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I'm not exactly a pianist, but I used to enjoy a lot playing the piano, as my parents had a real acoustic piano at home. I've moved out since and too rarely any more I go there to play it, so for a few years I've been considering getting my own digital piano. And finally I could afford one. But I'm not sure which one to get.

So what I want from a digital piano:
- price under ~1000 euros (~£750 / ~$1100)
- 88 (or almost) weighted keys, with a fairly good feel
- great basic sounds (piano, ep, strings are the most important for me)
- dual and split modes
- a few decent basic fx wouldn't hurt (like chorus and reverb)
- not overly heavy (I might take it some place some time)
- authentic (=wide) dynamics and sustain. This is an important one! Acoustic pianos do have a crazy sustain, you don't have to press very many keys with the pedal down before going overboard. And that's how I like it, because it allows and forces you to play more dynamically instead of just smashing like crazy. Digital pianos aren't like that and indeed you have to hit the keys at full and densely to make the song sound big. But I'm afraid this isn't possible at this price range, but correct me if I'm wrong.

I hit the local music stores here in Helsinki, Finland, and tried out a few pianos. Here are some of my observations:

- Every piano at 500-1000eur price range had nearly equally good feel to them. There were some differences of course, sometimes some keyboard felt worse than another one, but after 5 mins of playing I got used to it and then the other one felt worse.
- Casios sounded horrible. Very plastic sounds. But I didn't give them much a chance, so I could be wrong.
- Yamaha's sounds were quite pedestrian (in good and bad), the quality was very solid but they weren't so flavored, whereas other manufacturers had more diverse sounds within their ranges and within one instrument
- Roland and Korg had the best sounds. Korg had the best speakers.
- Although the sounds differed and the quality matched more or less the price, there were in fact no clear winners or losers (except for Casio). Every instrument had their good and bad sides and feels like you have to make some compromises at this price range anyhow.

But best of the bunch I tried were Yamaha DGX-650, Korg SP-280 and Roland's some F model (can't remember which). I also tried some Yamaha Arius, probably YDP142 (but it sounded almost identical to that DGX, but with less features) and Korg LP-180 and LP-380 (SP-280 were the best of the three).

Of these the Yamaha DGX-650 tempts me the most, because it had much more sounds, accompaniment and all that extra sparkle, which the others lacked. You might have noticed that these were not in my specs, however. So why that one? Well, for the reason, just as I stated, that after all every piano felt and sounded equally good, so if a piano has that synth and one man band stuff going on for the same price, I'm sold.

Korg and Roland did have better sounds though, but not like Yamaha was any bad. In fact, some of its sounds were even better (or existed in the first place). And if I ever get to recording keyboards in the studio, I think I'd have to rely on more expensive and professional keyboards anyway.

A few words about my styles: I like to play all kinds of styles: classical (old and modern), general pop, rock and other popular music, game and movie soundtracks and sometimes even jazz. I play alone, accompany my or someone else's singing, or in a group. I usually like just taking a hit song and star playing it, learning it by ear on the fly. And for these needs, the accompaniment thing would suit well.

Phew, that was a long text. But I just wanted to ask, are my observations right and is my logic solid? Therefore is my conclusion, Yamaha DGX-650, correct? I don't know too much about digital pianos, so share your experiences. I don't know too well what to test and listen for when testing in a piano. I'm probably going to take a second test run, after my ears have got some rest, so some help wouldn't hurt

Second question is: How well do digital pianos age and withstand years of use? Because DGX-650 happens to be on B-stock discount at my local music store (759 eur down to 599 eur). So that would be the one on display, the one which every goofie and geezer have been groping. Full 2 year warranty is still included. Would it be reasonable to buy it?

Welcome to the forum,

peterws is the man to ask - he's a big fan of the DGX instruments and a regular on this forum, so I'm sure he will be happy to offer his experiences.

Certainly on paper, the DGX-650 offers a great bang for the buck - if you like how it sounds and plays, and appreciate the additional features, I'd go for it.

Cheers,
James
x

I agree with James. It's a perfectly reasonable choice in that price range. Id say go for it as well. Before you buy it, check out the keys to make sure they all work properly. Not just that they all play but that they all respond as you expect (i.e. one key being louder or softer than all the others, some keys sticking, etc... would be bad signs....play them at a variety of velocities. If all the keys seem to play properly then I'd say with the warranty you're pretty well covered.

I wonder which Casio's you played . . . most people don't have a strong "yuck!" reaction to the PX-150 / PX-350 series.

But "personal preference" is important, and if you didn't like them, you didn't like them!

There's a PX-360 just arriving in the shops. The keyboard action is the same as the PX150 / PX-350, but the sound generator is upgraded. That might be worth trying

Yes, the DGX-650 will be fine.

I bought a DGX-650 a couple weeks ago and I love it. I'm primarily interested in the key feel and the grand piano sound, both of which are excellent. Everything else is a bonus. I played quite a few models before deciding on this one. I'm primarily a trumpet and guitar player, but decided it was time to learn the piano. Its my first 88 key digital piano, although I do have a couple keyboards (Roland RS-70 and Korg N364) that I've picked up over the years for messing around with.

I got my dgx a couple of years ago, and have never regretted it. The keyboards nice and light, more than adequate for my playing. Its always tempting to try other stuff when the access is there.

When something bettsr comes along, Ill buy it!

There is so much to go into in the menu. Loads of variations for reverb etc and recording is simple.

The new one will probably be out next year, so the price of the 650 has fallen somewhat. Good time to buy. A real fun machine.-

The DGX-650 has a new, very direct competitor from Casio, the CGP-700. Better weighted action, more sounds, more record features, more powerful speakers, lightweight & detachable if you ever want to travel, color touch screen nav.

Before you decide, this is the piano you need to compare with the DGX-650.

The PX-360 has better piano features and a few extras over the CGP-700, but for a casual player that enjoys the extras, I think the CGP-700 is the most tempting new thing I've seen in that category.

I haven't tried it myself but the Kawai ES100 is supposed to have good sound quality but not many bells and whistles. It sells here for $800 USD. I'm not sure what that would convert to.

The DGX-650 gives you a lot of features for the price, and if you spend the time to play the accompanying instruments as well as main piano, then this is it. If you are ONLY interested in piano, then I would say the P105 / P115 has a slightly better action. However, in terms of sound, the DGX-650 sounds better. The P105 sounds very synthetic.

the casio keybed is much better then the low end Yamaha one, quick strikes of the same note for example does not work well on the DGX. Also the piano sounds are higher quallity on the PX-350, which is the one that i would go for over the CGP700.

DGX has the better styles, they are on par with the low end arrangers of Yamaha the PSR E-series... but as a whole instruments, the new Casios with the touchscreen interace work so much better.

i compared the DGX to the P115 yesterday... and they have exactly the same action.. both the Casio's as well as the Roalnd FP-20 which is also a contender work out much much better then these low end Yamaha's

I am happy owner of DGX 650, I use it for home playing only. When I bought DGX 1,5year ago, I appreciated (and still do) mainly these two aspects (in comparison to other brands in this price range): i) connection between keys and sound, which sounded to me more alive than the other stage pianos in the shop. And ii) friendly user interface, in fact you don't need any handbook when switching sounds, rhythms, effects, metronome or for recording etc. There are many buttons which are shortcuts to menu. This can be undervalued at the moment of shopping, but in long term it is really helpful.