Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Does anybody else prefer the Digital . . .

Wow - I hope so - that would be amazing. If they are, I wonder whether they'll use the same kind of action - it's more complicated than a Rhodes action and I imagine it would be more expensive to make.

Greg.

Nice piano. I want to buy a fine grand one day too - but this is still apples and oranges.

If we compare apples to apples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9qJL7E8Yk4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq8ZiYCrjo8

Both pianos cost approximately same (the acoustic probably a little bit pricier), soundwise they are very similar (I probably like Yamaha more), the action is better on Yamaha, and it is way more convenient and does not require maintenance (except dust removal :))

Hope this explains why digitals are sold in proportion 75% to 25% to acoustic (not everyone will purchase a grand at double-digit-thousand range).

So the original post was "Does anybody prefer the Digital... to the real deal??"

I suppose to be fair, you didn't specify that 'Digital' refers to digital pianos, and you didn't define 'the real deal'; so was I being presumptuous in assuming you were inviting comparisons between digital and acoustic pianos?

Anyhow, I was just feeling churlish and I don't really wish to stifle good dialogue, although it really is a boring topic, since naturally some people prefer digitals over the real deal. OK, I'm done being snarkey, for now

Why I otta.......

Seriously, I practiced on a wurlitzer upright piano and then left piano for 12 years.
College etc. etc. etc. I remembered how much I enjoyed playing and started back up again. Got a Technic Digital piano that is long over due to be replaced. If it weren't for the digital I wouldn't be able to practice. Funny thing is I had a customer
several years ago that invited be out to golf and then to his house for BBQ.
He is a Doctor and lives in country club area. He has a beautiful Yamaha Baby Grand
up on a balcony. I asked if I could tickle them a little bit. The sound was wonderful
and filled up the whole house. He was also shocked that I could play all the pop
music they had laying around the piano.
Sad thing is the piano is more for show as the whole family doesn't play. Eight in total in the house ( dad, mom, and six kids ) I would die for a set up like that, but it ain't going to happen. Best I get to do is play on the baby grand piano in
church.
My plan is to get the Casio PX-350 or simular for up-stairs in the office and replace the Techic the following year in the den.

My wife knows it is coming but laughs that I won't step foot in a piano dealer in fear
that I will fall in love with one and have to have it. I've been putting away B-day money and xmas money for the stage piano. Got that covered and will get it next month or two

I think a lot of us here would love a great acoustic, but our living area is better suited for a digital piano. I know mine is with two young children. I get to practice
at midnight without disturbing anyone in the house. My wife is jealous. She plays the flute and can't do that.

I can't emulate a string orchestra or build my own sounds on an acoustic piano so yeah, I have much more use for digital instruments .

Well... I prefer my MOx to the uprights on the conservatory... but the Grand on the amphitheater... oh dear... it's a Kawai Grand... 1,80m aprox... Don't know the model, but for sure it's a really good and regulated grand piano. Much more pleasing and fun to play than any digital one I ever played. But, anyway, it's expensive to have one of those in home. Just for who can afford it. So I have to prefer Digital Pianos. :X

"Anyhow, I was just feeling churlish and I don't really wish to stifle good dialogue, although it really is a boring topic, since naturally some people prefer digitals over the real deal."

No worries, man. I don`t always explain things as I mean to. Sorry about that. But there is good dialogue here, and don`t forget, it`s all new to me! I have yet to find ONE who prefers the digital "piano copy" (did ya like that last bit?)

I think digitals have come a long way.

When I was young and learning piano, digitals were still new. They had 16 note polyphony and they sounded mediocre to bad at best.

Our family had one because we had such narrow hallways comming into the second floor, thats all that could fit.

Back then, there was no comparing digitals to any acoustic.

"He has a beautiful Yamaha Baby Grand
up on a balcony. I asked if I could tickle them a little bit. The sound was wonderful and filled up the whole house."

I do wonder if I`m missing out on something here. Yet there`s nothing in our piano shop to interest me. Nothing at all although I`ve played plenty in the past . . and the latest digitals are sounding more like `em . . sort of . .

Wow. It seems you guys have never heard an acoustic piano.
I've never heard a digital piano sound like an decent acoustic. Not even close.

Almost everyone has heard recorded acoustic pianos through a variety of sound systems.

The sound heard directly from a contemporary digital piano (meaning, heard in the same room from the external or internal speakers of the digital piano) can get closer to that sound than an acoustic.

I realize this is not what people are expected to understand when thinking about the sounds heard directly from a physical acoustic piano in three-dimensional space (as opposed to recorded, processed and played through a sound system).

