In the past, I owned: Korg SP500, Yamaha P-250, Alesis QS8, Kurzweil SP88X. Now I have a Roland Fantom X8, Roland FP7, and a little JUNO-D. I am waiting for a Kawai EP2 that has been ordered because I want to compare sounds, features, etc. I would like to know if anyone out there can advise me on this matter since I am "in pursuit of the best sounding digital piano today." Please let's just consider keyboard action and sound only; I had enough of sampling, sequencing, and all that good stuff. THX

Hello, Liszt-fan.


Dou you mean sound through its speakers, audio out or both?

As you know some very good sampled pianos are not so natural on the integrated speakers .. and some features as the soundboard of the Kawai CA91 seem to improve a lot the not so impressing sample from the headphones.


Best,

Andrés

I tried out the Kawai EP2, it's a cheaper version of my old Kawai ES 4 which I played daily for over a year. If you have the FP7 already, then I wouldn't recommend even bothering to look at the EP2. The action is shallower and less controllable, the piano sound is less detailed and more digital sounding. I suggest instead that you look for some decent stereo monitor speakers to augment the full range and clarity of your PF7 piano sound.

If you're a serious pianist looking for a practice piano (in a stage piano format), then nothing beats the Kawai MP8. The new MP8II will be even better. I'd love to get one for my studio.

Roland or Yamaha may have an edge on the actual piano sounds, but their keyboard actions just aren't in the same league (I'm comparing stage pianos, not the Clavinovas). If all you care about is the sound, then buy what sounds best to you. If you're learning or practicing advanced piano music, the action should be more important than having the most realistic sound.

If the MP8 is too expensive ($1900) or too heavy (70 lbs.), check out the Casio Privia PX-200. It's $700 and only weighs 26 lbs., and is super compact for having 88 keys. The action is impressive, and I think it rivals or surpasses any stage piano except for the MP8. The piano sound is respectable (compared to other stage pianos under $1000, but certainly not compared to an acoustic piano). The problem with the PX-200 is if you want to get fancy with layers and splits, it's limited to only two sounds at a time, and one of them is further restricted to just the handful of sounds on the front panel buttons (there are about 150 different internal sounds). There is no patch memory to store a customized (layer/split/transpose) setting, either. But at least there are dozens of truly horrible and useless demo songs. There is a cheesy way around the lack of patch memory, which is to use the "song record" function, since settings get stored when you record a song (just record one note very quietly, and play back the song to call up the settings you want). It would also be nice to have a character display instead of just a numeric LED display, but then it would cost more, too.

Despite the things I hate about it, the price, action, and portability won me over so I bought one for playing live.

I agree with Mark. If you were going for action, the MP8 is a good choice.

However, I'm confused about one thing. If you wanted the best sounding digital piano, why not go with software instead? You seem to have quite a large collection of good keyboards already.

I think you should subcontract this test out to Tuan Vo. He will perform your specified tests for free if you will ship him one of your keyboards at a time to use for a month. This will save him having to raise money to buy a keyboard, and you from having to do any work.

Compared closely side-by-side Kawai MP8 with Roland FP-7 and HP-203, I did not personally find Kawai action superior.
The action is respectable and the one with which you can hardly go wrong, if you like it (similar to Yamaha GH3 and Roland PHA-II) but was quite a bit on a heavy side for me.
I think you are strongly biased for heaviness if PX-200 is your second best choice. (I do agree PX-200 is a very respectable DP given its price)
Well, as someone said in another thread: DPs are not percussion instruments

I'm not biased toward heavy actions, just actions that allow me to play the most technically challenging passages with the least amount of adapting and adjusting (since I spend most of my time playing acoustic grands).

Sorry to come back here so late! Let me reply to some of you now:
I meant both the sound through the piano's speakers if available and external ones. I know that the Yamaha S90ES has a decent sounding piano sample, but then again, if I could get away from external speakers I wouldn't mind. The Casio PX-200 is not that bad either. I don't care about splitting, layering, etc. I just need a GREAT SOUND and GREAT FEEL. These are the two most basic qualities that many boards out there are missing "in a single unit." Most boards have either, but never both. I think I'm getting a headache...Please help. I wouldn't like to get disappointed by the EP2, but if you guys say it's not good, then I'll take your word. Thanks again.

PSST! I will be performing Classical music on these boards.

They're not synths either (which is why I enjoy heavy touch more)

How about the GEM pRP-800 and some powered speakers ?

Edit to add: in my recent quest for a good board with decent on-board speakers, I bought the Yamaha CP300. But since you already have the P250, there's probably not much difference.

If you can find a used yamaha p-80 or p-90, that's a good way to go too. Better action and sound than the Casio Privias. And very lightweight and portable.
I agree the Kawai action is superior to Roland or Yamaha stage pianos. Based on the old Kawai MP 9000 (wooden-key) vs. Roland RD-700 vs. Yamaha p-80, or anything else I played at the time. (around 2002)
I'm sure the MP8II is even better.

Best sounding piano is the Ivory sample.

btw - the juno-d has a good piano sound too.

Surely old wooden keys were better than RD-700 and P-80 :rolleyes:

Looking further back to 1902, Roland was totally our of the picture
Well, and Koichi Kawai was an apprentice of Torakusu Yamaha, chiseling those wooden keys for good