Hi,
I'm like playing piano for half year and looking for a decent digital piano to put in my room.
Well, i have a petrof upright(i dont know the model), but i'm a night person and prefer playing very late. Plus, i dont quite like how my petrof sounds. I had it tuned back when I started playing, looks like i'll need to have it tuned again soon.

I'm on a thight, saving every penny budget, meaning i cant buy an expensive model, neither buy a cheap model which i would have to replace later anyway.

yamaha cp33/p140 - 700 pounds
yamaha clp220 - 600
korg sp250 - 400
midi 88 key - guess, ~200-500

I've tried all of those pianos, unfortunately not side by side.

Actually i was pretty disappointed regarding the action. Action & feel on upright pianos i have played is absolutely different.

It's like when playing on a digital, you don't feel the hammers, feedback, nothing. It's kinda soulless - push a button, hear a sample.

However, as a beginner I didn't spot noticable difference between the digital pianos even when playing more expensive models such as clp240. Although korg did have a bit 'electronic' sound. Which does not matter since i would most likely hook up it to the pc and use some kind of piano-sample-soft. So it all boils down to having the best action and feel.

From money saving perspective i would go with sp250. But i'm afraid i'll regret it later if i buy it instead of p140.

I could as well go with clp220, yet it seems it has a Graded Hammer keyboard, but p140 has a Graded Hammer Effect keyboard. What's the difference?

Has somebody played p120/p140/cp33/clp220 side by against korg sp250? Is the difference really worth extra 300p? It's not about how keys are weighted, it's about how they feel. To me all digital pianos has the very same "digital piano feel" which i'm not quite used to.

And then there are midi keyboards. If there were a model with action on par with p140 and a like,
I would definitely go with it.

Recommendations?

I have a Korg SP-250, bought online in Nov.
for $900.00 (US). I'm quite satisfied with
it. Previous to this, I had a Korg C-800
console with light, spring-weighted keys,
purchased in a store in 1989
for $1700.00, and a Casio AP-24, bought
online in 2005 for $700.00. The least
expensive of the three, the Casio, was actually
my favorite, because it had a very heavy
action, which then made playing on any acoustic
action a snap.

My feeling on digital actions is that it
is not really necessary to get one that
is exactly the same as an acoustic's--more
so if you already have an acoustic piano.
In fact, having a digital with an action
very different from an acoustic's (say,
in an extreme case, a 61-key unweighted
portable) may actually be good, because
it will give you perspective on playing
on different surfaces and will demonstrate
to you that keyboard playing has certain
universal aspects that are independent
of the particular keyboard instrument
you're playing on. And there
is the variety factor too:
doing most of your practicing on the
digital and then using the acoustic
once a week will then make playing on
the acoustic a rare treat that you'll
eagerly look forward too; and the digital's
purer, always-in-perfect-tune electronic
sound would be a welcome change from
the acoustic's cacophonous din.
(And a digital is actually many different
pianos in one. Each setting of the vol.
control knob will give you essetially
a different instrument.)

So you should enjoy whatever differences
there might be in the action of your
digital and your acoustic, rather then be
concerned over them.

clp220 and p140 should have the same action, GH (or Graded Hammer Effect). but p140 is better because of 3-level dynamic stereo sampling instead of 1-level on 220.

Well, i certainly dont look at Casio as an option.
And my complaint about digitals is not heaviness of the action, it could be lighter or heavier, but it's about overall feel and feedback of keys.
I guess i'll have to get used to it.

Wait, arent digital pianos supposed to emulate action of acoustic as close as possible?

And that's what i'm looking for, the whole reasoning behind buying digital is having a piano right beside me which i can play on headphones anytime i want to.

I'm not looking for a different expierence, neither some "wooosh" effects.

And, no, i dont see any benifits from playing on low quality two octave keyboard with slippery plastic action of a syth.

And I think it's a wrong to suggest a small, cheap keyboard for a beginner. Unfortunatelly, it's pretty common move.

Differences between acoustics i've played are quite welcome. They each have their own feel in a good way.

Thanks for pointing this out.

It looks like i'm going with yamaha p140/cp33, however I still have to verify if it's worth extra 300pounds when compared to korg sp250.
And I still dont know whether is there a midi keyboard with really good action on par with yamaha GH/GH3.

Bump.

Korg sp250 costs ~750$
Yamaha p140 costs ~1300$
where i live.

Is yamaha p140 worth extra 550$?

It looks like i'm going to order the p140 next week or something.

But i really dont want to spend extra 550$ if the difference in action is not significant.

Oh? And why is that? Have you played them?

The Casion DP's in the same price range as the Yamaha P140 etc are very good instruments, at least as good as the Yamahas. Indeed, I think the sub-$1000 Casios outshine the Yamahas up to the P140 (and I own both).

Your missing the best digital piano out there, the new Roland FP4 for $1015 US dollars.

The Korg, P140, CP33 are behind the leading edge now.

Quite on the contrary, why would i ignore people telling to avoid casio? I've heard some bashing about casios having weird sounds, action and stuff. But, yeah, I havent played them.


I'll check it out. However, if it's a really new model, it may not be available here yet.
Thanks for advice.

hey zenof,

i managed to test the 3 of them back to back on denmark street in london, and and my feeling was that the sp250 was by far the best regarding action.

though i know what you mean when you say;

"It's like when playing on a digital, you don't feel the hammers, feedback, nothing. It's kinda soulless - push a button, hear a sample."

but i went with the sp250 and have been very happy. where did you see it for £400? that's a steal. as for midi controllers, i've tried the weighted CME but wasn't that impressed.

remember, the sickening, sleepless doubts that you experience in the lead up to buying these things is half the fun!!!

good luck,

hw

Well, in the end i went with sp250 too.
Mostly due to the price.
I really dont think p140 would be noticably different in terms of action.

Most importantly, now i can play piano at night.

I guess i will buy Synthology's Ivory, although Sound on sp250 is pretty decent(even if it still has a slighly electronic sound)

"where did you see it for £400?"
That's not in UK.

Thanks.