Since 1887, The Yamaha Company has established itself as one of the most trustworthy piano manufacturers in the industry. The brand produces pianos with highly advanced features, such as the Yamaha NP-31, which help to deliver an excellent experience to their clients.
In this day and age, the purchase of a quality musical instrument in terms of features, sound quality, design, and reliability depends on the brand. The brand has a lot to do in terms of production of digital pianos and their productivity solely relies on experience.
The purchase of pianos from unrecognized brands proves to be a hazardous idea. That’s why when Yamaha is mentioned; the atmosphere of ideal top class products can be felt.
For that fact, today we’ll dive into one of their digital pianos – the Yamaha NP-31, and have a look at what it has to offer. Note that the piano was released under the Yamaha’s Piaggero line.
The word “Piaggero” is a combination of both “piano†and “leggero†which translates to “small†in Italian. That said, you should at least have a clue of what to expect from the NP-31 series.
Features of Yamaha NP-31 Digital Piano
For any pianist, the features part of any digital piano has to be the first factor you need to consider. The good news is that this is not just a digital piano from an unknown brand.
It is a product of Yamaha, and there is no other manufacturer that has benched it in producing quality. The NP-31 has excellent features to offer, and we’ll be narrowing them down below.
Specs
The Yamaha NP-31 specifications are brief, mainly because Yamaha wanted to achieve a portable, friendly-type piano with less burden to the user, who prefers traveling much with the piano.
The NP-31 is not your typical digital piano; it is not loaded with extra features. It is just an average but quality music instrument that offers the needed characteristics of a digital piano.
The NP-31 is much lighter than other digital pianos since it weighs 5.7kgs (12lbs). The weight makes it quite portable. It is 49 inches wide, 4 and 1/8 inches high (105m), and the depth extends up to 10-1/4 inches deep.
Judging by these dimensions, we can conclude that Yamaha wanted to fulfill the idea of the “Piaggero line†with the NP-31 series. However, they strived to simplify the size and weight in the best ways possible.
READ ALSO: Yamaha DGX-650 Digital Piano Review
Design
The Yamaha NP-31 is a simple, portable digital piano. Its design is not that much sophisticated. Yamaha didn’t want to exhaust it with unnecessary features, as it would end up revoking the Piaggero ideology. Its unique features make it possible to play the piano from anywhere.
The NP-31 comes along with its standalone battery system that can withstand up to about 6 hours of playtime. Note that you have to purchase an AC power adaptor since it doesn’t come with one.
But, this is an advantage because you won’t have to bother search for power supply options. It has fewer sound effects, and the keyboard also isn’t fitted with the usual 88keys of an average digital piano. They have been reduced to 76keys.
Keyboard
For any good quality digital piano, the keyboard has a considerable role to play. For that matter, any pianist should pay serious attention to the keyboard. Here, let’s talk about the Yamaha NP-31’s keyboard and have a look at its design.
It has 76 keys which have Graded Soft-touch feature, topped up 32-polyphony notes. Therefore, the Yamaha NP-31 keys don’t provide the Graded Hammer action experience.
It offers a touch response feature, which is an advantage to familiarize yourself with the keyboard. The Yamaha NP-31, therefore, is not meant for big stage performances, but it offers great assistance to any learner.
Price
When it comes to price the Yamaha NP-31 is quite affordable. It is actually among the most affordable digital pianos in the market. What’s more, it has features which make the price seem low when you compare what you’re getting with how much you’re supposed to pay. Although some improvements can still be made about the piano, it’s fair to say the price is considerable.
Sound Quality
The NP-31 has the AWM stereo sampling, which is mostly found in Yamaha digital pianos. Also, there is a built-in stereo speaker system. These built-in speakers offer great sound. Thanks to them there won’t be any need for an external sound system to clearly hear the piano.
The Yamaha NP-31 digital piano has only 4 types of reverbs and 10 preset voices. It does not offer a wide variety of mixing and sound effects, but it does have a metronome, transpose and tempo controls.
The NP-31 series isn’t built for mixing or recording songs, but it provides an excellent playing experience to beginners.
The tones available are 2 Electric pianos where one is versatile and the other one brighter and dynamically sensitive. The piano also includes 2 Organs, 2 Harpsichords, Strings and Vibraphones.
