Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Can you recommend me a new digital piano?

Hi, I currently own the Yamaha YPG-235 but I think its time to get something better. One of the reasons why I dont like my current keyboard is because it doesn't have that "heavy" feel on the keys. I saw the Yamaha DGX-650 and it seems like a good choice, but I wanted to know if it is good and if there are better alternatives, preferably something that sounds close to an acoustic piano.

In the under-$1000 price range, the usual suspects (slab style with piano-style weighted keys) are:

Casio: PX150, PX350, PX5S
Kawai: ES100
Roland: F20
Yamaha: P35, P105, DGX650, and to the extent you can still find them, CP33, P155

My personal favorite--if ALL you care about is piano sound and feel--is the ES100. But other people prefer Casio, Roland, or Yamaha models, you have to check for yourself and see what you like the sound and feel of. If you care about other sounds besides piano, or other features (auto accompaniment, for example), that will also change the equation a bit. Also, most have built in speakers, but some don't, so that's another major variable. There are also differences in their MIDI controller functionality, available pedal attachments, carrying weight (if you may need to be moving it)... so it also comes down to what other priorities you may have.

You're in luck. There's an unusual amount of activity on this site concerning the DGX650. You can d/load the manual of this or any other for evaluation. I have the 650 and the piano is more than adequate. The key board isn't everyone's favourite however. I'm sure you'll have fun trying them all out. . .and there are some good alternatives out there.

Whenever I shop for keyboards my first thought is:-

"How far away is the nearest repair shop?"

I have a Motif XS6 that is ready for the shop....

and my PSR8000 ( 1998 vintage) needs a key contact strip again...(I like this old PSR.......but I'm hard-pressed to get more than a year and a half of playing before the strip goes ...) I've looked at PSR 950's and I think they are very cheaply made. I don't even get a good feeling about the Tyros either.....

I don't have to go too far for Yamaha repairs..........but brands like Roland, Kurzweil, and Casio I would.

I've had Technics boards too........too bad they don't make those any more because I never had a single issue with those of any kind....and I played the living you-know-what out of them....

Don't know if the Technics key-bed/contact strip was years ahead of it's time.......?........but those boards were for me about bullet-proof.


Can't say the same about many of the boards on the market today.

The old adage "You get what you pay for" has limited truth when talking about keyboards.....spending more money doesn't necessarily mean you get a better product. You will definitely get more bells and whistles .....but I've seen some high-end boards with absolute crappy keys on them.

As I write this I've looked at and studied about 50 different boards at least in the last week....and I can say I'm clearly unimpressed with most of them.....

A lot of high way-over-priced junk being manufactured today.....

I took the DGX650 over the PSR950 and also the Tyros 5.

This is very good advice.

If at all possible, buy from a local music store. You may pay a little more but when something goes wrong you have a simple path to recovery.

I posted to your topic in the piano forum...here's what I replied there.

I disagree with you on a large scale. First off, if you were looking for a piano you shouldn't be looking at the PSRs and T5. If you were looking for an arranger and have chosen the DGX650 then your needs are pretty modest. The DGX line is the jack of many trades, master of none. The only function that it does right is to entertain kids or true beginners. I've had another keyboard of the same line, the DGX-305 but outgrew it relatively quickly and sold it.

If you were looking for a piano with great arranger functions then the CVP line is there for you (if you can afford it). Saying great words about products you are not genuinely interested in makes your opinion invalid. The PSR sXXX series have indeed crappy looks (I've got a s900) but you get this for sounds and features and portability and not for sturdy keys. If you intend to play like Jerry Lee Lewis on a Tyros again you've come to the wrong place. Indeed, there IS a product that suits your needs, it's called the CVP (if you want a Yamaha) but, naturally, it's the most expensive product in their line.

You get what you pay for, that's absolutely right. Man is not rich enough to afford cheap things. You chose a cheap a DGX. Do you really play the living -whatever- out of it?

Kind of like saying you chose the Honda Civic over the Mack Truck. It's a matter of what your needs are. Neither appropriately fills the role of the other. If you're looking for a DP, sure, the DGX650 is better, the others aren't DPs, their actions are not designed primarily for piano playing. OTOH, playing organ from the DGX650 action would be just as bad as playing piano on the other models you mentioned.

