Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Looking to buy my first D. Piano. Please help me choose!

Hey everyone!

I'm a long time piano player and I'm looking to buy my first digital piano. I've browsed opinions and read reviews for more than 4 hours before deciding to get some final feedback, which I hope you guys can provide.

So currently I'm thinking about the Yamaha P-155 ($1000), the Kawai ES-100 ($800), or the Yamaha P-255 ($1300). However, if you have another recommendation, please let me know! My budget ceiling is $1300 though, so please do not recommend awesome pianos which are over that amount because it'll just make me sad.

I have a medium grand at home, but I can see the many advantages a digital piano offer. Here's what I'm most concerned about and what I'm least concerned about.

Features I consider to be very important
-Key action. I want a digital piano that feels as close to a grand as possible. It is what I'm used to and what I'm looking for. I know this can be very subjective, so I'm not as concerned about tiny variations. If it feels like a grand (as close as a model up to $1300 will allow), I'll probably like it.
-Dynamic timbre. Obviously, a digital piano of this price range cannot match a grand when it comes to this. However, I want to feel a different expression as much as possible depending on how hard I hit a key.
-Pedal sympathetic resonance.
-Note sample
-Attack and loop sample

Features I consider to be least important
-Stage features.
-Features that support music making/ composition.
-Lots of different voices.


I know I've left out most other features, so please consider those to be somewhat important. Features like maximum polyphony for example, I don't care about as much as the important ones which I have listed, but I do consider to be more important than the least important list.

I'm a recent new keyboard buyer too, so take this for what it's worth (I don't have a lot of experience). I would recommend the Casio Privia series. I personally just got the PX-150 ($500) after comparing it with others in this price range. I chose it because it had a better key action personally than the Yamaha P-105 ($600). It does have dynamic timbre (fairly noticeable when I play it softly vs loudly). It's supposed to have pedal sympathetic resonance but I haven't personally tested this part yet. I don't know much about note sample or attack and loop sample, but you can find information about them here and here.

I grew up on acoustic pianos (Steinway grand at home and school, and also Yamaha practice uprights at school) and didn't want to lose my touch with acoustic pianos, so the action was personally by far the most important thing to me when buying a digital. I bought a PX-150 for the action after trying out Williams Allegro ($300), Williams Rhapsody ($500), Yamaha P-35 ($450), Yamaha P-105 ($600), a $1000 Yamaha (most likely P-155), and a $500 Korg (most likely SP-170S). I bought the PX-150 without hearing its sound based on the action and based on internet reviews, but am satisfied with its sound -- the comparison thread rated the speakers poorly but it's plenty loud for me, I use it at only maybe 30% of the max volume. The only thing that I don't like about the action is the relatively short fulcrum length -- the keys are significantly harder to push down if your fingers are close to the fallboard compared with if they're closer to the edge -- but some others have said it doesn't bother them, so you might want to try that out on your own to see if it bothers you.

Keep in mind the features I've described are for the PX-150, which is their $500 version (cheapest version of the Privia line). It also has other things like 3 sensors per key instead of 2 like most models in this price range; whether or not this is important (to do stuff like trilling with the keys half-depressed) is up to you. With your budget you could get a higher Privia model, or I think they also have the Cervantes line which is supposed to be better. I think all the Privias have the same action though, but the higher models will have better sounds and features. Casio apparently had a past reputation for making "toy" pianos but I came into the digital piano market with an open mind and ended up deciding that their Privia fit my needs (and my wallet) the best.

Thanks for your reply!

I'm surprised to hear that a $500 digital piano can have all those qualities! Maybe I didn't spend enough time browsing.

I'll definitely keep your recommendation in mind, and I'll check out the Casio Privia line.

I think the only digital pianos that feel like a grand are the Yamaha Avant Grands, starting at (I think) $7000. So if you're looking to spend no more than $1300, you'll need to drop that requirement. Just pick one that feels best to you.

While I don't agree that the Avant Grands are the only digital pianos to feel like a grand, I agree that at $1300 you are only going to find serious compromises to the action. If you can push your budget north of $2000, you will be much happier. If thats not an option the Kawai ES100 and the Casio PX150 are right there. I give the edge to touch and sound to the ES100, FWIW.

Good luck!

FWIW --

You'll need to find some of your alternatives "in person", and play them. As several people say, you _will_ compromise the "grand piano" action, in your price range.

If a PX-150 feels OK to you, it'll probably be your least expensive option. (The Yamaha P105 _won't_ feel OK, IMHO).

The P155 and P255 -- I think -- share the same "GH" action. It's good, _maybe_ closer to "grand piano" than the PX-150. You need to decide if the extra features on the P255 are worth the increase in cost over the P155.

If you can budget for a Kawai ES7, it's gotten some excellent reviews. If you can find a Roland FP-7F (discontinued), try it out. One might pop up in your price bracket.

. Charles

PS -- it sounds like you want this mostly for "silent practice", so the quality of the loudspeakers and built-in amps is irrelevant. Therefore:

. . Bring a good set of headphones with you,
. . when you try out a piano.

PPS -- I think it's beyond budget, but a Kawai VPC-1 MIDI keyboard, and a "virtual piano" running on a PC, might be a good choice. If "action is most important", why spend money on a fancy sound generator, and loudspeakers you won't use?


PPPS -- Bias -- I own a PX-350.

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I do understand that with the budget limit I have, I will not likely not get a digital piano that feels just like a grand. So which one feels as close as $1300 will allow?

I wish I can buy the Kawai ES7, but $2000 is out of the question for me.