Looking for a good Digital Piano

[pocho]

I'm looking for a good Digital Piano that sounds like a real acoustic one. I was heading to the Williams Overture, mostly because of the price, but I haven't read very good reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Williams-Overture-Key-Digital-Piano/dp/B0021F36J4/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&m=AIMZUKBRH6H15&s=musical-instruments&qid=1248025639&sr=1-21

Can someone recommend me others?

Thanks.

[jgallag]

Any of the Casio Privia models. Certainly can't compare to a real grand, but still very good. Nice, authentic sound, and some other cool options. Also has multi-track recording, which is quite useful.

[pocho]

Hmm, those look very good, and the price is great. I'll be looking into one of those definitely.

If someone else wants to recommend more, go ahead.

[lhorwinkle]

You didn't say what is your price range. That makes a difference.

[gyzzzmo]

No digital piano's sound like an accoustic one, especially not if you play without headphone.
But to my opinion the yamaha clavinova series is one of the best, i've been using the clp-950 for quite some years now.
And a higher price is definitely not an indication for quality, in case of the clavinova-series it usually just means there are more gadgets and bleeps on it, the mechanics are pretty much the same.
Since taste differs between people, i'd recommend you to go to a pianodealer with alot of digitals and just play them for some time, with and without headphone(!)

gl,
gyzzzmo

[pocho]

What do you guys think of the Privia 120x and 130x, Casio PX575R, and Yamaha P85?  I might go for one of those.

[gyzzzmo]

What do you guys think of the Privia 120x and 130x, Casio PX575R, and Yamaha P85?  I might go for one of those.

Play them for a while and make up your mind yourself

[gorucan]

I'm looking for a good Digital Piano that sounds like a real acoustic one. I was heading to the Williams Overture, mostly because of the price, but I haven't read very good reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Williams-Overture-Key-Digital-Piano/dp/B0021F36J4/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&m=AIMZUKBRH6H15&s=musical-instruments&qid=1248025639&sr=1-21

Can someone recommend me others?

Thanks.

I can recommend you to buy cheapest Yamaha or Kawai upright and it will still be 10 times better than any digital piano.

[oxy60]

I really like the P85 for the sound it puts out in my earphones. The built in amp and speakers leave a lot to be desired. However that can be fixed with a pair of external active speakers with equalizer controls. With yet a better mixer and speakers you might get the sound of a $100,000 grand! (maybe or at least try)

[gorucan]

I really like the P85 for the sound it puts out in my earphones. The built in amp and speakers leave a lot to be desired. However that can be fixed with a pair of external active speakers with equalizer controls. With yet a better mixer and speakers you might get the sound of a $100,000 grand! (maybe or at least try)

With best mixer best speakers and best digital piano, you wont get sound of a $5000... because of ALIQUOTS !! chord can not be replaced by chip.

[oxy60]

ALIQUOTES ?? Enlighten me. Thanks!

[richard black]

With yet a better mixer and speakers you might get the sound of a $100,000 grand!

Well, maybe with $100,000-worth of amp and speakers you might get something fairly decent, though not as good as a piano. And it will be a lot less reliable and in 50 years will be impossible to repair.

[oxy60]

Wouldn't we all love to have a big concert grand sitting in our music room where we wouldn't bother anyone at any hour when we chose to play? But that is not the reality for most of us. More than half of us live in some sort of multifamily block of flats. 43% of Californians rent their flats and a very large number live in their owned condos. So the choice of a piano must be compromised.

That is why I chose the P-85. Almost all the time I listen to it over earphones. On occasion I have pushed it through some amps and at other times put a mixer in the line. Of course it doesn't sound just like an acoustic but it comes so close that only another piano player who has played on one of those $100,000+ grands can hear the difference.

What counts for me is what I hear hour after hour in my earphones as I practice.

[gyzzzmo]

clavinova clp-950     \o/

[richard black]

at other times put a mixer in the line.

Given that the keyboard has stereo outputs and I imagine you're listening on a stereo sound system, what does the mixer do? Just equalisation?

[oxy60]

Yes, equalization is very important but equally important is being able to adjust the signal level between the various amps in the chain. I try to be very careful to not "over-drive" the next amp. Digital pianos seem to "over-drive" their internal amp and speakers which produces that harsh digital sound. What I do is reduce the output from the piano preamp (headphone output) and use the better quality preamp in the mixer to bring a clean signal to the active speakers. Then equalize and adjust the reverberation to match one's taste.     

[gorucan]

ALIQUOTES ?? Enlighten me. Thanks!

Aliquots = Overtones
Read this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_resonance_(music)

and this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliquot_stringing

and this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtones

[dickrichards]

We were shopping for a piano about a month ago.  We couldn't decide whether to buy a digital or an upright.  We went to a store which had many models.
To test the sound, I stood between a grand and an upright, while my wife was in front of a digital.  We took turns pressing the low C key to compare the sound.  To be fair to the uprights, they sounded nice while playing, but not while comparing.  They sounded like toys compared to the grand pianos.  The only digital piano that sounded better than the uprights was a Roland HP207.  It really did sound the closest to a grand.  I liked the action as well.
I didn't buy it due to the price.  It was almost $5000 cdn.  Instead I bought a Casio AP-500 online without testing it, as I read many reviews.  I love the feel and sound of it and I'm very satisfied.  It only cost me $900.00 cdn.
Have fun shopping.

[gyzzzmo]

You should buy an upright or grand for the sound and touche, a digital is just for practising and nothing more. You buy them for very different reasons.

[billy_lee]

at the moment I'm still much more a guitar player than a piano player...in other words I'm not an expert on them BUT I do really really like my Casio CDP-100 it only cost me $400 usd(and musicians friend put in a pair of free headphones to boot) in has weighted keys and hammer action, I don't have a lot of experience with real pianos but I know that this digital one is great!

hope that helps

-billy

[oxy60]

When I purchased my Yamaha P-85 I read that the sound was based on a combination of three samples (obviously from a Yamaha Grand) which is different than other digital pianos that use a chip. Can anyone confirm this claim?