r/DigitalPiano

I'm a classical pianist who almost exclusively performs on acoustic pianos. I think it would be fair to say I'm an acoustic purist. But, for years I've been using Pianoteq with a 20 year old M-AUDIO Keystation to practise. It's a very solid piece of equipment and I love the feel of the action, even though it makes a terrible clunking noise and the keys are slowly turning the color of cardboard. Until today, I have never played on a weighted digital keyboard.

I'm considering upgrading, as my Keystation is not well suited to the rare occasions I need to bring a keyboard with me to a gig. With the kind of music I play, you hear more clunking than piano sound, and there always seem to be technical issues involving cables and PA systems.

So I went to a couple of music shops and played on various keyboards in the sub-$600 (AUD) price range.

I've had trouble finding reviews of these keyboards online from the perspective of a classical pianist, especially addressing the speaker quality, so I thought I'd share what I learned.

Upfront I'll say that I didn't notice any action noise while playing any of these. (Actually I can't be certain of that for the Korg, because my ears were ringing a bit...)

Korg Liano

This was just awful, I'm sorry, I know it's really popular.

The speakers are loud, but so tinny that I couldn't play for long as it was hurting my ears. Even if you're not bothered by it as the player, I wouldn't want to subject an audience to this.

The action is extremely light and shallow (much lighter than my Keystation). I had a bit of trouble controlling dynamics, probably as a result of this.

The key texture is shiny, but not slippery - it has an unpleasant squeaky sort of friction. If you're the kind of person who hates the feeling of microfiber cloths and fingernails on a chalkboard, you might want to skip this one.

For a classical pianist, this is not a good option imo.

It is INCREDIBLY lightweight and compact, that's really all it has going for it.

Roland FP-10

I didn't play this one for long because I was immediately put off by the feel of the action. It's too heavy, and sort of spongey - not realistic. I found it hard to play fast passages such as Chopin etudes on this. Also, while I like the Roland piano sound, the speakers on this thing were very boomy and boxy, particularly noticeable in the bass. They lack clarity, and while I think they would be fine for playing contemporary music, this sound quality doesn't suit classical.

Kawai ES-60

This one stood out to me immediately because of the speaker quality and the piano sound. The piano sound is absolutely gorgeous and realistic, with a lot of depth, especially in the high treble and low bass. I'm a fan of real Kawai pianos and impressively they've managed to bottle that sound here.

I was surprised to see the speakers are underneath the keyboard, but this doesn't seem to compromise the sound quality at all. They're not the loudest, but they're loud enough.

I also liked the action. It felt lighter and more natural than the Roland, and not too bouncy. I thought this was the most realistic-feeling keyboard of all the ones I tried.

I also love that they put a headphone port on the FRONT of the keyboard. I don't know why other manufacturers aren't doing that. This was somehow also the only keyboard I tried that has stereo RCA outputs.

However, for some reason I felt disoriented trying to play this keyboard. It almost felt like the keys were to widely spaced, and tilting too much away from me. The latter could have been due to some issue with the keyboard stand, but I can't explain the former, as the keys are standard size.

I also felt that I couldn't quite achieve the degree of expression I wanted. So I tried to fiddle with the touch sensitivity settings, only to discover that changing any settings on this keyboard is incredibly frustrating. Even after reading the manual I was still confused.

Like the Casio which I review next, you change the settings by pressing a button while pressing a key (not my favorite design, tbh) but unlike the Casio, the ES-60 doesn't make a beeping noise to let you know the setting changed. You just have to guess and hope it worked. Because the 3 piano sounds are so similar to each other, it's hard to tell at a glance if you've changed the sound, even with a highly trained ear!

Anyway, long story short, even after setting the touch sensitivity to what I assume is the maximum (there's no explanation of this anywhere), it just didn't quite have the expressive "oomph" I wanted. Hard to explain. This is one of my gripes with my Keystation as well, but I expected a weighted action to do better than this.

