Yamaha MP1 48" upright acoustic/digital hybrid

[randolph]

About five years ago I bought a rather expensive digital piano thinking it would meet my needs as an apartment-dweller (read: silence).  European readers may scoff at this post, but American apartments are built with very thin drywall.

Well, the digital piano was good for 2 things:
1) It allowed me to play silently, &
2) It allowed me to record easily as a nice bonus

These bonuses are so easily outweighed by a simple fact:  digital pianos do not have anything close to the action of an acoustic piano.  No wood, no hammers, no strings...In fact, I abhore my digital piano because when I play on an acoustic it feels like an entirely different instrument, almost as if I have been spending my time practicing on a harpsichord.

I am in the market for a new piano now, but I am still stuck.  I still need the ability to play silently.  I got a little excited when Kawai started offering a line of digital pianos with true wood keys and actual hammers with real counterweights.  However, I was extremely dissapointed in the "feel" of these new digitals when I tried a few pieces on the showroom floor; a thousand times better than the digital I have at home, but still not approaching the feel of a good acoustic.

Now, I understand that Yamaha has a line of acoustic pianos able to be silenced by a bar that blocks the hammers and interprets the sound digitally.  An acoustic I can plug headphones into:

https://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail/0,6373,CNTID%253D572%2526CTID%253D203100,00.html

Sorry for the long post.  My question is, how do other pianists cope with practicing without distubing the neighbors, and is this new Yamaha Acoustic/Digital a promising solution?

[wynnbear]

I think that many cope by having a digital piano and an accoustic one. 

If you're looking for a two in one solution, besides Yamaha, both Kemble and Schimmel offer a silent option.  Probably because both makers are partially owned by Yamaha. 

Kawai has a range too, called "anytime piano".  I don't think these are offered in the U.S., but they are available in Europe.  Some of the other European makers also offer a silencing system that plays via MIDI through headphones.  I've never tried one of these MIDI pianos.  You'll have to try them and see if you like the system. 

Be sure to let the Forum know your opinion after you've tried them.