Yamaha YDS-120 Digital Saxophone

I bought one of these a few weeks ago and at first I was pretty happy with it. I pretty quickly got comfortable with how to access the various voices and features and started practicing my fingering. Up until now I had been using just the built-in speaker then I put headphones on. What a disappointment! I became aware of a distinct noise problem on most of the voice settings, like a poor quality tape recording with rumbles and clicks. I tried various volume settings but couldn't get rid of the noise. When I reported the problem to Thomann they asked me to change some of the key sensitivity settings but the problem persisted. Thomann agreed to replace the unit.

I've just received the replacement and I have the exact same issue with this one. I'm debating with myself whether to look for a refund or just stick it in a cupboard and try to forget about it.

Basically this is an expensive toy. It is of no use to anyone wanting to do anything other than practice their fingering. It certainly couldn't be used for recording purposes.

I'm giving it low marks for sound for obvious reasons. The low mark for quality is because, having received 2 units so far with the same issue, I can only conclude that there is a quality control problem at the manufacturing stage.

Great for practising finger work on a sax, and also for just having fun. Its lightweight, Slightly difficult getting used to playing with 3 cables connected to it. I connected it to my phone and headphones to use with iReal and it's perfect. My only complaint is there is no case or bag to keep it in and no stand you can purchase, seems a pity that Yamaha think just laying it flat on a table collecting dust when not being used is ok. I expected a case to be part of the deal but not so. No spare O rings , USB cable or batteries included in the box. Despite my complaints I like it a lot. I wasn't too happy with the packaging of everything I ordered. Reeds and mouth pieces left loose in the box. Would have been better to wrap these items in some bubble wrap bag and nestle in between items, not on the top of the box all loose. I had ordered an alto and soprano and the Yamaha yds120. All came in one box via international shipping with no padding between saxophones boxes and cardboard shipping box. Should have been a bigger box with all 3 saxophones sitting inside a padded shell. No damage despite the flimsy packaging, but one sharp dig on the outer box would have definitely done major damage to one of the saxes.