open it easily but when lifting a side tape I came across two (only two) backlight leds. There it was easy!
I had some similar issues with my DGX-620 that showed to be due to pressure of the flat cables contacts. This was solved using a small piece of cellulose acetate cut from a 35mm negative and inserted in between the display flat cable end the connector.
Awesome instructions. After taking out all the screws and the board, I didn"t think it was going to work because the connections on the LCD board looked perfect. But I followed the instructions exactly anyway. I have zero experience with repairing electronics but the instructions were so good that I fixed it on the first try. I especially appreciated the detail of setting the screwdriver torque to 1 so as not to strip the casing when putting it all back together. Thanks!
Great advice. Thanks! Looking to buy one of these very cheap (because - you guessed it - screen problem!). Before I attempt to fix/replace... is it possible to play as regular piano WITHOUT screen function? My daughter needs a nice keyboard for piano practice... Hate to pass this one up!
Yes, you can catch the offer, the overall quality and durability are ok, as it made by YAMAHA, sound quality is decent if the internal speaker still original, or you can just connect to an externally powered speaker system. one thing I feel the keys are little noisy compared to a Casio, the strike sound, maybe the shock absorber is getting old.... Mine one is about 7 years stationary use. Hope this help.1
Thanks for the advice on the anisotropic conductive film cable. My DGX620 LCD was down to half screen and I wanted to avoid the cost of replacement, when it was clearly only a connection issue.
Hi there! glad my note helped in solving the issue, seems it"s a genetic bug of all DGX keyboards (i just can"t call it piano even it sounds good, but the keys stoke feels toy). I do recommend you have a hot gun to finish this kind of job, as the iron slide quickly on the contact ribbon, maybe may become open again in a few days. good luck!
My screen went blank on both halves. I followed the instructions kindly provided by Zerald (see Nov. 20, 2017) A big thank you to him as it completely fixed the issue. I used a PowerFist soldering station from Princess Auto (Canada) set at 150 F (the minimum setting) to reset the glue. If you run the flat blade over the flex tape cable where it attaches to the circuit board before turning on the heat, you will feel the ridges in the flex cable. After turning on the heat to the soldering tip, I repeatedly passed over the flex tape where it joins the metal and the whole part behind where it is glued to the board (about 1/4 inch). Make sure to do both pieces of flex tape cable as each one is the data supply for either side of the screen. I powered it up after each successive try and saw the screen steadily improve from no image when I started to fully functional after three applications of heat and pressure. The final result was the flex tape cable had no ridges, the glue appears to be reset, and the screen is once again fully functioning. Other than purchasing the soldering station ($30.00 CDN) there was no other costs. I own two Yamaha guitars and two Yamaha keyboards but will never buy another Yamaha product due to their companies" lack of accountability to an obvious product flaw. I was quoted about $300.00 to have their local service company replace the screen! Appears it doesn"t need to be replaced.
What I did was undo all the necessary screws on the back to separate the control section from the keys. This gives you access to the display board and its two brown ribbon cables. pressing / rubbing them while the unit was turned on made a further mess of the screen and confirmed this was the problem.
I had similar problem with my DGX620. In my case the display sometimes got blue and sometimes worked fine. The cause was a bad contact of the display flat cable.
I opened the DGX620 and then I cut a small piece of plastic film (35mm negative) with exactly the same width of the flat, disconnect the flat cable and then reconnected it using the film on the other side (non contact side) to increase the pressure and guarantee a good contact. No more problems from nov-2012 till now.
SOLUTION);.. turn machine off INTERMITTENTLY 30 min on .... place a Makeba quartz crystal on the screen( with 4 small magnets on to top) on the portion of the screen that is blank;...in the middle of the screen if totally blank...leave on on overnight...repeat and vary. ..{ USE YOUr imagination)>... turning the machine on and off to check results..stop placing crystal when screen activates
I just found this page but I"ve had the same issue with mine for a few years. I"d love to know a solution. The keyboard plays but the screen is a mess. Half of it works. The other half does not.
It happened to my YPG-625 too. One day after turning it on I got half a screen. The problem was resolved by turning the keyboard off then turning the contrast knob all the way up (located on the front input panel). Then turning the keyboard back on and re-adjusting the contrast level. That got it back to display the full screen.
