Plan to buy a new digital piano, low budget

[2000fordfocus]

Hello everyone,

This is my very first posting on pianoforum.com.  I am a beginner at playing piano and my goal is to have some fun learning basic piano playing!(I don't expect to become expert at piano since i am 24yrs old)...   I shop around my local piano store and came up with a piano well into my budget, only $1050 Canadian dollars, is a Kawai L1 digital piano.  The detail spec can be found here:
https://www.kawaius.com/l1dig.html

Do you guys think is a good buy?  I wanted a piano that will fit nicely in my room and this digital piano did just that.  But the bad side of this piano has Max. Polyphony of only 32 Notes, i was told is not good if you plan to play any music that requires a lot more notes...  what do you guys think?

[Daniel_piano]

Hello everyone,

This is my very first posting on pianoforum.com.  I am a beginner at playing piano and my goal is to have some fun learning basic piano playing!(I don't expect to become expert at piano since i am 24yrs old)...   I shop around my local piano store and came up with a piano well into my budget, only $1050 Canadian dollars, is a Kawai L1 digital piano.  The detail spec can be found here:
https://www.kawaius.com/l1dig.html

Do you guys think is a good buy?  I wanted a piano that will fit nicely in my room and this digital piano did just that.  But the bad side of this piano has Max. Polyphony of only 32 Notes, i was told is not good if you plan to play any music that requires a lot more notes...  what do you guys think?

The only digital piano that can be considered as good as a upright piano for practicing (but not identical) and low price is the Yamaha P-120
Also from other students, concert pianists and teachers I've been told that this is the only digital piano where one could practice and end up with a good piano-tecnique

All the other digital pianos will just destroy your tecnique

Daniel

[Peachy_Keen]

Xvimbi offered me some excellent advice in the following thread: https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=inst;action=display;num=1088087695

I looked at some information comparing the Yamaha P90 and P120 pianos and it doesn't appear that there is much of a difference in the way the two pianos handle. I assume the included speaker system is part of what drives the price up somewhat, the difference in the two models is only around 200$. I'll be taking a trip to a few showrooms tommorow to check them both out. If you'd like I can post my thoughts when I get back.

There are also several threads in the Instruments forum which are very useful, you might have to go back a while but it's definetely worth looking!

[rlefebvr]

There are several threads available in the instrument section of the forum. Check it out.

I have not tried the Kawai  so I am not sure how good it is.

For sure a little more you could get a Roland HP2 and those sound and feel amazing. Contrary to Daniel I do not like the Yamaha at all. Did not like the sound and I did not like the feel.

Best thing is to try it first. Don't buy anything without trying it first. Get a friend that can play to help you if you can, but in the end it a very personal thing.

At the price you mention you are very limited however.

[rlefebvr]

Where in Canada do you live. We may be able to send you to a good store.

[xvimbi]

The only digital piano that can be considered as good as a upright piano for practicing (but not identical) and low price is the Yamaha P-120
Also from other students, concert pianists and teachers I've been told that this is the only digital piano where one could practice and end up with a good piano-tecnique

All the other digital pianos will just destroy your tecnique

Daniel

Well, well, hold your horses. Although I personally prefer the Yamaha P-series over other manufacturers' contributions in this price category, there are other choices that are definitely worth checking out. Kawai was mentioned, but the L-1 is probably not the best choice. However, the MP-9500 is a serious contender if one can live with the key wobble. It's probably a bit outside your stated price range, though. Roland makes acceptable digitals too, and so does Fatar. I would however chime in with Daniel and strongly recommend checking out the P-120. None of the digital pianos with weighted actions will really destroy your technique, but you may not improve too much if you go for a lower-quality one.

[2000fordfocus]

Thanks for all you guys comment!  But it looks like only yamaha is considered good~~  But I just check the spec of the yamaha P120, what are the things that make it better? especially compare with Kawai L1, I would love to get it for the price i paid, is originally $1368 Canadian and right now only $1050, is on special this week!

[2000fordfocus]

Where in Canada do you live. We may be able to send you to a good store.

I live in southern part of Saskatchewan!

[goalevan]

I love the P120 so far (got it for $1200)

[xvimbi]

Thanks for all you guys comment!  But it looks like only yamaha is considered good~~  But I just check the spec of the yamaha P120, what are the things that make it better? especially compare with Kawai L1, I would love to get it for the price i paid, is originally $1368 Canadian and right now only $1050, is on special this week!

It's been a while since I checked out the L-1, but I vaguely remember that it felt dinky. Also, the sound was very weak. Those will be the two aspects you should be looking at. It always comes down to the same thing: if it feels and sounds good to you, go for it. More info in the other threads.

