My next piano??
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Played the Kawais today. Spent about 30 minutes at the CA49. Though the sound was not the greatest (even with headphones) I really liked the way it played. The keys have a bit of texture which makes playing nice. The action was a bit light, but that's "adjustable."
I also played the CN301 - similarly priced. It felt a bit better, and it sounded a bit better.
No decision made - gonna look at Rolands and Yammies next week.
This store has a "digital tech guy." The sales lady suggested I get in touch with him and see if my CE200 is worth repairing. My gut says "no." Even if fixed, it's STILL a 15 year old digital and prone to all kinds of problems.
"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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Naw, I vote for get a new one, don't put money into the 15 year old. 15 years ago you were working, so obviously your old digital will be subconsciously linked to what you were like as I remember you from 15 years ago: depression, anger, exhaustion, violence, frustration, being a left winger and everything else that creates unexplainable wrong notes, and incomprehensible expression. Just life from 15 years ago. You just can't shake that out of an old digital.
Now, a NEW digital? Well-well, it will clearly reflect how wonderful a person you are now, happy, content, constantly smiling and giggling, retired on donuts. It will have no choice but to make you think you're playing beautifully!
(btw Axt, the above is totally serious, just so you know)
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@George-K said in My next piano??:
Played the Kawais today. Spent about 30 minutes at the CA49. Though the sound was not the greatest (even with headphones) I really liked the way it played. The keys have a bit of texture which makes playing nice. The action was a bit light, but that's "adjustable."
I also played the CN301 - similarly priced. It felt a bit better, and it sounded a bit better.
No decision made - gonna look at Rolands and Yammies next week.
This store has a "digital tech guy." The sales lady suggested I get in touch with him and see if my CE200 is worth repairing. My gut says "no." Even if fixed, it's STILL a 15 year old digital and prone to all kinds of problems.
15 years is not “that” old to me. At least not at the quality level these particular models are supposed to be. Frankly, I don’t expect to see the issues you are experiencing until you get to about 20 years. And even then it’s the exception. 25 years is about the time that we start seeing most issues on the Clavs and Rolands. But your Kawai is a stage piano right? Never mind… Stage pianos are going to be a little more finicky and problematic… The frame under the keyboards are thinner and lighter for the sake of portability but at the cost of longevity. Structural integrity is the number one technical concern with digitals….
Me/rry/Christmas
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@LuFins-Dad said in My next piano??:
But your Kawai is a stage piano right?
I don't know what a "stage piano" is.
"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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@George-K said in My next piano??:
@LuFins-Dad said in My next piano??:
But your Kawai is a stage piano right?
I don't know what a "stage piano" is.
My apologies. I thought the CE was a stage piano similar to Roland RD and Yamaha CP and P series.
Still, it wasn’t built to the standards of the CN series. Your post has inspired me to find and try a CN301…
Me/rry/Christmas
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@LuFins-Dad said in My next piano??:
Your post has inspired me to find and try a CN301…
I liked it. But, I have to compare. Also, I spent a fair amount of time today. When I looked at the CLPs near me, and @kluurs Roland, I barely touched them.
Also, just looking around, I see the CA49s at Amazon a lot cheaper than "reputable" places like GuitarCenter and Kraft.
"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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I hate Amazon, you should too.
From your linked page:
Question:Did anyone receive the Chopin walzer (1-19) lesson book with their piano? The description says it is included.
Answer:No, I did not received the Chopin walzer (1-19) lesson book with my piano.
By Zulamit on January 9, 2023Question:If this arrives damaged, will a refund and return shipping ctedit be issued?
Answer:No, my piano came with damages and they discounted a little money because the did not wated me to return it.
By Zulamit on January 9, 2023No Chopin Walzer book? How the hell can anyone use this keyboard if there's no sheet music with it? It's useless. It's a paperweight.
And. . . I'm finding a growing number of people claiming damage to the product they purchased, knowing full-well that given shipping costs, they will likely be offered a credit on their card for all their pain and suffering. Or, "just take it back and give me a full refund, or I'll issue a chargeback."
Thanks Amazon. -
Looking around, I wonder if a "stage piano" would suit my needs.
The piano is in a spare bedroom, so I don't need pretty furniture.
However, I don't need/want a ton of bells and whistles which all of these seem to offer.
The Kawai ES920 gets good reviews, and combined with their "furniture stand" and "pedal bar" it looks totally functional. Add Pianoteq and perhaps some better speakers, and it might work.
"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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@George-K said in My next piano??:
Looking around, I wonder if a "stage piano" would suit my needs.
The piano is in a spare bedroom, so I don't need pretty furniture.
However, I don't need/want a ton of bells and whistles which all of these seem to offer.