What is your point, o0Ampy0o?

My point, for many people their experience of an acoustic piano is limited to recordings. Before I was interested in playing piano I did not absorb the experience when I was around an acoustic piano. My memory was predominantly filled with recorded pianos. The experience of a physical piano is foreign to many people so they have no such reference when evaluating digital pianos. Coupled with the improvements in digital piano technology people are conditioned to accept the digital representation. So to those with hands on experience of acoustic pianos it may seem absurd that people could like digital pianos as much as they often do.

I think it's about the connection between person and this exquisite thing called a really good piano. The sound is just one component of the experience; it's really a holistic thing, and if you haven't felt that, you need to get yourself to a good piano shop when there is no one around to mar your experience.

Whilst I appreciate my RD700NX, it doesn't come close even to my humble Yamaha U2 upright, in playing enjoyment. A really good DP sounds great and feels pretty good, but ultimately fails the 'connection' test.

Personna. I love to hear the different renditions of this piece of music. On different instruments. . . including digitals that look nothing more than a plank of wood . .

Listen to this guy go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saof7FN_cwk

o0Ampy0o, you are absolutly right. I am almost never exposed to a good acoustic piano (besides in music stores), so I am mainly biased by what I hear in good quality from CD on my HiFi stereo system. And yes, my digital piano does not only reach to this sound but even tops it, because it much better fills the room (not only stereo, but much more 3D) while having AT LEAST a same beautiful tone.

Then, listening on youtube and sometimes even here in the pianoworld ABF to the many badly tuned acoustics, or listening to an odd acoustic in a music store which costs only the same as a very good digital piano, I of course am absolutly convinced that my digital is better, and thus perfect for me: sounds at least as good as CD recordings, and is better than any eaqually priced acoustic, it is maintenace free and always well tuned and adaptable to any volume I require at a certain day time. So, no reason to ask for more (at the moment :-) ).

"So to those with hands on experience of acoustic pianos it may seem absurd that people could like digital pianos as much as they often do."

True. But they would maintain that people like me and thee haven`t enough hands on experience of the acoustic to appreciate. I would go further. Any piano being heard in an auditorium from a distance would sound nothing like you get sitting at it`s keyboard. Like rattly keys, the pianist swearing, farting . . . sneezing (its bound to happen) Don`t I lower the tone of this forum?

Marco M - So right! What you hear is what you get. Recordings are the proof. You think like me. My digital sounds wonderful. It cost me £425 (it fell of the back of a lorry)

I have played APs for six decades. My current AP is a Kawai RX2 - wonderful instrument, somewhat reduced in enjoyment by the poor acoustics of my room. I have recently bought my first DP, a Kawai ES7. Reasons? May have to downsize and let the RX2 go, portability to play on occasions elsewhere than home, to record some of my repertoire before arthritis/senility/whatever sets in.

I haven't taken it out yet, still have the RX2, but have recorded a few pieces from the ES7 and I know which instrument I prefer for this: the ES7. No background noise, no fiddling with mic positions, no endless tweaking of the sound in Audacity (my mics are bass-light for a start). Just insert a memory stick, press record and hey presto, an MP3 file which just needs amplification and top and tailing in Audacity. I am still getting used to the touch of the ES7 but can contemplate life without the RX2. Yes, the RX2 gives me more, but the difference is much less than I expected. However, if the RX2 were in a larger/warmer room the differences would be more apparent.

I am concentrating on getting used to the ES7, so the RX2 is a bit redundant at the moment, but it will be interesting when I move on to playing either whenever I choose. Meanwhile the ES7 is very satisfying.

I can always pick out the sound of a digital vs. acoustic. There was a post on one of these forums once where they had several acoustics and digitals (about 6 in all I think) with the same person, same piece of music, and audio clips only, and we all had to guess which was which instrument. The digital was by far the easiest to pick out. To my ears, it sounds "dead", lacking in depth (this is NOT a criticism of the playing, btw ).

Purchasing a digital is far less a financial investment than a good acoustic, for sure. I recommend digitals to students who are in situations that require for space and sound concerns. But I always recommend getting a good acoustic above all else. Nothing beats the feel and sound - all other things being equal.

Having said that, I do own both. My Roland FP-7 has served me well with outdoor gigs, interim piano while I wait for my Yamaha G3 to be moved to FL from WI, and for fun with making recordings with Ivory. However, I would choose a good acoustic upright over it any day to teach on or play for my own enjoyment.