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Hello!
I need your advise. I am a professional pianist who doesn't know much about digital pianos. I have been playing on acoustic pianos all my life. Looking to buy a DP. Main goal for the instrument to sound as close to the acoustic piano as possible. From what I understand Yamaha Clavinova CLP would be the best choice for me. Which model? New or used? Please advise.

Thank you everyone!!! I appreciate all your help!

Following models will cost you $2000 to $3000 and have trusted sound and actions:

Console Pianos:

- Yamaha Clp 280 (old days hero)
- Yamaha CLP340/440 (the best balance of featurs and price in Clavinova Series)
- Roland HP203 (its almost equivalent to the Clp-340)

Stage Pianos:
- Nord Piano 88 (reloadable high quality piano samples, acceptable action)
- Roland FP-7F (both sound and action are good + some home entertaintment features)
- Kawai MP-10 (probably the best stage action, good sound)
- Roland RD700NX (good action and sound)
- Yamaha P155 (its the stage version of CLP 340)

I think the two Rolands are pretty equivalent in their piano sound and action, it's just a matter of what other features you may want.

I think the competitive Yamaha in this group would be the CP5.

It sounds like the OP is looking at consoles, but personally, I think something more portable is almost always preferable. At some point, some years from now, you might want to sell and get something new. If you get something that is reasonably shippable, at least in the U.S., it's pretty easy to move it on eBay. With a console, it's much harder to sell, as you are essentially limited to people who live near you and who have the desire/ability to pick up a heavy piece of furniture.

Clp-280 is discontinued. IS it still possible to buy somewhere? How much would the cost be? Could you please recommend some websites.


Thank you!

You might be able to find a used CLP280. But it's two generations old ... so you'll not likely find a new one. Its successor is the CLP380, and even that one will soon be out of stock, replaced by the CLP400 series.

So, why get stuck on the CLP280? There are plenty of other choices.

i bet you can buy this one for $2500-3000. new they are $6799. if they are actually still being made (conspiracy theorist..). there are some very serious pianists on this site who love the V. I own it (EDIT: i don't own THIS one that's being sold!) and have mixed feelings, but everything has a price...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Roland-V-Piano-...t=Keyboards_MIDI&hash=item43a8d20050

but you have to nickname it "Fido" or "Ruff" because these are fast becoming rescue puppies.

(I'm keeping mine as the world's most expensive midi controller)...

Have you read the digital piano sections of the free online Piano Buyer guide. The link is right on this page?

Sorry Simeiz, I don't know where you can found it in US. It is discontinued but it is still a good DP. Here they are selling it around $2800. Other models are all available new.

Maybe the Roland DP990F or DP990RF?

Are you going to use this on jobs, will it stay at home and you'd also like it to look like a piece of furniture? You have to tell us a bit more.

The top of the line for many of us is the AvantGrand series from Yamaha - you have a real grand piano action and a first rate grand piano sample.

Give us more information.

Dave, I expect the 'not too expensive' part of the topic title may rule out the AvantGrand models.

Cheers,
James
x

Jame, I suspect not too expensive would rule out many pianos that the original poster should consider, but you're correct, even the N1 would be too expensive.

Perhaps if simeiz would tell us how much he would like to spend, we could narrow the field down somewhat.

Yes, that would help.

Having said that, the original poster does also state 'best', which would surely be an AvantGrand.

Cheers,
James
x

I don't think there is any substitute for trying them out yourself at the store since you are a professional pianist, just because you think your budget is 5k doesn't mean you won't fall in love with a N1 and decide to buy it. there's not a lot of places to invest your money these days, I kinda wish I bought the mp10 instead of losing the equivalent on stocks

That's a really good buy. I'd take that over most anything else $3500 or less. It says it's only been in a studio and never moved. $3500 seems to be a good deal because unlike all sampled DPs, the V-Pianos modelling doesn't appear to 'date' as fast, and they just released a new V-Piano Grand with the same action and sound (for the most part) as this one for sale.

per another thread, it apparently sold for the asking bid of $3500. there was one listed a few weeks back at $4000- i don't know whether or not it cleared.