Thinking of getting a digital piano
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My first grand was a Kawai 5'8". It was a nice instrument, had a split in the rim you could only see from underneath, and Kawai, through the dealership of course, immediately replaced the piano. No excuses, no spin, no "would you take cash back" or other nonsense. Always have liked the brand, even though I may say stupid stuff along the way. I even had to teach class piano years ago, and it was on a Kawai setup. Pretty cool setup, can't imagine how far they've come since those days. I suppose they still have class piano at the college/university level. Helps pay the bills.
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Digital vs Acoustic.
I love my Roland digital. It does everything I want and more. The action's great. I find that I forget that I have Pianoteq installed, and I just "get used" to the sound it makes. For quiet and silent practice, you really can't beat it - especially at 6 AM when Mrs George is asleep and I'm in the guest room with the Roland.
But...
I experimented with something new today.
I cranked the volume on the Roland WAY up. I tried to make it as loud as my Bohemia for "equivalent" touch.
Was it room-filling? Yeah, considering the room is small.
Did it sound like a "real" piano? Yeah, kinda-sorta. I never, ever, lost the feeling that I was playing a computer - a very good computer - but it just didn't sound 100% like a "piano."
Granted, with headphones - even cheap headphones - it's better. But it's not the same. Not the same.
I love, LOVE, my Roland, and I find myself playing and practicing on it at least 80% of the time. I have no regrets getting it. It more than suits my needs.
But...it's not my grand, and never will be.
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I will use headphones 100% of the time I use the digital.
I have two offers out at $800 for Kawai kdp120s on Facebook marketplace. Thanks LD for the suggestion. Neither wants to accept, but I don’t think they will get as much as they are asking from anybody else.
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@George-K said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
@Horace , you have a Bohemia upright, iirc?
Schulz pollman
@Horace ah! That's right. Now I remember.
Was it @mark who bought a Bohemia upright for his mother, then?
Anyhow, I love my Roland. For me, it was the right choice at the right time.
And, for years, my cheap(er) Kawai served me well, until I got more serious and I wore out the keybed.
For silent practice, as long as you don't demand too much of it, my gut says you'll be fine.
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@Horace ah! That's right. Now I remember.
Was it @mark who bought a Bohemia upright for his mother, then?
Anyhow, I love my Roland. For me, it was the right choice at the right time.
And, for years, my cheap(er) Kawai served me well, until I got more serious and I wore out the keybed.
For silent practice, as long as you don't demand too much of it, my gut says you'll be fine.
@George-K said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
@Horace ah! That's right. Now I remember.
Was it @mark who bought a Bohemia upright for his mother, then?
Anyhow, I love my Roland. For me, it was the right choice at the right time.
And, for years, my cheap(er) Kawai served me well, until I got more serious and I wore out the keybed.
For silent practice, as long as you don't demand too much of it, my gut says you'll be fine.
Yes I think digitals are all going to be serviceable. I will get whatever pops up on the marketplace if it's the right price. Or eventually I'll get the roland new.
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@George-K said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
@Horace ah! That's right. Now I remember.
Was it @mark who bought a Bohemia upright for his mother, then?
Anyhow, I love my Roland. For me, it was the right choice at the right time.
And, for years, my cheap(er) Kawai served me well, until I got more serious and I wore out the keybed.
For silent practice, as long as you don't demand too much of it, my gut says you'll be fine.
Yes I think digitals are all going to be serviceable. I will get whatever pops up on the marketplace if it's the right price. Or eventually I'll get the roland new.
@Horace said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
digitals are all going to be serviceable.
You mean disposable.
When my Kawai acted up, and I got serious about playing again, typical comments from sales and service people included comments like "Wow. 15 years is a good run for your Kawai ES-200."
Most repair/sales people I spoke with said that I should not expect more than 10 years of service for a digital. So, even if you spend $3K, that's still only $240 a month. Most people, most SERIOUS people, spend more than that on lessons.
If you're serious, plan on replacing the digital every now and then. At my age (73) replacement is not as much of a consideration as repairability. The Roland's 10 year in-home warranty was a huge factor in my decision-making.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Another thing...
When I commented about using Pianoteq and how I got "used" to a different sound, today I was amazed at how different the various pianos sounded, once I turned the volume up - WAY up.
Again, I would be happy with any of them (HB Steinway, Steingaeber, etc), but turning the volume up really accentuated the difference.
Should you decide to play with Pianoteq, it's a fun toy. I'm sure that professionals, which none of us are, can really take a deep dive into it, but for folks like me, its depths will never be plumbed. Invest in a cheapo laptop (I'm running it on a 2011 MacBook Air - you can get one for $150 on eBay).
It's a ton of fun.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@Horace said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
digitals are all going to be serviceable.
You mean disposable.
When my Kawai acted up, and I got serious about playing again, typical comments from sales and service people included comments like "Wow. 15 years is a good run for your Kawai ES-200."
Most repair/sales people I spoke with said that I should not expect more than 10 years of service for a digital. So, even if you spend $3K, that's still only $240 a month. Most people, most SERIOUS people, spend more than that on lessons.
If you're serious, plan on replacing the digital every now and then. At my age (73) replacement is not as much of a consideration as repairability. The Roland's 10 year in-home warranty was a huge factor in my decision-making.
@George-K said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
@Horace said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
digitals are all going to be serviceable.
You mean disposable.
When my Kawai acted up, and I got serious about playing again, typical comments from sales and service people included comments like "Wow. 15 years is a good run for your Kawai ES-200."
Most repair/sales people I spoke with said that I should not expect more than 10 years of service for a digital. So, even if you spend $3K, that's still only $240 a month. Most people, most SERIOUS people, spend more than that on lessons.
