I'd like to get a portable digital piano around $1000. The Yamaha P-80 and P-120, Kawai ESX, Korg SP-300 and Roland RD-150 seem to be in my price range. I would appreciate your comments, opinions and suggestions on these (and other) models.

The main things I'm looking for are: 76 to 88 weighted keys; good piano and electric (Rhodes-type) sounds; portability.

Thanks for your help!

Have you played them? Which ones do you like best?

Ryan

Ryan didn't exactly say this, but he sort of implied what I was going to say:

Within the brands/models you're looking at, it will eventually come down to personal preference. Ryan seems to prefer Yamaha. I prefer Roland. But that doesn't mean that one is better than the other.

The only other thing I'd add is that at your price point, you're really looking at entry-level keyboards. Nothing wrong with that. But realize that a $1100 keyboard is not going to have a state-of-the-art sound and feel. As simple as it sounds, the truth is that the keyboard that you like best is probably the best one for you.

Good luck!

Steve,

Yes, that was what I was trying to say, without saying it

Ryan

Steve & Ryan, thanks for your thoughts. I've played a friend's P-80 and thought it had good grand and electric piano sounds (although not a large number of voices).

I briefly played the Korg and Roland in big music stores, but there's so much noise going on it was hard to judge the sound. Shoulda asked for some headphones, I guess. Our local Kawai dealer did not have the ESX in stock.

One more question. Do any of these keyboards have a stand-up bass sound? That would be a great feature.

I don't know if any of them have bass patches, but you should be able to look up their specs online and see what they offer. You may need to look at more of a synth unit to get standup bass and other sounds. Either that or get an external sound module. I think it is a lot of fun to play with a bass/piano or bass/organ split. Even more fun is if you can get some drum loops to go along with it - you can be a one person jazz/rock/fusion trio.

Ryan

The RD150 does have string bass sounds.