Greetings everyone,

I am new member here and I wish to greet you all

Anyway, on to my question. I am in need of advice in searching for the best digital piano for just roughly under $900. First, of all, I would like you guys to take note that Digital Pianos in my country are far more expensive that in US or Europe. I've been browsing local music stores here in my country and they're very expensive.

Well in my case, I believe that my budget of $900 would equate to Digital Pianos that are normally just $500 below in the US.

But anyway, here's what I want for a Digital Piano:

#1 Priority: Sound Quality
- I already have an acoustic piano at home but it's terribly tuned and has a generic brand. It is old and poorly maintained, I used it for years now and I really think that playing with it doesn't satisfy me at all. I would like to buy a digital piano that has the most realistic sound (closest to an acoustic piano).

#2 Priority: Weighted Hammer Action, 88 full-size keys. The feel is really not my priority but it has to be 88 keys in all and has hammer action keys. (it really doesn't matter on how realistic the feel is as long as its hammer action)

Choices:

ROLAND - I've browsed local music stores here and I have found out that the sellers recommend me a Roland RD 300 SX for best sound quality with my current budget. I must say that the Roland really does have the most realistic sound I've ever heard. But the Roland RD 300SX is way too expensive (even if it is already an older model!) it costs ridiculously at $1600. And the Roland doesnt even have built in speakers and does not come with a pedal. This is way off my budget, but sound quality is really good. If anyone can recommend me a cheaper Roland model with almost same sound quality as RD 300SX, please do tell me.

Yamaha - I've been a little biased about Yamaha since I've already tried a Clavinova. It does sound good but my budget range for a Yamaha under $900 would be the DGX lines. The Yamaha DGX 520 costs well over $850 here and I've been trying to search for feedbacks if the sound quality of the Yamaha DGX lines are comparable to a real piano. But still, I'm not quite sure on how it sounds.

Casio - Casio is well known for selling relatively inexpensive models and I believe this is my 1st candidate because it fits my budget. I have recently talked to a sales person telling me that there is a special discount for all Casio products this October, and this includes the newly released Casio CDP-200R which will be released here on October for around $800. I must say, for that kind of price here in my country, its one of the cheapest since things here are usually priced 2x-3x when imported from other countries. But I'm still unsure about the sound quality of the CDP-200R, could anyone please advice me on this? Also, I've been trying to look for the Casio Privias but still I'm afraid that the prices of Privias here are too expensive. Even the lower Privia PX-120 must cost $1000 or higher, but I haven't checked. I know that other people say that the Privia is far superior than the CDP but how does it compare? And can anyone tell me what kind of Privia is suitable for me?

Other brands are also welcome, I'd like to see if anyone could recommend me to a good digital piano for my budget.

Thank you very much everyone!

no, not Yamaha DGX520, which doesn't have piano weighted action. for DGX series, the only DP is DGX630(or YPG635), about $800 in US. in the similar range, Yamaha P85 is another option, and cheaper.

for Casio, you're right, CDP200 or PX120 would be the cheapest option for you.

btw, in your price range, the only thing you can do is to try those within your budget at stores and choose one which sounds or feels the best to you.

Hello signa!

Thanks for the fast reply. I didn't know the DGX520 didn't had hammer action keys, thanks for the heads up!

I guess I'm really limited to Casio brands, but I'm still not sure about the sound quality it has. I mean, does it compare to other brands?

Thanks

I had a Casio Privia PX-300 and it was good, but not that good... But the new PX-200 and PX-320 models I highly recommend. They have a much better sound than the old Privia models, plus a 128-voice polyphony.
In the Yamaha side, I think the best models for you are P60, P70, P85 and P90, if you want a portable instrument, or the DGX-620 (or DGX-630), if portability doesn't matter.

The technology to emulate an acoustic piano
has been around since at least the 1970's,
and by the 1980's there were already very good,
fully-weighted, hammer-action digital
pianos that played similar to today's
digitals. So digital piano technology
is now well-established and widespread,
and even smaller companies today have
no trouble producing good dp's that
rival those from the big-name manufacturers.

You can spend upwards of $30,000 (US) on
a dp, but you can get good, new dp's
for $400 to $900 in the US. For example,
the Williams Encore is about $400 online
here, and the Casio PX-800 and the Korg
SP-250 are around $900 online. Etc. These
all have grand piano-like performance
and are all anyone really needs for playing.
The difference in price between these
and, say, the expensive consoles like the
Yamaha CLP-280, the Roland HP-207, and
the Kawai CA-91--the top-of-the-line,
super-digitals from these manufacturers, and all
in about the $4000 to $5000 price range--
is due to things like brand name, bigger
speakers, more powerful amplifiers,
state-of-the-art technology,
better fit and finish, more features,
nicer exterior appearance, etc. But
even something like the Williams Encore
will perform grand piano-like and would
be adequate for any kind of playing.

Look at it like this. If you had tons
of money, you could buy a $100,000 concert
grand piano and have it perfectly maintained
by the best technician and set it up in
a soundproof practice room with special
acoustical architecture. But it wouldn't
enable you to play any better than a
$400 Williams Encore could.