I like the Motif because it is one of the few boards to have a pattern sequencer on it. Extremely useful when making songs from scratch. Last time I looked previous Tyros didn't have that . Keys on the Motif have a sort of weighted action compared to PSR's etc. The Tyros series have pretty good sound but I think they are overpriced for what you are getting.

The PSR950 has mic input..which is a plus...but the keys are toy-like and rinky-dinky.

IMO for durability/longevity the Technics boards were hard to beat.

I'm not in the habit of always playing like Jerry Lee Lewis....but when making cd's and recording it takes a ton of refining tracks, practising, retakes etc etc.....lots and lots of work....not just playing every other day for half an hour.....

The keybed is basically the heart of any board , no matter whether it's an arranger or digital piano.

Yes... I get that there's a difference between arranger boards and digital pianos.......although both have crossover features.

I also have recording equipment and have made pro-quality cd's ..

As one wades through the hundreds of reviews on boards,pianos etc...it is clear of course that the industry would prefer having you buy their top end models......even though buying one doesn't guarantee you any less problems.

Planned obsolescence and mass marketing are the order of the day.

It is the interests of a company to develop user confidence and trust. Repeat customers are important.

I don't see the products out there that support this ideology to any great degree.

I tend to buy Yamaha because the warrant/repair shop is fairly close........not because I'm head-over-heels in love with what they make. And I know that sooner or later any board I buy is going into the shop ........

Piano purists will debate the sampling of piano sounds on pianos/boards forever.......no problem.......stands to reason..

But when it comes to making songs there sre many samples that are quite acceptable for a recording........and a lot of ways to tweak them if they aren't.

( I believe I'm in the right forum here.....this is "Synths and Digital Pianos".......)....

Too many guys on here talking about the DGX650 without ever having examined it. The definition of "invalid opinion"

I bought mine because I found it better than any other DP in the shop for a variety of reasons.. I bought the 620 years earlier similarly. It was discounted £200 for accidental damage which in no way influenced my decision. . . .

Yup agree, but fixed what you said.

I've played the top-end CVP's in music shops.......very nice....for $10,000 Cdn. dollars.

But apart from better sound it doesn't do much more than the Tyros technically.

The better Motif's will blow the doors off either as far as song/music composing and production ( I have an XS6) goes. For about 1/4 of the price. But you'll need your Certified Rocket Scientist diploma to operate it.

Most of the single soccer moms, parents, students, budding amateurs etc. aren't going to be buying the CVP. They'll be buying much less expensive boards for their sons and daughters to learn on.

Which means they'll probably be spending over 500 dollars....because anything out there under that pricepoint is terrible.

500 dollars and up is a lot of money for most working parents.

I don't think the manufacturers support this niche much at all. They COULD build a better product to reach that market. But they don't.

I also play guitar and bass....and you don't run into this situation anywhere near as much as you do with keyboards/digital pianos. There are decent products across the entire price range if you know what to look for.

I would never buy a keyboard or anything else online without trying one out somewhere first.

You can't go by YouTube demos for keyboards or amplified pianos. They will always run them through carefully hidden out-of-sight amps/monitors to make them sound 100% better than the onboard speakers.

One is lucky if every brand of available keyboards or digital piano is within travelling distance to try out. Often quite a few brands/models are not, due to stores not wanting to carry very much inventory.

A digital piano contains much more complicated mechanisms than a guitar or bass, and has quite a few more moving parts, so it's no surprise that it's possible to make an entry-level guitar or bass much more cheaply. I know for me, there's no keyboard out there cheaper than the Kawai ES100 that I'd be happy playing on.

The most important decision you need to make is: what do you want your keyboard to do? Is an excellent piano-like experience most important, or do you want sequencing, non-piano sounds, rhythm accompaniment, interconnectivity with computers? Do you need to have decent sound in the room from speakers? Do you want a keyboard that you can walk into the room, sit down, and play; or are you willing to boot up a computer and sound system?

The first post here had some good things to look at. I'd check the features on those.

I wore out a lot of shoe leather searching around for a portable piano and bought the YAMAHA P105, but if I were buying now I would buy the KAWAI ES100.