Hi,

My first post in this forum.

I have only been playing piano for 5 years. My Casio PX 800 have done well, but I feel that something is missing compared to the grand piano I play when taking piano lessons. The sound is one thing that is missing, but also the touch is different and the dynamic range is far from the real piano. The pedals are also bad, compared to the real one.

I have been looking for pianos in the price range of €2250 (approx $2900). Compared to US the prices in US are higher. I can get a Kawai CA 65 SB, Roland DP 990 RF and for a little more a Roland 505 SB.

Wich one would be the best one?

I want a similar feel like the grand piano. It must sound real. I would prefer if changing settings are persisted to next time I sit in front of the piano.

Any comments?
Thanks.

For just a bit more in price you should try to get the Kawai CA95 - a fabulous instrument (with a soundboard) which sounds and plays very much like an acoustic with a wonderful deep bass. At its price there is nothing very much to touch it.

Yes, I heard from one of my colleges as well. He owns one.

I don´t know how the other brands behave, but Roland here fails completely. I have the 505, and it sucks in this regard.

Example: you set the speed of the metronome, practice, and then want to record what you are practicing; the moment you press the REC button for preparing the recorder for recording, the tempo is reset back to a standard value (on mine it is 108 beats for a 4/4 measure); so, you now for the recording first have to set again the tempo you want - lucky if you remember what it was; after recording you will decide if to keep your song saved or if to discard it; if you keep it, then the new Metronome speed is memorized for practicing but not for the next time pressing the record button; if you discard it, then the speed is reset to 108 beats for both, practicing and recording.

Example: The 505 neither memorizes which sound you last have had in use, for powering Off and On. When powering on, you always start with the Grand piano, and if changing to another sound bank, i.e. "Others", then there will always be sound No.1 be preselected, but not the one which you last time used before powering off. There is also no way to save the reverb level with a sound, it is only global. So, changing between Grand Piano and Church Organ can easily require to press about 30 buttons (19 to have changed to the "Others" sound bank and scroll forward to sound 18, for instance, and 10 more for rising the reverb from 1 to its maximum 10.

I could imagine that the DP90 and HP505 feature the same electronics, so be careful with that model as well, test it!

Hi Marco,

Thanks a lot for your comments.

I think you are right about go try it before buying.