I need help deciding on a digital piano.

[ambys]

Hi everybody,

I'm looking into getting a digital piano for my home studio, and I was wondering if any of you guys could chime in. Since it will inevitably be asked, I'm going to put up a hypothetical price cap of $2k, but please take that with a grain of salt. If there's a dream machine to be had for $2300, that's fine. If there's a great buy for $1000, that's even better.

I see that Costco has some selection and they have free delivery, so if anybody has a rave about any these of I'd love to hear it. I've played the Casio AP-45 and liked it a lot, but I have really no basis for comparison. The Suzuki ST-7 looks beautiful but I've seen some reviews really bashing it's sonic qualities.

edit: I had to take out the link because I don't have 5 posts yet, but you can go to costco and search for "digital piano"

[thisaintnodisco]

The Casios are pretty nice. Have you tried a Yamaha? $2000 is way, way out of my price range, but I've got an older Clavinova I picked up for one tenth of that a little while back that was a great value at that price.

[petermiller]

The casio privia's are nice given the very low cost, if we are talking studio, Yamaha Motif or S90es would be way more of a use to you. You are going to want something with variable dampening and real solid action. so take a look at the MO8 the SO8 The S90es The motif es 88 the p70 the ydp225 and so on . or the privia p110 , p310, and so on or a used pc88mx

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Ambys:

To toss in my 8 cents, I would say look at models from the big 3:

Yamaha, Kurzweil, & Korg.

They make stage pianos with and without a bunch of stuff. You may only want a few presets and no recorder built in. Or, you may want more.

Best way to go, as you're going to spend a few bucks, is to go to a vendor and put your dados on the keys and listen to the patches, feel the key action, and, of course, check out what comes with the keyboard. I hear good words about Kurzweil--but, they are not 500 pezzutos.

Don't know where you live, but driving a distance around my area these days, in the mid-west, is not what I'd want to do. But, I'd take a drive in good weather to Sweetwater, as a friend of mine did, and check out their stock. [Call ahead as it is usually an 800 number.]

Have fun shopping as shopping is half the fun.

Green Hornet

Green Hornet

[zuma]

What are you going to use it for?

For me, a midi controller is enough, and the most important point is the action (and full 88 keys). I'm a piano player for 25 years and cannot stand synth/semi weighted action. But still this I guess is a very subjective thing so take my comments with a grain of salt.

I just dropped by guitar center a couple of days ago and tested the key actions. The only midi controller they had were the m-audio keystation pro 88, and the action is terrible.

I liked the actions of Roland RD700sx ($2k ish; has great effects; grand setting sounds good), Yamaha CP33 ($1k ish, ok sounds), Casio CDP 100 ($300 ish, didnt try sound).

I ended up buying a studiologic VMK188 (a midi controller) after reading good reviews about their action. Still waiting for it to arrive so not able to comment till then.

So, for an all rounded dream keyboard, definitely the RD700sx.

[Toddskins]

It's about $2,700 at Sweetwater, but it's far more than just a stage keyboard.

It will undoubtedly have the best piano sound, and it definitely has the ultimate in B3 organ sounds.

It has the greatest effects, bar none.

I have not tried its feel as a weighted keyboard, but if it's anything like my Kurzweil K2500XS, then it's tops. Pianists constantly tell me they love the feel of my Kurzweil better than their own real acoustic pianos.

The specs on the new PC3 are more wonderful than you can imagine.


Spend the extra few hundred dollars for the best, and be happy for the next 20 years.

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Todd:

I've read a lot of "raves" about Kurzweil pianos/synths. That may be my next purchase as I'm beginning to find 61 keys a bit limiting--I'm always dropping down to one lower octive my Motif 61. It has nice sounds but you can't disregard the positive comments on the Kurzweil keyboards.

Spring is soon to be here.

Cheers,
Green Hornet

[Toddskins]

Originally Posted by The Green Hornet

Yo Todd:

I've read a lot of "raves" about Kurzweil pianos/synths. That may be my next purchase as I'm beginning to find 61 keys a bit limiting--I'm always dropping down to one lower octive my Motif 61. It has nice sounds but you can't disregard the positive comments on the Kurzweil keyboards.

Spring is soon to be here.

Cheers,
Green Hornet

One of the guys on this site owns a Kurzweil K2500 or K2600, too, and his one main gripe about it is that the preset sounds, the ones that came bundled on it, are outdated.

I understand his position.

Without debating that, this new Kurzweil PC3, according to all the Press Releases from Kurzweil, is that they heard the community loud and clear, and the new presets are supposed to be stunning. I would really love to hear one, but no store in St. Louis, MO has one, that I am aware of.

Lastly, besides a myriad of improvements and updates, the PC3 now has USB, better signal to noise ratio than its predecessor, higher bit rate, all new samples and hundreds more than the K series came with.

Maybe best of all, is that it has 128 voices (whereas the K-series has 48), and the KDFX effects engine now has more than twice the power of the K-series! Hard to imagine all this.

And an improved LCD readout and interface.

[zuma]

THose of you who have or have tried a Kurzweil, how's the action (from a piano player's stand pt)? Can't find a store with it to try out....

[The Green Hornet]

Yo ZUMA ZOOM:>]

Contact one of the "main" vendors: Sweetwater, Full Compass, etc.

As to rent a demo model of the synth you want for a month. It might be a tad pricy but it would give you a chance to put your hands on the keys. Not all vendors do this but the big ones, ALL WITH 800 numbers, are the ones to call.

If the above doesn't work for you, take a drive to Sweetwater, [after you call them and make sure they have the model you are interested in in the store] and try out the model. Or fly there in good weather. It would be cheaper than to buy the model, without trying it, and not have a return option. I usually buy major gear from Full Compass and I can return gear and not lose much $$$ save for shipping and restocking.


Green Hornet

[antispatula]

Originally Posted by petermiller

The casio privia's are nice given the very low cost, if we are talking studio, Yamaha Motif or S90es would be way more of a use to you. You are going to want something with variable dampening and real solid action. so take a look at the MO8 the SO8 The S90es The motif es 88 the p70 the ydp225 and so on . or the privia p110 , p310, and so on or a used pc88mx

I second the privia. Can't say I agree with the motif. Well actually, it depends on what you're looking for. In my opinion, the privias have the best action to ever be found on a keyboard, but they are strictly digital pianos. Motifs are workstations. It just depends on what you want.

[zuma]

Hi, The Green Hornet,

Thanks for your reply. I'm really new to keyboards and midi, always playing acoustic.

I actually just got the studiologic vmk 188+, and the action is good - similar to the rx 700sx. I have tried to use the pedal, programming it to channel 1, CC64, min 0 max 127, and tried reversing the polarities but I just can't get it to work... A little off topic I guess so I will post in another thread if that is more appropriate... EDIT: figured out, and thanks again for pointing me to full compass, seems like a great site.