I recently started taking piano lessons having never had any piano instruction before. I'm enjoying playing so much that I'm thinking about buying a DP for use at home. Right now, I'm practicing on Yamaha acoustic upright and I really like how it feels and sounds. I'd like buy a DP that has an acoustic-like action and good sound (not as important since I can use headphones).

Preferred max budget: $3000
Stage or console piano: doesn't matter
# of pedals: 2 or 3
Escapement: It would be nice to have it, but not essential

Here are my finalists (Please also suggest other DP's):

Roland FP-7F
Yamaha CLP-440 or CLP-470 (if I can get it close to $3500)
Kawai CA63

I live very close to a Yamaha dealer so Yamaha DP's are the easier to buy and to service. The Kawai dealer is the furthest away.

What do you guys think?

Many thanks in advance!

Nicolas

The Kawai and Roland you mention are quality pianos. On the Kawai side you could get the MP10 for less money (I think) if you are indifferent between stage and console pianos. It is the same or better--it has escapement and I believe more sounds. Just no built-in speakers.

I'm not familiar with the Yamaha you mention. Their stage pianos are good stuff...CP33, CP50, CP5.

In general (in the US) you save a lot of money and get more features when you do a stage piano instead of a console.

Hi,

I'm a beginner like you (maybe not quite as enthusiastic) and I own the Roland FP7-F. It my opinion it's a very fine instrument, it feels great and is very solidly built. I like the touch of the keys and also the supernatural piano sound. And I think and hope it's an instrument that can be used for many, many years.
I have only one complaint and that is the software. When you switch the piano off, it forgets all the settings you made (things like the key touch, metronome settings, selected piano sound, etc.) . You can save some of the settings in "registrations" but then after switching it off and on again, you have to load the registration manually again. My thinking is, that in the 21st century it should be possible to have a device that remembers its setting automatically.

Keep in mind that for the FP7-F you need to purchase a seperate 3-pedal unit if you need it. It comes only with a single pedal included. But I think as a beginner one pedal is more than enough to start with.

I did never regret having bought the FP-7F!

Thanks for the replies! Are there any other pianos that have comparable features and a similar price to the FP-7F? How about the CLP-440 or 470?

Are the pedals necessary, and what do they do? (im a beginner as you can probably tell lol)

The right pedal sustains and is definitely necessary all the time for everyone.

The other pedals are una corda (changes the timbre and makes the piano a little quieter) and sostenuto (sustains only notes that are already pressed). These are both used very, very infrequently.

Very few DP's have three pedals--I can't think of any, actually. More common is two and then the ability to map the left pedal to either una corda or sostenuto. Not to criticize the preferences of the OP too much--you should get what you want--but I think wanting three pedals is over the top and will severely restrict your options unnecessarily. You can get all that functionality with two pedals, and really, how often has anyone every used sostenuto? I have NEVER had occasion to use it. How about both sostenuto and una corda in the same sitting? Very unlikely.

I agree with you gvfarns. Maybe the reason I wanted 3 pedals was for completeness, but it's really not necessary based on what you wrote.

So what I'm getting from reading the forum and replies is that stage pianos offer a better deal than console pianos. FP-7F is definitely on the top of my list. What other pianos (stage or console) should I also consider?

Thanks GV, so your saying the right pedal holds the notes longer? do you normally get this with the piano, or you have to purchase it seperately? Im sure i've seen people playing the DP on youtube without a pedal though

Fp7F is also on top of my hit list so far lol

Sustain allows the notes you play to keep playing even after you release the key--as if you had kept the key pressed down. We use it to play legato without having to hold the keys down like it was an organ. Basically all music since the baroque (or early classical) period is played with the use of the sustain pedal.

Aah thats cool, so you would only put your foot down on the pedal if you wanted a prolonged sound?

Mrcultureshock, your budget is pretty generous so you can get almost any stage piano you want. Top pianos have largely been mentioned already here. The Kawai MP10 is a perennial favorite. The Roland FP7F or RD700NX. Yamaha CP50 or CP5.