If you're serious, plan on replacing the digital every now and then. At my age (73) replacement is not as much of a consideration as repairability. The Roland's 10 year in-home warranty was a huge factor in my decision-making.
24 per month, right? I didn't realize roland has a 10 year warranty. The Kawai has a three year warranty. Their acoustics are 10. The non-transferrable warranty is the reason I give to the facebook sellers about why i won't meet their price. They're less in need of a fainting couch that way, when I don't give them their requested 95% of new price, because it's just like new.
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Another thing...
When I commented about using Pianoteq and how I got "used" to a different sound, today I was amazed at how different the various pianos sounded, once I turned the volume up - WAY up.
Again, I would be happy with any of them (HB Steinway, Steingaeber, etc), but turning the volume up really accentuated the difference.
Should you decide to play with Pianoteq, it's a fun toy. I'm sure that professionals, which none of us are, can really take a deep dive into it, but for folks like me, its depths will never be plumbed. Invest in a cheapo laptop (I'm running it on a 2011 MacBook Air - you can get one for $150 on eBay).
It's a ton of fun.
@George-K said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
Another thing...
When I commented about using Pianoteq and how I got "used" to a different sound, today I was amazed at how different the various pianos sounded, once I turned the volume up - WAY up.
Again, I would be happy with any of them (HB Steinway, Steingaeber, etc), but turning the volume up really accentuated the difference.
Should you decide to play with Pianoteq, it's a fun toy. I'm sure that professionals, which none of us are, can really take a deep dive into it, but for folks like me, its depths will never be plumbed. Invest in a cheapo laptop (I'm running it on a 2011 MacBook Air - you can get one for $150 on eBay).
It's a ton of fun.
I could enjoy that. Would take a little gumption to get started, but worth it. Somehow I imagine that there would be a slight delay between keypress and sound, but I guess I'm worried about nothing.
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@George-K said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
Another thing...
When I commented about using Pianoteq and how I got "used" to a different sound, today I was amazed at how different the various pianos sounded, once I turned the volume up - WAY up.
Again, I would be happy with any of them (HB Steinway, Steingaeber, etc), but turning the volume up really accentuated the difference.
Should you decide to play with Pianoteq, it's a fun toy. I'm sure that professionals, which none of us are, can really take a deep dive into it, but for folks like me, its depths will never be plumbed. Invest in a cheapo laptop (I'm running it on a 2011 MacBook Air - you can get one for $150 on eBay).
It's a ton of fun.
I could enjoy that. Would take a little gumption to get started, but worth it. Somehow I imagine that there would be a slight delay between keypress and sound, but I guess I'm worried about nothing.
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Now I am thinking about getting a Roland FP-10, which has the same action as the FP-30x, and just using PianoTeq all the time. I would put it in my office, next to my personal computer, and use pianoteq from there. I guess the fp10 sounds identical to the fp30x through headphones anyway, even without pianoteq.
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From an FP30X to a Kawai GX2 to an FP10? You do realize that there is a pretty wide range between all of those, right? Do yourself a favor and drive in to a Roland store. I think you will find that the HP704 or a CLP745 is closer to the GX2 than the FP10 in terms of how enjoyable they are to play. Don’t get me wrong, there is a wide difference between the HP704 and an acoustic grand, but the 704 is far closer than the FP products could ever be.
“You get what you pay for” isn’t always true (I like the 704 better than the LX series, for instance), but it’s not always false, either…
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From an FP30X to a Kawai GX2 to an FP10? You do realize that there is a pretty wide range between all of those, right? Do yourself a favor and drive in to a Roland store. I think you will find that the HP704 or a CLP745 is closer to the GX2 than the FP10 in terms of how enjoyable they are to play. Don’t get me wrong, there is a wide difference between the HP704 and an acoustic grand, but the 704 is far closer than the FP products could ever be.
“You get what you pay for” isn’t always true (I like the 704 better than the LX series, for instance), but it’s not always false, either…
@LuFins-Dad said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
From an FP30X to a Kawai GX2 to an FP10? You do realize that there is a pretty wide range between all of those, right? Do yourself a favor and drive in to a Roland store. I think you will find that the HP704 or a CLP745 is closer to the GX2 than the FP10 in terms of how enjoyable they are to play. Don’t get me wrong, there is a wide difference between the HP704 and an acoustic grand, but the 704 is far closer than the FP products could ever be.
“You get what you pay for” isn’t always true (I like the 704 better than the LX series, for instance), but it’s not always false, either…
The acoustic was just a flight of fancy, imagining a future purchase. I am intending to buy a digital. I like the idea of connecting it to PianoTeq and using that for live playing, which makes the on-board sound generation meaningless. The speakers are meaningless in any case, as I'll always use headphones when playing. So I was thinking an FP-10, with the PHA4 action, might be a good inexpensive option for me, as long as I get a stable stand. The 704 has their more expensive action, which I assume is better. I can go to guitar center to see how the two roland actions feel compared to each other.
Education is extremely important.
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Guitar center can order the HP product, but they rarely stock it. Just not their business model.
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Guitar center can order the HP product, but they rarely stock it. Just not their business model.
@LuFins-Dad said in Thinking of getting a digital piano:
Guitar center can order the HP product, but they rarely stock it. Just not their business model.
I think they have the 90x, which also has the better action. I was just there a few days ago. The keyboards are mostly on the wall and you can't use pedals, so I couldn't really test the sound much. But I'll go back and concentrate on the feel of the keyboards.
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The 90X? My bad, I was thinking the 30X. Yeah, the 90 would have the same key action and the basic technology of the HP704. Still not a fan of those stands, but meh.