The Kawai ES920 gets good reviews, and combined with their "furniture stand" and "pedal bar" it looks totally functional. Add Pianoteq and perhaps some better speakers, and it might work.
I would like something like that too.
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Personally? I can’t stand stage pianos. The stand construction is so week that they will typically start to become unstable in weeks. The pedal moves around unless you buy the stand with the built in pedals. Those are typically flimsy things that won’t allow incremental pedaling and break down over a short period of time. In order to be lightweight enough to be “stage pianos” many are built with thinner and lighter key frames that can and will warp if you play dynamically. Stage pianos are built for people that want to play keyboard pads but pretend they are playing a piano.
Just like anything, you get what you pay for…
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My first was a stage model and it was unstable on the stand.
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@LuFins-Dad said in My next piano??:
Personally? I can’t stand stage pianos. The stand construction is so week that they will typically start to become unstable in weeks. The pedal moves around unless you buy the stand with the built in pedals. Those are typically flimsy things that won’t allow incremental pedaling and break down over a short period of time. In order to be lightweight enough to be “stage pianos” many are built with thinner and lighter key frames that can and will warp if you play dynamically.
@jon-nyc said
My first was a stage model and it was unstable on the stand.
Well, that settles that, LOL.
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G George K referenced this topic on
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Went shopping today.
First of all the Kawai/Roland dealer.
He didn't have the CA49 in stock. It's been discontinued and is being heavily discounted (see post from Guitar Center).
He had the CN201 and CN301. The only difference is the cabinetry and the sound technology. Obviously the 301 is better, but with headphones they sound the same. They both played very nicely, and had a little "bounce" in the action. Not objectionable, but noticeable for the first few seconds. I think I preferred the CA49 that I played last week.
He had a nice collection of Rolands;
FP 701 (?). Sounds OK. Plays like a $1600 digital piano. Not at all impressed.
HP702. A huge jump in playability from the FP series. Not bad at all, and very playable. I would be happy with this except for...
HP704. Now there's a nice piano. I adjusted the touch to "moderately heavy" and it felt really, really good. The sounds are nice, but I think the Kawai might have the edge to my hearing-aid-assisted ears.Checked out the Yamaha 735 at another store. It was certainly very, very playable. But somehow, the Roland just felt better to my arthritic fingers.
You know "The piano you play last is the one you like best?"
Nope. It was the piano I played second-last.
"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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Sounds about right. You liked the 702 a bit better than I did. I felt the 702 was just ok. To me the 704 was the sweet spot in the lineup, i.e. best value. The sound engine was Ok - speakers decent - but bring in an outside virtual instrument - and you can dial in a perfect piano to practice on. As you mentioned, it's amazing what one can do. I practice using one setting, but if I want to make a "recording" to share - I can add a much more sympathetic hall resonance to the experience.
The action provides a good workout and for me, isn't so distant from my grand so that I don't feel like I'm cheating myself. Make no mistake, while I'm giddy playing the digital, there are still things that one can do on a real grand that the digital can't quite do - BUT the same is also true. This time of year, with humidity being lower, the real piano doesn't sound as happy as it does in the spring and summer. This probably has something to do with how humidity affects the felts on the hammers. The digital has no such issues.
I've been working on the last movement of the Appassionata on the digital - and I can annoy myself without disturbing the neighbors.
As an aside, I'm reading a book by Stephen Hough who has a digital piano in his New York apartment. That's understandable, but what I find interesting is that he says he plays it with the volume low. "WHY no headphones??" I would think it would interfere more with his touch to have the volume low. Oh well. His piano. His choice...
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One thing I didn't like about the Yamahas, at least while wearing headphones, the stereo separation was way too big. The treble was REALLY treble, and way off to the right.
It was distracting.
Also, I found the action heavy, even when set "lighter." I think it only has 4 setting, though I may be wrong.
I did like the textured black keys, though.
On a related note, I'm playing with Pianoteq, and one thing I don't like is that it disables the volume control on the piano. It uses the computer's volume setting which is annoying to get to.
I think that will be easily fixed with an in-line headphone volume control.
"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.
-
Yup - It would certainly be easier for the user to control the volume with the piano. I suspect that in the not-too-distant future, piano manufacturers will figure out that more and more people are using VSTs, and that they should work to standardize a strategy for better integrating them with the instrument.
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@kluurs said in My next piano??:
Yup - It would certainly be easier for the user to control the volume with the piano. I suspect that in the not-too-distant future, piano manufacturers will figure out that more and more people are using VSTs, and that they should work to standardize a strategy for better integrating them with the instrument.
A few years back I was given a number by a digital piano designer for Yamaha. The number was how many units would need to be sold to make the cost of adding a feature worth it. I believe that number was 50K, but I can’t remember…
