Topic: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

Hi Guys

I have just discovered this great site and wanted to know if anyone could suggest a good digital keyboard for a couple of young, gifted students of mine who are learning classical piano.

Because of budget (£599-£120 +/-) and space, a DP is the only option when practising at their home, and so we want something that will last from, say, Grade 1-Grade 8 (if not more), with the best sound possible and something that will replicate the best keyboard action possible (I am realistic in this area).

I have spoken to a number of stores locally, but it seems to be a minefield out there, with one person advocating one DP and another wanting to suggest something else. The consensus of opinion is that Rowland, Kawai and Yamaha come top of the list, but then I have no idea where to go from there. And are keyboards in the £599 category really inferior to those that are £1000 more expensive?

Any suggestion most welcome, as are the best places to buy them from.

Thanks so much

Tim

Last edited by tim (29-12-2012 18:46)

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

Well...

The best thing would be allow your students to play a good real piano they like, feel the touch, feel fine variances of sound per note (ppp,pp,p, f,ff,fff)
And go to a store and let they play many digital pianos in this range of price, to choose one they like.




Roland F-120 appears to be a good digital piano, also compact and fine price.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PDI2OiKr4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpn0yWX4Aiw



I don't know what stage are your students, but if was the case of adavanced classic piano students, a good alternative would be buy a good 88 key hammer action piano controller, and use the rest of money to buy pianoteq Play or Pianoteq Standart, as pianoteq offers all resonance and key velocity variances of a real piano.

Last edited by Beto-Music (29-12-2012 19:57)

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

Hi Beto-Music

Many thanks for the reply. Not being technologically-minded, can you give me an idea of the kind of 88-note hammer action controller you had in mind?

Thanks for the suggestions.

All best

T

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

I'm not very sure now...

Some people talk about M-Audio 88 Key controller with hammer action:

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-ProKeys-P...B0009X6QN8


But other people do not like M-Audio.


My advice is to test it yourself, sit and play.

Remember it will require to connect to a fine sound system. If you do not have fine speakers you must consider the price of acquire it too.


Wait a bit for more suggestion from other forum members too.


tim wrote:

Hi Beto-Music

Many thanks for the reply. Not being technologically-minded, can you give me an idea of the kind of 88-note hammer action controller you had in mind?

Thanks for the suggestions.

All best

T

Last edited by Beto-Music (30-12-2012 01:25)

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

The Casio PX 150 and 350. I have the 350 and love it. Built in piano is kinda ok too.

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

+1 for the Casio. A few years ago I went to the Musik Messe in Frankfurt, a great place to compare all kind of instruments, and I was very surprised by the price/quality ratio of the Casio pianos. I ended buying one for me (it's an older model, the 320 actually), instead of the big names (Kawai, Roland, Yamaha, Korg...).
And it's a pleasure to use with Pianoteq, of course!
The instrument is very lightweight (I use it exclusively "on the road"!), hence the keyboard might be also a little "light" for some kind of works (Beethoven's sonatas for example) but I'm usually playing an old Gunther 6' grand that has a very, very heavy keyboard, so it's a biased opinion.
If possible, try one.

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

What I heard about Casio, is mthat despite have acceptable quality, the keyboard feels too light weight touch.


But like I said, the best is go to a store and test several models, sit and play a while,  before decide what to buy.

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

The Casio touch can be compared to most 88 keys "big" synths: I have a Kurzweil K2500, an old Alesis QS8, an Alesis Fusion and the Casio stands well against all of them. As I wrote, not against my "real" grand, of course...
Recently, I played a Roland V-Piano, and I wasn't impressed. Again, the Casio touch could withstand the comparison.

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

After A LOT of research on the technical foundation of the keyboard, I got a Kawai MP9500. I'm extremely pleased with it. It's only available used and it's in your price range. According to my research one of the best piano like electronic keyboards ever developed and actually sold. I doubt there's anything like it on the market today (despite marketing and hype) and should ever anything better come out within your price range, there is a healthy second hand market for it, which is more than could be said for anything else in the price range you are looking for.

