Digital Grand - The Most Realistic Experience for ~<$800

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kaiser

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I know there are several threads on this topic, and I have read through many, many of them on this and other sites including innumerous reviews. I am looking to spend somewhere less than $800 on a digital piano for my girlfriend. She is a classical piano student, and has moved into an apartment where there is no room for her upright. I want to get her absolutely as close to possible to the acoustic piano experience in digital form (both sound quality and key-stroke). I plan on running whatever keyboard I end up with through KRK RP5 monitors, so integral speakers are of no concern. My two biggest concerns are these:
-Best key-feel possible (most acoustic-accurate)
-Best acoustic grand sound reproduction possible
I am not looking for a whole lot of fluff, I doubt she would use much of anything but the Grand Piano setting, so other instruments, samples, and features are not of great importance - just the grand sound and feel. Also, I would like something without a bulky integral stand so she can carry it around in her car when she needs to (looking for a stand-alone keyboard, not a piano-assembly type deal) - I guess that means I'm looking for a "stage piano?" (I'm not an expert just yet...) What do you suggest? Thanks!
 
The Casio Previa or Privia...sold at Best Buy - hammer action AND nice sounds. I love that keyboard. It's very simple, has nice speakers, it's a little heavy, but great sound and feel. She can try it out at Guitar Center too. With tax, just over $500
 
I have definately read a lot of good things about the Casio's. Weight is not an issue, as long as it is still a portable keyboard (i.e. Yamaha CP33 or P250 versus a Clarinova).
 
Try a Yamaha P-**. I have a friend who has a P-90 which is very nice, and you couldn't ask for a smaller 88key keyboard. The current one is about $1k, but used would be a possibility
 
That's a really great and generous gift you are looking to buy for your girlfriend.

However, as a classically trained pianist myself I will say that no electronic grand is satisfying to play. As satisfying as the real thing, anyway. I think you need to be realistic and understand that the electronic grand will not be able to fully replace the feel and expressiveness of a real piano. As far as practicing, it's just not the same thing as an acoustic piano, regarding the use of muscles, etc.

That said, an electronic grand is certainly better than nothing, and as a partial replacement to practicing on a real piano it can be useful. I can certainly write music on an electronic grand, it's the practice and performance of the classical repertoire that is less satisfying.

If you think you can get away with it, you might try to get your girlfriend into a music store and have her play some different keyboards. That will give you an idea of which touch she likes best.

Best of luck, and I'm sure she is going to love it!
 
"If you think you can get away with it, you might try to get your girlfriend into a music store and have her play some different keyboards. That will give you an idea of which touch she likes best."

Best advice. We can recommend different different options galore. She needs to get her hands on what's out there and decide for herself.

I'm not classically trained, but I prefer Yamaha action over others I've tried. I also prefer the balanced action as opposed to graded. This give "ME" a good balance of playing piano sounds as well as organs, synth pads, etc.
 
I got the Yamaha P80 for the studio after checking here and asking around. It cost me $650 on ebay about 2 years ago. It does the job and most "real" players feel it does a good job in feel and sound.
 
I love my roland rd-100, so when a friend wanted a digital piano he went roland on my reccommendation. However, we found that the piano sounds on the low end rolands had changed and sounded crappy. I went to the store with him to look for the best <1k solution, and ended up with a yamaha. It's pretty OK. And like Al said, to a real pianist it's not even close, so don't get your hopes up too high. I still like my rd-100 better than the yamaha. If you can find one used, BUY IT.
 
Thanks for the tips guys, I greatly appreciate it! Unfortunately, because it will be her christmas gift, I don't think I could take her to the closest major music store (1.5hours drive) and have her try out digital pianos without giving something away... I do, however, have another close friend who is a pianist and will certainly take her to help me evaluate some of the options at Sam Ash.

On another note, I have been looking at some lightly used Roland RD-600's-they seem to fit right in my price range. Are these comparable to the RD-100 and 150? I have read nothing but excellent reviews on the RD-150 (with the occasional exception) and can't seem to find anything negative on the RD-100 either. The 600's just seem more prevalent and available. Does anyone have any experience with them? Thanks again!
 
Check out some Korg's. My sister has the Triton Le, and it rules.
But then again, I'm a drummer not a keyboard player :)
 
You have to have her try them its hte only way to see which feels right to her. I found for under 600 dollars the Yamaha P-70 felt and sounded best to me.
 
18 months or so ago I tried about a dozen different digital pianos. Yamaha has various P series that are very good, Casios can be surprisingly good, certainly Roland can be a contender. For whatever reason, I did not care for the Korg piano I tried and did not like the M-Audios either.

I finally had to choose between Casio and Yamaha and I actually surprised myself by going with the Casio Privia 310 (although the 310 has a set of general MIDI sounds - so the 110 would be more like what you may be looking for). Since that time, Casio has come out with a couple of newer models

The Casio was lighter in weight than the Yamaha (certainly a consideration) and I thought the feel was more to my personal liking. Sound wise, it was very close

This past summer I took my nephow (a young but up and coming player - who is completely a piano player - no synth player) to a few stores to buy a digital piano. He also narrowed it down to a Yamaha and the Casio. He thought the Yamaha felt a little more like a an acoustic piano - but he liked the feel of the Casio better (he bought the Casio 310 also).

However - your girlfriend is the only person who can decide what she likes - while I understand the whole "surprise present" thing. Perhaps you would be better off giving her a present with a picture of a piano - and then immediately after X-mas take her shopping and let her decide.
 
kaiser said:
Thanks for the tips guys, I greatly appreciate it! Unfortunately, because it will be her christmas gift, I don't think I could take her to the closest major music store (1.5hours drive) and have her try out digital pianos without giving something away... I do, however, have another close friend who is a pianist and will certainly take her to help me evaluate some of the options at Sam Ash.

On another note, I have been looking at some lightly used Roland RD-600's-they seem to fit right in my price range. Are these comparable to the RD-100 and 150? I have read nothing but excellent reviews on the RD-150 (with the occasional exception) and can't seem to find anything negative on the RD-100 either. The 600's just seem more prevalent and available. Does anyone have any experience with them? Thanks again!
Click to expand...

The RD-600 sounds crappy compared to my 100, I think they changed their samples or something. Someone told me they still have the old piano sample on their higher end shit, but as a low-end guy I wouldn't know.
 
mikeh said:
However - your girlfriend is the only person who can decide what she likes - while I understand the whole "surprise present" thing. Perhaps you would be better off giving her a present with a picture of a piano - and then immediately after X-mas take her shopping and let her decide.
Click to expand...

A little hint of romance from mikeh lol. I tend to like the yamaha sounds better then casio but my friend down the hall from me has a Privia and its got some better functions like split sounds and some other stuff. I tend to be more comfortable with my p70.
 
I'm classically trained and recorded two CDs one using a Kurzweil and another using an Alesis QS8 with a Kurzweil Micro Piano box midi'ed in and both came out very nicely. Try looking for a used QS8 and a used Micro piano box. The action is very similar to my 1955 Steinway and can be adjusted. :)
 
mikeh said:
However - your girlfriend is the only person who can decide what she likes - while I understand the whole "surprise present" thing. Perhaps you would be better off giving her a present with a picture of a piano - and then immediately after X-mas take her shopping and let her decide.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. I suspect that one keyboard will speak to her, and she'll have the satisfaction of knowing that she chose it. I'd suggest making an afternoon of it, including a nice dinner to celebrate after choosing the board. (I've done exactly the same with other gifts, and the results were stellar.) And yeah, you're obviously a great guy for being so thoughtful.

Happy holiday,
J.
 
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