Hi, I have a big problem with my Yamaha ypg-635. I bought it in 2009 and I have not had any problems, now 2017 - 2018, when I return to my school and I tried to turn it on I can see that the control screen turns on completely but when I want to play the keys, I do not get any sound at all , I raise the volume and there is no sound. I tried with the headphones or with an amplifier and there is no sound either, but very soft in the background you hear a faint buzz soud.
The problem is in poor contact in-between LCD’s PCB and flex cables that comes to the LCD panel(two cables). It seems that Yamaha(or who manufactured this LCD assy – I do not know) uses some kind of anisotropic conductive film(instead of solder or connector) to connect those two flex cables to the PCB.
I have a Ypg-535 and seem to be having the same issue as everyone, but instead my screen is completely gone. I have only used the keyboard a total of about 8 hours in the past year, due to being busy with school work, and am wondering if this issue is possibly caused by underusage. I am wondering if there is any solution to this problem without having to buy a completely new keyboard.
Screen has been malfunctioning for years. Used to be just half gone. Now it"s fully gone. I"ve checked the contrast. My main question is will a 25$ 320 x 240 dots LCD display (backlit) not from yamaha work or do I have have to get the 113$ or more replacement screen specifically for yamaha? ctiwari2@ yahoo.com 812-361-8798
I am having a similar problem that seems to be epidemic, when adjusting the contract control the fixed half goes bad and the bad part goes good! There are replacement screens on aliexpress but man given the amount of people out there with this problem Yamaha should be held accountable.. very disappointing.
I have the same problem. However, I"m a total cheap skate and don"t want to part with $150 to buy a new screen. So, instead I attemtped to take the DGX620/YPG625 keyboard apart hoping I could get the display working without buying a new part.
Once I got the keyboard apart I pulled the screen out and plugged it back into the main board except now I had the screen facing me while the keyboard was open. Once the screen was facing me I plugged in the AC power. This way I was able to play around with the cables while seeing if the display problem got any better.
Results: I managed to find a sweet spot where the cable would recieve a good signal and the display problem disappeared completely. However, once all put back together and after playing the keys for a few minutes the display problem came back. Clearly a new LCD should not be necessary and I will attempt to take apart my keyboard again this time cleaning all display connections as well as the end of the display cable.
many yamaha key boards have this issue very early after.so please give me a solution for this issue.also i like to propose to yamaha corporation if you can include vedio out jack for every arranger key boards its very helpfull.
i have a yamaha 625 ypg keyboard i opened it up to find that there is something on the contacts of the ribbon cable thats making the contacts not work because i test the cable with a multimeter and for some reason the contacts go bad !but can any body help me get a new ribbon cable my lcd screen works i just need to replace a cable .the one with the black flat peace on it! it seems to be the problem ! my name is greg swinney i can be reached at gswinney1@ yahoo.com thanks!!!!
This should be cover by Yamaha company, poor design and poor quality. 3 years ago - during performance - piano quit. After few hrs, piano works fine. After 4 months this same problem. Purchased new transformer, but didn"t help.
Just noticed it last night. I"ll work the fix but will probably heavily de-weight Yamaha for my next keyboard purchase given how common this issue is.
I have this same problem as many others with my YPG screen going half blank! This is totally unacceptable. I"ve had my Roland D-5 for 40+ years and the screen is still the same as it was when it was purchased. Yamaha should really do something about this. This screen is defective, bottom line!
Exact same problem! Just fixed it tonight with a new lcd. Attempted to clean all the connectors first with contact cleaner and q tips. No better. Should have tried replacing the horribly double-crimped ribbon cable, but didn"t want to go out again and have a show I need this for, so I just threw in the new LCD screen. 100 bucks and two weeks to ship but it works.
Yes, I agree JamieRI! I"m absolutely shore about this problem, and first just try to cleaning the contacts! My Yamaha DGX620 had the same problem but cleaning all contacts I fix it, and now the display is full, optimal working. :)
2) Clean flex tail contacts: If it has vertical streaks or half is blank, the LCD display is quite possibly good but contacts on the flex tail fingers are tarnished, producing poor contact at the connector. (I have not done this yet, so leave comments on your success)
I enjoyed my Yamaha piano but will never buy another one or recomend. The LCD screen only shows half screen. This seems to be a common problem. Very disappointed.
