Hi, I'm looking for a good digital piano (starting out with piano lessons). I want it digital, because I want to connect it (MIDI) with my computer to do some recording or to play with virtual synths. My budget is around $1500. Any suggestions? andreswer
Howdy Yamaha always makes good feeling pianos. They have an entry level one called P60 you might want to check out.
A few years back Panasonic had a keyboard that only weighed about 30 pounds, yet had a great piano sound and feel. From front to back it was only about 10" deep, which was why it was so light. At the time I remember feeling that as a digital piano it was far superior in sound and feel to the Kurrzweil. Drawbacks were it only had a couple of sounds (piano and electric piano, but they both were killer) and very little in the way of physical controls (no pitchbend, etc.). No internal speakers, built in music stand, legs, etc. either. But it sold new back then for under $1000, and if all you need is a digital piano if you can find a used one it might be hard to beat. If I stumble across the model number I'll post it.
Andreswer, I agree with Nate about the Yamaha models. They are always very open and clear sounding. The big problem I find with most digital pianos is they have a honky nasal tone in the midrange. Others are too dull in the high end. You can always lower the treble a little to tame a too-bright piano sound. But it's nearly impossible to add enough brightness to a muffled piano sound. If you go to a store to try out some different brands, listen carefully for those two qualities. --Ethan
Howdy And really, this is a very personal thing...almost like chosing a guitar. If you want the best, you must chose the best by playing and eliminating the "not best". Sure, we can recommend but only your fingers and ears can tell you what "best" is.
I would recommend the Yamaha P90 or a used P80. In my opinion, Rolands are more natural sounding in the softer velocity ranges while the Yamahas have better bite if you wanna cut through the mix. I played the Roland FP-9 (had no choice ) on a TV gig and it sounded like the real thing on the ballad - I can´t make you love me by Bonnie Raitt, but very artificial on the uptempo song - a west coasty slick thing. I really wanted a Yamaha on the second one. Thiing with the P90 is that they seem to have addressed the dynamic inconsistence problem and made a cheap portable and great sounding piano in all velocity ranges - at least try it out. Also works great in recordings - responds nice to EQ and processing. Korg are cheaper priced and sounding pianos, avoid. Havent tried the higher end kurzweils, but some people like them. Happy shopping /Daniel
I feel like a thread spammer but I just wanted to add one more thing - most digital pianos in the lower price range are poor master keyboards in terms of realtime controllers (Roland RD170 got som faders though) If you want pitch bends, mod wheels or other bells and whistles buy an additional MIDI-keyboard or a piano with those features.
Thank you all for your replies! The yamaha Px models seem just about right in price and performance. Daniel F: You're right, I think the best way to go is a $1000-$1200 digital piano + a $300-$500 MIDI controller (Phatboy or whatever).