Forget that Gyro character. Misinformation aside, he's an annoyance and not to be taken seriously.

I'll write some suggestions when I get back home.

I think you should be careful about discounting the importance of the feel of the keyboard. It is the one thing you cannot change about any digital piano, without replacing the whole thing. The Casio Privia series have a reputation for having a somewhat better feel than some of the lower end Yamaha's, and are amazing value for their price.
If you can, try as many keyboards as possible. Since you have an acoustic, you know what a "real" piano feels like and then you can find something that is comparable in feel. I owned a Yamaha U1 for 25 years and I was really surprised how good the Privia was when I first started playing it.

Gyro seems to cut and paste these generic replies. You'll see the same or similar post over and over in various threads, which is unfortunate, because he does make a good point on occasion.

One added benefit of a Digital piano is that, later on, if you want to change the sound of the piano, you can, using the MIDI/USB port of the piano to interface with a Computer that is running one of the various "software pianos". Of course, this adds to the complexity, but relatively speaking, you can have an amazing sounding piano for not a lot more money(depending if you can use an existing computer or purchase one for dedicated use). The beauty of the software is that it can be purchased online and downloaded, if you don't care about the retail packaging, so there's no expense in shipping..

Strat .... man you crack me up

Poor Gyro ...

I've used a Yamaha P60 for a couple years and its not too bad. You should be able to get one for under 900 over there for sure. The feel on the keys is neither too heavy or light. Only two choices on the piano sound and they are decent but not spectacular and can be finessed slightly. Us the extra money and get a decent pedal for it. The speakers are decent and mine does break up a little on the very highest volune setting but when I turn it down a touch it goes away, and it still projects more sound than a small grand.

Don't be so quick to criticize. There is a germ of truth to his statements (though they often get lost for various reasons). There are other aspects that play a much more important role in becoming a better pianist than the quality of the piano (within boundaries of course). Quality and quantity of practice for instance. So one way to read gyro's statement is "quality of the piano makes no difference", however, another way to read it is "the quality of the piano isn't as important as practice, practice, practice so get what matches your budget and don't get hung up on price as in the end, it will contribute a relatively small percentage to your improvement". I read it as the latter and I think that there is a lot of truth there.

Greetings everyone! I'm back.

Good news! I found someone who is selling a Yamaha P-70 in here, locally. It costs $450.
The P-70 I believe has a lot of positive comments regarding its sound quality. But I'm still thinking whether the P-70 is all worth it. I mean, when I looked at P-70's features, its basically limited. No USB, SD card slot, very few tones, not even a 1/4 line-out/line-in jack, and no auto-accompaniment. I've also heard that it has a pretty weak speaker.

After seeing all of your replies, I think I'll go on and take a look at the new Privia models, PX-120, PX-200 and PX-320 right?

I've seen people playing at youtube with Privias and they all sound great. Although I'm still a little biased about Yamaha... I just "think" it's a better option because of the brand. And realizing that Casio has that "toy keyboard manufacturer" reputation, it really kills my expectation. But I think that's going to change after I hear the actual Privia or if anyone convinces me to choose over Privia than Yamaha.

I'm still not sure though if they sell Privias here, but as I've said that they're going to sell the Casio CDP-200R this month. But I'm still not sure about the CDP.. I have very few feedbacks on the model line. Does it even compare to the Privia/Yamaha?

Also I forgot to say that I'm certainly also looking for functionalities that will make my playing experience more fun. (Like auto-accompaniment, etc.)

Please take note, I'm not purchasing a digital piano for serious practice, I just want a piano that sounds REAL nice and is feature-packed for fun.

Thanks again everyone!

Hello everyone! I'm back again.

Yesterday, I went to several music stores and I've tried many keyboards. I'll list them down with their prices, of course some of you may be wondering why the prices are high, well I can't do anything about it, the prices are what we consider "normal" in here.

So far I have tried the following:
Yamaha P-70 ($690, no stand, no pedal)
Yamaha P-140 ($1300, absurd! even pricier than the CLP-220)
Yamaha Clavinova CLP-220 (not really my budget, $1200)
Casio Privia PX-310 ($970 down to $750, with stand, with pedal)
Casio Privia PX-720 ($1150 down to $1000, with stand, speakers, 3 pedals)

Good news! Casio's giving off big discounts this October here in my country. It's amazing that its such a coincidence because I'm buying this month. They're slashing of $100 to $200 from certain Privia models and they'll include stand and pedals for free, together with a free cellphone! (lol it's probably cheap)

I'm glad that the Privias are sold here locally although the ones sold here locally are older models and I have very limited choices because there's only like, 3 kinds of Privias (PX-310, PX-720, PX-410R) in here. Also, I've managed to locate a music store that sells a P-85, but I haven't checked the P-85 yet but I'm pretty sure that it almost sounds the same (if not the same) as the P-70.

So I think I've pretty much narrowed down my choices, this is to either get a Privia or a Yamaha P-85.

