Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Need a bit of advice finalizing my decision.

I moved into an apartment about 2 months ago and have been craving piano.

I mainly play stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCqUxWCUnBg

However I like a lot of classical stuff too. And I don't really like pop.

Currently my budget is around 1000 USD. The first pianos I ran into whilst searching that caught my eye where the Casio Privia series, followed by the Yamaha P155.

If I were to go with the Privia, I would get the PX350 for the nice recording feature. The Yamaha, I hear, is great too - if anyone knows Kyle Landry on YouTube, that's the piano he uses, and he's quite popular.

So, it would probably be those 2. I also read the sticky about pianos under 1000$. Another one that looked nice is the Kawai ES7. (or was it the ES100. Not sure what the difference is).

I want to get as much information as I can before I make the purchase. I haven't really bothered with Roland - but I did look at a Korg FP7. It looked decent but it was a little too expensive and the sound wasn't particularly great, in my subjective opinion. What Roland pianos should I consider?

I just want a sturdy piano that I can record and upload videos with. This means a Aux/Line in and out. Are the ones listed good choices? What do you recommend? Anything I should know?

Oh yeah, and what's with those X-stands? They don't look sturdy at all, they start to wobble around when you start getting aggressive, which is a big turn off; but I haven't used it personally so I don't know if it will bug me that much...but it looks very annoying. Even the 'upgraded' stands seem to have a bit of that issue.

Thank you all.

Very impressive vid, and worthy of the best keyboard in the best piano you can afford! Classics? Other instruments may distract, I`d probably go for the Kawai ES7 which has a decent keyboard, or better.

But I`m not as good as that guy, so I didn`t have to.

Regardless of the piano you get, I would suggest always getting the furniture stand that comes with it. Those X-stands behave just as you describe.

I'd agree if you're going to use it in one place and not swap and change around.

I'd been on the lookout for a second digital piano for an upstairs room, and when (in the UK) discounted bundles of the PX-150 with the pukka stand and pedal board were floated, that's when I took the plunge.

Just out of curiosity, doesn't anybody use Z-stands? That's what I have both my DPs on. Much more stable than an X-stand, and still portable.

I have a Z stand that came with my MP11. It can hold that beast just fine and feels very sturdy, but I would prefer a table stand for the leg room. I generally sit pretty far back from the keys, so it's usually not an issue.

To the OP: the Kawai ES7 is an awesome piano, but way over your $1,000 budget. I believe you are talking about the ES100.

Of all the pianos mentioned, I recommend the Casio PX-350. I think that would be the best use of your money. Kawai makes great DPs on the higher end, but in this price point the Casio beats them all, IMO.

I agree that the Casio PX-350 is probably the best choice in your price range. It has a really great action (very responsive and with a good feel in my opinion) for the price, and a quite nice range of sounds. I used to have an older casio privia as a practice piano, and it was quite decent. The most recent privias blow the older models out of the water in terms of quality. It also has a ton of other features that might be fun to play with, like lots of rhythm and accompaniment patterns to play with.

THere have been threads about keyboard stands here -- try the "search" function.

Something like this would probably do the job:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/K-M-Table-style-keyboard-stand-450498-i1323211.gc

And on "guitarcenter.com", a search for "keyboard stand" will get you lots of hits, including Z-stands and that K&M stand.

I have a PX-350, and like it. Very good price/performance. I occasionally take it out of the house, so I've been using an X-stand, rather than a "furniture stand". The "double-braced" X-stands aren't bad; the single-braced ones are a bit flimsy, IMHO. If you like to sit close to the keyboard, something with an open knee area (like that K&M stand) will be better than an X-stand.

Hiding in Youtube, there's a video on building a piano stand from Gibraltar drum-kit components. It's very solid, and only moderately expensive. And I found it for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMlcErM3BRc&feature=kp

Have fun!

. Charles


. Charles

I gather that X stands aren't very popular around here. I admit that if I'd had any money left for an alternate, sturdier, stand I would have investigated. However, I went for a cheap double-braced X stand and I've found it as solid as a rock. It has a meaty Kawai mp7 on it which might help. Perhaps it would be less stable with a lightweight such as Casio PX5s.

Patrick.

That is quite amazing. All those parts seem like a pain to acquire, though. I'll probably go for a Z stand or thatK&M one. Thanks so much for your reply.