The MP10 has long wooden keys with hammers, more like a real acoustic. It has double escapement simulation (the clicky sensation, not the increased repetition). Its major selling point: action quality. The Rolands have a lighter action, but at least the RD700NX has a three sensor action, which actually increases the possible repetition speed, like double escapement. Also great sounds IMO. I don't recall if the FP7F has this too. Probably. The Yamahas are classics. I haven't played them lately but I played a predecessor of the CP33 and it was great. I don't know which have a three-sensor action (some, at least do). I personally like the Yamaha sound quite well, and some of them are quite cheap for the quality.

Yes and no, it's more complex than that, but this is way OT, why not join Adult Beginners forum? You mention an FP7F, it comes with a pedal, enough for a beginner for a few years.

Thanks, I'll have a look into it

Given your $3K budget you can have just about anything. But you are over spending. A better use of funds is to buy only what you can use and then plan on upgrading. Your second upgrade piano will be better than anying currently on the market, technology moves forward every few years and price fall. In the long run you are better off to buy a $1K piano today, sell it within four years for $500 then buy a $2,500 piano. Continue that pattern of sells to 50% loss. This way you always have something that more closly fits your needs

In your case any of these would work perfectly, buy the one you like. You will practice more if you simply like the instrument.
1) Any Kawai, they all have good keys
2) Any Yamaha with "GH" or better key action. that means the P155 and up.
3) Any Roland that does not have their "Alpha" key action. I think this means the FP7F and up

If the goal is to learn to play any of the above will work exactly equally well. Decide based on other criteria like price, cosmetics,....

Of the Yamahas I don't think the CLP range is a good value. You pay a LOT for the case. Inside CLPs are not different enough from the $999 P155. If you like Yamaha buy the P155 and put the rest of your budget in the bank and save it for the "next DP" that you will buy in few years. (no matter what you buy now you WILL want to upgrade it because better pianos keep coming out on the market)

Kawai really does have a nice key action. I think they is Kawai's strong point and it is what matters most. The P155 is good but for another $600 you can get something slightly better. I've used both but my budget was "about $1K" so I ended up with the p155. I prefer Yamaha's sound over Kawai's (but again it's the keys that matter the most.)

The FP7F certainly has the best feature set. Wetter the key action is better is up to debate. But really, if you look seriously at what a beginning piano student needs the only thing that matters is first, the keys, then a reasonably believable sound.


My preferences? Fist off I don't give a hoot if my DP exactly replicates an acoustic piano. If a DP and AP resemble each other it should only be because there is only one good way to build a piano. I don't want a "fake acoustic" I want a piano. So I'd be going for the FP7F but then for this "early intermediate" player I find no short comings in the P155 if used as a home practice piano. I would not recommend the P155 for any other use.

Any of the better DPs listed above at this price point $1K and up will play better then the random upright piano you might find in someone's house or even a collage practice room.

That's good advice. Save money for better headphones and future investments.

You don't upgrade a piano. You replace it. Resale value of the first piano will be a fraction of the original cost, so there's much waste when "trading" up.

Instead, I'd go the other way. Get the best you can afford and you're good for ten years or more.

No one has mentioned the Nord Piano yet, I think that's another model worth considering. It does happen to have 3 pedals, but I agree with those who say that's not a big deal. I just happen to think it's a nice sounding, nice feeling piano.

If you prefer a lighter action, I'd suggest the Roland FP-7f, Yamaha CP5, or Nord Piano (and of those, only the Roland has speakers). If you prefer a heavier action, I'd look at the Yamaha CP-300 and P-155 (which have speakers) and Kawai MP10 (which doesn't).

At first the teacher will have you ignore the pedal. Only after you can actually play some melody in the right hand and at the same time chords in the left would it make sense to use a pedal. It will be a few years, if ever that you need to think about a second pedal. It depends on the music you play and how far you progress.

Stage pianos be definition lack the heavy wood-like case and stand. If you don't need that don't pay for it. Those wood stands seem to cost as much as $1,000.

Also there is many times a functional difference too. The Home type "console" pianos are designed to hide the "digitalness" of the DP so many times they lack usable controls or hide them. I think this sacrifices functionality for cosmetics. But for many people cosmetics tops their list of needed features. The FP7F and others like it look more like an airplane cockpit with all their switches and knobs. They are very obviously digital and make no effort to hide the fact. I guess a better way to say this is that "Stage pianos tend to expose more of their functions as physical knobs and switches.