Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards The importance of choosing the 'right' instrument for you

'What instrument should I buy?' is a topic that comes up quite often around here both by experienced users looking for something that quenches their thirst for new and better gear and by newbies that look for a decent instrument to start out on with. I started out with that exact same question three years ago myself.

After three years of experience and after having recently replaced my initial purchase with new instruments I wanted to share my experiences. Maybe they can help somebody in a similar situation.

As a preface: I'll be talking a lot about the Kawai MP-6 and the VPC-1. Both are excellent instruments and I'm in no way implicating that either one is objectively bad, because that's not true it's more that even an instrument that is objectively great can be the 'wrong' one for you.

I've underestimated the importance of the 'connection' you need to have to a certain instrument and how that can influence your enjoyment and your progress in subtle (or huge) ways. That is also what many forum-ites try to communicate to new players as advice.

When I started out I researched a lot of technical specifications. Prices, technical differences between different actions by different manufactures, minutiae of sound generation and processing engines, user and professional reviews of instruments and so on. I didn't have much time or opportunity to test different instruments and I basically treated it like an appliance purchase. I settled on the MP-6, it fit my initial price point and was generally positively reviewed.

My reasoning was that if reviewers and users generally liked the instrument and the features were great it must be a good instrument, right? I could not have been more wrong.

I pretty much disliked the instrument from the get go. I didn't have any experience playing a real piano so I couldn't express exactly what I didn't like about it. It wasn't a fully expressed thought like 'I hate that instrument and I don't want to play it' because then I most probably would have returned it immediately. Yet even though I had no reference, no way to compare it to a real instrument, I knew at least that something was wrong and that I didn't enjoy playing it.

The disenchantment I felt when playing the MP-6 affected pretty much every aspect of my playing experience. I hated playing it, so I didn't practice regularly, which affected my progress as a player. It also depressed me because I still wanted to learn the piano, I still seemed to enjoy piano music and I also enjoyed the practice sessions with my tutor on a real piano very much. So the fact that I couldn't find much enjoyment in playing at home confused me.

I then tried to 'fix' my MP-6 by trying out different virtual instrument packages like Pianoteq or Ivory, by fiddling with all of the presets and equalizer settings and by tuning and tweaking it, basically in the hopes that this would make things more enjoyable. It didn't, though, unfortunately.

I was now more experienced and able to understand better what I didn't like about the instrument so I went to a very large instrument retailer (Thomann) and pretty much tried out every instrument with 88 keys they had on display.

I realized three things on that day:

1. There is no agreed upon standard for piano or grand piano actions - not even on real pianos. Different brands have different preferences sometimes the feel even changes when you switch models. You can get nearly everything from the 'lightness' of a Nord Piano to the 'heavyness' of a Kawai MP and everything in between. You can even tune it to your liking.

2. There is no agreed upon piano sound. Pretty much every instrument sounds differently. It differs between brands, models, model years etc.

3. I almost instantly felt that I either loved playing an instrument or that I didn't. This was probably the biggest revelation to me. Even if I couldn't find out in detail what I liked and what I didn't about an instrument, though, I could always feel the connection or lack thereof almost instantly.

I loved the expressiveness of the Nord Stage 2 for example even though the action is objectively worse than the one in the MP-6. In fact I loved it so much that I bought one.

I now own a Nord Stage 2 and a Kawai VPC-1. I selected both instruments not by tech specs and reviews but how it makes me feel playing them. I haven't regretted it. I enjoy playing more than before, I play and practice more and I'm now at a point where I want to play and practice and no longer find it to be tiresome and a chore.

Don't get me wrong I don't endores those two instruments but I urge everyone that is unsure about which instrument to get to go out and try as many instruments as you can. Find out if you like a certain instrument or not. If that is not possible ask if there is a way to test instruments at home and if you can return them.

You might find out that even if there exists an objectively best instrument in the world that it might not be the one that is right for you.

I'm just curious, were you taking lessons during this period where you owned the MP6?

Yes, I've been taking lessons for over two years now and I still do. It hasn't changed my feeling on the instrument at all if that's what you're getting at.

I can now fully express what it is that I dislike about it, though.

I've never played the MP6, so I don't have anything to compare to. I'm glad you've found pianos that you do enjoy to play, however. It makes all the difference in the world. Anyone who thinks beginners should play on something uninspiring don't really get how hard that is to do.

Nigeth, just to confirm your experience in the store: I made exactly the same.
I at my time compared a Yamaha 430 with a Roland 503, and a Yamaha 440 with a Roland 505. And several 430 with 430s and several 503 with 503s. And later I could once find a KAWAI 65 in a store.

My personal findings did not match with what I expected from technical numbers only. That time I found, that - in the lower and mid range of quality and price - even digital pianos sometimes differed within the same series model. Only the upper class production seemed to achieve very reproducible results. And in some points I cannot agree with what other people post about their upper class instruments.
This can all become so confusing, if you are a beginner!

To summarize my experience: you can find the league you want to purchase in (lower cost, mid cost, expensive cost), based on other people´s opinion, to some extend the technical data, and finally based on your available budget. But, ...
... once decided for your league to go for, it is indeed all a very personal thing.

Very thoughtful post. I was hoping you would expand on what and why you didn't connect with the MP6 not to put down on that product but it would be interesting to understand how these preferences play into the way we relate to learning and the tool used.

Beginners have no idea what to expect from a DP, and will often go on dealers' or friends' or websites', or even PW forumers' recommendations. That's no different from beginners buying an acoustic: a quick glance at Piano Forum will show the same, except that bells & whistles are out of the game plan, and rebuilds are in.

