Which digital piano is best for value and money?

faizal_rocks

New member
Hi ya guys

I wanna get a digital piano but I dunno which ones are good. I`m considering brands such as Yamaha, Casio, Korg etc...which models are low priced and good value for money? Any recommendations??

Thanx
 
Yamaha S03 is a synthesizer, not a digital piano.

Again, my suggestion is do a search on this topic as it has been covered before a few times.

We need to first get our definitions right so we are on the right page. In fact, different manufacturers have different definitions, so it makes things a little more complicated. But basically, digital pianos refer to electronic keyboards that simulate the piano as much as possible. It does not allow you to alter the sound envelope (like a synthesizer). It just plays back.

There are those meant for home (come with build-in speakers) and those that are meant for gigging (also called stage pianos, with no build-in speakers). Again, Roland and Yamaha's definition differs here.

OK. After getting that out of the way, you'll need to ask youself - do I need 76 or 88 keys, are the touch important, do I need to carry it around with me or will I use it only at home, do I need build-in speakers?

For home use - the best digital pianos are the Yamaha P series. Cream of the crop - P250. Closest touch to the real piano. For cheaper ones, P120. Also on the cheap side - Roland ep series (comes in 76 and 88 keys). Good sound but touch not as good as the Yamaha.

For gigging (stage pianos), Roland RD700 is the top - great touch and sounds and extremely ergonomic for the performing live keyboardist. Cheaper range - RD170.

Casio is cheap. Touch not as good, sound not as good. But if cheap is what you want, Casio is OK. But not good as an investment. I think most of them comes with the red light in the keys which is irritating.

Digital pianos are usually not cheap - min above $1000. You'll have to try around and see for yourself.
 
faizal_rocks said:
Hi ya guys
I wanna get a digital piano but I dunno which ones are good. I`m considering brands such as Yamaha, Casio, Korg etc...which models are low priced and good value for money? Any recommendations??
Thanx
check this out:

Luthermusic:
CASIO PS-20 digital piano ( display set )
Clearing off last unit of CASIO PS-20 digital piano with complete wooden stand , sustain pedal and free AKG K-44 headphones set.

Usual: $1699.00 , now clearing at $990.00 with fresh 1 year guarantee. Includes delivery too.
 
The PS-20 looks quite impressive - for a Casio. I wonder what it sounds like and what it feels like. Multi-sampled piano, graded hammer action - not bad at all.
 
iansoh said:
kurzweil is in fact the furthest thing u can get from value-for-money.

i went to try them out because rudess endorses them.. after trying them out, i never thought about getting a kurzweil ever again
 
Silencer said:
i went to try them out because rudess endorses them.. after trying them out, i never thought about getting a kurzweil ever again

Why? I found the Kurzweil not too bad especially in their emulation of the Hammond. My main problems with them is their cost. Somehow, the number of features and the cost don't quite match.
 
As a small piano module, I found it's sounds not too bad either. I almost bought a second-hand micropiano years ago because of it's standard OK piano and strings sounds. Of course, it cannot compare with the Roland XV series - they don't belong to the same category of modules and has no basis for comparison.
 
the piano module isn't too shabby, but it isn't exactly up there with the yamaha samples...

my main gripe with kurzweil is the touch.. feels a little plasticy.
 
Silencer said:
the piano module isn't too shabby, but it isn't exactly up there with the yamaha samples...

my main gripe with kurzweil is the touch.. feels a little plasticy.

As I said, cannot compare the piano module with things like Yamaha - Yamaha doesn't have a "micropiano" equivalent for comparison. Same reason why I constantly had to avoid comparing the ROMplers' pianos with my GigaStudio samples - I'm terrible spoilt by GigaStudio.

Which model of Kurzweil keyboard did you feel plasticy? I actually thought the K series (especially the older ones) to be slightly on the heavier side but definitely not plastic. The PC2 was quite good too, but I cannot recall it very clearly since I tried it about 2 years ago. I haven't tried their newer PC1X though.
 
Cheez said:
As a small piano module, I found it's sounds not too bad either. I almost bought a second-hand micropiano years ago because of it's standard OK piano and strings sounds. Of course, it cannot compare with the Roland XV series - they don't belong to the same category of modules and has no basis for comparison.
Hi Doc,
So is it worth investing in the Roland SRX02 Piano and SRX11 Complete Piano?

Roland SRX02 Piano:
http://www.rolandus.com/products/details.asp?catid=13&subcatid=55&prodid=SRX-02
Roland SRX11 Complete Piano:
http://www.rolandus.com/products/details.asp?catid=13&subcatid=55&prodid=SRX-11

Seems like the Complete Piano is more worthy card?
Pls kindly advise, I'm a novice, young at heart and mind. Thank you...
 
cheez, actually yamaha had a P50m module that's similar to the micropiano. only acoustic pianos and electro-mechanical keyboards if i'm not wrong. i thought the acoustic piano sounds to be inferior to any almost any yamaha digital piano produced around the same time as the module itself. for some strange reason they used a different sample set.

quite defeated the purpose of developing a module in the first place, eh? i reckon that's why it never really took off.
 
There you go! I've never seen the P50m. I guess it would sound inferior as you said - can't squeeze too much into a small module. Yamaha has a problem with developing acoustic sounds somehow.

Bongman, I've never tried the SRX11. If you've tried it, let me know how it sounds. It looks promising and exciting - definitely a large leap forward compared to the SRX02. But when I tried the SRX02 some time ago on, I believe it was a RD keyboard, I wasn't too impressed by the polyphony. It just ate up too much memory. Perhaps on the later Fantom keyboards, it would perform better. I would imagine the SRX11 to take up even more memory with 4 velocity samples and sampled on each note. Although in the sampling world, this is considered very small, in the ROMplers world, it already is better than most modules (I believe the latest Yamaha is only 3-velocity sampled - and I wasn't very impressed by the sound).

The audio demos on the website is excellent. The "Superb Grand" patch is really excellent for a ROMpler - sounds almost like a Steinway C. Dark but not too dark on the higher registers. Roland surpassed Yamaha again...
 
thank you for the answers, DOC !!!

I own a P50m, not too bad for playing band.
But maybe not good enough for professional work.
 
all used gear, tomorrow I'm buying a Yamaha EX5R.

someone is selling a Yamaha SY99 for S$600, anyone keen?
 
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