Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards CLP 340 vs HP 305 vs CA 63: a beginner's view

There is general consensus that there is no general consensus on this matter... You have to test drive all the pianos and take your own decision.

I prefer the CA63 because of the best compromise regarding keyboard action and sound (IMHO it really has the best keyboard action), but that's just my 2 cent... There are lots of threads dealing with different DPs and there pros and cons, you can read them to have a rough idea what DPs to try.

Good luck!

Smoke(..)'s question is legitimate, and mucci's reply is the correct attitude to take. "Compromise" based on your specific needs is the key word. CA63 is really a GOOD choice for the money it costs. But yesterday at the showromm - again - I could NOT make a decision between HP 307, Y 340, and of course CA 63 ... All three have peculiarities, colours, shortocmings that will maybe appear "later" in your music lifetime .. At some moment we will need to take the "risk" of making a final decision

Stefano1200,

I think you should consider the noise created by the different keyboards as AndyT mentioned, before you make any final decision. This is a very important aspect and trust me, you can become mad with a noisy keyboard. Kawai CA93/63 is the quietest keyboard of the keyboards you mentioned and you don't get that feeling of hitting granite either.

/Andrée

Andrée, your advice on "noise" is important to me, I realize I've been too focussed on "piano sound & colours" ... I will try again CA next week (..) with your words in mind.

To comment on keyboard noise of my HP307 - I have some neighbours below me that complained about me practicing late at night. I was rather surprised since I always play with headphones on if it's late but further discussion revealed it sounded for them as if I was bashing on floor or a table practicing some rythms... That made me wonder and I remembered reading here that the roland's action is loud. I think what my neighbours are hearing is the keyboard action.
That really sucks tbh but Im not sure if they are exagerating or if it really can be so audible in the flat below me? Family in next room can't hear anything and I with headphones can't say the sound bothers me at all. The neighbours say differently
My solution was to stop practicing any loud parts of my music at night and just play some chilling soft pieces...

zaba19

It's not only Roland issue. I had the same problems with Yamaha CLP330. Key noise was very annoying for my neighbors below when I played late at night.

There are some noise cancelling/damping mats that you can put underneath the piano. I don't have a link but maybe someone else can be of help.

Noise cancelling/dampening mat is an awesome idea, I have to find something like this. Thanks for the tip

This is exactly what I'm talking about, the Roland and Yamaha actions are constructed in a way where they create very annoying vibrations for those who live beneath or beside your apartment. It's a big problem and it doesn't help to put a mat below, believe me! With this in mind you can never be relaxed when playing, you will only think about your neighbors, which will affect your enjoyment negative.

What your neighbours are hearing is structurally borne noise, a direct result of the pressure you apply to the keys travelling down through the cabinet of the piano and through your floor coverings/joists/neighbour's ceiling etc. The noise that the keys seem to make to someone in the same room (with piano volume down) is an airborne noise.

Some key actions are noisier than others (airborne noise) and the Roland HP-307 (PHAIII) action is slightly noisier than Yamaha GH3 in my experience. But low airborne noise does not necessarily mean low structural noise for neighbours living below the piano...the two issues are completely different. The most significant factor in this case is how your building is constructed, not your piano action in my opinion. If you had concrete floors for instance there would be no issue with structural noise.

I think the main issue really is that all piano key actions are intrinsically noise generating. In an acoustic piano the volume cannot be turned down and you can't use headphones etc so this key noise goes largely unnoticed. If DPs were always played at the same volume as an acoustic then no one would ever discuss this issue. However, I accept that one of the main reasons why we buy DPs is the ability to play quietly or silently so in certain circumstances the key action noise obviously is significant.

As an aside, my old Yamaha GranTouch piano (with grand piano action) was noisier than my Clavinova (with GH3 action). My Kawai MP9000 created only a moderate level of airborne noise but when it was kept upstairs in a modern house with sprung floors it made a heck of a racket for anyone downstairs.

Cheers,

Steve

people with e-drum kits have to deal with this issue a lot, the best/most cost effective thing for this is a 'tennis ball platform', for example see

http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45889

for a DP you might need to figure out if you maybe need a few more tennis balls due to weight differences with an e-drum kit, but if you build something like this it should be pretty much guaranteed to decouple the instrument from the floor making it fine for your downstairs neighbours.