"However, I did find, when removing the old part, that the LCD main ribbon cable was folded (crimped) twice by the manufacturer to better align the wire with it"s connector on the main circuit board. I was told, in my training, never to crimp these wires.
However, I did find, when removing the old part, that the LCD main ribbon cable was folded (crimped) twice by the manufacturer to better align the wire with it"s connector on the main circuit board. I was told, in my training, never to crimp these wires.
I had purchased a Yamaha PSR I455 and it also has the display problem even after one month. I think the quality of the product is very low due to China manufacturing. Also they charge more on Indian customers. If you compare the same version in USA costs only 18K instead of 25.5K here in India.
I am so glad I came upon this site and saw the picture. It is the same problem that I am having right now with mine. I will not take it apart myself over the fear of it breaking the piano and the folk"s around here in my neck of the woods are not so helpful in fixing it for me. I was told to, "Get rid of it and buy a newer one." Yeah, I really wish money grew on tree"s too." So the story with mine as possible causes are: Has been moved around a bit, never dropped. Played everyday and in OHIO. Weather such as heat/cold could be a issue to any electronic device. So would Yamaha send a tech to my house for free to fix it or is this something that"s going to cost me?
I have a YPG-625. I suggest calling an authorized dealer is seeing how much they will charge you to replace you malfunctioning LCD with a new one. They get a bigger discount from Yamaha and it may actually be cheaper. If you want to do it yourself follow the below understanding I am not a qualified service tech just a do-it-yourselfer. There are a total of 114 screws (you will want to power screw driver fully charged) and 2 solder connections (you will need a soldering Iron and solder).
11. Remove the Soldered power wires from the LCD. To do this, look at the connector on the board were this wire connects. The top part of this plastice white connector lifts up slightly (don"t pull to hard) then you can easily pull the wire out).
13. Solder this wire onto the NEW LCD. Make sure you connect the correct wire to + and the other to -. (See YouTube to solder correctly if you don"t know)
I got an error when visiting www.fullcompass.com/brand/yam-yamaha/replacement-parts/musical-instrument-parts/keyboards-and-midi-parts/?page=1&categoryOrder=Z-A&ipp=48.
Unlike conventional lcd displays, the tft lcd display would enable more functions, and provides a level of immersion sensation. Alibaba.com offers multiple choices of LCDs for wholesale buyers who are looking for a more portable lcd display in bulk, for a more convenient option.@@@@@
There are two types of LCD modules, which are the most popular. Tft lcd displays are easy to use and have a low-factible display, such as D-ac instead of D-ac displays and Dacers (Dacers), such as 4ac4 lcd display and 5ac4 LCD modules are the most popular choices. Lcd displays are easy to use and although battery-operated is not a good choice.
SERVICE MANUAL DGX-620 YPG-625 CONTENTS SPECIFICATIONS ..............3 PANEL LAYOUT ................ 4 CIRCUIT BOARD LAYOUT & WIRING ........6 BLOCK DIAGRAM ..............8 DISASSEMBLY PROCEDURE ..........9 LSI PIN DESCRIPTION ............20 IC BLOCK DIAGRAM .............. 23 CIRCUIT BOARDS ..............24 TEST PROGRAM ..............
DGX-620/YPG-625 IMPORTANT NOTICE This manual has been provided for the use of authorized Yamaha Retailers and their service personnel. It has been assumed that basic service procedures inherent to the industry, and more specifically Yamaha Products, are already known and understood by the users, and have therefore not been restated.
DGX-620/YPG-625 Location Part No. Connector Assembly Destination Remarks Flexible flat cable DM-CN201 *4 LCD WG317700 Flexible flat cable DM-CN301 *4 DJACK-CN301 *1 WG317600 Flexible flat cable DM-CN601 *4 PNL-CN01 WG317800 Flexible flat cable DM-CN602 *4 PNR-CN02 WG318100 Flexible flat cable...
DGX-620/YPG-625 DM Circuit Board (Time required: About 10 minutes) Remove the lower case assembly. (See procedure 1.) Remove the four (4) screws marked [480A]. The DM circuit board can then be removed. (Fig.4) Speaker Speaker (Tweeter(R)) (Tweeter(L)) DJACK [480G] [480A]...