A few other minor gripes: The keys have a matte finish but it feels kind of cheap and plasticky, not like any real piano keys I've played on. The keyboard is quite bulky and it has weird little plastic nubs on the bottom that got in the way when I was trying to position it flat on the keyboard stand. The keyboard stand doesn't have grooves on the rim, so your music can slip off. You can't run it on batteries.

Casio CDP-S110

This was actually the first keyboard I tried today, so it has the honor being my first experience of a weighted digital keyboard.

I walked into this one showroom looking for a different brand and was told they basically only stock Casios now. And I understand why...

This thing almost felt ALIVE (a compliment I usually reserve for acoustic instruments). It's very loud, it has a huge dynamic and expressive range, and I actually didn't want to stop playing it. I didn't have to adjust any settings because the touch sensitivity was perfect, and the interface felt a lot more intuitive than the Kawai.

The speakers are on the back facing towards where the audience would be, which is more accurate to where the sound would actually be coming from a real piano (especially an upright) relative to the keyboard.

Compared to a real piano, the keys have more initial resistance, and a lot more rebound resistance, which gives it an unnaturally bouncy feel. It feels like they accurately mimicked the physics of a real piano, but exaggerated it, so it's more of a caricature. I was unsure about it at first, but once I'd played for a bit, I liked it. However, it might be fatiguing for some people. You'd need to test it out to see if it's too heavy for your playing style.

The key texture is really nice, it's a lovely matte finish that feels high quality. They look and feel like Yamaha grand artificial ivory keytops to me.

Amazingly, you can run this thing on batteries, which seems like a good idea for those times you turn up to a venue and they for some reason don't have a power outlet within reach of the only available spot to set up your keyboard.

Although this is supposed to be around the same weight as the Kawai ES-60, and is actually a smaller form factor (about 2 inches thinner), it felt heavier to me. Maybe something to do with the weight distribution.

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Verdict: seeing as I can get the Casio for just $30 more than the Kawai, it seems like the obvious choice. I will miss that beautiful Kawai piano sound though. And the front-facing headphone port. I really want the front-facing headphone port!

I have had the above digital piano for the past 5-6 years and have been mostly very happy with it until recently. I have been sorely missing the feel and rich sound of real grands.

What are the best options for upgrading the speakers, key feel, sound samples? I would like to keep my budget under a grand but not if the difference in quality would be negligible.

Some options I’ve seen would be the FP-30, ES-120, P225, etc

Are these keyboards materially better than the S1000?

I’m not sure how I should approach this. I’d like a keyboard, but I’m not sure if piano will be my thing. Ive had the urge quite a few times for periods of one month but it went away when I failed to commit to buying one. Ive heard a lot about touch sensitive ones with weighted keys but I’m just not sure if I should commit this much when I’m not even sure about this. maybe $200 or under, but I’m completely new to this and unaware if thats a good price range to have.

EDIT: this is both completely my fault for posting to the digital piano subreddit and not specifying, but i would prefer one with some other sounds (like synth) more like a keyboard

I want to start learning piano and ive heard yamaha p45 is really good for beginners. Ive been searching on facebook market for used ones, but I cant really find any thats priced lower than 500 and im not sure where to buy new ones. I saw a used one thats 500AUD on facebook market, as it was the cheapest i could find and it comes with a stand and pedal, but im not sure if its worth it. Should I look at other models? Im not very knowledgable in this so any help is appreciated :)

I don't care about appearance, speakers, software, etc. All I want is a piano that feels like a grand piano so that practice on it isn't wasted. An acoustic grand is not an option in my apartment, but I don't want to go to a practice room every day.

I could buy a CA701 for £2,400 or an NV12 for £14,000. This is an enormous difference in price and it's unclear to me if it's actually justified for a practice piano.

Is it possible to play advanced repertoire on the CA701 in the same way that you would play it on an acoustic grand, or is it necessary to make adjustments to account for the non-hybrid action?

I have a recent health problem with reduced core/arm fitness, and cannot play a weighted keyboard for very long. Also want portability.

