I'd say I'm an intermediate-advaced player (did ABRSM Gr 8 15 yrs ago, current repertoire includes Fantasie Impromptu, Moonlight Sonata, releaning Appassionata). I won't have a piano until July, so between now and then I have two options:

1. Rent practice room in a music store nearby, $2 an hour (this is what I've been doing for over a month, and by July I'll have to pay another $300). The room have old, but serviceable Toyos/Kawai upright. Serviceable, but nothing great.

2. Buy a digital piano/midi controller. I have plan in the future to buy one anyways (for an occassionaly late night practice or work on theory or composition I want to do inside my room), so I might as well buy it now and save the money renting a room. I have Ivory Synthogy and a good headset, so all I need really is a MIDI controller with good action and pedals. I'd like to spend below $1500 on this.

My preference would be No. 2 but my concern is whether a digital piano/midi controller can handle my practice the coming few months. Any experience in this?

Also, any suggestion regarding digital piano/midi controller within my range? The only thing I need really is good action, 2 pedals and USB. Sound is not important as I'll use Ivory for that anyways.

You may also want to post this in the digital piano forum. They give great advice on digital pianos in that forum.

While not ideal, there are Roland, Yamaha, and Casio digital pianos for about $1500 or less that might meet your needs. The Roland FP7 is slightly over your budget, but they may make a similar model without speakers if you intend to use only your headset.

The Yamaha and Casio are less expensive, but don't (in my opinion) have as good a touch. Yamaha makes a YPG635 (I own its predecessor) for about $800 that is reasonably good. Cascio makes the PX130, at $500 or so is remarkably good for its price (actually, I played its predecessor).

Only you can tell, by playing them, whether they are acceptable to you. But these are the candidates, IMHO. (There may be others in this price range with which I am not familiar).

Hop

Hey zxcjason, I know exactly what you are going through. I am roughly at your level and am forced to use my Yamaha Nocturne digital piano in my condo until I move into my house next summer. It is less than ideal but I am able to learn the notes and get a decent feel for the dynamics. My teacher has a CFIII concert grand so when I perform on his piano each week it definitely take a few minutes to get used to, but it is not the end of the world. ALthough I have learned Fantasie Impromptu, Liebestraum #3, Moonlight (3rd movement), Chopin Op. 25 No.12 and Op.25 No. 3, and relearned some Gershwin and other Chopin etudes and mazurkas, all on the Nocturne over the past 2 years...I DEFINITELY feel that my progress would have been much quicker and more efficient on an actual acoustic grand piano. I have done fairly well at several recitals but felt overly anxious just because the majority of my practice was indeed on a digital piano. I am counting down the days till I can get my grand. So, it is not impossible and not an incredible detriment to your progress to learn on a digital especially if it is just a temporary thing. But, I would highly recommend to keep doing what you are doing and rent out a room with an acoustic as much as possible. I do the exact same thing (albeit at $10/hour for a Steinway M) at least once a week and it REALLY helps. So to recap, DP's are fine for learning notes and you actually can get a piece fairly polished (maybe 95% on a DP) but that last, ridiculously hard 5% to really master and "own" the piece simply can NOT be done on a DP in my opinion. This is my opinion but I do know what I am talking about. Now, you could learn a piece just fine and play it for others and people would greatly enjoy a 95% polished piece...but for your ears and for others with experience...95% won't cut it and it certainly won't at competitions and recitals. Sorry to ramble, but I am very dismayed at my current setup so I am constantly thinking about this very dilemma. But I know it is only for another 14 months so I am sucking it up and looking forward to stashing the DP in my future game room. For a beginner or intermediate player, there would not be near as much fuss or difference...but for early advanced an onwards where musicianship is oh so important along with technical proficiency...there is simply no substitute for getting solid practice time on an acoustic grand. So, my advice...get a decent, not too expensive weighted DP used from someone or somewhere to learn the notes, and then continue renting out the room and get as much time as possible on an acoustic grand to get the pieces polished. Since your timeframe is only a few months away...no need to heavily invest in a top tier DP. If you had a 2-year timeframe than it would certainly matter more. Again, all my opinion, but hope it helps.

Cheers,

David

Thanks for chiming in. I went to a couple of stores to try the digital piano, and I agree with David that it is better to practise on an acoustics, even if they are somewhat ordinary uprights. I'll keep renting room and I'm focusing my search now on a something cheaper that can be used for purpose other than serious practice.

Tried the a few Yamahas today, they all feel decent, the CP33 feels just slightly better than YPG635 and P155. Also tried the Roland (FP4, RD3000GX and RD7000GX), the RD7000GX feels quite nice, but I like the Yamaha action a tiny bit better. The Casio PX-130 is closer to what I want to pay, but unfortunately the Costco here don't have them.

Try Sam Ash, Guitar Center, etc. The PX-130, because it is relatively low priced, is available at many places. Of course, you can order them from the usual suspects, usually with no shipping charges. But that doesn't allow you to audition them first.

Hop

I live in Canada, so those stores don't have a location here. I did go to another Costco and found the PX-730 for $640 CAD, I was close to buying it but the box is too big to fit in my trunk, and I had second thought after seeing the piano. I found a P-150 on craigslist but the guy wanted $450, and checking other threads $300 is closer to what I should be paying. So I'll have to keep looking and thanks for all the inputs guys!

