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Hi first I want to say I little experience with digital pianos so please excuse what might appear to be silly questions.

Looking to buy a digital piano, the objective is to teach the kids piano, give them the opportunity to explore and have fun with music and my wife a I would like to play the piano (we are very average players. Finally it would be nice if it looked good.

Looking to spend 1-2k. Originally looked at the yamaha CLP 430 which we could get for 2k before tax. I was told by a expert that the casio ap620 will provide better fun for the kids, and similar sound quality for much less.

Then I saw a old CVP 700 for sale, dings in the cabinet but still working well.

Which would be a better buy if the price was similar? the cvp has only 64 polyphony but we like playing classical, are we going to notice that?, does the casio have more features the kids will like? should we be worried about the cvp 700 breaking down. Is there another digital we should be looking at new or used.

thanks

[Edited]

Thanks it is good to know that the casio is a good piano the other interesting question is, is a top of the range old digital piano cvp 700 a better buy than mid to low level new piano casio 620?

Maclum
The two pianos are similar in terms of features. It comes down to the key action you like best. You would want to play both and decide which you prefer. Both pianos have additional sounds and rhythms. The Casio has a better sequencer but this would be important only if you want to record which might be down the road a ways.

Thanks since we are not experts my concern with the key action is 1. is that it is close enough to a acoustic piano that my kids can move back and forth in case their teacher has a acoustic. 2. Are the keys going to survive my kids enthusiasm (especially the older cvp)

Digital piano actions can develop problems just like an acoustic eventually does. A digital will never feel exactly like an acoustic, but your boys should not have any trouble going back and forth between the two. As far as you not being experts, you will likely have a preference for one key action over the other.

Thanks! so functionality is similar, both have realistic key actions, it gets down to, how reliable is a 10 year old cvp700, is the 64 polyphony good enough in the cvp700, which key action do the adults like and how much nicer is the cvp700's cabinet.

I have owned the CASIO AP-620 and I could not get rid of it quick enough. I did not like the rapid decay rate of the tones.

I also owned Yamaha DPs and would recommend the CLP 430 over the CASIO for a better sound, especially for classical music.

The CASIO will be more fun for the children because of all the various backgrounds you can bring up.

I believe the CVP has a lot of those bells and whistles also but I know nothing about that DP. If you could get that CVP for about $1000 I would say go for it.

Thanks Don, what causes the rapid decay? is it a definable spec in the DP? Unfortunately for my wife and I we want this purchase to teach and excite the kids about music so the casio would be better than the CLP 430. The cvp 700 might be a great compromise but I need some advice about the importance of the 64 polyphony. If I could get it down to 1k for the 700 it would be a easier decision but the 700 is in a grand cabinet(although it is beat up) so it is priced higher.

This is interesting...Mind if I chime in?

What's your experience working with children? I've learned that kids don't always go for what's "fun" or the "bells and whistles." A while ago there was a research study with babies. 2 guitars were placed in front of them. They had to choose between a toy guitar and a Gibson. The result was that the babies would naturally gravitate towards the Gibson. (sorry I cannot cite this research now). This study suggested that kids know "quality" when they see it. I say get a piano that you like. Forget about which piano has the most bells and whistles. If you appreciate it and show that, chances are kids will too.

Finally I would say how much kids like you and enjoy learning piano from you depends on your teaching style, not what kind of features the piano has.

Great question, first let me say, other than as a parent I have had not formally trained children. But I did purchase a portable Yamaha 76 key digital grand piano and with out any training or prompting from me the kids have leaned how to use it and have ball just experimenting with the different sounds. This showed to me how such functionality can provide fun to the kids through music - that is priceless. So it seems to me that the broad functionality provide fun and exposure for our kids into music in general, where as the piano lessons will provide skills and knowledge.

Cool.



I think this is a great distinction you made. You have to ask yourself what is your ultimate goal then: to introduce kids to music or teach them some really technical piano skills (classical and stuff)? I'm guessing it's a mix of both. Therefore, you'll want something that sounds great but has enough cool stuff for kids to tinker with. Obviously you already know this, duh. I'm the one that's late to the party.

I wish I could provide more help with digital pianos specifically, Casios. All I can say is that in my shopping, I found that CVPs are really nice. I wish I could afford one. I just ordered a CLP 430. It was also $2000, like you mentioned. I would recommend a used CVP.

I can tell you that growing up, my teacher had 2 digital pianos (and rather nice ones as far as I could tell) AND a baby grand. The setup was really nice. I don't think they had all the fancy beats and electronic gizmos, but that was okay with me. The most fun part of the lesson was each of us hopping on a digital piano and her teaching me that way. So ideally, maybe you could get TWO digital pianos. Hahaha...

Thanks for your input your have nailed my dilemma. I want both and can not afford to pay too much for it (like 90% of us). I will have to compromise somewhere because we can not buy top of the range and that is why I am asking for the help of this forum. The Casio AP620 or CVP 700 are the compromises I have identified and I am hoping the combined knowledge and expertise of this forum will help me either choose between these two or find another better solution.

See my edited post above.

Thanks!!! so not only do I have to buy a expensive DP but I have to buy two? other than the sticker shock that is a good idea, I could use our existing, Yamaha 76 key keyboard and play along with the kids, that really would be a lot of fun!!!

Haha. It was definitely overkill. You only need 1 piano.

Good luck with the decision and purchase!

thanks it really was a good idea about playing with two DP I will do that!

BTW, I did not see whether you have actually played on any of these models you are considering. Have you ?

It is usually not a good idea to purchase without playing around with them a little bit, anyway.

If you have decided it is now between the CVP700 and the CASIO AP620 I would have to suggest that you make every effort to go with the CVP700.

Hi we tried the CLP 430 which we liked and we will try the cvp 700 soon. I need to work out where to find the casio to try. I am curious as to why you are recommending the cvp 700? It would be great to get your opinion about the impact of only 64 polyphony.

I am recommending the CVP700 only because I thought you had already ruled out the CLP430 and I know what the CASIO AP-620 is. Also, I know the CVP product line is a good one, in general... although a bit pricey.

64 polyphony will not affect you to any noticeable degree, if at all.