[Terry-Piano]

I got a digital piano Roland HP-2...it sounds amazing
it has an incredible touch ressembling all todays best grands...it sells for 2700$ canadian... a little pricey.. but weell worth the price...If ur a serious pianist and dont want to buy another piano in a year or 2... save up and buy a ROLAND... i could not be more satisfied... it is my firstr piano and i wont have to buy another one until i buy myself a real piano...(STEINWAY LOL YA RIGHT IN MY DREAMS)

[StoreBrand]

At $750, the fairly new Yamaha P60 is a steal.  It has zero features but the same keys as the entire Yamaha P series (all the way up to the P-250) I believe.  

It has speakers and the pedaling issue with the P-90?  has been fixed.  

https://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Yamaha/P60-01.html

https://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail/0,6373,CNTID%253D15250%2526CTID%253D205800%2526CNTYP%253DPRODUCT%2526VNM%253DLIVE%2526AFLG%253DY,00.html

There is also a silver/gray version (P60S).

[Shagdac]

Several months ago I purchased a Yamaha Digital CLP-120 Clavinova. I searched around and played on many. And I agree, it is a highly personal choice. I have a regular accoustic piano, but needed one to practice on at times I couldn't disturb anyone, so I wasn't looking for one that necessarily was the closest I could get to the real thing....just one to practice with when not able to use my real one.

I think it depends on what you want/need. Remember you can always upgrade/ trade-in later as well.

How much $$$ do you want/can you spend.

Have you already taken "some" piano, by that I mean, you know it is already something you will enjoy and stick with.

Many of these digital pianos come with alot of extra's you may or may not want/need.

Do you need to be able to record yourself?
Do you need something that sounds like a piano or do you want something that can sound like a bunch of instument voices.
Some have 2 pedals, some have 3.

I guess what I mean is, I would evaluate what type of piano would fit your needs now and somewhat into the future and then go from there. If this is somewhat of a "trial" basis, I certainly wouldn't splurge. If piano is something you feel you may become very serious about, you would probably end up investing in a real one anyway later on. Mine was around $1288.00 USD, but that was on sale. They usually sell for around 1800.00 in this area. There were several cheaper, and many more expensive. I am very happy with mine, and have had no difficulties whatsoever. One thing I really enjoy, besides being able to record and playback, is that you can record and practice hands seperately. You can also record pieces onto a computer file.

It does not have alot of voices...but all I wanted was piano..it does have several others. You can adjust the keys as far as the touch, light, medium, hard....many have this, but actually it is not changing the touch at all, only the volume. You have to push down hard to get the same volume out as when you have it on light touch. It kinda fools you into thinking the action of the keys change! I like having the built in metranome....but again I don't do anything really special with mine....just practice.

I have  a friend from work who purchased a much smaller keyboard, seperate stand, etc. She only wants to learn the basics, and play for fun, learn chords etc. What she purchased is great for her.

I would definately evaluate your needs/cost and compare as many as possible. Definately sit down, read the instruction manual, make sure it is something you feel comfortable with, and as was already suggested, if possible take someone with you that already knows something about keyboards/piano.

Good luck and I know you'll have fun. Never say you won't be an expert because your 24! You're never too old to learn, if it's really what you want to do!

Enjoy!
S

[2000fordfocus]

thanks for you reply, I am just a beginner and wants to learn just the basic for now...  If i ever do get better, I guess that would be a reason to get a acoustic one!

[Daniel_piano]

Well, well, hold your horses. Although I personally prefer the Yamaha P-series over other manufacturers' contributions in this price category, there are other choices that are definitely worth checking out.

Well, I wasn't saying that Yamaha P-120 is the only good digital piano (good for practicing as if it were a upright piano) but that it's the only good digital piano in that budget range
Yamaha P-120 is good and cheap
Others are both more expensive or worst

There was a guy who prepared his 8 grade exam using a Yamaha P-120 and teachers at my school agreed that from a low price that's the only digital piano where you can't much the difference between a students who practice on a real piano and on a digital piano
They said so because they had other students that (because of lack of room or money) practiced on a digital piano and they end all up with poor tecnique and you could tell that they had been practicing on a digital piano

Sound a part, the reason teachers said is that the Yamaha P-120 weighted keys are those more similar to
a real piano compared to other same budget digital piano

I tried a Roland and a Kaway (those in the same budget) but even though their keys feel good (better than a real piano) they're too different from a real piano so the difference if you practice on them can be heard and seen

It doesn't better if Yamaha P-120 keys feel good or not it does matter that they're the one more similar to a real piano for that price

Daniel