DGX-620/YPG-625 ENC Circuit Board Encoder knob (Time required: About 10 minutes) Remove the lower case assembly. (See procedure 1.) Remove the encoder knob from the control panel. (Fig.5) Remove the four (4) screws marked [480H]. The ENC circuit board can then be removed. (Fig.6) (Fig.5)
DGX-620/YPG-625 LCD Unit Speaker (Woofer) (Time required: About 11 minutes) (Time required: About 10 minutes) 12-1 Remove the lower case assembly. (See procedure 1.) 13-1 Remove the lower case assembly. (See procedure 1.) 12-2 Remove the DM circuit board. (See procedure 2.) 13-2 Remove the four (4) screws marked [40].
DGX-620/YPG-625 Disassembling the Keyboard Assembly 15-2 When removing white keys numbered as A-1 and B-1 White key assembly and black key assembly 15-1 key and black key, remove two (2) screws marked Remove the four (4) screws marked [270A] fixing the [270B] and then lift the back of the keys and slide the black and white key assembly for one octave (C-B).
DGX-620/YPG-625 Actuate Rubber 15-4 Remove the actuate rubber. (Fig.12) Remove in this way. Rubber Contact 15-5 Remove the black and white key assembly for two octaves related to the subject rubber contact. The rubber contact can then be removed. (Fig.13, Fig.14)
DGX-620/YPG-625 GHL88L Circuit Board GHL88M Circuit Board 15-6 15-7 Remove the black and white key assembly (A1-B2). Remove the black and white key assembly (C1-B5). (See procedure 15-1.) (See procedure 15-1.) Remove the six (6) screws marked [260A]. The GHL88L Remove the seven (7) screws marked [260B].
DGX-620/YPG-625 GHL88H Circuit Board Hammer (White Key), (Black Key) 15-8 15-9 Remove the black and white key assembly (C5-C7). Remove the black and white key assembly for the (See procedure 15-1.) related keys. Remove the five (5) screws marked [260C]. The GHL88H With the key frame placed upside down, push the circuit board can then be removed.
DGX-620/YPG-625 Assembling the Keyboard Assembly Part Name Range for Applicable Tone Keys Hammer (White Key), (Black Key) 16-1 Hammer, W1 A-1 - F1 After applying grease to the bearing section of the Hammer, W2 G1 - E3 hammer, bring the hammer (white key)(black key)
DGX-620/YPG-625 GHL88L Circuit Board GHL88H Circuit Board 16-2 16-4 Tighten the six (6) screws marked [260A] to fix the Tighten the five (5) screws marked [260C] to fix the GHL88L circuit boards. (Fig.13) GHL88H circuit board. (Fig.13) GHL88M Circuit Board...
DGX-620/YPG-625 White key assembly and black key assembly 16-7 16-8 Use the two (2) screws marked [270B] to fix the A-1 to After applying grease to the key guide, install the white B-1 keys. (Fig.10) key assembly/black key assembly. 16-9 Use a screw marked [270C] to fix the C7 key.
DGX-620/YPG-625 S1D13700F01A100 (X5422A00) LCD CONTROLLER DM:IC201 NAME FUNCTION NAME FUNCTION Ground Ground AB12 XCD1 Drain output AB11 XCG1 Gate input AB10 Address bus RESET# Reset SCANEN Test mode set up input TESTEN HIOVDD Power supply CLKI Externally sourced system clock...
DGX-620/YPG-625 ISP1161A1BD (X5879A00) USB CONTROLLER DM: IC301 NAME FUNCTION NAME FUNCTION DGND Digital ground NDP_SEL Indicates to the HC EOT input DGND Digital ground D_SUSPEND DC "suspend" state output DATA bus D_WAKEUP DC wake-up input GoodLink LED output D_VBUS DC USB input...
DGX-620/YPG-625 DM Circuit Board ● to AM-CN104 to PNR-CN02 to PNL-CN01 to LCD Unit to GHL88M-CN2 to DJACK-CN301 Component Side Pattern Side 2NA-WG25920 1 Note: See parts list for details of circuit board component parts.
DGX-620/YPG-625 AM Circuit Board ● to Speaker PHONES to Backlight assembly to DM-CN901 (Woofer) to TW(R) to TW(L) /OUTPUT to MVR-CN601 to PB-CN401 to PSW-CN501 DC IN 12V Component Side 0.5 -1.0mm A nonwoven fabric does not overflow To pile it up in the upper side, it is pasted.
