Is the sound different...?

[dawnpuga]

Hi all
It's my 6th year of learning the piano. I had a grand piano at my high school and I practiced there, but now I would like to buy my own instrument. Well, the grand is a bit out of my reach :S so, I was thinking to go for a digital piano instead. I already had my eye set on a certain Yamaha, but I'm still rather uncertain about the whole idea. I love the clear sound of grand piano! I stumbled across this website https://www.bestdigitalpianos.org/which claims that the digital piano's sound is not very different from grand's. Is it? I never played one, so far :S

[mjames]

Yeah, they are. I own a pretty good Casio (good reviews and all) and I still get an orgasm when I play an acoustic piano. The feeling I get is better than sex.

[justharmony]

Absolutely the sound is different.  I am a long-time classical pianist who, due to circumstances, has been practicing and playing on a digital for the last several months.  I honestly did not expect to have the degree of aversion to it that I have.  I realize that different makes and models offer different advantages and such, but ultimately, no matter which I play, and whether or not I use headphones, etc.  I always hear the slight electronic undertone, the sterility in the sound. 

Maybe others aren't as picky as I am, or notice, or care.  I do.  I will always go accoustic.

JH

[bronnestam]

The best you can do is to go finding a digital piano you are interested in and try it out.

I have a Yamaha Clavinova which I really love, and an acoustic simply is out of the question for me, due to my living conditions with a family in a small house. I also really appreciate the opportunity to turn the volume down because my ears are sensitive and get tired.


I also recently bought the virtual pianoware Pianoteq which is excellent combined with my digital. If you make a good recording on that, you can convince anyone that you used a real acoustic piano. But of course, sitting at a first class acoustic grand is an unbeatable feeling - but how many of us really have room and money for that, especially as they need constant maintenance? I have my digital for my daily practice and then I take every change to play a bit on the acoustic pianos that just happen to cross my way from time to time ... often they are not very well tuned and sound horrible, but it is good practice anyway, for a change.

[veronical]

The sound is definitely different.  With that being said, I recently purchased a Yamaha digital piano (Arius YDP-C71PE) and I am extremely happy with it.  I was fervently against the sound of digital pianos but recently I developed carpal tunnel after working with an upright Samick that despite regular maintenance required forcing the keys.  I shopped around for a cost-effective solution to my poor quality instrument and have not been disappointed with the Yamaha (against my original bias).

Another benefit of the digital is the ability to use headphones- a wonderful advantage for late-night playing while others are asleep.

[lazyfingers]

Yes I agree. The sound is not the same as the real thing, even if the marketing hype claims that they come from samplings of concert grands.

I am just about to push the button ( ) on a Kawai CA15 myself. Having tested a few, including Roland, Casio and Yamaha, I have settled on the Kawai CA series as they have wooden keys and have an action reminiscent and closest to a concert grand's action. I have a 6" baby grand at home and life has presented the usual obstacles to late night practice. Also, I have a 17 y.o. who needs to hit the books pretty hard in the near future.

I don't care for the acoustic qualities of sounds from the speakers as I would predominantly be using the headphones. However, it does have a soundboard unlike the other contenders. Also, I don't need all the "extra" features that often come with such things. So, the least expensive model in the series without all the "non-piano" stuff is all I need.

But nothing beats playing on a real acoustic grand.