Last edited by Gadgety (01-01-2013 13:56)

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

Many Kawai models are very good indeed. But, if you have to buy them new, they are much, much more expensive... I was talking about new models only.

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

Hi,

After having had my Acuna88 for a few months now, I can vouch on it being of exceptional value and quality compared to older Studiologic offerings. And in actual fact, the touch response is absolutely beautiful (and not too light as are many hammer action controller keyboards).

I have optimised the settings of my computer, PianoTEQ and the board itself (the latter by choosing the 'piano' global velocity curve in the Acuna88. It must be said that the dynamic range of this instrument and it's ability to allow the pianist to play so articulately and accurately is one of the best features of the Acuna88.

Also, it is important to note that I have optimised the volume so that the feel of playing the Acuna88 exactly replicates that of a piano. I must stress how vitally important getting the volume exactly right is. Until I had done so, I had not realised what I was missing! ONLY when volume is set perfect can one appreciate the geatness of the PianTEQ experience! Of course, limiter is set to OFF.

I got my Acuna88 for £399GBP, but they can be had far cheaper if you google.

If required, I'll post a HD video which would hopefully render a little better audibly what I'm trying to convey in words.

Kindest Regards,

Chris

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

P.s. I am very fussy about velocity response and playability, but the Acuna88 is the best I've owned/played so far.

Worth a demo at least!

Chris

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

I think Yamaha DGX650B Digital Piano it is one of the best digital piano on the market . You can easily connect your music device to this piano with the use of the auxiliary input port and the sound will come out of the digital piano’s speakers. This is great for when you want to play along to a pre-recorded track at the same volume as the piano.

You can enjoy the unrivalled performance as this digital piano offers 128-note polyphony. This offers enough power for the sound not to cut out, even when you are playing with two hands and laying multiple voices over one another.

An acoustic piano would give a heavier touch for the lower notes and for the higher notes, you’ll need a lighter touch. This digital piano is very similar to an acoustic in that respect as it is the same case for the Yamaha DGX650B Digital Piano. And it is also one of the top rated piano on http://www.digitalpianolab.com/

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

CindyBraver wrote:

I think Yamaha DGX650B Digital Piano it is one of the best digital piano on the market . You can easily connect your music device to this piano with the use of the auxiliary input port and the sound will come out of the digital piano’s speakers. This is great for when you want to play along to a pre-recorded track at the same volume as the piano.

You can enjoy the unrivalled performance as this digital piano offers 128-note polyphony. This offers enough power for the sound not to cut out, even when you are playing with two hands and laying multiple voices over one another.

An acoustic piano would give a heavier touch for the lower notes and for the higher notes, you’ll need a lighter touch. This digital piano is very similar to an acoustic in that respect as it is the same case for the Yamaha DGX650B Digital Piano. And it is also one of the top rated piano on http://www.digitalpianolab.com/


'interesting' first post... directly cut & paste from the very url listed, without attribution...
you don't happen to work for Yamaha, do you?

Last edited by _DJ_ (30-06-2017 00:32)
Matthieu 7:6

Re: digital piano suggestions for classical piano students

_DJ_ wrote:
CindyBraver wrote:

I think Yamaha DGX650B Digital Piano it is one of the best digital piano on the market . You can easily connect your music device to this piano with the use of the auxiliary input port and the sound will come out of the digital piano’s speakers. This is great for when you want to play along to a pre-recorded track at the same volume as the piano.

You can enjoy the unrivalled performance as this digital piano offers 128-note polyphony. This offers enough power for the sound not to cut out, even when you are playing with two hands and laying multiple voices over one another.

An acoustic piano would give a heavier touch for the lower notes and for the higher notes, you’ll need a lighter touch. This digital piano is very similar to an acoustic in that respect as it is the same case for the Yamaha DGX650B Digital Piano. And it is also one of the top rated piano on http://www.digitalpianolab.com/


'interesting' first post... directly cut & paste from the very url listed, without attribution...
you don't happen to work for Yamaha, do you?

Actually she was banned for spamming here:

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/mem...indybraver

And did the similar at least here:
http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic...ce-needed/
https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6818461