DGX-620/YPG-625 PNL Circuit Board ● ACMP INTRO/ ON/OFF ENDING/rit. STYLE SONG REPEAT & LEARN REPEAT METRONOME TEMPO/ ON/OFF LYRICS SCORE PIANO ACMP P.A.T. ON/OFF MUSIC DATABASE MENU EXECUTE FILE CONTROL NTRO/ MAIN/ SYNC SYNC DING/rit. AUTO FILL STOP START START/...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PNR Circuit Board ● SPLIT BANK VOICE RESIST PORTABLE EXIT MEMORY GRAND SPLIT ON/OFF CATEGORY CATEG DOWN VOICE STYLE EASY SONG ARRANGER SONG to ENC-CN901 to DM-CN602 SPLIT DUAL HARMONY VOICE VOICE TYPE ABLE SPLIT DUAL HARMONY ON/OFF ON/OFF...
DGX-620/YPG-625 ENC Circuit Board MVR Circuit Board ● ● Rotary Encoder MASTER VOLUME to PNR-CN3 Component Side Component Side to AM-CN204 PB Circuit Board PSW Circuit Board ● ● STANDBY/ON to AM-CN103 Component Side to AM-CN101 Component Side TW (R) Circuit Board TW (L) Circuit Board ●...
DGX-620/YPG-625 TEST No. LCD Display Test Descriptions, Judgment Criteria 002 Rom Chk1 Checks the ROM that is connected to the CPU. (OK:“Rom OK”, NG:“Rom NG”) The test results appear on the LCD. Check that the LCD displays “Rom OK”. 003 Ram Chk1 Checks the RAM that is connected to the CPU.
DGX-620/YPG-625 TEST No. LCD Display Test Descriptions, Judgment Criteria 031 Pedal1 Chk Connect the foot switch (FC-4 or FC-5) to the [SUSTAIN] jack. Check that the C3 note is output when the [START/STOP] button is pressed while stepping the pedal and the C4 note is output when releasing the pedal. The sound stops when stepping the pedal again.
DGX-620/YPG-625 Table 1 SW Name Display Note No. DIAL UP Dial Up DIAL DOWN Dial Down FILE MENU File Menu FILE EXCUTE File Excute P.A.T. P. A.T. Music Data Base MusicDataBase FUNCTION Function LYRICS Lyrics SCORE Score Chord Finger Chord Finger...
DGX-620/YPG-625 Formatting USB Flash Memory New USB flash memory must be formatted before they can be used by this instrument. Press the [EXECUTE] button again, or the [+] CAUTION button, and the format operation will begin. If you format a USB flash memory that already contains data, all of the data will be erased.
DGX-620/YPG-625 Saving Data Three types of data are saved to one "User File" by this operation: user song, style file, and registration memory data. When you save a user song the style file and registration memory are also saved automatically.
DGX-620/YPG-625 Loading User Files and Style Files User files, style files, and styles residing on a USB flash memory can be loaded into the instrument. If the required style file has already been transferred to the instrument from a computer using the Musicsoft Downloader application, start from step 2, below.
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK OVERALL ASSEMBLY DGX-620/YPG-625 総 組 立 Overall Assembly 総 組 立 DGX-620 (WF83800) Overall Assembly 総 組 立 YPG-625 (WG39450) WF839200 Upper Case Assembly DGX-620 上 ケ ー ス Ａ ｓ ｓ ’ ｙ...
