What are some good ways to try out a DP besides just fiddling with it? Are there particular pieces of music that would thoroughly exercise the piano to see how well it sounds / feels? I would be most interested in beginner and advanced pieces. Are scales a good way to test the DP?

Also, what recorded music would you use to try out headphones that are intended to be used with the DP?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Other then just playing it. It think I good idea is to play a C scale "pp" to "ff". Play it both loud and soft near the center and at both ends of the keyboard. Listen if the sound changes with loudness or if it just gets louder. Do the high keys play notes or just go "tink"

Also remember that most DPs let yu adjust the keyboard sensitivity. It's not fair to judge the DP until you've set this the way you like it.

Play with headphones, good ones. otherwise you are comparing the quality of the built-in speakers. If speakers matter to you then play with and without the headphones. For public performance you'd not be using these, you have an amp or PA system.

The best type of music to test which DP you want to buy..
Is the type of music YOU play!

Who cares if classical pieces sound magnificent if you're going to play pop music, and vice versa.

It's YOUR piano, YOU choose the songs =P

Definitely use headphones. I found that even inexpensive headphones (~$50) often sound significantly better than built-in speakers. Plus, you're not fighting with the ambient sound in the store.

As for what to play, I noticed the most things about DPs when I was playing a piece that I had an emotional connection to--something I could really get into. That's when I noticed things I either liked or didn't like about whatever DP I was playing.

My 2 cents.

If you're not going to the store with headphones and would like to know the sound coming from the speakers, make sure to visit the store when it's fairly quiet and there aren't many people around. I find that a noisy environment tends to cancel out any nuances and different levels of expressiveness among DPs.

Just play the music you know the best, presumably the music you'll be making on that keyboard. If the sound of the built-in speakers is important to you just make sure you can go demo the keyboard when there will be the fewest distractions in the store, i.e. weekdays when the store just opens.

I personally only demo keyboards with my headphones. The key point being that they are headphones I have used for a long time so when I go from keyboard to keyboard, any difference in sound is attributable to the differences in keyboards and not the headphones. No matter how good or bad your headphones are stick with just that one pair.

A headphone for use with DP should not be much different from a headphone for listening to music in general. So bring music that you are familiar with and like. Bring a variety of music -- vocal, instrumental (piano of course), orchestral, jazz, simple, complex, loud, soft.

The technology to emulate an
acoustic piano has been around
since at least the 1970's,
and by the 1980's the digital
pianos already peformed similar
to today's best. So digital
piano technology is now widespread
and well-established, and you
would have a really hard time
today buying a bad weighted-key
digital piano. Thus, buying
less expensive and/or lesser
known brands sight-unseen online
is no problem at all as long
as you buy from an established
online dealer like, for example,
zzounds.com or amazon.com. You
will get an instrument that plays
like an acoustic piano.

Since you're going to get
a good emulation of an acoustic
piano, no matter what you buy,
buying decisions often come
down to intangibles like looks,
name, image, pizzaz, etc.

One other important point: once you have narrowed down your selection you should test on at least two different days, and in the opposite order. Our impression of sound and keyboard feel is pretty daptable. Also, if your main interest is the piano, do not play araound with any of the other sounds. They may distort your impressions for a while.

Thanks to all for your helpful advice. I will keep it all in mind as I go DP shopping.

In addition, most pianos have some songs hardcoded into their memory (Für Elise and other classics). To get a feel for the sound, you should request that the sales assistant shows you how to access these and then lean back and enjoy the piano sound without the distraction of playing yourself on an unfamiliar keyboard.