M-Audio SP-2 vs Yamaha FC4A

The M-Audio SP-2 is the pedal most people buy first, and the r/piano thread backs it: one comment calls it "a good inexpensive option if you don't need a continuous (not just on/off) pedal." At about $25 with nearly 30,000 ratings, it is the default answer for anyone who just wants sustain to work.

It is a traditional piano-style pedal with a chrome foot plate, a heavy duty mechanism, and rubber pads underneath that grip the floor instead of sliding. A polarity switch on the housing handles either wiring convention without guesswork. It ships with a 6 foot cable ending in a standard 1/4 inch jack.

It is a switch pedal only, sustain is either fully on or fully off, so a half-damper input gets nothing extra from it. It feels lighter underfoot than the pedals above it, and the fixed 6 foot cable is short for a stacked or raised rig.

The Yamaha FC4A is the pedal the r/piano thread trusts by name: "Yamaha and Roland both made great pedals" was one of the thread's top replies. At about $29 it undercuts the Roland DP-10 by roughly half while still supporting half-damper response on keyboards built to read it.

It runs improved anti-slip rubber on the base, and Yamaha says mechanical noise has been reduced from earlier FC4 pedals, so it is quieter under a fast foot. Polarity is fixed by holding the pedal down while powering the keyboard off and back on rather than a physical switch. It also works as a general FS controller input for synths and drum machines.

Half-damper response only appears on a keyboard built to read it; on a switch-only input it just behaves like an on/off pedal. There is no physical polarity switch, only the power-cycle method. And it costs close to triple the SP-2 for feel many controllers cannot use.