Digital Piano Dilemma...

[decalex]

Hey peoples,

I've been looking for a digital piano for a little while now--
Simply put, I'm looking for the best "piano" feel I can get with the least amount of bells and whistles... and for the lowest price possible.

I'm a student and luckily, my college has music facilities, but they're not open as often as I like to utilize them =)...
I've also been thinking about checking out some auctions...
I'm currently in the southern California area.
Let me know if anyone has any ideas!

Thanks much!

-alex

[iumonito]

I am in exactly the same search.

I have heard about  a line of instruments by Yamaha which they call GranTouch.  I think they go with prefixes GT and DGT.  They are supposed to have an actual grand action, but also appear to be priced higher than an entry-level upright.

I have also heard good things, and plan to try out, Kawai's CN2 and CA5 pianos.  You can read about their action at www.kawaius.com

If you are keen on spending less than US$1000, like I am, you may want to try Casio PX575 and Yamaha YPG625.

Roland appear to be a little expensive, so I stopped my research on them.  Valdesta Classico 950 is described to be very good, but I can't figure out how to try one out.

[leslieb547]

I have a Yamaha, CLP 970 which I bought new 6 years ago when it was their top of the range digital. It has a good touch, sound, 3 pedals and is the nearest I have played to a Bechstein grand and a Bluthner grand, both of which I also play regularly. The action is very good although it has become slightly noisy after 6 years use but otherwise no problems. It has 128 polyphony which I feel is essential and it should be possible to locate a good second hand one within your price range. Hope this helps

[molto-marcato]

Four years ago i bought a Casio for about 1000€. The feel was nothing compared even to an old bar piano. I was ever unhappy since one year ago i bought an acoustic upright. I guess you will not find a digital with a feel comparable to an acoustic, especially if you want to spend less than 1000$. Only makes sense if you want to avoid trouble with your neighbours imo  .

[danny elfboy]

Hey peoples,

I've been looking for a digital piano for a little while now--
Simply put, I'm looking for the best "piano" feel I can get with the least amount of bells and whistles... and for the lowest price possible.

If you don't care for the "bells and whistles" why you're looking for a digital piano?
What do you want to use it for?

If you want to avoid trouble with your neighbours (as molto-marcato suggested) then you just need 40$ to buy a silenting-headphone device to add to your piano

If you want portability but still want an action similar to that of an upright piano then you should take a look at the Yamaha P series
The P60 is rather cheap but you have to connect it to a a pair of cheap speakers or to your hi-fi system. The P120 costs a bit more but come with speakers included

[gerry]

I agree with the Yamaha crowd. I bought a Yamaha PF100 (the portable version of the standard Clavinova) many years ago (mid-90's) as a supplemental to my grand piano and it still works for me. One thing I liked about it (besides the portability) was that it had the best internal sound of all the models I tried (didn't require external speakers which many did). I realize that since I bought it many strides have probably been made (more bells & whistles) but I don't find this instrument wanting. I routinely take it on extended vacations to my house in Mexico and the weighted keyboard and touch sensitivity are perfectly adequate to maintain and imrove my technique.