Connectivity
The connectivity options available in the NP-31 are not in surplus. But, the ones offered are a great experience as they accomplish the basic needs of a digital piano.
It has MIDI connectivity and a built-in headphone jack. You can also find USB input and output capability, as well as A 12V DC input port for power supply.
The Yamaha NP-31 is designed to suit the essential qualities of a simple, but portable digital piano. This is the reason it does not offer more connectivity options but only the necessary ones.
Benefits of Yamaha NP-31 Digital Piano
There are some right sides to using this digital but straightforward machine similar to most every Yamaha products. The piano is lightweight and doesn’t require any power source.
The natural touch of the keys also makes it easier for any beginner to get more familiar with digital pianos.
Reasons Why You Should Buy the Yamaha NP-31 Piano
The Np-31 is quite portable, has a standalone battery system, as well as an outstanding compact design. All these are the actual reasons why you need to purchase this digital piano. But more interesting is the fact that it offers a much more favorable purchasing ability.
The keyboard is very affordable as it is well priced compared to other digital pianos of its kind. Yamaha NP-31 is suitable for a lot of learners who are looking to indulge in the digital piano world, and also those always in a rush to perform.
Who Is the Piano For?
The piano is mostly ideal for beginners but will also provide efficient utility to an experienced pianist. For beginners, it has some pretty basic features to help them get more familiar with digital pianos. The keys are not that many which makes it easier to use the piano.
For any user who travels much and doesn’t consider leaving their digital piano behind, the NP-31 series would also be a perfect fit. Its compact and non-bulky design doesn’t take up much space.
Buyers Guide
The Yamaha NP-31 is considered one of the best digital pianos under $300. It is not just a small, compact digital piano with limited features. It has been explicitly created by Yamaha to accomplish a particular purpose.
Besides, Yamaha is a brand that stands out and would never release a flop. This specific model was also included with Yamaha’s sound technology, which is found in all of their models regardless of the price tags they bare.
Plus impressive, trustworthy warranty, Yamaha assures its customers of great piano experiences.
How to Clean the Yamaha NP-31 Digital Piano
The Yamaha NP-31 falls almost under the same procedures of cleaning and maintenance as other digital pianos. Here we will discuss some easy steps to follow to ensure the NP-31 stays in its cleanest form.
Here are some of the steps to follow:
- Prepare a solution for cleaning. Add some warm water to a small container with 1-2 drops of any light dish/cloth washing liquid.
- Proceed to take a damp soft and color-free cloth, and then dip it slightly in the solution.
- Rub the fabric gently over all the white keys. This will remove any specks of dust or fingerprints lying on the keys. Follow that by taking another soft dry cloth and use it to wipe any lying moisture on the keyboard.
- Take another soft damp cloth and dip it slightly in the solution – this will be for cleaning the black keys. Follow similar steps as those of the white keys.
- There are also commercial cleaning sprays for these functions and they work extremely well. The cleaning of such digital pianos is almost the same, but it differs when the materials used in creating the keys are different.
The Pros and Cons of Yamaha NP-31
Pros
They include:
- Keys are softly graded, which provide a great natural feel.
- Its weight is lighter about 12.5lbs.
- Buttons can access voices on the front panel.
- Half-pedal effects supported with optional FC3 pedal.
Cons
There are also some few drawbacks linked to Yamaha NP-31 digital piano. They include:
- The voices are only 10.
- There is no sustain pedal included in the pedal unit.
- AC power adaptor is not included.
Conclusion
The Yamaha NP-31 has some excellent and reliable features to offer – although it is not one of Yamaha’s top-notch musical instruments. The compact design, lightweight and standalone battery system brings out the full ideology of it being a portable piano. For any teaching institution looking for a less feature exhausted digital piano, the NP-31 is one to look into.
It also offers a great experience to learners and goes a long way in familiarizing them with digital pianos. The long seasoned pianist who travels a lot also has some benefits to reap from this piano, since the keyboard comes with friendly features.
It is tough to find another brand that offers such amazing features and standard quality like Yamaha and on top of that very favorable prices on their products. Yamaha has put enough effort into the design of the NP-31 series making it well deserving piano to buy. For someone at an entry-level to the world of digital pianos, the Yamaha NP-31 model is the right choice to consider.