My current setup is a Roland fp-e50 with studio monitors and DT 770 phones. The built in 22W speakers are good enough now as well. Piano Designer function allows me to tweak the piano sounds, and I am pretty happy. I used to play a Clavinova and sometimes a Steinway, at an amateur level. This only should tell you that I appreciate expressive ability; I am not a highly skilled player at this time.

BT audio input would be nice but not essential.

I have been looking at the $600 level at compact StudioLogic boards for now. Are these good enough? Thanks so much!

Only 13 percent of women can comfortably span an octave on a standard piano. Few thought to ask whether the piano was the problem.

Elizabeth Schumann spent most of her life believing she was one of the lucky ones. As a concert pianist, she could reach a tenth on the keyboard (10 white keys), a span that puts her in rare company, particularly among women. It wasn’t until she sat down at a piano with narrower keys that a different picture emerged.

“When I first tried the 6.0-inch octave – which is half an inch narrower per octave than the standard keyboard – I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I felt like I’d been wearing the wrong size shoes my entire life. I genuinely couldn’t believe how much more ergonomic everything felt.”

I just moved out to the country and am living in a terrace cottage. My initial plan was to get the clp845 or kawai 501. After extensive research I've come to realise that the sound systems in these are simply too much with neighbours on either side. I was advised against the clp825s and decided on the clp 835 and a pair of sennheiser hd 560s. I'm actually not too fussed about the wooden keys on the 845 and liked the keys on the 835. I was then told about the kawais cn201, 301, and ca301. I'm currently swaying towards the 835/ hd 560s combo. I am upgrading from a glarry gdp203 so it's a huge upgrade. I'm 300 hours into learning now and do 6 20 mins sessions a day and want to progress on a better piece of equipment for the next 4-5 years. Any recommendations?

I want to upgrade my digital piano, my current piano is Roland fp30x. My selection list will be:

1. Nord stage 4 88
2. Yamaha cp88
3. Yamaha montage m8x
4. Kawai mp11se
5. Other suggestion better than what’s listed above is open to discuss too
   I have osmose expressive e 61 keys already, which one would serve best match with osmose for music production, pop song, new age,… cinematic music etc.

I've had an old, beaten up Yamaha keyboard of legal drinking age for the last ten years of my life, and it's served me well, but it's a nightmare to play. The keys have no weight, no resistance, they're plasticky and uncomfortable. I was thinking about investing in a Yamaha P-115, but I was wondering if there is a cheaper alternative that is equally as good as I've heard, or if there are any drawbacks to the particular model I should be aware of. I'm willing to spend the money on the P-115 if nothing else tickles my fancy, but I wanted to check it's worth my money before I make a stupid, impulsive decision.

I have a Clav (635) and while I like the response, the actual feel of the keys and sound aren't quite where I want it to be (classical piano).

If my goal is to mimick the best acoustic piano feel/sound, etc, what in the Clavinova line would feel like the best next step?

I've been using a Kawai KDP-110 for 8 years now, thought I give a try to a VST program. Downloaded Pianoteq 9, connected to my PC with a MIDI-USB cable, installed ASIO4ALL driver to lower latency and plugged in my Sennheiser HD600 to the computer.

And no matter which preset I choose, no matter the mic placement or the binaural option, every one of them sounds like the right side is more heavier than the left. I'm used to the digital pianos built-in settings: low notes come from the left side, high notes from the right side, middle ones from the middle.

How can I achieve this in Pianoteq 9 or any other VST?

And btw the sound quality of the modern acoustic pianos is so much worse compared to my 1000$ Kawai, maybe I'm doing something wrong? I like the historical instruments.

I have this old piano and cannot find a dedicated music stand - it's discontinued. I wanted to try some in a store, but they sent me to look online.

Can someone recomend a compatible one?

I have recently learned that my sustain pedal is only an on/off pedal, and I would like a new one. Does anyone have any recommendations for a proper expression pedal on Amazon? My piano is a Roland fp-e50