Has anyone used the line out on their dp? I am looking for my first dp, considering Kawai CE200, Yamaha ydp160, and Casio px800, maybe the 830. I am having a hard time finding a CE200 to try, so I am basing my interest on some reviews here, the general reputation, the good sense that the design makes, and the attractiveness as well. Also, it has a line out, which I am hoping I could run through my Harmon Kardon receiver and get really good sound.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. My budget inclines me toward the ydp160 with the 20% discount you can get right now, and the Casio px800 with its closeout price. It's my first dp, and I'm an adult beginner, so I know it doesn't have to be perfect. On the other hand, it's my basic view that I would rather spend a little more and keep something as long as possible if the price difference is worth it. Also, I got a quote from a local Yamaha dealer of 1899 for the Yamaha CLP330, which I might then be able to get for the same price as the CE200 (it was an over the phone quote, so I'd be stunned if that was really the rock bottom).

Thanks so much! This site rocks! You all are such a helpful group.

Yes, what do you need to know about the line out jacks? On the DPs you looked at it is just the normal 1/4 single ended consumer audio -10 dBV signal. Most are switch to give either a mono or stereo signal.

I was able to try a Kawai CE200 at a local Sam Ash store. Don't know if all store have the same demo equipment. My impression was that it did not have Kawai's best sound engine, it sounds nice but lacks some realism. My impression is "to clean" of a sound. but I thought the P155 was better in terms of the sound samples

One thing to be mindful of is whether or not the DP you are interested in has variable or fixed line out. The difference is that the signal level of a variable line-out will be controlled by the volume on the DP, whereas a fixed line-out will not. The advantage of the former is that you can control the volume directly from your DP (so if you have your receiver/speakers hooked up, you can vary the volume right from your DP). The disadvantage (which some here have found out the hard way) is that if you primarily want to use the line-out to record, that you may have to run the DP at a very high volume level (perhaps uncomfortably so) to get a decent recordable level from the line-outs.

Good luck.

Yes, in my case since my DP has no speakers I have to use something external. I found that running my P90 through my receiver worked really well. I had a P140 that I sold for various reasons, one of which the speakers were so disappointing it made no sense to use them. I originally only had stereo speakers, but the receiver supported surround sound, so I went out and bought more speakers and placed them around the room. Sound is great. I also have a software piano on my computer and run my DP through that, and then back out through the receiver.

True, however this can be easily resolved by connecting a pair of headphones (or simply a headphone converter jack) to mute the built-in speakers.

Cheers,
James
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But then you have to use your input devices speakers to hear what is being recorded, which if it's a laptop, could be less than desirable. Of course you could always just plug in a pair of decent speakers or headphones to your computer. Not saying that it's an insurmountable problem, but it is an issue that one should be aware of, esp considering one of the forum members was so caught out by it that they felt compelled to have a running blog on their travails and to have a running dialog with Yamaha.

Again, you're absolutely right, however when recording any type of audio I would generally recommend monitoring the level from the recording device, rather than a direct line from the device that is being recorded...if that makes sense.

Cheers,
James
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Heavens . . . too clean, you say? Sounds rather dreadful. Antiseptic. Good to know. Funny thing. Yet quite a few people love them. Who knows? Maybe, as you put it, not all of them are the same.

As for the line out, I was just wondering if people tried it and if they like it. Maybe a good set of speakers warms the sound or makes it not so overly clean or whatever the case may be. Good speakers won't cure a sick sound, but many people have expressed disappointment in speakers, and a dp with a decent sound sample, it seems, should sound better on better speakers. On the other hand, maybe what people found was that using the line out did more to reveal the limitations of the sound sampling rather than improve the sound.

Thanks for your input! Any thoughts about the clp330? That has a line out, though bitWrangler has drawn my attention to the fact that it's fixed. Thank you, bitWrangler! I'm not going to be doing much serious recording as a newby, so I can let that go I think. Very good to know though. I'm not sure if the ce200's is fixed or variable.

Kawai James, maybe you know if the CE200 is fixed or variable line out . . . And do you have any thoughts as to whether using the line out will improve the sound of the CE200, or is it more likely to reveal the limitations of the sound engine and sampling?