When I started playing at 10, I loved the little Yamaha vertical, and didn't realize what a poor piano I was playing on (in acoustic piano terms) - apparently, my parents just bought the cheapest piano available. (There was no eBay in those days....). Its ultra-light and shallow action (prone to sticking - which I thought was normal ), and ultra-bright and strident tone at all dynamic levels caused me lots of problems later, when I left home and started playing on 'proper' (upright) pianos, as my technique was still developing, but I had no finger strength, and poor tonal control.

DP buyers who have no experience of acoustics may well prefer un-acoustic-like actions over those that make an attempt to emulate the idiosyncratic characteristics of acoustic piano actions (how many threads have we seen on the annoying 'let-off'? - which even Yamaha is incorporating into their normal Clavinova range now... ). No problem, if they have no inclination to play on real pianos. As for the 'connection' to the instrument, that means different things to different people, and not necessarily to do with how 'good' the action (whatever that implies) actually is. In fact, it's probably more to do with how much you like the sampled sound(s).

In the end, one should buy whoever floats one's boat, commensurate with your budget, and regardless of what anyone else says, bearing in mind that if you're buying as a beginner, your preferences will likely change as you improve. If you're already a player, you will already know what you like. And if you come from a background of acoustics, chances are you'll prefer something very similar to what you're used to on your acoustic - whether that is a lightish or heavy-ish action.

(Unless you're like me, who's played on every imaginable kind of acoustic, in any condition, for decades, prior to looking for my dream DP....... ).

I feel the simulated let-off is unnecessary. It's simply competitive marketing.

I didn't want to clutter the OP with the details of what I didn't like about a particular instrument. It's already rather long and I didn't want the actual point to get lost because of it.

There are two main things I personally don't like about it. I want to reiterate, this is in no way meant as a dismissal of the MP-6 or its qualities it's just things I didn't like.

I don't know if I will make much sense here because I probably lack the vocabulary but I'll try.

I never really liked the piano sounds. I most often used the Grand Piano Sound which is the most complete preset sound but the following is also valid for the other piano presets. Especially in the treble from middle C onwards the sound is very bright but not in a 'right' way. It sounds as if there's something missing, as if a certain key component of the sound was not recorded or isn't played. It sounds 'off' or 'wrong' to me if that makes any sense. I always get the feeling that this is not how it should have sounded and that feeling is very irritating. Even just talking about it makes me feel aggravated.

I don't know if I'll be able to explain it better because it is not the artificiality of the sound itself that bothers me. I've listened to quite a few other sample sets from different piano makers and I also use Ivory II and Pianoteq and you can hear and feel that those are somewhat artificial sounds with all of them. The MP-6 is the only one that really bothers me, though. Take the Stage 2 for example. As default it uses a sample set of a similar size than the MP-6 with a few additional minor bells and whistles and yet in my ears it sounds and feels so much better and more expressive.

No amount of tweaking or playing with the settings made that go away. I had to use VSTs like Ivory or Pianoteq to get to a sound I liked.

I also don't really like the action. To me it feels heavy which by itself wouldn't be problematic but it also feels 'bouncy' and it is noisy because of it. The way the action is constructed means that you'll always have to work against the weights of the RH2 action. So you need a certain amount of force to press the keys but once you let go the key bounces back very quickly. Due to the heavy weights each press is accompanied by a *whoomp* sound as is each time you've let go of the key. The key also doesn't settle immediately once it has reached the 'de-pressed state' it 'bounces' a few times before it has setled completely.

So each time I press a key it makes that *whoomp* *whoomp* sound and then bounces a few times until it has settled.

So I basically don't like the sound and due to the way the action is constructed or 'feels' I also don't really feel connected to the sound, if that makes any sense.

I have to say though that I took piano lessons pretty much from the start. I can't say if my experience or preferences would have been different if I didn't have lessons.

How would you compare the RM3 II in the VCP1 with RH2 in the MP6. I ask this because, like you, I have tried the MP6 and been unimpressed with it - I much preferred Yamaha GH and Rolands PHAII/III actions.

But I've never been able to try the RM3 action or GF or any of those almost universally lauded on this forum. Would you say there's no resemblance between them - as indeed there is no resemblance at all between Roland's PHAII/III and the awful (now discontinued) PHA alpha II?

Excellent post Nigeth. For some time now I had wanted to purchase a piano for my wife. She grew up with a piano in her home and her mother wanted her to have it once she got married. Unfortunately it was a very large and heavy upright and getting it into our home was impossible so it was reluctantly sold to someone else to enjoy.

Fast forward 35 years I decided for our anniversary she should have a piano once again and for the 3 reasons you stated I created my 'shopping list'. Due to physical limitations it had to be a digital, but it had to sound and play like an acoustic as I had heard some that, well, didn't. As you pointed out, no matter which piano you choose they all have their own signature of sound and feel. My goal to was buy a piano SHE liked, not the one someone else liked in some review, and if I couldn't find one within budget it was a no go. It was to be a piano I wanted her and her alone to enjoy. So after probing her a bit over several weeks I took her shopping and she found one she loves. Mission accomplished.

If there's a bottom line to my ramblings it's similar to yours; if you want to buy an instrument, strap your boots on, hit the pavement, and audition. (At home if you can for showroom acoustics will differ from your home.) Limit the value of reviews to reliability statements (which they rarely give) for the rest of it is only opinion.