V8696800 Music Rest 譜 面 板 X7225A00 CD-ROM DGX ENTRY-H Ｃ Ｄ − Ｒ Ｏ Ｍ DGX-620 E,U,C,B,N,O YPG-625 E,U,C,B Foot Pedal IN PLASTIC BAG フ ッ ト ペ ダ ル (VJ07000) V8029200 AC Adapter PA-5D E Ａ Ｃ ア ダ プ タ ー...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK LOWER CASE ASSEMBLY DGX-620/YPG-625 下 ケ ー ス Ａ ｓ ｓ ’ ｙ Lower Case Assembly 下 ケ ー ス Ａ ｓ ｓ ’ ｙ (WF83940) WF839500 Lower Case Sub Assembly 下...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK KEYBOARD ASSEMBLY DGX-620/YPG-625 Ｇ Ｈ Ｌ 鍵 盤 束 線 付 Ｃ WG707300 Keyboard Assembly GHL-C A88 K6 Ｇ Ｈ Ｌ 鍵 盤 束 線 付 Ｃ Keyboard Assembly GHL A88 K6 Ｇ...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK VC694800 Semiconductive Cera. Cap. C210 0.1000 25V Z TATET 半 導 体 セ ラ コ ン VM902400 C210 Semiconductive Cera.Cap. 0.1000 25V Z FORM. 半 導 体 セ ラ コ ン 天 津...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK VT279200 L304 Coil DX001-20UH TATEJI コ イ ル ２ ０ Ｕ 天 津 VB835000 Coil L305 FL05RD200AT TATETE コ イ ル ２ ０ Ｕ VT279200...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK US064100 C404 Ceramic Capacitor-B (chip) 0.0100 50V K RECT. チ ッ プ セ ラ （ Ｂ ） US063270 Ceramic Capacitor-B (chip) C405 2700P 50V K RECT. チ ッ プ セ ラ （ Ｂ ）...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK X3860A00 IC804 MSM51V18165F-60T3K Ｉ Ｃ X4027A00 IC804 MSM51V18165F-50T3K Ｉ Ｃ DRAM 16M X4028A00 IC804 GLT4160L16P-45TC Ｉ Ｃ X5647A00 IC805 SN74LV32APWR Ｉ Ｃ X3679A00 IC901 RH5RZ25CA-T1-F Ｉ Ｃ REGULATOR +2.5V...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK RD356100 R603 Carbon Resistor (chip) 1.0K 63M J RECT. チ ッ プ 抵 抗 RD356100 Carbon Resistor (chip) R604 1.0K 63M J RECT. チ ッ プ 抵 抗...
DGX-620/YPG-625 PART NO. DESCRIPTION REMARKS 部 品 名 REF NO. QTY RANK V2548200 Carbon Resistor 150.0 1/6J 26TP カ ー ボ ン 抵 抗 V2547300 Carbon Resistor 27.0 1/6J 26TP カ ー ボ ン 抵 抗 V2547100 Carbon Resistor 18.0 1/6J 26TP カ...
It’s fair to say that Yamaha knows a thing or two about keyboards. The Japanese company has been manufacturing them since the 1880s, and was responsible for making 54 percent of the portable keyboards sold around the world in 2019. But what are the best Yamaha keyboards you can buy today, and what makes them so special?
The sheer number of Yamaha keyboards can be overwhelming for those thinking of making a purchase, so we’ve narrowed our focus down to the company’s beginner-friendly arranger keyboards (to find out what’s meant by an arranger keyboard, click on the buying advice tab above). This rules out professional stage keyboards like the new CP88, digital pianos such as the P-125, Yamaha’s well-established range of synthesizers, including the MODX and the Motif, synth workstations like the Montage range, and also the wallet-busting Genos arranger keyboard.Our pick of the best keyboard stands for home and stage use
Choosing a favourite from such a broad range of beginner keyboards was always going to be a challenge, but in the end we plumped for the Yamaha PSR-E373(opens in new tab), as it sits firmly in the sweet spot for breadth of features, quality of sound and value for money. It really is an excellent instrument and should give you years of learning, composing and playing pleasure. There are too many great features to list here, but we were especially sold on the keyboard’s built-in audio/MIDI interface and 38 digital signal processors.
A special mention goes to the Piaggero NP-12(opens in new tab) for delivering that satisfying Yamaha digital piano tone in such a classy portable package. It also reintroduced this writer’s 90-year-old mum to the joys of playing piano during the last lockdown!
A significant upgrade on its predecessor the PSR-E363, the PSR-E373 offers features and sounds that you won’t even find on some of Yamaha’s most expensive keyboards. Among the impressive selection of 622 voices, there are 11 new Super Articulation Lite presets that faithfully reproduce the tricky-to-mimic nuances of stringed instruments such as the cello and the mandolin.
The PSR-E373 also comes with 205 accompaniment styles, plus a class-leading selection of 38 digital signal processor effects. Sounds can also be layered and/or split across the keyboard with a single button press. Yamaha’s onboard lesson system, Rec’n’Share mobile app compatibility and a useful built-in USB audio/MIDI interface round things off nicely.