The casio music store in which I've tested the Privia was noisy (too many ambient noises going on), but I was able to test the keys. First, the PX-310, the hammer action feels nice, it is a little heavier (which I personally like). I'm still not clear about the PX-310 sound though, as I've said, there's too much ambient noise around the store but one thing is for sure, the built-in speakers are nice and audible. I'm not sure about the piano sound of the PX-310, I guess it sounds nice but the level of dynamics of the touch sensitivity may be questionable. After that, I've tested the PX-720, with the advertised (AIF) sound sampling vs the PX-310's (ZPI) sound sampling, I could barely notice a difference. I'm still not sure though, is Casio's ZPI really that inferior to the new AIF? I need feedback on this.

The PX-310 is portable while the PX-720 is not, as it does not have its own speakers and no line-out. So I may have to choose the P-410R or the PX-310 but in my opinion the P-410R I think is better, with usb and sd card + lots more features. I haven't tested it yet though.

I've also tried the P-70, I instantly liked the feel and sound of it. It's somewhat magical and mysterious that I'm so biased about the sound of the P-70 even though the Privia sounds nice too. Can anyone really have an opinion between the two? As to which has better sound, Privia or P-70/P-85?

THE BOTTOM LINE:

What I really wanted was a balance of features (few accompaniments, different tones, best sound quality, prefferably usb compatible and sd-card). And I think the Yamaha P-85 doesn't cut it. The PX-410R has all features I want but I just don't know if it's going to sound as good (or in any Privia model in this case) as the P-85. So I'm pretty much stuck in a dilemma here.

Whether to get a Privia (with lots of features, complete with stand, pedal, etc.) or to get a Yamaha P-85 that has that great tone but very few features and no stand (may not even come with a pedal).

Thanks everyone, I really appreciated the feedback, it helped me a lot. But I really need more feedback as I'm probably going to purchase a DP in 2-3 days.

The problem of the PX310 and PX410R is that they have "limited" polyphony (32 vs. 64 for the P-85 and 128 for the PX-720). That will affect your ability to use their additional features.
That problem was resolved with the PX-320 that I own (it replaces a Yamaha P-120) which has a polyphony of 128. There is no "PX-420R" yet.

I have tried both the PX-720 (which is very close to the PX-120 in terms of features) and P-85 and they are equivalent in my opinion. They both are affordable capable DPs. Nothing less or more.

What really matters is the action. After that, if you don't care about the wires and the lack of portability, with the proper hardware and software, via Midi/USB, you can do amazing things with software synths and pianos.

P140 is functionally much better than CLP220. although CLP220 bears Clavinova name, it has really low standards, such as dynamic sampling level (1 vs. 3 on P140) and its lack of half-pedal capacity.

if you consider Yamaha DPs cheaper than P140/CLP220, P85 and YDP140 are good choices.

Thanks signa and vincent, and everybody else.

I guess you're right Vincent. What matters really is the action. The Privias and Yamahas almost sound the same, though the Privias sound a little too "bright". I like bright pianos too so I guess it'll work .

I think I have finally decided to get the PX-410R. And yes it does have 32 bit polyphony which is a downside but considering that there's only 3 selections of Privias here, I guess I won't take the PX-310 as it does not have USB and sd card and pitch bender, etc. And I won't take the PX-720 since it lacks major features, no accompaniments, etc. So I'm left with the PX-410R. I really won't use the PX-410R for composing tracks, I just like the other features mainly for fun.

Since I will take the PX-410R, I have last four questions:

1) Does the PX-410R have the same hammer action feel with all Privias (cause I haven't tested the 410R yet, just the 310 and 720)?

2) And, how does ZPI (which is in PX-410R) compare to AIF (which is in the 720)? Casio says AIF (which I tested on the 720) is a newer technology but I can hardly notice the difference with the ZPI (which I tested on the 310).

3) Also if I play just piano, would the 32 polyphony be sufficient? I've only started playing piano for the past 2 years and I think I'm still an average player, I don't play classical, mostly pop-music.

4) If 1 polyphony means one key press, what If I go into dual voice mode (string+piano). Does that mean that if I hit a single key, it will take up 2 polyphonies? Well then if that's the case I'll be stuck with 16 polyphonies for dual voice modes, which I think is bothersome.

Thanks everyone

One thing you should be aware of regarding polyphony is that the stereo piano samples on digitals like the Privia series reduce the polyphony by half. So, on a PX310 or 410R with a maximum 32-note polyphony, the available polyphony is cut to 16 notes when using such samples (i.e. most of the main front-panel sounds). If you use dual voices, you reduce polyphony to 8 notes.

There is also a very slight problem of "latency" with these pianos. Under normal circumstances it's not noticeable; however, when you use dual voices, big chords in swift succession and frequent application of the damper pedal, a short delay before the sound is heard can become quite obvious (and irritating). This type of playing seems to almost overwhelm the processor.

It's difficult to say how the ZPI processing differs from AIF. The sounds on the newer AIF models definitely employ two sample layers and the switching can be quite obvious, particularly on the electric piano sounds. The grand piano samples are capable of being played with greater expression on the AIF models, but the older ZPI series seems to benefit from a slightly smoother tonal balance. The touch and feel are quite different between the two series and are a matter of personal taste.