Digtal Piano or Acrosonic

[cuallito]

What do you think would be the better option for a first piano (I'm at an intermediate level with a Yamaha keyboard)?

A Baldwin Acrosonic or a full range midi controller w/ hammer action hooked up to Pianoteq?

[hfmadopter]

 I also would not be interested in an Acrosonic, it's strings are far too short, most regard it as a kind of odd sounding piano. I really am a fan of decent grand pianos for action and sound.

I see the digitals as an option for both portability and practice or for portable entertaining. I don't visualize a digital without also owning an acoustic grand piano for me personally, though I know many many people do just that. The MIDI concept, that's new to me but seems to have great potential. Of the digitals I've investigated the Kawai MP6  so far has the nicest grand piano sound I've heard and it's action is supposed to be very good.

I think in your shoes I would ditch the Acrosonic idea and investigate further the Midi concept. And at least take a look at that MP6 I mentioned above.

All the above is assuming that you want to continue learning from the intermediate level. You want a piano, be that digital or acoustic, that will  let you grow. Keyboard touch is important and quality sound will allow you to want to play more. An acoustic grand has levels of harmonic sound tough to replicate with digital. Also volume that grows by feeling and complexity in tone different from digital. They are really two different instruments.

[gvfarns]

Not really enough information, and I don't think you are exploring all your options.

About the acoustic: I was raised playing an arcosonic.  Pretty nasty piano.  Yours may be in better condition than mine was but it is an old and not very expensive piano.  I later got a digital and it was much better in pretty much every way.  Anyway, the condition of the piano is a consideration and without more information I'm going to have to assume that it is not very good.

About the digital: There's a lot more variety in the quality of digital pianos than people sometimes realize.  They all kind of look the same, but the differences in the quality of the action are quite large.  For example, the GHS action in a Yamaha YDP141 is very low end, while the only slightly more expensive YDP161 has a GH action that is much better, and almost certainly better than an old arcosonic in typical condition.  Roland has their own style and various qualities, as does Kawai.  Casio makes some actions that compete with GHS but none that really come close to an acoustic in my experience.  So I guess the question is, what digital are we talking about?  Since you don't mention a model and you call it a keyboard, rather than a digital piano, I assume it's low end.  Are you considering buying a new one or just adding a software piano to it?

About the software piano: PianoTeq is one option.  Not the best in my experience.  Fun if you love tweaking the sound or talking about the innovative technology, but it doesn't sound as nice or as much like a piano as the best software piano options do.  PT 4 seems to be an improvement over previous versions but it retains many of the flaws in the sound and isn't very pleasing to the ears.  I've played many software pianos and the best I've played are Galaxy Pianos (including Vintage D) and Ivory II.  Also good considerations: Garritan and Imperfect samples.   If you consider other options just make sure they feature partial pedaling and repedaling or you may be disappointed in their playability.

Also to consider is what you use for speakers.  Onboard DP speakers are often very low quality and not positioned very well.  You can do much better.  The speakers are the weak link for many (most) digitals.  Compared to the big old soundboard in an acoustic, cheap speakers are very unimpressive.  Try some high quality headphones if you want an outstanding experience.

Anyway, I find that a good digital with a good software pianos and nice set of headphones is very hard to beat.  No cheap acoustic can match the experience, and it's convenient too (no bothering other household members while you practice, for example).  It does depend on the circumstances, though.  I can imagine cases where even a low quality acoustic would be preferred.

Since you already seem to own a Yamaha, a software piano seems like a good incremental improvement (at low cost).  If you become dissatisfied with your action you can get a better controller and sell your current one on craigslist.  If you get dissatisfied with the arcosonic (which I would) you will have to find someone willing to haul it off, which seems to be quite difficult in the current environment.