Thinking of getting a digital piano
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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.
"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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@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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@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.
Education is extremely important.
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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…
Me/rry/Christmas
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@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.
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Guitar center can order the HP product, but they rarely stock it. Just not their business model.
Me/rry/Christmas
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@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.
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Costco has its own Roland model based on the FP-10, and sells it for $550 including furniture stand, bench, and headphones. Too bad they don't have it available for pickup, and delivery is $90. I'm apparently obsessed with saving a few hundred dollars on this purchase due to internal household financial dynamics.
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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.
I bought a Roland RD-700 stage piano over twenty years ago. Still have it and it has never had any issues after all these years. I bought a sturdy four post stand for it and find it very stable even on carpet. Like you I do not care at all for those wobbly scissor stands.
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Here we are. My Steinway Ds (one Hamburg and one NY) and my Bechstein 282. Why not 283? I don’t know. Maybe Bechstein is just lazy. I got the audio interface box just in case I had latency with windows audio. I did, and with the box there is none. So I won’t be returning it.
The Pianoteq license gave me two pianos, and I chose the Steinway package because there’s two of them, and I think Pianoteq spent the most development on them. The Bechstein is on honor of our dearly departed Larry. I will play a lot of classical music on it. His favorite.
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There's no latency with a computer plugged into the digital. You don't need the interface box, IMO.
I have a 12 year old MacBook Air running PianoTeq connected to my Roland - no issues.
Get yourself a cheapo used laptop on eBay, dedicated to the piano, and put it on a cheapo stand next to the piano. That's all you'll need.
Also, you can use PianoTeq in "demo" mode to access all the other instruments. However, some keys will be disabled. Nevertheless, you have a good sampling to decide if you want/need more. I have the Steinway and Steingraeber packs. I'm happy with them.
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I got big latency when I connected without the box. It's easy to tell because the piano will still play through its speakers even as it sends the midi. So if you hear a double beat, once when the piano strikes and again when the pianoteq strikes, there's latency. The only way I got rid of that was to use the ASIO drivers through the box.
