Digital piano reviews

[derschoenebahnhof]

I moved to an apartment from a house so I am looking at buying a digital piano. That way I can play at night (most often the only time I have after the kid goes to sleep) with headphones and it will sound better than the muffled sound (mute pedal) on my current upright. Plus, I can record, play duets, and other fun stuff.

Now I am pretty much sold on the Yamaha YDP-181, went to try it at Guitar Center among the loud bangs of the guitars.

But my real question is: how you get decent reviews of digital pianos online? It looks like Yahama has copied/pasted the same text over and over. Everywhere you see "This is the perfect instrument for beginners and experienced players alike... It not only provides playing pleasure, blah blah" and it is the same text on every single web site I looked at. Very frustrating.

There are some forums and some videos on youtube but otherwise, not much for real unbiased reviews...

Any insight?

Thanks!
Christian

[jimbo320]

Just read your post and give me time to find some for you...

[jimbo320]

Cristian,
Try keyboardmag.com they give some good info...

[derschoenebahnhof]

Thanks for the link.

However, a search for "Arius", "181", etc. didn't return anything :-(

Amazon has more reviews on the 161, which is an older model. For the 181, there are only 2 reviews, and although good, they are not very detailed.

I liked what I tested in the store (YDP 181) though. The Casio keyboards they had there didn't have a good feel (too springy).

Does anyone have experience with Pianoteq? I am thinking recording to MIDI on USB drive then replaying with Pianoteq to get a better sound.

Cheers,
Christian

Cristian,
Try keyboardmag.com they give some good info...

[jimbo320]

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/   At this link you'll find info on the Arius, YPD and others...

[mmjt]

30 years ago I bought a Kawai KG2, 178 cm. When new it sounded quite perfectly for an apartment room.
For the same reasons as yours, in April I bought a Kawai ES6. I find it completely satisfactory as sound and touch. If you can afford it, I suggest you to buy this digital piano. In Italy the portable version costs about euro 1200.
Tell me about your choice.
Best wishes. 

[derschoenebahnhof]

Ok, more questions... (I haven't bought anything yet)

- If I remember correctly, MIDI has 128 velocity levels for each key. I couldn't find anywhere on Yamaha's specs how many actual levels the YDP 181 has. It is as much as 128, or 64? How many different levels can a human hand achieve?

- Are there any issues with reliability on digital pianos (be it Kawai or Yamaha)? Any problem other than firmware upgrade (if they have these) would require shipping the whole thing to the manufacturer, right? Compared to an upright where you can get a technician to come over and fix it).

Thanks,
Christian

[jimbo320]

All I can tell you is that all my DP's keep perfect tune and I don't think there's any firmware upgrades that I know of...

[derschoenebahnhof]

All I can tell you is that all my DP's keep perfect tune and I don't think there's any firmware upgrades that I know of...

Well yes, of course a DP always stays in tune I was more thinking about wear and tear in the action, or problems with the electronics. At least your experience seems to be that they are reliable.

CG

[derschoenebahnhof]

Alright, I splurged 

I went for the YDP-181.

As far as touch, it is excellent. It's as close to a piano as you might want, except that the let-off part isn't felt. You can even miss a note if you don't press it fast enough, like a real piano. The key weight feels similar to an upright, almost. Sensitivity is quite good, you can play real pianissimo or fortissimo. I found pianissimo quite easier to do than on a real piano, so you might need some adjustment if you spend too much time on a DP :-p I don't know how many levels, I am sure I can measure that through MIDI.

The sound is pretty good, though there is still an "electronic" feel to it especially in the upper registers, and more if you enable "Damper Resonance". But that is in no way a show stopper. I think a DP is a great tool for practicing, you can record one hand and play with the other, or you can record one part of a two-piano piece and play the other part, etc. If you need better sound you can record to a USB flash drive and then replay the MIDI file with software like PianoTeq, TruePiano, or others.

All in all, great for apartment dwellers, or night time practice with earphones, and you can get very decent sound with piano software. For additional fun you can play organ or harpsichord.

My real worries are what if the instrument fails. Manufacturer warranty only goes for a year, after that you have to pay shipping to Yamaha should any repair be needed. Or, the store I got it from, Guitar Center, has an extended warranty on their own which covers shipping and other things. Still thinking about that. Then again, it's a Japanese product, and the Japanese are pretty good with quality, so let's hope for the best :-)

CG

Well yes, of course a DP always stays in tune I was more thinking about wear and tear in the action, or problems with the electronics. At least your experience seems to be that they are reliable.

CG

[jimbo320]

Congrats on your new purchase. All of my equipment is Yamaha except for my Micron and the amps. One keyboard is 8 years old and I still use it on stage...