In my Disklavier Upgrades guide article, I make reference several times to DKC-850 conversion cables. These are the cables you use to connect your older Yamaha Disklavier to a newer DKC-850 control unit (or a DKC‑800 converted to act like a DKC‑850). The original conversion cables were provided by Yamaha as part of the DKC-850 … Read more
The E3’s DKC-800 control unit can be repurposed as a DKC-850 upgrade system with nothing more than the correct power adapter, a single DIP‑switch change, and one adjustment to your settings. Now that the DKC-850 upgrade kit is discontinued, this approach is one potential way to bring your old Mark I, II, or III Disklavier … Read more
Over the years, I’ve replaced the power supplies on most of the Mark II generation Disklaviers I’ve worked on. These second-generation Disklaviers are terrific instruments—until the original power supply quits. When it does, the piano either won’t turn on, whines loudly, or randomly shuts off after running for a short period of time. Note that … Read more
Unlike full E3 systems, the DKC-800 and DKC-850 piggybacked upgrades are powered by external AC adapters, such as the PJP-PS02. The original Yamaha Disklavier E3 installations use the Disklavier’s power supply, but these piggybacked installations require their own source of power. I recently had a customer reach out to me using an aftermarket power adapter, … Read more
I recently had a customer reach out to me reporting that her Yamaha P-155 would not power on. When I inspected the piano, I found a destroyed power adapter and a burned power inlet. I’m not certain what caused it: Damage like this could be caused by not fully inserting the plug, by a power … Read more
Are you having problems with stale cookies? I recently assisted a customer via email who was having trouble using his Disklavier Piano Radio. I discovered the solution on Kevin Busse’s website; he in turn learned the solution from Yamaha’s Noah Jolly. You can read more about Noah Jolly on his website, Ground Grown Circuits. The … Read more
Look closely at the photo above. Your P-525 detects which key you play, and its velocity, with those little rubber contact strips. You can read more about them on my digital piano troubleshooting page. Those tiny white flecks mean the contacts no longer work correctly. The smallest debris—or even a single cat hair—can cause significant … Read more
So you’ve decided to back up your Yamaha Disklavier floppy disks. And now you need a floppy disk drive that can read them! So what’s the best USB floppy disk drive for our purpose, and especially for reading those earlier, pesky 720 KB double-density (DD) variants used by early Disklaviers? This article explores various options, including … Read more
This article is an updated approach to connecting Yamaha Disklaviers to Wi-Fi. Previously, I used Powerline adapters to connect Disklaviers. In those cases, you weren’t technically connecting the Disklavier to Wi-Fi, but were instead bypassing the problem altogether by using the house’s wiring. However, I believe this updated approach is quite simple, somewhat less expensive, … Read more
If you own a Yamaha Disklavier Mark I, II, II XG, or Mark III, you’ve probably noticed that official upgrade paths are limited. The DKC-900 upgrade doesn’t support these models, and the DKC-850 — once a lifeline — has now been discontinued for years. But now, PianoStream can offer your older Disklavier renewed life! PianoStream … Read more