Yamaha PSR-E360 Review – Yamaha’s Newest Entry-Level Keyboard
- marshallsoundz
- Apr 21, 2019
- 4 min read
The Yamaha PSR-E360 is the newest entry-level keyboard from the powerhouse company. I have always been an advocate for Yamaha entry-level keyboards as I think that they are pretty high in quality compared to others. With this being said, does the PSR-E360 hold up to its competition?
My opinion is that it does. This keyboard is not meant for anything but beginner pianists. If you’ve been playing for years, you will not like this keyboard since it is solely meant for beginners. However, if you are new to music or looking for your kids, this is a great option.
Table of Contents
Yamaha PSR-E360 Overview
The one thing I want to mention with this keyboard is that it’s a classic Yamaha keyboard that is meant for beginners. It is very similar to a lot of the other Yamaha keyboards, only it is new.
Yamaha is advertising this as the best first keyboard for new pianists. To be honest, if you’re going to get a keyboard rather than a digital piano, it’s a pretty good choice.
Auto power-off is a pretty neat feature that this keyboard has. It saves energy by shutting off if it hasn’t been played in a certain amount of time. I expect to see more keyboards having this feature in the future as it’s easy to forget and leave it on.
You’re not going to get something that blows your mind with this keyboard, however, you will get a product that’s loaded with sounds. This is the successor to the Yamaha PSR-E363 and it is pretty similar overall.
The one thing that I noticed with this keyboard is that the keys do feel a little bit cheap. This is common when talking about 61 key keyboards though. Semi-weight keys typically don’t please people who have been playing the keyboard for years.
Technical Specs
Keys: 61 touch-sensitive
Polyphony: 32
Patches: 573 different pre-sets
Effects: 23 different effects
Effect Types: Chorus, reverb, and EQ
Audio Output: 1 quarter-inch jack
Audio Input: 1 eighth-inch jack AUX
Sustain Pedal Input: Yes
Power Supply: 6 AA batteries or 12 V DC supply(provided)
Weight: 8.8 pounds
PSR-E360 Features
The classic backlit LCD screen
Yamaha Education Suite For Lessons
Accompaniment mode with backing tracks
Duo mode that splits the keyboard
Touch Tutor – Analyzes velocity in order to teach the pianist proper dynamics
Arpeggiator mode
Auto power-off setting
Built-in speaker system
USB
EQ which allows you to alter the sound of the overall patch
Portable Grand button which takes the pianist back to the grand piano patch in the hit of one button
Overview
As you can see, it has a really cool maple-wood grain aesthetic. This keyboard is plastic, but I think it looks pretty cool. It does come in a few different finishes, this just happens to be my favorite look that it has.
If you’re not a fan of this finish, you can find it in black and dark brown.
You will notice it has the classic Yamaha look with the speakers built-in on both sides.
Speakers
The speaker system is decent, coming with 2 2.5 Watt speakers on both sides. This will be loud enough to practice on and learn with. If you need to keep it down, there’s also a headphone jack that allows you to plug in your headphones.
The Sounds
The grand piano on the PSR-E360 sounds very bright and that can be a good thing or a bad thing. A lot of pianists like the bright sound as it resembles a real piano. I, myself, really like warm sounding pianos that aren’t as bright.
The PSR-E360 comes with 573 different sounds, with the majority being your typical entry-level keyboard sounds. Yamaha does this well. They load their keyboards with great-sounding patches for a wide variety of sounds.
Portable keyboards typically don’t have the best sounds as their main function is to just give the musician the opportunity to explore sounds and entertain them.
Yamaha recently released the P-515 and I think it is fantastic, check it out here. The P-515 as an advanced stage piano, but it is a super solid option for those who can afford it.
The Key-Bed
The keys on the PSR-E360 are what you would expect from a Yamaha entry-level keyboard. They’re standard and do exactly what they’re meant to do for the pianist.
You’re not going to be blown away with the keys here. However, I don’t think this is a problem. If you’re looking at entry-level keyboards, it’s mainly because you want a solid, affordable option and I do believe this is one of the better choices.
Bundled Software
The Yamaha PSR-E360 comes with the classic Yamaha software; Yamaha Education Suite. This is a fantastic software for kids and adult beginners. It is very in-depth and it allows the pianist to learn in a fun and engaging way.
Note: Picking a keyboard that comes with software is always a plus. It saves you money and when it’s educational software, that’s an even bigger plus. The more that you can get bundled with your keyboard, the better.
Overall Thoughts
I believe this is a great option for beginners and only beginners. This could work as a portable option for advanced pianists, but nothing more in my opinion.
I typically recommend going with a cheaper digital piano than a keyboard, but keyboards also have their place and I think this is a solid option.
Overall, I would say that if you’re looking for a portable option on the cheaper side, go with this keyboard. It’s not going to be a game-changer, but it is loaded with features for the beginner pianist.
This also works great as a kids keyboard as it’s inexpensive, yet provides many sounds.
Have you tried the Yamaha PSR-E360 yet? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comment section below.
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