I wouldn't give up yet on your original plan to get a good midi controller and use Ivory. Again, the digital forum here is likely to have lots of folks with knowledge on that score.

zxcjason :

You twice mention Costco. Surely that's not your only source for your search in Vancouver, is it?

Regards,

Costco was the only one that has Casio. I also went to Long & McQuade and Tom Lee, they have Yamahas and Rolands. The CP-33 actually will fit my demand rather nicely, but it's quite a bit more than what I'm willing to pay for.

Thanks! Yes I have posted in the digital forums to get more ideas. Currently the P-150 is the closest thing, but hopefully something better on craigslist will show up!

You may be more adventurous than I, but used electronics are products I'd be inclined to shy away from.

Regards,

I was going to recommend that you look into keyboards that are controllers only, rather than digital pianos that have midi out, since with controllers all your money goes into the action, not into sounds you won't use.

But I think you don't need that recommendation, since I see (on the other forum) you're looking at the Studiologic controller.

The only downside, as I see it, to the controller + computer setup is that you have to start everything up when you sit down to play, which is kind of a drag if you only want to sit down for 5 minutes. By contrast, an acoustic or digital piano is always ready to go!

I think that a midi-controller shouldn't be as high on your list of priorities. Certainly you can use a virtual piano like Ivory, but there is often latency issues (you play and the sound comes a bit later) unless you have a very fast computer. It gives a nice sound, but unless you're trying to do home studio recording, it's most likely unnecessary.

I purchased a Roland FP-7 for about $1600 with free shipping, so sometimes you can find a good deal out there. Personally, I prefer that touch to the Yamaha Clavs, but everyone's different in preferences. Keep in mind that with any DP, the sound will only be as good as your speakers or headset. The on-board speakers are a convenience for if you're on the road, but for in-home use, you're going to want to hook it up to a stereo or monitor.

As far as renting out the space, it does not sound as though those pianos would be a step above your DP purchase, and having a piano at home is so much more convenient. Like another poster mentioned, you can always rent out space on a nice grand piano (maybe at a local church) for perfecting the nuances in a piece, and use the DP for working out the notes and rhythms.

Try a Roland RD300GX or RD700GX. Excellent keyboards. You can find one used for about $1,500.

I still swear by the roland V piano but thats still around $6k.

Whoops I see you stated you already tried the Roland RD SX series. They are probably the #1 choice for my style and likes, in a good digital synth.

I have a yamaha clavinova at home and it's be helpful to me through my piano adventure, I will be purchasing a Yamaha acoustic piano soon, and I need to find another new digital for night practice, when everyone is asleep.

Yes, a controller is in fact high on my list. My computer is always on (I'm a programmer that work from home), and I have a pretty damn powerful computer, and I'm used to having everything going through my computer.

The problem with Studiologic is that there is no store that has a demo, so buying one will be a leap of faith. Although the SL990XP is cheap enough that it's not a huge risk. The Studiologic NUMA intrigues me though. $1200 USD for wooden keys and reputably great action, with a good synth (say if I take the plunge and buy the Vienna Imperial), it has a chance to be a serious practise setup at night. But as I can't tried it before ordering it it is a big unknown. Any one tried this controller before?

I tried the FP-4, but I liked the Yamaha's action slightly better. Have you tried FP-4 and FP-7 and how would you compare the two?



Yes, I'll definitely get a good monitor headset. Good things about headset is that a real good headset cost way less than a good speaker setup, and I want a silent setup anyways



I've spend some time on a pretty good Clav at my friend's place, but it just feels like it's lacking something as compared to the acoustic. I can't really pin point what it is, but it just doesn't feel quite right as compared to an acoustic. The uprights in the practise room aren't great, but they are well maintained. I don't know if I'm just used to an acoustic, but to me the experience is really different.

The RD700GX actually feels quite nice. It costs over 2k here, but I'll definitely consider it if I come across a used one. I actually like the action on the CP-33 better, but the keytops feels nicer on the Roland (must be the Ivory feel thing)

Yes you'll only find Casios in Costco, which I thought was quite weird. I bought the PX-730 from there too, same amazing price that you saw. Coincidentally, it also didn't fit in my trunk, but the hatch was heavy enough that if i didn't go over a huge bump, it would stay resting down on top of the box... so I drove home real slow.

It's a very nice piano and I'd recommend it. My background is similar to yours, my big piece at the moment being the Pathetique. I'm just a student in a small apartment but grew up learning on a grand. The feel is quite good, if even a little bit heavier than the grand back home. It's definitely sufficient though, and the pedals, tone, action and everything are superb, in my opinion. For that price... I doubt I would have found a better deal.

Thanks for sharing your experience, I feel quite a bit better about getting a digital now. I'm a bit surprised that you find it heavier than your acoustics, cuz the keys seems lighter than an average piano, but I must admit I didn't get to spend a lot of time with it when I was in Costco.

I actually had to drive 40min on highway to get to that Costco, so driving slowly back with the big box is not an option for me lol.