Pushing the portability envelope somewhat at a hefty 8.1kg, the PSR-SX600 is the lowest-priced model in Yamaha’s SX range of pro-level keyboards. Blurring the lines between a portable arranger and a proper workstation keyboard, it packs in a lot of high-end features, justifying its status as the most expensive instrument on our list. Real-time control over a range of user-assignable settings, an informative 4.3” TFT colour LCD screen, two powerful 15W speakers and 128-note polyphony are just a few of the highlights here.
Known as the YPT-270 in some markets, the PSR-E273 is the entry-level product in Yamaha’s E-series of arranger keyboards. Its more-affordable price tag is reflected in the lack of some of the more sophisticated features found on the PSR-E373, such as velocity-sensitive keys, MIDI capability, LCD backlighting, and the ability to split and layer sounds across the keyboard.
You still get a lot for your money, though, including 61 full-size keys, 401 sounds from Yamaha’s renowned AWM sample library, and 143 styles to play along with. With 112 songs, Yamaha’s built-in lesson feature will help you to polish your playing skills, and there’s even an entertaining ‘guess the note’ quiz mode.
Yamaha"s range-topping E-series keyboard builds on the PSR-E373’s fabulous feature set with extras like an upgraded LCD screen, a 32-slot patch memory, a proper pitch-bend wheel, a 3.5mm auxiliary audio input and a quick-sampling mode.
Looking for a keyboard that’ll help your kids learn to play? The Yamaha PSS-F30 is designed with children in mind, boasting a number of fun, educational features, not to mention a tiny form factor.
Available in two wood-effect finishes – dark walnut or maple – the PSR-E360 is one of Yamaha’s more-stylish keyboards (you can also get a plain black version). But there’s a lot of substance behind that smart exterior, with 384 voices, 130 auto-accompaniment styles and a 112-track Song Book on board.
Something a little different, the PSS-A50 does not come with a standard auto-accompaniment feature. Instead, it has a phrase recorder, an arpeggiator and what Yamaha calls ‘motion effects’ – pitch, filter and modulation features that can be called up instantly by pressing a button.
Yamaha’s piano-making pedigree is second to none, and this portable piano-style keyboard is a brilliant solution for kids to learn on, or for more mature pianists who don’t have room for a full-size piano.
One of four retro-themed mini keyboards in the Reface range – the others being an FM synthesiser (the Reface DX), an organ (the Reface YC) and an analogue synthesizer (the Reface CS) – the Reface CP is a tiny, modern tribute to Yamaha’s 1970s electric pianos.
For us, the PSR-E373 gets the nod because it’s cheaper, and not everyone will like the EZ-300’s white colouring – but, make no mistake, this is a very good option for budding musicians.Today"s best Yamaha keyboard deals
With a couple of exceptions, all of the models on our list fall into the ‘arranger keyboard’ category. An arranger keyboard is one that has built-in accompaniments you can play along to. These ‘backing tracks’ have traditionally had a whiff of the uncool about them – who could forget those clunky-sounding 1970s home organs played by pensioners? These days, though, the tiny digital musicians sequestered away in the bowels of your keyboard are pretty sophisticated, and although it’s still possible to sound like a Nintendo videogame intro screen if you really want to, that’s no longer the most likely outcome!
Super Articulation is Yamaha’s term for a sampled sound that emulates the behaviour of a real instrument by including certain nuances you’d expect to hear. These might include string squeaks on an acoustic guitar voice, or the sound of a saxophone player taking a breath between notes. Previously the preserve of Yamaha’s higher-end keyboards, the technology has now started to trickle down into some of the less-expensive models.
Once in a blue moon, a digital piano such as the Yamaha YPG625 and YPG525, come along that shocks everyone with its sounds, features, and price, and, wins Product of the Year and Keyboard of the Year from Music & Sound Retailer at NAMM. It"s no surprise then that the Yamaha dealers are selling them about as fast as they are receiving them. At Yamaha Musician, we went to our local Yamaha dealer to check out what the entire buzz is about.
That"s right this is one of the few home digital pianos that we"ve seen Yamaha put out with a pitch bend wheel (exception: DGX620 and DGX520 which have been discontinued and replaced by the YPG625 and YPG525). Yamaha usually puts pitch wheels on their 88-key professional series keyboards (Motif XS8 and S90ES, for example) so this is a real plus.
Obviously the Yamaha YPG625 and the Yamaha YPG525 are digital pianos and superb ones at that. However, we also really loved the strings, saxes, clarinets, and French horns too. These instruments sounded very much on par with Yamaha"s Clavinova sounds except the YPG625 and YPG525 have a pitch wheel giving you even more expression thus taking your playing to a whole new level of realism.
Actually, these digital pianos have a five-track recorder plus one track for accompaniment. Since you can see the score for the left and right hand parts of your compositions on the LCD screen, Yamaha designates track 1 to record your right-handed parts and track 2 for your left-handed parts, tracks 3-5 for any other melodies, and track 6 for accompaniment. You can also mute individual tracks, quantize, and re-record over existing tracks if you like. To see the musical score for your recordings, you"ll have to convert the song to a midi SMF 0 (Standard Midi Format) and save it to your USB device. Yamaha does a good job explaining this procedure in the User Manual.
Wow, we were really impressed with Yamaha"s new music lesson feature on this digital piano. The Yamaha YPG625 and YPG525 come preloaded from the factory with 70 SMF 0 midi songs included on the CD-ROM.
There are three steps to learning a song on these digital pianos. Lesson 1: Learn the correct notes, Lesson 2: Play the correct notes with the correct timing, and Lesson 3: Play the correct notes with the correct timing along with the song. While you are learning your lessons, you have the choice of either learning the right-hand, left-hand, or both-hands and after you are done with a lesson, the Yamaha YPG625 and YPG525 will evaluate your performance with an OK, Good, Very Good, or Excellent response.
We were very pleased with all the features and quality sounds Yamaha packed into these digital pianos. From the feel of the keyboard, the ample yet compact speaker system, to the large back-lit LCD screen and musical score feature, we can definitely understand why these digital pianos are two-time award winners and favorites among musicians. The only difference between the YPG625 and the YPG525 is the YPG625 has the graded hammer action, so, if you"re serious about learning piano, we would recommend the YPG625 since you will quickly out grow the YPG525"s light keyboard action. At a price of around $800 and $500, the Yamaha YPG625 and Yamaha YPG525 are a great value and are sure to put a smile on your face for a long time.
Here"s a Yamaha DGX-620 keyboard with a broken LCD. Judging from the fact that there are quite a few videos and tutorials on how to exchange a broken LCD with the proper spare part, I"d reckon these LCDs break quite easily and often.
I was a little surprised to get a quote of 130€ ($150) for the replacement (Yamaha Part # WG299100), and I was looking for a replacement that"s cheaper. As this is a fill-in instrument, and long out of warranty, I wouldn"t mind not getting the original part. Also I don"t mind the tinkering.
Enter Pollin, a company selling electronic remnants, such as bags with 1kg of capacitors, sold as “perfect for tinkering”. By chance, they sell a “LCD-Modul NAN YA LTC79H202T50K, 240x320” (order #121307, €4/$5) which, on closer examination, is electrically 100% compatible to the Yamaha display. Only with a slightly different, smaller shape, and with a different pinout. Also, they sell the exact same flex-cable that Yamaha uses to connect the LCD to the CPU board: Flexprint-Kabel AXON FFC1.00A14/0200L5-5-10-10 (#562251) (€1).
Looking into the datasheet of the LCD provided by Pollin and the Yamaha DGX-620 service manual easily found online, it"s clear that electrically the display is compatible.
FR (first row) is FLM (first line marker), LP (line pulse?) is CL1 (data latch), XCK (x? clock) is CL2 (shift clock). Everything else has identical designators. Sanding off the back of the replacement LCDs PCB a little to have good bonding to epoxy glue...
Ugly patching of wires from the 14-in cable to the pads on the LCD according to pinouts shown above. After soldering the wires (which is hard on the flexfoil, as the plastic melts and the copper traces of the flexfoil will move around, creating shorts) and emitting a few prayers to the deity of choice, a picture appears! :-)
Then I added the display to the original plastic part from which I removed both the LCD logic and all the light spreading works. The complete LCD module almost fits in the cutout for the old glass, only a small plastic ridge had to be removed with a xacto-knive. I had to add a small slot for the flexcable, to feed through and added a hole for the big blob of goo by which I glued down the cables so that they don"t become loose.
Update: As Ulrich pointed out, one can directly solder the cables for the LCD backlight to the cables going to the two-bin connector on the power supply on more recent models of the keyboard. Some onlder ones have high-voltage for an electroluminiscent foil, though, so beware.
Ms.Josey 
Ms.Josey